Tag Archives: bikes

Pacific Coast Bike Tour Day 19: Lompoc to El Capitan State Beach

Posted on July 31, 2013 by | 7 comments

previous post: Pacific Coast Bike tour , Day 18: San Luis Obisbo to Lompoc

Day 19: Lompoc to El Capitan State Beach

We woke up in the Lompoc city park, took care of our usual morning routine of coffee and breakfast. As Tim made the coffee, I wandered over to the camp host’s site and asked if we could charge our electronics in the vacant RV site next to the hiker/biker. He said, no problem. So we plugged in all of the devices and continued breakfast and taking down our camp.

While we were packing up, the park ranger drove into the campground to collect the fee envelopes from the self pay box. To our surprise, he came over to the hiker/biker and gave Henry and Danielle a refund. They had been used to paying per person in CA State Parks. Naturally, they paid $10 for their site, $5 per person. But at the Lompoc city park, the camping fee was $5 per site, not per person! And he graciously explained they paid too much and gave them $5 back.

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Continue reading →

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Pacific Coast Bike Tour, Day 18: San Luis Obisbo to Lompoc

Posted on July 30, 2013 by | 3 comments

previous post: San Simeon to San Luis Obisbo

Day 18: San Luis Obisbo to Lompoc

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We woke the next morning rested, clean, smelling good and ready to tackle the day. A little rest, some pool time, leg massages and mega doses of ibuprofen  had done Tim’s knees some good.  He was still reluctant and a bit worried about his knees and wasn’t sure they were going to take him 400 more miles to the border but he was willing to keep plugging along.

A couple of months before we left on the trip Tim changed his saddle on the tandem. The more miles he pedaled, the more Tim deduced that the position change from his saddle swap might be contributing to his sore knees. He considered asking a friend to break into our garage, remove his Selle Atomica saddle from another bike and mail it to a future stop.  He figured that would be too much hassle for all parties involved and decided to just manage the pain instead. Continue reading →

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Pacific Coast Bike Tour Days 15, 16 and 17 San Simeon to San Luis Obisbo

Posted on July 7, 2013 by | 2 comments

Previous post: Big Sur to San Simeon

Day 15: San Simeon to San Luis Obisbo

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We woke up in the hiker/biker site and most of the riders who had arrived late the evening before had already left. Early risers get the worm and get to ride the Hwy in a dense fog. We learned that one of the riders in the late arriving group had to catch a train in San Luis Obisbo so they had a valid reason for getting up and out of camp so early.

san simeon to san luis obisbo

We enjoyed our usual leisurely morning routine with coffee, hot chocolate and oatmeal for the kids while we waited for the fog to clear. We weren’t interested in riding the highway in dense fog. Good call! The fog cleared and we were on the road by mid-morning. Destination: a hotel in San Luis. I couldn’t wait for a real bed, a shower and some laundry! Continue reading →

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Pacific Coast Bike Tour Days 14 and 15: Big Sur to San Simeon

Posted on July 6, 2013 by | 5 comments

Pacific Coast Bike Tour previous post: Santa Cruz to Big Sur

Day 14: Big Sur to Plasket Creek

After a day of R&R at Big Sur campground, everyone was ready to tackle the day. Our daughter was feeling better, Tim thought his knee could handle a short day and we were ready to get back on the road. Our Big Sur hiker/biker campsite campmate, Jay Dancing Bear, gave us the scoop on the next stretch of the coast. Jay reported that the sparsely populated and rugged coastal area would be the best part of our tour. He’d been traveling this area for more than 20 years and had some strong opinions about the set of campgrounds, beaches and services.

big sur to san simeon

Jay Dancing Bear suggested we take the next section of the tour slow and to relish the tranquility of the remaining section of Big Sur. He scouted our Adventure Cycling maps and told us where he would camp if he was us. We appreciated the inside tips and settled on Plasket Creek campground, a forest service campground 33 miles south. Our friends, whom we traveled with last summer on the northern portion of the Pacific Coast stayed at Kirk Creek campground when they passed though Big Sur last year. They reported it was beautiful but had no potable water. They left the campsite thirsty and dehydrated and suggested we aim for Plasket Creek instead.

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A little tip about grocery stores in the Big Sur area: they are scarce and expensive along this stretch of coastline! We stocked up on groceries at the small store three miles from the Big Sur campground, still more expensive than a splurge at Whole Foods, but still cheaper than grocery options further down the road. Continue reading →

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Pacific Coast Bike Tour Days 10 to 13: Santa Cruz to Big Sur

Posted on July 5, 2013 by | 1 comment

Previous post: Oakland to Santa Cruz

Day 10: Santa Cruz to Monterey

Santa Cruz to Monterey/Pacific Grove should be a lovely day on the bike. That is, unless there’s a raging headwind and your  normal power pedaler is hitting day 10 with puffy, sore knees.

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When mapping a daily route via Google Maps, it generally figures 10mph average pace to allow for stops, traffic and the like. We’re normally right on that. However today was closer to 10mph *moving* with actual average speed for the day more like 7.

