Two Wheels in Transit: Cycling the Left Coast: Polar Opposites

Friday, November 14, 2014

After a conversation with a German motorcyclist on a New York to Argentina around the world Journey, we hit the road by 8:00. Today's ride was made up of two parts...and they were polar opposites. The first 30 kilometers we enjoyed a bike path. At times it was along the side of streets but most of the time it was out in the middle of the beaches. We cycled through the rest of Long Beach, through Seal Beach, and then through the long and drawn out Huntington Beach. Huntington Beach probably has the widest beach we have encountered on our entire journey. If there was a downside to this part of the ride it was the headwind that we fought.

When we got to Newport Beach things changed and not for the better. We were forced onto The Pacific Coast Highway...or was it the West Coast Highway...or was it (if you can believe it) the East Coast Highway...all of them Highway # 1. So forgive us if at times we were frustrated with the route. At one point we were riding on a 8 lane expressway. When it narrowed to a 4 lane highway in Laguna Beach, we again were forced to contend with cars flying past us at 50 miles per hour on our left and parked cars on our right. There was nowhere to ride except out in traffic. And did I mention the hills? They surprised us and we spent some time visiting 'Granny' again.

Laguna Beach reminded us of the Malibu area that we had passed through a few days ago. The 'silly' traffic was one reason but we were back into an area where multi million dollar homes were 'perched' up in the hills. We saw a sign for a new subdivision that said houses would start at 4.5 million dollars...what a bargain! The car dealerships I suspect also were a reflection of the wealth in the area. We saw dealerships selling McLaren's, Audis, Ferraris, Mercedes, Lamborghinis, and Porsches. Where the heck the common person would buy the Fords, GM's, and Toyotas we have no idea!

We are camping in Doheny State Beach Park in Dana Point. Dana Point was the surf spot that the Beach Boys immortalized in their hit song 'Surfin USA'. We are on a regular site as the Hiker/Biker Site is both 'awful' and could not be occupied until 4:00 pm. The campground is not very nice but it is on the beach and we just witnessed another of the West Coast's beautiful sunsets.

Trip Distance = 65.19 km. Time on the Bikes = 4 hours 39 minutes. Average Speed = 14.02 km. Maximum Speed = 42.83 km. Wildlife Sightings = Great Blue Heron, Great Egrets (by the hundreds), Herring Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Coots, Ground Squirrels.