Bike Tour in the USA (2007), Part 23

Monday, Sep. 17, 2007

Friendly America

Morro Rock - San Simeon State Park

Distance: 72.35 km, Time: 5:09:21 hrs, Total: 782.97 km

On the left side of the road is a small park, from there a nice view on the dominant vulcano rock in the ocean not far away from the coast. To take a satisfying picture I had to use some skills to cut off the Dynegy power plant which provides electricity not only to Morro but also the Central Valley of California (Fresno and Bakersfield). Due to its large tall smokestacks it is also known as the ‘Three Fingers‘.

I found a small post office of Morro Bay City and parked my bike directly beside the entrance. At that time the internet was not very popular and widely available, so I’ve decided to mail a CD of my photos to my wife and daughter which I ‘burned‘ at a pharmacy yesterday. I sent it per airmail for $2.70 to Taiwan with the hope that my family might receive and enjoy the CD before my return.

I continued on the Highway 1 until I came to the beautiful city of Cambria. During the history this place had many different names like Santa Rosa, Rosaville, San Simeon and Slabtown. After 1869 the city decided to call themselves Cambria, latin for Wales. 

City of Cambria sign

In the beginning the place was a fishing and miner city, later it became a milk and wood production center. Today Cambria attracts mainly artists and tourist. The whole place seems only to exists of renovated wooden buildings, many are historical and from founding period of California and the USA. Today they are used for apartments, restaurants, shops and galleries.

Road in the City of Cambria

After my acquaintance Peter warned me about bike theft in San Francisco I wanted to buy a lock for my bike. Already several days into my trip I strangely never thought about locking my bike. Even during shopping, mailing and even eating I just parked my bike outside and had a good feeling that my bike would be still there when I came out. In German there is a word called 'Gottvertrauen' translated into faith/trust into the Lord. 

Not far away from a bike path I discovered the Cambria Hardware Center and steered in its direction. They did not have a complete bike lock but a padlock with a secret number. The locking system was constructed like a safe (different left and right turns) so I asked the clerk at the cash register how to use it. He did not know either but the customer behind me was so kind to help out. I still did not get it 100% and went to the same customer already sitting in his pick-up ready to leave the parking lot. He was so kind to explain it to me a 2nd time with it's running engine and the opened door window and finally I got it.  

Still on the parking lot I asked a young employee if he knew where I could find a bike shop. It happened that just In the same moment a friend of him rode by on a bike. The employee shouted his name and he rode straight to us. 

Cambria Hardware Center

The friendly store assistant instructed him to lead me straight to the Cambria Bicycle Outfitter brick and mortar bike shop which is also a bike mail order business and can be found on www.cambriabike.com. As my guide wanted to leave me in front of the door he asked me for my name. As I answered that my name is Gerhard he asked me if I have relatives here in Cambria because he has heard my name before. I denied with a smile; I absolutely did not know about a relative in the USA. I asked him if there are any Germans in Cambria. He answered that if a house has a tidy front garden, I can be sure the owners have German ancestors, if not, they are either African Americans or Mexicans. 

Stepping into the shop I felt like arriving in the 7th bike heaven! Everything a biker's heart needs was right here with a great selection of good quality and great prices! The boss was busy on the phone doing his mail order business and advised me to take a cable ($22.00) from the wall. He told me that it was made of special steel with several fine cables twisted and protected by a thick plastic coat. It was made in the USA and so strong that no one could cut it! He convinced me that I just bought it without hesitation!

As I was already here I took my time to look around. I discovered a signed and mounted Mountain Bike shirt from Mountain Bike legend Ned Overend hanging on the wall. Leaving the shop there stood some Beach Cruisers in line for sale...

During the research of this book I found out that the Cambria Bicycle Outfitter moved  to another place and the house shown in the picture was listed for sale! 

Cambria Bicycle Outfitter 

I am a big fan from Ned Overend who pushed the boundary for Mountain Bikes (MTB) in general but especially in front suspension and full suspension (Fullys) MTBs. Here is an interesting video on fitness tips for all different kind of bikers from the master himself:

(to be continued)

Bike Tour in the USA (2007), Part 22

Sunday, Sep. 16, 2007

Beaches and Missions

Oceano Dunes → Morro Rock

Distance: 84.20 km, Time: 5:50:36 hrs, Total: 710.62 km

On the small wooden hut at the entrance of the Morro Bay State Park a kind Ranger invited me to register myself, my bike and my small tent at the Hiker & Biker. The way to the campground is located within a forest and frankly spoken, for a man-made campground it does not get much more 'natural' than that. As a kid I enjoyed the smell of trees and especially pinewood with moist needles on the ground; the whole campground's scent let me travel back in time. 