Speedy.

santa cruz to big sur

If you can get past the wind, speed, and pain, it really was a lovely day. The sun was out, the views, view-worthy, and the animals (otters, seals and a pelican or two) in abundance. It was just that damn wind and the sore knees that pushed us close to a family breakdown. But the kids’ spirit and desire to get to San Diego kept us moving forward. Continue reading →

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2013: A drive to Oakland and rest days in Bay Area

Posted on June 18, 2013 by | 1 comment

previous post: Seattle to Portland

Days 4, 5, 6 and 7: Portland to Oakland in a minivan then a few rest days in the Bay Area

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Not much to report about our drive from Portland to Oakland except that two tandems and four people really do fit in a minivan. And driving is tiring. And the kids complained more on our 11 hour drive than they did riding in the pouring down rain on the highway for an entire day. Continue reading →

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Is “Liking” Riding & Walking Good Enough?

Posted on February 8, 2013 by | 4 comments

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This week everyone is talking about the Danish study linking walking and biking to school with better concentration.  Kids + walking/biking + education = hot topic, right?

The story has legs and is making the rounds on Twitter,  Facebook, blogs, and news outlets. Everywhere we click (at least in our admittedly bike- & walk-centric world), we see a link to the study.

You’ve seen it, haven’t you?

Like many of you, we get excited about these articles and want to pass the on to our network of friends.

Click! Like! Share! +1!

The resulting flurry of retweets and likes is a good thing, isn’t it? “Hey look here’s a great story. Let’s share it with our friends!” We click and make a difference. And then …. nothing.

For all their worth so many of these stories fade quickly, replaced with the next alt-transpo buzz (like … “e-bikes are coming and they are going to change everything!”). Continue reading →

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Posted in bikes, Human Powered Politics, kids, neighborhoods, School

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Cargo Bike Old Farts

Posted on November 9, 2012 by | 1 comment

how we rolled in 2003, san francisco

I really enjoyed reading Todd’s latest post. Especially the retrospective and the Clever Cycles back story.

Todd and Martina have been riding Xtracycles since 2001. I knew they were cargo bike early adopters, but I hadn’t thought about the chronology or the details until I read the post. Continue reading →

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Posted in alternative transportation, bigger than here, bikes, cargo bikes, family cycling, longbikes, sustainability, xtracycle

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We’re back: “I miss our trip”

Posted on August 27, 2012 by | 21 comments

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Our Pacific Coast Bike tour is O V E R . We’ve been back for a while now but it’s taken me this long to process the trip and figure out what I wanted to say about the amazing experience of riding 946 miles in 22 days with 2 tandems and 2 kids under 12.

Can I just say Wow and leave it at that? Continue reading →

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Posted in bigger than here, bike touring, bikes, extravehicular activities, family cycling, Pacific Coast Bike Tour, summer

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2012 Pacific Coast Bike Tour: Days 23-25, San Rafael, CA to Oakland, CA (including the Golden Gate!)

Posted on July 30, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Day 23: Rest Day in San Rafael

We spent the day resting. Hanging out with our friends, relaxing on the couch and napping. The kids enjoyed their time with friends. It sure is nice to spend time someone other than your sibling after traveling for three weeks.
Pacific Coast Bike Tour Day 23

Miles: 10 miles
Climbing: not sure
Route: local roads
High: Good Friends, Good Food
Low: I can’t think of one
Sleep: Friends house in San Rafael

Day 24: San Rafael to Oakland via the Golden Gate Bridge

We packed up the next morning and started pedaling toward the Golden Gate. I had made plans to meet my sister, and her two daughters near the Golden Gate so they could ride the bridge with us. Of course, we got lost in Marin and the ride took longer than we had planned. We finally made it to the bridge and my sister and my nieces were cheering for us. We were elated and just a bit misty eyed! As we rode up, the 9-year-old said, “Mom, I’m really proud of myself.” I agreed, I’m proud too.

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Lots of photo opportunities in the viewing area at the Golden Gate. We lingered for a while and snapped lots of photos!

Pacific Coast Bike Tour Day 23

The cousins at the Golden Gate.

Pacific Coast Bike Tour Day 23

Our trip was officially over. 22 days, 947 miles! Tim and our daughter both said they were ready to keep going, they wanted to continue down the Coast. But we had to get back to Seattle and didn’t have time. We vowed to finish the Pacific Coast another time!

Pacific Coast Bike Tour Day 23

Miles: 20 miles
Climbing: not sure
Route: Local roads and Bart
High: Crossing the Golden Gate
Low: Getting on the wrong Bart Train
Sleep: sisters house in Oakland

We spent two days with my sister and her family. More napping. More relaxing. More hanging out with family. We were all exhausted and the parents didn’t have energy for tourist activities. The kids were disappointed that we didn’t spend more time in San Francisco. We vowed to spend more time being tourists next time!

We also reserved a rental car and Tim disassembled the bikes so they would fit on the trunk rack we borrowed from my sister to transport the bikes.

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Looks cumbersome but the bikes don’t stick out beyond the mirrors. We drove late into the night since we had to return our one-way rental car in the morning. Thirteen hours later, we were back in Seattle.

Here’s a link to our Flickr photo stream from the trip.

 – Anne

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