Calfornia Day 17 - Doheny State Beach to San Diego

 The Great 2026 California Tour is done. I am at the Point Loma Hostel in San Diego.

I stayed here in 2003 when I finished a coast to coast tour too. The girl at the registration desk doesn't remember me. Probably because she wasn't born yet.

It's always sad to come to the end of a bike tour. But bike touring is good for you and I am always much happier after touring than before touring.

I grow tired of living Nixon's mess.

Lost on the freeway again.

This time it's I-5. You have to do about 7 miles of I-5 through Camp Pendleton regardless, but I got to do twice that much because of these guys.

This is an Ironman event. They closed about 50 miles of the road I planned to ride on, which put me on the interstate instead. I did learn, though, that when the interstate is gridlocked and traffic is only moving at 20 mph, riding on the shoulder is actually rather pleasant. But that was only about half of what I had to road.

There was also the challenge of getting to the interstate from where the road was blocked.

This dirt path was about a mile long, all downhill, and very popular with surfers going to the beach.

You see these bikes with surfboard carriers all over.

I had a nice rest break at a rest area, where I ate an apple. 

There was only a couple miles of shoulder after this, with gridlocked traffic, so it wasn't so bad, but I am so glad to be done with riding on the shoulder.

Unfortunately, riding along the beach pretty much didn't happen today. It was a lot of ups and downs, and it turned out to be very strenuous. 

Despite the Ironman event, there were a *lot* of people out riding bikes today. Apparently a thing people in San Diego like to do is take Amtrak up the coast first thing in the morning and then ride back. I chatted with several people doing this. 

I didn't see any other bike tourists, but I met a lot of people who had done touring in the past, who were happy to talk to me about touring and to share their past experiences. I think it is the off season for touring, which is weird because the weather is perfect.

I had these pizza slices for lunch in Encinitas, which was at the halfway point. They got the job done.

The killer was Torrey PInes, which is 15 miles from the end. This is a 500 foot hill with a golf course on top. You have to go over the top, there is no alternative.

Here's a view looking back at Torrey Pines from La Jolla, which is full of short steep climbs itself.

Today was actually pretty tough. It was 67 miles and 2405 feet of climb. I'm pretty comfortable when the days are under 60 miles and 2000 feet of climb.  I'm feeling it now.

The hostel is a low-key residential neighborhood. It is not near any big party zones with lots of bars, like say Hermosa Beach. But it does have a surprising number of good-looking restaurants nearby, which apparently focus on serving the people who live in the neighborhood. 

I checked out the Thai place, which was terrific, although it was pretty authentically spicy compared to the stuff I"m used to.

I really like it when I get to experience places as the typical residents experience them.

Here's the Strava track: https://www.strava.com/activities/17894366277

California Day 16 - Hermosa Beach to Doheny State Beach

 HE SHOOTS HE SCORES!

Do I look like a guy who needs a hiker biker campsite or what?

Despite reading many reports that Doheny State Beach no longer has hiker biker sites, I decided to give it a shot anyway. The alternative is to ride seven more miles and pay $180 for a two star dive motel room in San Clemente.

The guy at the campground registration said they did away with the hiker biker site years ago but they will try to accommodate hikers and bikers who show up if they can and "if they look legitimate". (Apparently the old hiker biker site was being abused by the local homeless population, who would monopolize it and steal from the regular campers.) He asked me where I stayed last night and how far I'd ridden (60 miles). I told him a story about how I still had shower tokens from Leo Carrillo State Park, because when I tried to give them back, they told me to keep them because they are good at any California State campground. So I figured they would have a hiker biker site because otherwise the guys at Leo Carrillo would have taken the tokens back, right? I am so legitimate.

$16. Such a deal. It's literally on the beach. 

Here is my happy tent all set up.

See that white building though the trees? That's the Hilton Garden Inn. Rooms start at $450/night. HAHAHAHAHA

Today was a pretty great day of riding. The day started by going inland through Torrance and Carson to get to Long Beach. Otherwise there is a giant hill and a container terminal. 

This is Carson Street between Torrance and Carson. I suspect this is what most of Los Angeles looks like if you are not near the ocean.

Between Carson and Long Beach it's very industrial. Long Beach is a major container terminal, with rail service. 

Near Long Beach, I rode along one of these LA "rivers" which are basically concrete drainage channels. You see them in car chases in movies all the time. Now I've seen one in real life.

At the end of this you get to a bogus "Festival Marketplace" deal like the Baltimore Inner Harbor, complete with Bubba Gump and Hooters. It's so generic and so tired. 

However the one in Long Beach also has the Queen Mary!

Apparently it's a hotel! You can rent a room! And also a history museum. This actually sounds kind of cool.

This was the first third of the day. 

