Bike Tour in the USA (2007), Part 12

Tuesday, Sep. 12. 2007

I heard a Mission Bell...

Ventura→Carpinteria

Distance: 46.6 km, Duration: 3:19:08 hrs, Total: 332.25 km 

I cycled along yesterday's road and the locked door was opened. The way lead me to the entrance of the Emma Wood State Beach. On the board of the empty attendant's hut I discovered the prices for one night of Biker & Hiker: US$5.00/person. Maybe I should somehow get around the gate and spend the night beside the ocean. But it was too late for that...

View on the Pacific Ocean

From the State Beach there is a bike path directly beside the ocean direction north. It was a great feeling to cycle under the warm morning sun between the beach and the roaring sea. I thought I've heard an irregular whistling sound from an approaching train. After the bike path led into the Highway 1 the California Pacific Surfliner painted in silver and blue matching the ocean and the sky passed me. The train serves the route between San Diego and San Luis Obispo 12 times a day. According to my information bikes can be taken on the train for $5.00-$10.00/bike (http://www.pacificsurfliner.com/).

California Pacific Surfliner

Arround 11:30 I reached Carpinteria, a 12 miles south of Santa Barbara located small clean town. The name originated from the Chumash Indians who made in a relative big wood working shop (Carpinteria) seaworthy canoes (or 'Tomols') out of redwood or pine. They were propelled with kayak-like paddles in a crouching position. With these boats the Indians went fishing or traded with other coastal Indian tribes. 

The gate to the State Beach of Carpinteria was not far away and good signposted. In front of the main entrance I discovered an elderly gentlemen who photographed from his bike a picture of the sign. I rode to him and started in English a conversation. From his pronunciation I realized he was not a native speaker so we started to talk in German. He was a 60 years old pensioner and had to deal with the loss of his dying wife a few years ago. Because as a young man he watched once on German TV a truck race in Alaska his children encouraged him to fulfill his dream. Therefore he cycled with his older brother from Alaska over Canada through Washington and Oregon State until we met today in California. On his still intact speedometer there were over 6.000 km recorded! If that wasn't enough he still planned to pedal to Mexico. As I cycled from south to north I asked my German friend for some advice. Finally we separated - friend, I wish you the best on your way!

Unfortunately the ranger at the State Beach, for whatever reasons, would not let me in before afternoon 4 o'clock! 

I rode into the town and tried to find a bicycle shop to replace my broken chain which I fixed by cutting off some links. During a red traffic light I asked a young biker was waiting beside of me for a bike shop. He only answered that I should follow him and a he led me to a professional bike shop. 

Life is a Beach

As I went inside I was surprised to find a Japanese working here. Because there was no other customer and his English was better than my Japanese I took the chance to know more about him. He told me that he and his wife traveled 10 years ago to Carpinteria and fell in love with this place. They decided to leave crowded Tokyo and move to California. They are the only Japanese in this community. He told me that his home Tokyo changed a lot. There are, for example, road signs not only in Japanese but also in Korean and Chinese. Even when they sometimes visit their home country they can only hardly imagine to move back to Japan. I bought a chain 'made in Taiwan' for my 9 speed cassette ($25.00).

Because I had some time before the State Park opened and I could save the $6.00 he asked for the change I wanted to replace the chain by myself. With the chain in my bag I left and cycled around. I found a beautiful park with benches and a table in a shadows.

'Workbench' in the Park

   The park bench was not far away from a playground. While I was working on my bike from watching people I realized that the 'American Way of Life' is quite different. I watched mothers driving the SUVs directly to the front of the playground slide, let their children play there for a few minutes, packed them back into their SUVs and drove away. In my German hometown the parents walk to the playground, let the children play by themselves (also in the sand) and go home after several hours!

I was glad that I had a peace of mind with the new bike chain and could move on as planned. In the future I would bring an extra "Missing Link" which can be used to repair the chain without tools. After fitting or replacing this link the whole chain would work without problems and could be used flawlessly...

Generally it helps to try repairs on the bike by yourself. The internet and even sometimes the friendly bike mechanics is willing to share information on how things work, what to look out for and how to deal with problems. In situations on the road the repair experiences are worthwhile and can save the cycling day. 

 (to be continued)