YOSEMITE IS GOD'S ARTWORK

DAYS 23 & 24

TUESDAY 26 & WEDNESDAY 27 APRIL 2016

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK

I was flicking through an anonymous guide book a couple of days ago and the author described the Swiss Alps as God's practice run in comparison to Yosemite.

Having spent all day and about 15 miles on the trail today with the opportunity to ogle this mind boggling glacial masterpiece first hand, I would struggle to compile a case in the negative.

I've never seen the Swiss Alps however, so this is the only thing that would save face.

Rather than mince superlatives, perhaps I'd prefer to post these photos for people to look at instead, if it is at all possible for photographs to speak the appropriate language.

COLD COLD COLD

DAY 22 

MONDAY 25 APRIL 2016

SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK

COLD COLD COLD (Little Feat, 1974)

Nothing overly profound in these lyrics apart from how they described today.

About 9 pm last night, a fierce electrical storm swept across the High Sierras and dumped about an inch-and-a-half of snow in 30 minutes.

It meant last night was pretty damned cold in my tent and today was even colder.

Top temp today folks in Sequoia National Park of 34F. (That's 1C!!!)

A multitude of snow storms passed throughout the day, the final one of which at about 3 pm halted me along the Generals Highway in Sequoia at the very posh Wuksachi Lodge.

Not having chains on my tyres and like most people getting about today, I was largely unprepared for this extremely cold snap in the middle of spring.

But I guess, it can always happen when you're at 7000 ft elevation.

It's a shame because any hiking plans I may have had for today were out the door from the outset.

Unfortunately the amounts of ice and snow on the roads also made driving conditions dangerous and eventually impossible, so luckily for me Wuksachi Lodge came up on my right and I pulled in.

I enquired about vacancies in passing but to no avail.

It is an expensive place and not somewhere I'd normally choose to stay, so no biggie here.

I did take the opportunity however to jump in out of the freezing cold for an hour or so and use the wi-fi.

By 4 pm, the snow had eased and the sun was out, briefly at least.

So I took the chance to get back on the road with the ease in conditions and the activities of the snow ploughs who were out in full force.

The original plan was to take the Generals Highway back north to Grant Grove and maybe book a cabin there for the night but back out on the road, they had closed it to the north which left me with 2 options - sleep in the Dodge Dart at Wuksachi or head south.

A Parks employee actually came out of the lodge behind me and in an exchange through open windows, tipped me off to head south through to Three Rivers as it was about 5000 feet lower and conditions could only improve as the altitude decreased.

So this is what I did.

THE EXCELLENT GIANT FOREST MUSEUM, SEQUOIA NP

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

DAYS 20 & 21 

SATURDAY 23 & SUNDAY 24 APRIL 2016

YOSEMITE & KINGS CANYON NATIONAL PARKS

BUT FIRST, OAKHURST CA

I was honestly hoping to introduce this post as "Happy Birthday To Me From Y-O-S-E-M-I-T-E" but unfortunately it was not to be. (This rhymes as well...:)...:)....)

When I showed up in Yosemite last evening at around 6.30, the entrance to the Yosemite Village was in a traffic gridlock that Sydney would have been proud of.

I had expected it to be busy, but this was beyond the pale.

Given that it is National Park week in the U.S and entry to all National Parks has been free until today, I guess it is a good thing that people are taking advantage of it.

However, even if I had been organised enough to try and book ahead I cannot see that there would have been any advantage whatsoever in this shit fight.

Shocked to say the least, I had to scramble a plan as I sat stationary in the mile-long queue.

AT LEAST I GOT THIS PHOTO WHILST I WAS SITTING THE YOSEMITE QUEUE

When I was eventually ushered back out the gate by the rangers at about 7.30, I decided to make ground towards Kings Canyon and Sequoia, which I had also planned on visiting this week.

With the advantage of having the Dodge Dart at my disposal for the next 9 days, I located a dot on the map which was just to the south of Yosemite and somewhat closer to Kings Canyon I would otherwise have planned, so I decided to make a push for said dot which was named Oakhurst.

THE DODGE DART

Also now with the benefit of a GPS unit, I could see that there was about another hour or so of driving involved to get there.

In after dark, but what the heck.

I also just had to hope that this Oakhurst had something to offer in the way of food and accommodation when I got there.