On the Hiker & Biker I had an unexpected surprise in the form of the first fellow biker and was looking forward to a nice evening. He introduced himself as Peter, an American travel biker. He cycled from the north to visit a friend in the south of the USA. Contrary to me he was a comfort camper with a 4-men tent so large that he parked his bike in it. My small one man tent seemed to be lost beside his; he meant that I ‘travel light’. I put mine beside his tent and both were at the edge of the forest not far away from a free range golf course.

Before it got dark I’ve tried to find in the proximity of the State Park something to eat. Leaving the park I had a good view on the Morro Rock, a volcanic plug in the Morro Bay. It is a 581 foot (177 m) lava dome and mostly compost of dacite, an igneous, volcanic rock, and partially of petrified bird feces (solid or semisolid remains of the food that could not be digested), which have compacted into the plug over the year (wikipedia). 

I cycled northbound through a clean neighborhood but beside beautiful houses I could neither find a supermarket nor a restaurant. So I had to stick with the salad for dinner.

During the dinner me and Peter sat together and he told me about his cycling adventure. I asked especially about San Francisco and he only answered: “I arrived with a $1000 bike and returned with a $600 bike!” This meant that this original bike got stolen and he had to get a new one. He warned me to be very careful in the city of 'flower power' San Francisco!

After the sunset we watched a group of deer moving on the edge of the forest on the golf course and eating the grass there in the twilight. What a natural and peaceful sight on this late evening! I took this feeling in my small tent and had a great night!

Monday, Sep. 17, 2007

Friendly America

Morro Rock - San Simeon State Park

Distance: 72.35 km, Time: 5:09:21 hrs, Total: 782.97km

After I peeled myself out of the sleeping bag and the tent at 8:00 in the morning my friend Peter left already. I personally was not in a hurry and wanted to take my time. As I did not take a shower for the last 4 days (!) I took the chance to do it in this nice environment. After I felt clean and fresh I packed my things so slowly that I have to admit that I did not want to leave this comfortable campground at all.

The Ranger at the entrance was also not there but instead of turning right to the north I turned left. Yesterday I discovered a small harbor so I parked my bike there and walked around to have a look. The sun did not rise too long ago so I took a photo in this early morning of the ships fixed by ropes on the harbor. 

Finally I went back to my bike and cruised north to the City of Morro as it is known officially. It is still in San Luis Obispo County and has around 10.000 citizens. The 1st Europeans explored the coast near Morro Bay on Sep. 08, 1769; the Franciscan missionary and expedition member Juan Crespi noted in his diary that “we saw a great rock in the form of a round morro”. The term 'morro' is common to the Spanish, Portuguese and Italian languages, and part of place names where there is a distinctive and prominent hill-shaped rock formation (wikipedia).

(to be continued)

Bike Tour in the USA (2007), Part 20

Sunday, Sep. 16, 2007

Beaches and Missions

Oceano Dunes → Morro Rock

Distance: 84.20 km, Time: 5:50:36 Std., Total: 710.62 km

   I slowly cruised into the city of Oceano, a small town with a little more than 7.200 citizens already in San Luis Obispo county.
   Beside the road I found a DIY laundy. After my sandy adventure I wanted to wash all of my clothes including the sleeping bag there. Maybe because it was a Sunday morning I stepped through the door into a Mexican world: the custom of washing clothes on this actual Holy Day!

“²By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. ³Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done (Genesis 2).”

During my ½ hour washing and drying procedure the only white American was a camper with a basket full of dirty clothes, on the basis of the quantity possibly the clothes for one week.

As I stuffed my clothes into my saddle bags I discovered and watch several homeless. The returned empty bottles to a collection point for empty bottles and earned some cents this way. They immediately went with their possessions into the supermarket in the next building and bought food and something to drink.

Again I went back to the Highway 1. As I already mentioned that sand and bikes to not work well together I  decided to pay a visit to a car wash. For US$2.00 I steamed off my bike in a respektfull distance to the bearings and the chain. With clean clothes and a clean bike I headed northwards...

Near the Pismo Heights the Highway 1 joined with the Freeway 101, again I could ride on an American Freeway. Along the Freeway there are beaches on beaches like the Shell Beach, Spindrift, Saint Andrews, Spyglass with its Memory Park, North Spyglass, the South Palisades until I came to the the exit of Avila Beach, “The Land of the Ahhs.”

I came to a beautiful Mediterranean small village with white painted houses which matched admirable to the white beach sand. Despite of the Sunday beautiful sunshine there was no one in the water, only 2 Mexicans played beach soccer, obviously because of the already hot sand in socks! As I wanted to take a photo I discovered a yellow warning sign saying: “Confirmed Shark Attack August 2008”! Wow, even on the beautiful Atlantic waters it is advised to watch out!  

