Thursday, Sep.
13, 2007
Santa Barbara
Carpinteria→Refugio
State Beach
Distance: 63:57 km, Duration: 5:12:52 hrs, Total:
395.82 km
After Santa Barbara the Highway 1 become the Freeway (!)
101 and not without a little bit of pride I was allowed to ride my bike on the
Freeway totally legal! In Germany this would be unthinkable. After riding not
for a long time a road sign told me to leave for Refugio State Beach.
 |
On the Road to the Refugio State Beach
|
At
exactly 4 o'clock in the afternoon I registered at the Hiker & Biker
($5.00) and let my bike roll down the main road. As I came to the designated
area I was the only biker as far as I could see. Therefore I build up my tent
wherever I wanted and threw my other stuff in it.
 |
Refugio
State Beach Campsite Map
|
To explore the
area I sat on my bike and checked out the whole campground. I passed some
camping trailers and RVs and cycled to the only shop. It was closed and only
opens on weekends. On the whole Refugio State Beach I discovered only elders
and families with children. As words of mouth by bikers spread quickly I suppose 'boredom' is the reason why most bikers avoid this State Beach.
With nothing to do and no one to talk I washed my clothes and hung them into a tree to let them dry from the
wind. In the evening the wind became so strong that I decided to hang them on a
safer place. I also carried my simple one man tent behind a palm tree,
otherwise it would be blown away!
 |
Taking Rest in Refugio State Beach
|
To fight the boredom I put my new bike computer on the bike which, despite the circumstances (strong wind, pure light in the evening & a simple multi tool) was relatively easy. Only the magnet into the wheel, the wires (!) along the fork up to the handlebar, the computer into its holder and calibrating according to the manual and - finished! Of course troublesome compared to the GPS-based wireless bike computers we are using today. I did not throw away the old bike computer, a few additional grams would not make any difference to the total weight.
In the most boring of all State Parks or Beaches I went to bed or rather into the sleeping bag at 8:15 pm. Despite the howling of the wind during the whole night I slept like a baby...
 |
Refugio
State Beach
|
(to be continued)
No comments:
Post a Comment