(At a long shot, I could have even pushed through to Fresno but in hindsight would not have been bunking into a room somewhere until close to midnight...)

As 9 pm approached, and my GPS had narrowed the distance to under 3 miles, I could see a cluster of lights approaching from the valley below.

This must be Oakhurst.

The first sign of civilisation on the open side of the dense cedar and cypress forests of southern Yosemite was a Mexican restaurant called El Cid and the "Open" sign was well and truly ablaze.

"Beauty!!" I thought, I like this place already.

Descending into the township a little further had raised my hopes infinitely as open restaurants and accommodations began to spawn rapidly on either side of Route 41, followed by a collection of typical white bread franchises including Dennys, Taco Bell and bloody Maccas and as the downtown area consolidated I could even spot out some banks and a "Von's" supermarket.

No problems, this place is a breeze.

Scanning either side of the road as I went for potential accommodations, there were any number to choose from.

Ideally a Motel 6 or Super 8 may have been amongst them, but it was the last post in town that drew me in.

The "Yosemite Southgate Inn" sold itself on board the "America's Best Value Inn" chain so I figured this was good enough for me after 8 long hours on the road from San Francisco.

As I approached the reception area, I could clearly see a sign saying "Sorry No Vacancy", which was not a great omen.

Regardless, I entered and eventually got to ask the toothless chap behind the desk if he could recommend anywhere to stay tonight.

Well, he said, there was one last room remaining due to a late cancellation and it was mine if I wanted it.

He made me a quote and I accepted and 10 minutes later, there was another $20 peeled off the tab when he learned I was by myself.

Bargain, especially when you throw in an inclusive continental breakfast and free wi-fi.

I loaded my gear into the room AQAP and choofed on up the hill to that El Cid place which definitely had the best menu in town.

After all, I was a little peckish after the Yosemite debacle....

KINGS CANYON & SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARKS

Spending the night in Oakhurst gave me a great launching pad this morning to get through to Kings Canyon by midday.

The main attractions of visiting here include proximity to Yosemite and the fact that even though Kings Canyon & Sequoia are only a couple of hours south, they are both virtually empty of tourists compared to their famous northern counterpart.

This suits me just fine.

On arrival, I was able to take advantage of the final day of "National Park Week" and gain free entry.

What was more, I learned at the entry gate that the roads to Cedar Grove (north) and Lodgepole (south) only opened yesterday after being completely closed for the winter, so my timing surely could not have been better!

Immediately though, I headed for the nearby "Grant Grove" information center and dove straight into a strategy for my couple of days here.

I could see by perusing the map that by splitting my visit on a north/south axis was probably going to be most effective.

Perhaps I could do the north (Kings Canyon) today and head south tomorrow to Sequoia and Lodgepole?

This sounded reasonable, according to the park ranger behind the counter and especially since the only open camping ground was directly across the road, I could readily pull the trigger on this plan starting now.

Of course there are a typical plethora of activities on offer, the ones involving hiking most interested me, although in spite of having to forgo the previously larger plans for my 44th birthday today, I simply enjoyed mooching around, driving down into the canyon this afternoon and immersing myself in the grand scale of everything this mighty landscape has to offer.

These are the High Sierras and for the most part are a minimum of 4000 feet (1200 meters) in elevation. In many parts this extends to well above 7000 feet (2100 meters).

The light today also was especially magnificent and compelling which was just a perfect canvas for photography.

There was way too much happening by the side of the road to even consider hiking anywhere...

HIGH SIERRA PANORAMIC

GIANT SEQUOIAS

LAKE HUME

SEQUOIA ART

A DAY OUT IN KINGS CANYON

SAN FRAN & THE PLAN AHEAD

DAYS 18 & 19

TIME OFF IN SAN FRANCISCO

THURSDAY 21 & FRIDAY 22 APRIL 2016

I've just returned from an evening tour of Alcatraz which was an experience I did not intend to miss whilst in San Francisco this time.

I also visited Coit Tower today which was also totally worthwhile and a very San Fran thing to do.

An $8 fee allows you to take the lift to the top of the tower and indulge some amazing panoramic views of the city. 

Despite this morning's cloud cover, the vistas were grand. 

And even this improved as we stood there when, as if on cue, the clouds began to lift.

COIT TOWER

FROM CLOUD COVER

TO THIS 20 MINUTES LATER...

