It is frustrating when anything happens especially since you think of your options and there really isn't anything viable and you're still far away from a town with a bike shop and even if you could call someone try wouldn't be there for hours.
My favorite part was riding through countless strawberry fields which are part of Dole, the fruit and vegetable company. The air all around smelled of strawberries which was really nice and some of their fields butted up against the ocean but the sheer size of their farming operation is sickening. It was enormous and soley mono-agriculture which is not good for the soil.
Another favorite was seeing how autumn's charm was affecting the local plants. There was a sand dune with its sunshined sand glimmering with speckles of orange, red, and yellow that I was just digging hard. We rode along a bike path through Marina, Sand City, Seaside, and into Monterey where the touch of fall was very prevelent.
Once into Monterey we got Evan's hub fixed at a bike shop then came across an awesome Thai restaurant. Not only was it cheapish food for a touristy place, but the food was really really good. I love when that happens especially when traveling!
That evening we biked up a gnarly hill to the top where we were heading to Veterans Memorial Park where I joked that we were going to be staying the night with the homeless community. In fact the campground was quite full. At the registration center there was a 'wanted' looking poster warning about raccoons in the area and a picture of a repeat offender. Luckily we have the best weapon, Evan Chaney.
Feeling tired after our first day back on the bikes we retired early to our tents. That evening raccoons decided to go after our bags out of all the other campers and we had our food bags put in a safe place an we cover our bikes with a tarp. Evan had some fruit in one of his bags and we could hear them rustling the tarp so Evan got up and was yelling at them and kicking at them. He actually did kick one a little that was in a bag. They came back a couple of times throughout the night but Chaney was on patrol.
The next day we planned on going to the Monterey Aquarium but the tickets were nearly $40 and we still had 30 miles to bike that day so we sadly didn't go.
The ride from Monterey to Big Sur is a beautiful ride with one of my favorite parts of the coast. It was a lesiurely day of riding up and down hills and I can't even remember how many times I stopped to take pictures and then had to pass two sets of other tourers.
I've noticed the weather has been a little chillier at night and in the morning. It's a little difficult getting out of my sleeping bag and then once the sun goes down I'm wanting to get in the tent. Once we start biking we warm up and it's not bad. Today was just like that and tomorrow is supposed to get back into the 70s. So almost near perfect weather for today.
The colors of fall followed us down highway 1 adding more beauty to the steep bluffs, massive waves, and mountains butting along side of the ocean.
Staying in a nice campground tonight with food lock boxes. Evan setup his hammock so he's set. We then headed to a restaurant to watch baseball and hockey. Think we are gonna hike around Big Sur tomorrow.
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