Coastal Dreams, California
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My first encounter with the Pacific ocean was immensely beatiful. I had to stand in the water for a few minutes and bask in another life goal completed.
My friend and I borrowed a helmet in Santa Barbara and went out for a sunset ride. We climbed a ridgeline and watched the sun set and the moon rise. Just behind us the Pacific opened up to us with beautiful yellow and gold.
I pulled up into Gaviota State Park, which had a sign that said no camping. This seemed like an odd thing, but I discovered that the reason for the closure was the water was too low to operate the restrooms
A large part of why I wanted to stay at this park was because of the views that presented great photo opportunities, like this shot from a loading pier.
Shortly after a purple sunset, I was kicked out of the park by a ranger who disagreed with the camp host. She forced me to pack the tent and ride back to another campground... Nothing would convince her that I was just tenting and wouldn't be a problem,
In the Bay area, I crashed with a ADV Rider CouchSurfer named Eric. We passed the time by taking care of a few projects on our bikes in the garage.
A custom heat shield and larger rubber dampers from an automotive exhaust hanger. The shields came from a hardware store and cracked in half within a week, but the rubber is still going strong.
Visiting a hometown friend in San Francisco we went out for a wet stroll through some more touristy parts. Catching up with a brown bagged beer was a good time.
The next day my friend got me onto a boatshare trip with his sailing club.
The "crew". I mostly supervised and kept my tall head away from the mast.
Overlooking San Francisco from Angel Island.
We watched the sun set from a precariously placed wood shack, which was hanging out of the the cliff face. It was worth jumping the fence for.
Not good. There's a pinhole leak in my gas tank.
Having no entry into the campgrounds in the area, I stealth camped off Route 1. This is one of my favorite camp sites now.
As night decended, the cars going up and down Route 1 started to fade in numbers. It took a fair bit of waiting to capture this shot.
Desparately looking for camp, I came across a windy beach and this impossible to ignore view of the sunset.
Birds at Point Lobos. A traveler at the Monterey hostel convinced me to go on a short hike with her.
Big Sur did not fail to dissappoint. This time, I took it slow to take in the scenery.
So far, my favorite "official" camp site of the trip. Standing by my tent to take this photo, it was peaceful falling asleep to the sound of surf crashing againt the rocks.
I spent a few days at that camp site, knowing that shortly I would be back in Santa Barbara and LA.
Route 1, the Pacific Coast Highway.
See those skid marks in the gravel? I made those. They terminate where my rear tire had a brief conversation with the guard rail.
Wear your gear kids. Even after sliding all that way pinned under the bike, I got up with just a bruised ego.
Crashing with a friend of a friend in West Hollywood, whom I had never met before, my lower back suddenly erupted in pain. I could barely stand, I couldn't walk, and it took everything I had (and a helpful beheaded broom) to get to the bathroom and pee.
Come to find out I had ruptured a disk in my spine. This is an attempt to make a brace using my jacket back plate and a lifting belt.
On top of that, the next day I got a call. There was a death in the family. When it rains, it pours giant turds.
Not knowing anyone in LA, I had to ride the bike to the storage locker, when I could barely walk. There was a moment of pain so intense my vision blurred, but it got there safely. I had to very slowly, gingerly get off as I could barely lift a leg.