In spite of the early inclemency, the afternoon cleared up quite spontaneously which augured well for my tour this evening.

Alcatraz is an inseparable part of the San Fran experience and I have remained vexed for the past 12 years at having missed it last time.

I had been lucky enough yesterday to find space on this evening's night tour which are notoriously difficult to get tickets for on short notice, so perhaps it was meant to be.

Night tours to the island are perennially more popular due to the number of activities on offer and possibly also to do with widespread notions of the place being completely haunted which I guess you'd not be able to necessarily tell when present amongst the hordes of tourists.

(This evening's tour also had the bonus of having a sunset and a near-full-moon rise thrown in for free.)

Whilst the facility only served as a maximum security prison for 29 years (1934 - 1963), its notoriety ended up surpassing any purpose it ever served to society.

There have been several films made about Alcatraz and the island along with its location have been used as a film set on a long list of other films.

Some of Alcatraz's alumni achieved celebrity that has become legendary.and was also ahead way of its time. 

Characters such as Al Capone famously served time there but perhaps the most famous of all inmates was the "Birdman" himself, Robert Franklin Stroud.

The building itself has been subject to ongoing restoration and maintenance to be able to continue to function as a world-famous tourist attraction and National Monument (which it has been since 1972).

Wind and salt have been the biggest threats to the building for decades and were a major reason that it stopped operating as a prison in 1963.

CELL OF THE BIRDMAN

A BLOCK

CITY PANORAMIC

MOON RISE ON THE BAY

THE PLAN AHEAD

I'm taking a spell from the bike at this point and hiring a car to engage a round-trip detour from San Francisco to Yosemite and Kings Canyon National Parks for the next week or so.

I'll then continue back towards Monterey for a motor racing event at the legendary Laguna Seca racetrack next weekend, the Continental Monterey Grand Prix.

The hire car will then be returned to San Fran on Monday 2 May and I'll be back on the bike to continue north from here.

So next report from Yosemite.

SAN FRANCISCO

DAY 17

WEDNESDAY 20 APRIL 2016

PIGEON POINT TO SAN FRANCISCO

0910 - 1730

88.04 km (54.7 miles)
Av. Speed: 14.7 km/h (9.1 mph)
Max. Speed 63.3 km/h (39.3 mph)
Time on Bike: 5h 57m 18s

17 days and 881 kilometers/547 miles has got me to San Francisco.

From here, there is now a planned detour which will involve me getting off the bike for about 10 days but more about this later.

It was as big a day as expected today but I made pretty good time on it.

Pigeon Point was a location I could easily have spent longer but in the scheme of it, I had to keep moving.

Conditions again today were superb for riding.

Clear, calm conditions and a good share of it nice and flat - until the approaches to San Fran, that is.

The recumbent REALLY, REALLY likes it when it's like this. 

This bike was purpose built for these conditions - all of its aerodynamic and ergonomic advantages come to the fore on days like these.

I'm also not reading too much into any of this for the risk of cursing myself, given that much of what I hear from various individuals is that I'm riding the wrong way, it's all uphill, the prevailing winds are all from the north etc, etc......

So far not much of it has been true although it could change on any given day. 

I was in Pacifica today by about 1.30 after cruising through the morning even though there were a couple of decent grades south of Half Moon Bay.

Taco Bell at Pacifica is ideally located on the beachfront and I had been tipped off to stop here as it would likely be the one and only time I would ever come close to eating at a Taco Bell.

And this is about the sum of it, although the unsweetened iced tea was pretty good....

From Pacifica it was mostly hard going, with plenty of pushing involved up some of the backstreets of Daly City. Easily some of the steepest hills I've had to negotiate so far and it wasn't particularly enjoyable.

I had to concede though that this is San Francisco after all - there aren't too many flat bits around here.

4 hours to complete just over 20 miles is not earth shattering by any standard.

And for once my extensive note taking came good and apart from one anomaly on a freeway exit, the previous nights' research got me door to door in just over 8 hours.

I've bunked into the HI Fisherman's Wharf Hostel (Fort Mason) for 3 nights.

This is the same venue I stayed in 12 years ago on my last visit to San Fran and it's probably the best place in town to stay from my perspective.

It's a rambling old timber naval building on Federal land, directly overlooking San Francisco Bay and everything that this highlights - Alcatraz, the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges.

