Calfornia Day 17 - Hermosa 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