Day 4: Tour of the Monterey Peninsula

July 13, 2009

Last night a pair of cycling shorts disappeared from my clothesline. Fortunately I still have 2 more shorts.

Today I finally had a sunny day with a high of 70F. I left most of my stuff at the campground and went down to town (500 foot descent). I looked around Fisherman's Wharf a bit, then rode west along the bike path. This morning's goal is to ride around the Monterey Peninsula.

Cannery Row, made famous by the John Steinbeck novel. The fish canneries have long since been replaced by tourist shops.

A bike path goes west from downtown Monterey along the south shore of Monterey Bay. The coast was beautiful. Mostly rocky with occasional sandy beaches. All of the waterfront is public space. Houses are across the road.

Bike path heading around the Monterey peninsula. Pedestrians mostly stay on the gravel path.

Rocky shore of Monterey Bay. The bay is extremely deep and blue.

Monterey Cypress. Perhaps the most iconic tree on the California coast.

Asilomar State Beach. The last public beach before the privately-owned 17 Mile Scenic Drive.

Eventually I was back on roads, heading towards the 17 Mile Scenic Drive. It's a private toll road, but cyclists can ride it for free. Scenery on the 17 Mile Scenic Drive is uniformly good, sometimes spectacular. The road passes several golf courses and many multi-million dollar houses. The facilities (roads, parking lots, walkways, bathrooms) are excellent.

Typical house along the 17 Mile Scenic Drive. Some people have too much money.

The famous "Lone Cypress" on the 17 Mile Scenic Drive. So "lone" that the nearest cypress is 50 feet away! ;-) Dead kelp floating in the water.

At the far end of the scenic drive I pedaled by the Pebble Beach golf course, the most famous golf course in North America. Then the road climbs a big hill into the Del Monte forest, and down the other side to Monterey.

I had a late lunch at Fisherman's Wharf. The weather was warm and sunny and it was packed with tourists.

Fisherman's Wharf, Monterey. I had an excellent and expensive seafood lunch here.

View of Fisherman's Wharf from the outside.

After lunch I looked around the downtown historic properties. Monterey is where the U.S. government established its first presence in California. During the Mexican War of 1846-1848 the U.S. government built a customs house in Monterey to establish sovereignty over California. Mexico lost the war and was forced to sign the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo which cedes to the U.S. what is now the states of California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. It was perhaps the most shameful moment in U.S. history-provoking a war for no other reason than to steal 2/3 of Mexico's territory.

I had intended to visit the Monterey Aquarium in the afternoon, but I got lazy and time just slipped away. At 3:30 I rode back up the hill to the campground.

Distance: 28.4 mi (45.4 km) all unloaded

Climbing: 1625 ft (492 m)

Average speed: 8.9 mph (14.2 km/h)

Maximum speed: 31 mph (49.6 km/h)

Today's ride: 28 miles (45 km)
Total: 184 miles (296 km)

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