There's more facilities and activities available than anyone can possibly fit into a few days but I will be sure to take advantage of the laundry, free breakfast and wi-fi at the very least.

NEXT STOP SAN FRAN

DAY 16

TUESDAY 19 APRIL 2016

SANTA CRUZ TO PIGEON POINT

1100 - 1615

48.51km (30.14 miles)
Av. Speed: 15 km/h (9.3 mph)
Max. Speed 54.8 km/h (34 mph)
Time on Bike: 3h 13m 26s

THE EMPEROR'S NEW SHOES

It was only ever to be an overnighter in Santa Cruz this time around.

I had stayed in this very hostel 12 years ago and it is equally as nice now as it was then.

On the way out of Santa Cruz this morning, I swung by the local Safeway to stock up as I anticipated the remoteness of my next stop at Pigeon Point and would likely be dining in on arrival.

On my right-hand side as I approached the Safeway was a bicycle store which I made a quick decision to visit in order to rectify the ongoing issue I have had with the cleats in my shoes slipping out of the pedal clips, the left side particularly.

As I entered the store and the staff took one look at my shoes, they could not believe that I was still wearing them.

I'd probably been in denial about how bad the old Shimanos really were but after serving me over time for well in excess of 10 000 kilometers, I finally had to admit that they were cactus.

So it was over to the shoe rack to try on some newbies.

20 minutes later, I was back on the bike in some brand spankers and after some readjustments to the clips, my feet felt solid in the pedals once again....

THESE ARE MY NEW SHOES

PIGEON POINT 

The ride through to Pigeon Point from Santa Cruz is largely uncomplicated.

Highway 1 directly connects the two, following the ocean for most of it.

Once I'd completed my shopping spree around 12.30, I was able to make the distance in just under 4 hours.

Today offered some overcast conditions and despite there being something of a head breeze as I pushed out of Santa Cruz, it actually dissipated as the day progressed.

ANO NUEVO BAY PANORAMIC

And by this evening, the cloud had moved on all together which made the late afternoon conditions delightful.

Pigeon Point came highly recommended by at least a couple of travellers I've crossed along the way.

The HI hostel here is right on top of the point and only meters from the historic (and slowly crumbling) old lighthouse.

So the decision to stay here was a pretty easy one and entirely vindicated as I watched a pod of 4 killer whales slowly round the point this evening just on sunset, frolicking and performing as they went.

I ran inside and notified everyone who likewise rushed out to get a good vantage point of the majestic display.

Big day coming up to San Francisco tomorrow.

PIGEON POINT VISTAS

ATTACK OF THE COONS + RIDING TO VANCOUVER WITH A WOODEN LEG

DAY 15

MONDAY 18 APRIL 2016

MONTEREY TO SANTA CRUZ

0900 - 1745

76.91km (47.79 miles)
Av. Speed: 16.2 km/h (10.1mph)
Max. Speed 57 km/h (35.4 mph)
Time on Bike: 4h 43m 20s

Oh my God they play a lot of Men at Work here.

There has not been a day pass here in the U.S I have not heard a Men at Work song playing in the supermarket, in the post office, in the convenience store, in the gas station etc....

Not bad for a humble Aussie band who hasn't released a single since about 1986 to still be on high rotation play on AM/FM stations across the U.S.

I just hope Mr Hay and his bandmates receive ongoing residuals for all this.....

AN INTERESTING DAY, I MUST SAY.....

Fucking Raccoons.

I should have known better I suppose than to inadvertently leave freshly purchased food supplies in one of my bags during the night in lieu of storing it in the provided food lockers that prevail in most campgrounds that I have stayed in so far.

Only then to be woken at an unreasonable hour by a fully fledged raccoon attack as they raided my large trolley bag which was well sealed to be sure but these aggressive little buggers had breached the seal and taken off with a decent share of what was in there.

When I jumped out of the tent to inspect the damage, it was obvious that they had made away with whatever they could, in addition to the mess remaining inside the bag itself.

They'd also had a decent crack at a bag of washing powder which I can only imagine was anything but flavorsome.

I rescued what I could and placed it all straight into the food locker as several of the beasts started encircling the bag in the dark, ready for another sortie.

The size of this trolley bag is such that I have been leaving it outside of my tent during the night as I have deemed it too large a fit to accommodate it with myself trying to sleep along side of it.

So it was, that after removing the food to a safer place and pelting a few of these rabid bastards with whatever I could find, I rolled back into the tent to resume my nights' rest.

