I like this time change...at least in the morning. We were on the road by 7:35. However, and it is a big however, we did not have our porridge or more importantly our coffee...and me without coffee in the morning is like a bear with a sore paw. I guess an explanation is in order. Last night when I went to prime 'old faithful', our Coleman stove, it made some 'screeching' noises that sounded like steel on steel...and I am sure that is exactly what it was. The 'primer' was 'pooched'. We managed to cook dinner with what little pressure we had but 'old faithful' was of no use to us this morning. So off to San Luis Obispo we went...but that was 20 plus kilometers away...in search of fire...well maybe not fire but a new stove.
The ride to the city was actually quite nice. We went up through the hills through cattle country then followed a valley where intensive vegetable growing took place and then came upon a large wine producing area. In the middle of all of this was this really intensive oil rig area where they were drilling a whole bunch of new wells. Other than one steep climb and a blast downhill, the ride was pretty flat. The caffeine deficiency was not too serious...not as bad as we had feared. We found a coffee shop and began to research where in town we could buy a new stove. We came up with a few choices and surprisingly they were not far off route nor were they difficult to find. We are now the proud owners of a new MSR stove. It is eerily like the one I left at home so that I could bring 'old faithful' instead. We are $150 poorer for it...oh well...that is the life of a tour cyclist!
For a city of just under 50,000 people, San Luis Obispo was a good urban riding experience with its dedicated bike lanes. I am actually grow fond of these lanes to get through urban messes. We then rode the short distance to Pismo Beach to start the urban mess all over again. We again stumbled upon an Information Office that told us how to get to a grocery store and to the State Park.
We are camping at Pismo Beach State Park Oceano Campground. We were about .5 kilometers from the park when we met our young Vancouver friends coming back from the park and heading for a not so nice RV Park. They told us that the Hiker/Biker site had been shut down. So we decided to share a regular site. After arrival another cyclist from Montana appeared and he is also camping with us. It made the cost the same as a Hiker/Biker site would normally be.
Trip Distance = 56.08 km. Time on the Bikes = 3 hours 50 minutes. Average Speed = 14.60 km. Maximum Speed = 53.18 km. Wildlife Sightings = Willets, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Western Grebe, Ground Squirrel, Yellow Rumped Warbler, Meadow Larks, Bluebirds, Kingfishers.
Camping Under The Eucalyptus Trees
A Strange Elevation Summit Marker
Tolosa Vineyards
No comments:
Post a Comment