The Shallow End

The Astonished Head's Bike Trip Update

It looks like Ian, over at Astonished Head, is about to wrap up his bike trip across America. Close to it anyway. He is right now, as we speak, in San Luis Obispo, CA where I went to college and lived for a few years after that. Night before last, he was in San Simeon, just a couple miles north of where my Mom still lives. And before that, he was in Monterey where my aunt and uncle still live. He took a gorgeous shot of the Big Sur coast line, layered in fog, its usual state. This is one of the prettier shots I've seen of the coast...it's worth a peek. I've seen the coast like this before and it's like a blanket of snow. As the day warms, you can usually watch it melt away before your eyes. Just gorgeous.

I'm disappointed he doesn't report more on the 94-mile stretch of highway between Monterey and San Simeon because this is the stretch I was so worried about him riding. It's a narrow, winding road with little or no shoulder, and the right side of the road marks the edge of some serious cliffs. It's my favorite stretch of road in all the country! I've driven it more times than I can count. My best time is 2 hours and 6 minutes. But most often, it took 6-8 hours because of all the stops to take in the ocean and pine smells, the views, and just being there. At any rate, clearly he lived to tell about it...he just didn't tell much. My guess is that it was exhausting and he's got no energy left to write.

This is something I wouldn't mind doing someday. I would not start out on the East Coast like Ian did. I'd "just" start in Vancouver, Canada and work my way down to San Luis Obispo. Yeah, right. Like that will ever happen. Well, there's always the train. ;- )

posted by Gwynne @ 8:18 PM