Within 10 minutes however, I could here them at it again and at this, burst back out into the night air, head torch ablaze to find at least 4 raccoons skulking in close proximity of their intended target and this was enough for me.

I shoved the bag into the tent and made room along side my mattress for both of us, hoping that their sense of smell and cunning was not such that they would start chewing through the tent as they are otherwise capable of doing..

Only minutes later, I could hear another camper up and about in much the same mode as I had been about 20 minutes earlier, clearly caught out in an attack of the Coons.....

Day 15 was a great days' riding.

Superlative weather conditions (for the 3rd successive day) and no discernible wind.

The distance between Monterey and Santa Cruz is only 75 kilometers (45 miles) and it's mostly flat.

In addition, the first half of it between Monterey and Moss Landing is dedicated bicycle path!

This morning's ride however was interrupted by a chance meeting about 5 kilometers north of Monterey.

I was stopped on the "Monterey Bay Coastal Trail" by a fellow who was fascinated by my bike.

He introduced himself as David Derby and explained that his knees were about to force him into retirement and continued to pore over my touring beast.

I'm normally more than happy to answer questions and tell people who are genuinely interested anything they need or want to know about it.

And this fellow seemed in that category.

So after about 20 minutes of chit-chat, I decided to start making way again when a slight adjustment on the weight of the rig was followed by a reasonably loud "CRACK" and the whole thing toppled onto the ground.

"That didn't sound too good..." was my audible thought bubble.

And sure enough, I looked down to see that my aluminum kick stand had snapped clean in half.

To be honest, I had the feeling that it was just a matter of time before this happened and now it had.

David had also introduced himself as a welder and welding a piece of aluminum back together was what he did, but for the fact that all his equipment was back home in Connecticut, which wasn't about to serve any use in Monterey, California.

He was in town because his father had passed away 3 days previously and we happened to be only a few miles away from where his father had lived, so that's where we went.

With David driving slowly and me following, we arrived and David then went to work, rummaging in his father's trailer park shed to retrieve the necessary tools and a chunk of Californian Redwood.

Talking, working, measuring and nearly 2 hours later, he had fashioned me a new stand out of this modest piece of timber.

I insisted that he signed his autograph to it as it was likely to be travelling all the way to Vancouver with me and perhaps even beyond.

And also the fact that this hand-crafted creation would likely be the envy of many a touring cyclist that I may meet along the way and David may even stand to earn himself some retirement cash if people know where to find him....

MY NEW "WOODEN LEG" WAS PUT TO IMMEDIATE USE...

SANTA CRUZ

It was easily one of the better day's riding into Santa Cruz and despite not getting away until 12.30 from my woodworking session with David, I made generally excellent time for the remainder of the afternoon.

Taking the coastal bike path as far as Moss Landing, I passed through the "Artichoke Capital of the World", Castroville before taking on a pretty shitty, heavily-trafficked section of Highway 1 through Moss Landing, Elkhorn and merging onto the Freeway past Watsonville.

I even got pulled over by a "CHiPpie"!!!

When I was 7-years-old my dream (if I had one) was probably to be a motorcycle cop.

And if I couldn't be, I thought it would have been the coolest thing in the world to be pulled over by Jon and Ponch and spoken to for anything at all.

So at age 44, it finally happened.

Even though it was neither Jon or Ponch, the motorcycle CHiPpie pulled me aside on the freeway section of Highway 1 and told me that I actually wasn't supposed to be there.

Fair enough, I told him. The sooner I could get off it the better.

He then told me to take the next exit, turn right and then left and pick up Soquel Drive, which is exactly what I was looking for.

Soquel Drive is the bicycle friendly route straight into Santa Cruz so it was a timely intervention.

The freeway exit I had been looking out for (State Park Drive) was about another 2+ miles further along , so I probably got off before acceptances but still not a moment too soon.

Soquel Drive for the final hour or so was great riding, through some very pleasant villages on the outskirts of Santa Cruz until the traffic really started to bank up the closer I got.

With dedicated bicycle lane for the entirety, I was fairly unfazed by any of it.

5.45 pm was a fair return for the day's outing when I finally pulled into the HI Santa Cruz hostel at 321 Main St.

SANTA CRUZ JETTY

DINNERTIME @ FIREFISH, SANTA CRUZ