Saturday, Sep. 22, 2007
Rainy Morning
?→Half Moon Bay State Beach
Distance: 83.08 km, Time: 5:46:12 hrs, Total: 1,237.38 km
Actually I wanted to leave my small tent to greet the early morning cheerfully. But as I zipped open the door or entrance of my tent I saw a thick fog covering the surroundings and the strong wind still blew from the ocean. I wanted to crawl back into my sleeping bag but finally had to go out into the beastly weather...
Of course the rain and fog made everything
wet except the contents of my waterproof cycling bags. Personally I don’t quite
understand that people insist on "natural materials" on their
bike travel equipment. Many saddles or bags are sold prominently under British
and American trademarks but in truly harsh conditions nothing beats man-made
materials without zippers and bottoms, they are the only real waterproof
materials.
On the internet there are permanently
discussions of real leather material on saddles or bags of waxed cotton duck
with real leather applications but after several rain showers and real life
usage these discussions seem meaningless to real bike tourists.
- I
bought a British original real leather saddle, an obviously popular no. B-17
model for bike touring. In the beginning it was comfortable but after some
unexpected rain showers during my tour around Taiwan even with with extra
proofing and a rain cover the leather broke on the rivets.
- I used
a bike bag made of natural waxed cotton duck which did not only develop mold in
the high humidity in Taiwan but it was not waterproof even with an additional
coat of wax.
So, when equipment is useless in harsh
conditions why take them into considerations at all? To be en vogue? Thanks,
but I would like to pass...
Out of one of my saddle bags I took my
yellow one way rain jacked and continued to fight through the fog, rain and
wind. To lighten my load a little I’ve decided to leave Highway 1 and followed
the Pescadero Creek Road until I came to the farming community of Pescadero.
There are only a few buildings beside the main street and between them is the
Pescadero Country Store, http://pescaderocountrystore.com/. I did not want
to fiddle with the rain jacket and walked wet and miserable as I was into the
store and bought something to eat and to drink.
As I was standing at the cash register with
my goods in the hands the elderly checkout 'girl' looked at me and encouraged
me with a smile: “Not a good day for a bike ride, right?” Considering my
appearance I had to smile back to this early sunshine in the morning. After she
told me that i did not rain for months and how much a farm community needs this
rain I did not feel so miserable any more. Or, as the saying goes “One
man’s joy is another man’s sorrow.” I wished her well and hoped that it
might continue to rain for them. Of course, hopefully after I left...
Researching for this blog I came over the
sad news that the colorful store, which some called the heart and soul of the
town, caught a devastating fire on Sep. 18, 2016 (http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2016/09/18/pescadero-country-store-total-loss-sunday-morning-fire/).
It's a pity but the owner wants to fight to rebuild it and continue to serve
the community and customers in the future.
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Pescadero
Country Store
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As I already left the coast I continued to ride in the
land along Stage Road. It was a true lonely back road, built to ease off the
farmers work. There were no shoulders beside the road, but some steep roads to
climb and thick forests to cross. Road signs were sparsely and most of the time
non-existent. I
followed a line of tall trees which lead to a big farm but generally it was an
empty road. There were only sparsely cars and all of them were pick-up trucks
with female drivers.
Finally I came to the cross of the Stage Road
and Highway 84 San Gregorio. There on the crossroad is the San Gregorio General
Store, apparently the center of this small town. On this early morning the
store front was lined with pickups parking in front of this Mexican building.
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San
Gregorio General Store, http://www.sangregoriostore.com/
On the right side of the road I discovered
the guidepost to the Highway 1. On Highway 84 I followed the road until I came
back to the familiar Highway 1. The road was smooth and the surrounding was
rough and surprisingly flat. No wonder that many cyclists from the San
Francisco area ride here during the weekends.
Coming from the south the exit to the State
Beach was first from Highway 1 on the left even before the city of Half Moon
Bay even started.
(to be
continued)
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