The next third was riding along bike paths along the beach. After Long Beach, I stopped for a burger at a Small Cafe on Naples Island. It was yummy.

Here's an example in Huntington Beach.

Huntington Beach is a dog beach! All the dogs are running around playing! It was great! Non of the other beaches allow dogs to run around and have fun, if they allow dogs at all.

The final third of the day was a bit inland from the beach, and it had a lot of ups and downs. Here is what it looks like entering Dana Point. No beach. Hills. 



The good news was there is a killer old school Mexican restaurant right by the campground.

It's across the street from Reptropolis. Which I gather is a reptile store.

That's a Prickly Pear Margarita there.

Which was followed by a spicy Watermelon margarita with my awesomely gooey enchaladas.

So I am now totally happy. Electrolytes are replenished, I'm stuffed with tasty food, and I have a super comfy campsite. Which only cost $16. 

Perfect.

Here's the Strava track: https://www.strava.com/activities/17882390932

 

California Day 15 - Leo Carrillo State Park to Hermosa Beach

 It was a short day today. The best option to stay in Los Angeles, balancing fun and economy, looks like the Hermosa Beach Hostel. Which is only 40 miles down the road, but that leaves two 60 miles days to wrap up the trip and that's fine. Besides, I need to do laundry.

The first half of the day was riding through 21 Miles of Scenic Beauty, as the sign describes Malibu. Here is a picture of the misty Malibu morning.

Here is a Malibu in Malibu!

I spent all morning looking to take a picture of a Malibu in Malibu. I rode through about 20 of the 21 scenic miles before I spotted one.

Here are other cars that are at least as likely to be seen in Malibu as a Malibu, based on my personal observation:
* Rolls Royce
* Aston Martin
* VW iD Buzz
* VW Microbus
* Lucid Air

Rivians and Cybertrucks are common. Porsches are abundant.

I suspect the Malibu Malibu belonged to the landscaper working on the yard across the street.

The southern part of the Pacific Coast Highway has mile after mile of vacant waterfront lots where the homes had been demolished. This was quite a puzzler. That's a lot of valuable home sites where there were obviously lots of houses, which are gone. Later on, the Internet explained to me that all burned down in the Pacific Palisades wildfire.

Here is a picture of a tree.

And here is a view looking back up the road from the start of Santa Monica.

The hostel doesn't have guest laundry, so Google Maps says the closest laundromat to the route is on Lincoln Ave. in Santa Monica. Lincoln Ave. is a major urban thoroughfare. So I left the scenic bike paths and went into the big city. 

It was a nice laundromat. Clean and efficient. Washing and drying a load was less than $5.

I got a spicy Italian sandwich and a Mexican Coke at the LoKal sandwich shop a few blocks down. It was excellent.

And the laundry side trip didn't actually add much mileage, because the route has to go around Marina Del Rey anyway. 

It was 10 miles of riding along the beach from Marina Del Rey to hostel.

Which is the second and third floor of this building on the main drag of Hermosa Beach.

I had to lug my bike and gear up a long flight of stairs.

Hermosa Beach is a big hotspot.

I had dinner at Hennessey's Irish Tavern, the green building in front on the right. The hostel is the white building behind it. There are so many walkable options here!

Electrolytes are replenished.

And I had a huge, hearty bowl of Shepherds' Pie. I am all fueled up for tomorrow.

Tomorrow's lodging is not locked down yet. This may become an adventure. I want to camp, but there are reports on The Internet that the state park halfway between here and San Diego may not actually have a hiker biker campsite as advertised. We shall see. Motel rooms are very expensive.

Here is the Strava track for today: https://www.strava.com/activities/17870485637

California Day 14 - Santa Barbara to Leo Carrillo State Park

 I am camped in the lovely, secluded hiker-biker site at Leo Carillo State Park. 

It's tucked away behind (and thankfully downwind from) the RV Dump Loop. 

The way the hiker-biker sites work is you don't need a reservation, you just show up on foot or on a bike. They are $10. They have picnic tables and fire rings. That's it. Regular campsites are very expensive and booked months to years in advance for parks near the beach like this one is.

I am the only hiker-biker. I feel like the last of a dying breed. This is the perfect time of year to be bike touring along the California coast., the weather is totally pleasant, and no rain. And yet, I am the only bike tourist. I haven't seen another one.

I'm very happy to be here.

This was a really nice day of touring. The temperature topped out at 70 degrees, there was a tailwind, no hills to speak of, and I happily cruised along for 60 miles of mostly beautiful scenery, with mountains to my left and the ocean to my right.

I just had a cup of coffee to start the day at the hostel in Santa Barbara. I stopped for a scone in Summerland at a very fancy housewares store with an attached cafe called "Field and Fort". I suspect rich people live around here.

