Bike Trip Photos: California

For me, the best part of the trip was cycling through the redwoods on July 4th, just north of Orick, CA. There was almost no traffic on this part of the route, and it was even slightly downhill. Here are some pictures of Ryan being dwarfed by the trees:



Soon after the redwoods, we hit the northern part of Highway 1, which was the hardest part of the trip for me. The weather wasn't cooperating, so we had a headwind most of the time. And in addition, this section of the route has lots of small hills, so we were never able to relax at all.



But we eventually reached San Francisco, which was an awesome feeling. (I actually think that was more exciting than reaching Mexico!) Just before crossing the bridge, we saw this depressing sign which told us that we had another 778 miles to go. Fortunately, the sign was talking about the Coastal Trail, and we only had 700 miles left.




After stopping in Berkeley for two days, we headed back out to tackle Big Sur. After completing the northern coast, Big Sur was pretty easy. Here's Ryan at Hurricane Point:



At Pfeiffer Big Sur, we didn't need the tent; we just slept out under the trees. It was pretty awesome.



But the next night, we stayed in the best campsite of the whole trip, at Kirk Creek Campground. Our campground was on the edge of a cliff, right above the ocean. So cool.





Here's Ryan, at the top of the last hill of Big Sur. From here to Mexico, the route was mostly flat, with just one more big hill (the one just north of Gaviota).



If you're a fan of Arrested Development, then you'll understand why we had to stop at a banana stand on Balboa Island, in Newport Beach.




And finally, after 2140 miles, 37 days of cycling, and 4 rest days, we reached Mexico! I was happy just to look at the border, but Ryan felt that he had to go stick his foot (and his bike) across it.