Special request from my friend Robert

He is pioneering a new art form involving photography and diving apparatus.

Rim Failure

Only just managed to get Wayne into Monterey today as his rear wheel has had the Richard. 3 spokes have pulled through the rim. It was so wobbly I had to disconnect the rear brake so it would spin( made for a few interesting braking challenges). Need to get a new wheel tomorrow. He has had far too much weight on him this trip including my lard arse.

Good for everyone really

Sea Lion parking lot

Day 19- round the bay to Monterey

46 miles(74kms),4-1/4 hours, Death by headwind

An easy day turned out to be a hard day with tricky navigation and a headwind that would stop a kenworth. There were a couple of highlights. Stopping for a coffee at a cute little bakery turned out to be very social. We met a group of boys cycling south from Oakland. A lovely lady bike commuter who wanted to know about our whole trip, and a nice couple from up near Yosemite Park that offered to put us up and gave us there phone number. The second highlight was stopping at a fruit market in the middle of the farming country where there was a Mexican lady in a caravan cooking fantastic Taco's ($1.10 each), and the local delicacy " deep fried artichoke hearts". We had a great pigout finished off with lovely local fruit. Thanks to John Emery for taking me to the local spot on our last trip in 2008. The final run into Monterey was on bike paths and the volume of homeless people was frightening and very uncomfortable. When we got to the main warf in Monterey I did a bit of Cycleorkelling for my friend Robert. Lisa shot video of me riding through the square. I got some looks. Tomorrow we ride around the very famous pebble beach 17 mile drive.

Regards

Mike from iPad

Surf entry at Steamer lane Santa Cruz

These guys wait for a wave to come through and the jump off the cliff. Not for the faint hearted.

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Extreme surfing at Santa Cruz

Steamer Lane
By far the most famous surf spot in all of Santa Cruz, but if you want to paddle out at "the Lane," you better be a damn good surfer. On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being friendly, the localism factor at the Lane is an 11. When the swell is up, the lane offers world-class waves, at times reaching triple overhead. It's the most dangerous place to surf in Santa Cruz and people actually die out there on a semi- annual basis. Once again however, it's the best place to watch great surfing pretty much year round. The lane is the stretch of coast off West Cliff between Cowell's and the Lighthouse. The wave wraps around a cliff headland and into the bay. If you fall you get washed onto the cliff.

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Riding and Filming is Dangerous

Kids don't try this at home

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Sea otter having a float around the pier

In case it's not obvious he is laying on his back with his front feet under his chin and his back legs on his stomach. He is swimming with his tail.

Sea Lions hangin out

Cool houses in Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz sunset

Day 18- Cruise to Santa Cruz

48 miles(77kms), 3-3/4 hours, huge tail wind.
We had a tail wind for the second time for the whole trip. The coastal scenery was absolutely spectacular and the traffic was light. We enjoyed it so much that we realised as we pulled up in Santa Cruz that we hadn't even stopped for a break the whole way. Wow we saw some great stuff and got some great pics along the way. It's Friday night and as it's sunny and warm so we have decided to take a break here for the weekend. Much more fun than doing battle with weekend traffic. This is a very hip surfing and university town. The joint is going off.

Regards

Mike from iPhone

Sunset?

First almost sunset of the trip. Sun peeped through the sea fog for about a minute.

Camping in style

Didn't feel like putting the tent up so we found this joint. It'll do I guess.

Day 17- across the bridge and through San Fran

37 miles(59kms), 3-3/4 hours, foggy but warmish

We didn't leave till midday with no expectation of getting too far as we were both a bit doughy. We climbed up to the bridge only to find that the right hand bike lane had been closed. We had to carry the bikes up and down 2 flights of stairs to get to the other side. We then had to mix it with the pedestrians to get across. It was a real experience. After the bridge we had to navigate across San Francisco. I only got us lost once. It was pretty hectic and a bit stressful. The last part of the day was climbing up and over the infamous Devils slide roadway below Daly city. I have been worrying about getting Lisa over it safely for months. It's the most dangerous bit of road on the whole trip. Anyway we made it over without mishap and emerged into half moon bay. We decided to gat a hotel as the camping down here is a bit dodgy with all the homeless travelers. Tomorrow we are off to Santa Cruz.

Regards

Mike from iPhone

Riding the Golden Gate

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Lisa makes it over the Golden Gate bridge

Planking at the golden gate bridge

Day 16- We made it to San Francisco

33 miles, 3-1/4 hours, SUNNY

Taken a hard earned afternoon off in a swanky hotel. Very nice, I like.

Sunny Lisa is back!

Regards

Mike from iPhone

Planking in San Francisco

Getting it started over here

Hello San Francisco

Thanks legs for bringing me here
Lisa from iPhone

Look we made it to SF

And it's not raining

Floating Houses

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Connie & Wayne

Patiently waiting outside the B&B for us to saddle up.

Made it to San Francisco

Yippee!!!

1450kms in 16 days

Regards Mike from iPhone

Friends on the road

A few days ago we bumped into Rory and Niki on the side of the road. Rory is a mad Scotsman who's claim to fame( at least one of them) is riding the Aussie great ocean road in a kilt. Niki is a lovely San Francisco Gal who Rory somehow talked into riding a bike from Vancouver to Mexico. Since our first meeting we have crossed paths quite a few times and by chance we ended up in the same hotel overnight. They are a lovely pair and we just love bumping into them. We are keeping in contact via SMS to exchange info on road conditions, accommodation and other stuff. Rory is a real unit. I hope I can go touring with him sometime in the future. I'm sure it would be a great laugh.

B&B Bathroom cooking

This post sponsored by Trangia camp stoves, the versatile cooking appliance as used in some North American bathrooms

Bathroom Masterchef Masterclass

Extreme bathroom cooking. Kids don't try this at home.

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When the sun comes out it's all worth it