A few miles farther along in Carpinteria, I found the meadery, Apiary Brewing, that I heard about back in New Cayuma. It was only 10 AM, and unfortunately, they don't open until two. So I could only gaze on it longingly as I rode by.

After Carpinteria,it's lots of bike lane along the 101. Which is scenic, but pretty loud. 

After about 10 miles of this, the bike route goes into the shoulder of the Pacific Coast Highway aka PCH, aka California State Route 1, which is two lane and very nice. This must be the Ventura Highway of the song. Here is what Ventura looks like:

When I was a kid there were all these soft rock songs like "Ventura Highway" and "California Dreaming" and on and on where California was an idyllic promised land of limitless potential. I suspect that's not true now, and all that opportunity has been hoarded up by the people who moved out in the 1960s. Maybe it was never that way.  Consider "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay".

But when you ride along the ocean and go through all these towns that are in the songs you grew up with, it feels like it could be true, and you want it to be true. 

But after Ventura, which is lovely, you get to gritty and grimy Port Hueneme. Which starts out nice by a big marina with lots of new condos. I had a bite to eat at a dumpling shop in a shopping strip there.



But Port Hueneme declines pretty rapidly. I don't think anyone ever wrote a song about Port Hueneme.

I actually attempted to book an AirBnb at the last minute 20 miles in Port Hueneme, because there was a room in a house with nice-looking shared common areas, and laundry, and I need to do laundry one more time. It was $84. Which is actually only $60 more than I'm probably going to spend camping here and going to the laundromat tomorrow in Los Angeles. But the host didn't respond by the time I reached my last opportunity to buy groceries before leaving town. So I cancelled.

This is a pretty beat-down Mexican grocery store. But it got the job done. I have a Frappachino and a nut bar for breakfast tomorrow, and a couple nice apples for the snack bag.

Port Hueneme is generally beat down. It's a military town next to the Point Mugu navy base. Look at all the vintage weaponry on display!

After Port Hueneme, it's back to the beautiful Pacific Coast Highway along the beach. 

Sometimes there are tiny clusters of homes between the highway and the beach. Other times, there are RVs parked along the side of the road where people drive the RV out and spend the day. There is no overnight parking except in state parks.

There one and only one restaurant anywhere nearby the campground, Neptune's Net.

It's not very good, but it got the job done.

This looks like a ton of calamari, but it's actually a small bit of calamari on top of a bunch of soggy fries.

But I'm fed, showered, camped, and all set for tomorrow.

Here's the Strava track: https://www.strava.com/activities/17859911849

California Day 13 - Lompoc to Santa Barbara

 It was another beautiful morning in California.

All the climbing today was in the cool, comfortable morning. I had to clear an 1100 foot ridge to get back to the ocean, but it was a long, easy grade, and no big deal.

As soon as you clear the top, the temperature drops, it gets foggy, and much more humid.

Then there is a white knuckle plunge down a steep, twisty highway (101) from Gaviota Pass. Here is a picture looking back at it.

Next thing you know, the road is running along the ocean, pretty much for the rest of the day.

That railroad on the trestle is active. All the Amtrak trains up and down the west coast go on that track.

The only real challenge today was the complete lack of food for the first 46 miles. Despite having a big piece of German chocolate cake before I left, and hitting the snack bag heavily and consistently, I was pretty weak and lightheaded by the time I got to the outskirts of Santa Barbara, where services resumed.

Lunch as at Pollofino's, a Mexican BBQ chicken place in Goleta. Which is just a storefront with styrofoam plates and plastic utensils.

But it was sure good and it totally hit the spot.

I got the chicken and tri-tip combo. Because I will eat as much tri-tip as possible before I get home and it turns back into pit beef.

The Pacific Coast Bike route includes nearly 10 miles of really nice bike trail coming into Santa Barbara. The trail goes right through the UC Santa Barbara campus, then loops around the airport.

I am determined not to waste another day of my bike ride at Motel 6. I think I can do hostels and camping the rest of the way to San Diego. Tonight it is a hostel.

The hostel is in a super prime location, it's right by the "Funk Zone". The Funk Zone is a neighborhood where there is a huge concentration of brewpubs, wine bars, and restaurants. They even have a meadery!

Which was closed for a private party, dammit. But that didn't stop me from going in, chatting up the owner, and wheedling myself some samples. This is more mead that is sparkling, light, crisp, and dry.  They had an interesting attempt at watermelon mead, which did in fact have some watermelon flavor.

I wound up at the Validation brewery taproom.

Where I had an excellent Irish Porter, a smoked Hefeweisen, and these wings.

We sure are far from Buffalo. I told the bartender they were really hot, and he said they make them with Jalapenos (mistake) which vary widely in how hot they are. 

Santa Barbara is a fun place. This is a great overnight town.

Here is the Strava track.  https://www.strava.com/activities/17847079212/overview