Confirmed Shark Attack August 2008

I continued and discovered and elderly couple sitting in front of a pier selling oil paintings (painted by them?). I still wondered where all the citizens might be…

Selling Oil Paintings

As I was already here I wanted to visit nearby Fisherman’s Beach. The road led me through a very pleasant cool forest; the road went mostly downhill and no car to be seen near & far. The air was filled the pleasant scent of pinewood which let me forget the heat a few minuted ago. I had to stop to take out my hoodie out of my saddlebag, it was really  getting to cold!

After I passed a golf course I finally arrived at the beach. Locals call it the 'Dog Beach' because dogs are allowed to roam off leach here. Contrary to the before mentioned Avila Beach the Fisherman's beach is nestled within a half-round bay, there are no directly buildings beside the beach. But I could see RVs camping beside the road some in the sun but some in the shadows. As I prepared for a photo beside the signboard a newspaper reading American in bathing trunks got up from his folding camping chair and asked me if he could of any help. Of course I agreed that he helped me with a photo... I am imagine it might look a little odd to see an elderly gentlemen in trunks taking a photo of a much younger biker wearing a hoodie...

Fisherman's Beach

(to be continued)

Bike Tour in the USA (2007), Part 19

Saturday, Sep. 15, 2007

With a little help from my friend Tom

Vandenberg AFB→Oceano Dunes

Distance: 150.6km, Total: 475.82 km

   Again my friend Tom lead the road back to the beach and I tried to keep up behind the rear wheel of his bike. In this way we arrived pretty fast at the main entrance at the Oceano Dunes.

   I thanked Tom very much for his help and effort to find a nice place of the night. He told me that he planed to invite me to stay at his home if I could not find an accommodation but his wife was not not at home for a consultation. I insured him that my problem was solved and thanked him again from the bottom of my heart. We had some small talk but finally we had to separate! See you, Tom!

   The young lady on the entrance of the Dunes was already waiting for me and extreme friendly after the radio call from the Ranger. This time she let me in without objection; for the most expensive camp night on the whole trip i paid $10.00 (!), the same price as a 4x4 as she insured me. But I had a save place for the night...

   From the main entrance there is a small concrete leading directly onto the sandy beach. The heaven was already dark but the lights of the 4x4s and the motorcycles lighted up my way. Because of their weight and their tires I had a firm surface to ride on.

I could find a suitable place very fast and finally built my small tent in a few seconds on the sand. My tent is conveniently free to carry so I can place it wherever the ground is flat enough for me. I put it a little further into the soft sand which gave me a natural cushion for my sleeping bag. In case that I would be overseen by drivers or riders I fixed a light on the entrance of my tent...The lights of the vehicles reflected sometimes on my tent wall but I had a very nice sleep.

Oceano Dunes

Sunday, Sep. 16, 2007

Beaches and Missions

Oceano Dunes → Morro Rock
Distance: 84.20 km, Time: 5:50:36 Std., Total: 710.62 km

   Today is the birthday of my wife! „Happy Birthday!“ were my first thoughts still in my sleeping bag. Later I called my wife and daughter in Taiwan; 1st to congratulate but 2nd to tell them that I am all right. My daughter Veronika told me that they will have a fancy birthday dinner in a restaurant; how much would I like join to them...
   In my sleeping bag I heard the sound of engines thundering up and down the beach on this very early Sunday morning. I personally think that opening a beach for cars and motorcycles has some serious environmental issues. But on the other hand for some people to pollute the air with diesel fumes on purpose is also seen as sports and as an action against environment protection. I see the earth is a gift and it's our responsibility to take care good care of this fragile planet we are living on. There are many things can be fun 'in the nature' and 'with the nature'; there is not need to burn precious imported fossil fuels not only 'for fun' but also do 'endanger' others.

   In my tent the sand was kept out well but after I left it I saw that on the outside of it was wet with drops from the ocean and 1/3rd of it buried in sand! With a cloth I tried to wipe the familiar morning moisture from my tent and 'dug' it out carefully. I shook it several time to get rid of the sand but could not get it properly dried. 

   I packed all my things in the waterproof saddlebags, some still alcohol influenced youngsters passed me on the way to the morning toilet. I abstained to go there on purpose, I would rather wait until I find a quieter and cleaner surrounding...

   I rode carefully on the beach back to entrance avoiding by avoiding quick turns or sharp brakes on the sand. It was a nice experience but I know that sand and bikes actually do not match; sand and its dust is not only sticky on the wet bike but also an enemy of bike chains and all bearings. I was very glad that I rode on firm ground again but could boast with this experience for the rest of my life...

A Building at Oceano, California

(to be continued)