It's Supposed to Blow the Other Way

October 4, 2014

San Simeon to Morro Bay

Woke up at 5 in the same position I fell asleep in, flat on my back, mouth wide open and dry as a bone. And I was wide awake. The heat was going to continue so let’s get going. I packed up then went to the restaurant for breakfast. Closed for another hour. Back to the room, undressed, back to sleep for another hour and half. Got up, dressed, ate breakfast, back to the room, did not undress but fell back asleep for another couple of hours.

I was in a much better frame of mind today. It was going to be a short day if I wanted. Stop in a favorite beach town, Cayucos, or continue to the state park hiker biker in Morro Bay, depending on my mood. Riding along the water it was still cool — let’s say upper 70s — but with hints of heat mixed in. I was planning on stopping in Cambria for second breakfast but missed the turnoff. No backtracking allowed! It was heating up well on the uphill by Cambria but I knew from a couple of previous rides in this stretch that a strong tailwind would blow me all the way to Cayucos. Easy peasy.

Wrong. Offshore winds. Blasting hot headwinds. I overheard one motorcyclist say to another in a disgusted tone of voice that it was 97. That felt about right. At least there was a wind even if it was hot. I was looking forward to some AC in Cayucos.

Wrong. Cayucos is another beach town that relies on the natural air conditioning. Again, hardly anyone has mechanical AC because it’s rarely needed. Only a couple of hours in and I was already done with the heat for the day. I tried a couple of motels but either they were booked or it was $140 for a non-AC room. No thanks. I stopped in town for a long while though, hoping the winds would die down. I tweeted about how horrible it was sitting outdoors at a restaurant in a hot wind at the beach. The power of social media: the wind shifted. A little coolness was detected. The flags started flapping the other direction. O.M.G.

I picked up some supplies in the little Cayucos Super Market. Their answer for AC was a block of ice and a fan blowing over it, aimed at the checkers.

The run into Morro Bay was uneventful. It was a bit cooler but the winds were changeable. Once off Hwy 1 and on to the bike path, who should come up behind me but my old friend Tony the crazy man. He started today from just a bit south of where I started two days ago. He was headed to Morro too, and had survived the ride to Mission San Antonio yesterday. He was surprised to hear I had hot headwinds between Cambria and Cayucos earlier in the day. He had a tailwind and it was fairly cool. Grrrr.

I rolled up to the entrance station at the state park, demanding the deluxe hiker biker site. The park aide was up to the challenge. “Okay, here you go,” giving me my site receipt. “This is the deluxe site?” “I’ve not had any complaints yet.”

The hiker bikers are in a eucalyptus grove. In this heat I didn’t trust that the trees wouldn’t be shedding limbs overnight so I set up under the most open part of the canopy. There were several other bikers there already. The main campground was full on this Saturday night. While waiting for a open shower room I chatted on line with Sally. She lived “in the country” and was meeting her children here for a family birthday (which turned out to be hers). Her son was coming from down south and her daughter was coming from San Mateo, up north near me. She had seen me come down the hill on the trike and we had a long talk about it. I went by her campsite later to show off Pokey. I was more interested her haul of presents but she, her husband, and her family were interested in the trike. They all took short rides on it. Her husband said if he’d known about these a week ago she might have gotten a different birthday present. It’s always nice to pass along that trike grin.

Beautiful sunset tonight over the bay. I rode the unloaded delightfully light trike over there to watch it. Then fell asleep looking up at the euc limbs above me. Maybe I should have put on the rain fly.

The start of day 8. Flat. Cool. Ish. Ah.

Diverted off Hwy 1 to Moonstone Beach Rd in Cambria. It's the Scarecrow Festival so a lot of businesses from San Simeon to Cambria had something displayed.

O hot offshore breeze that should be a tailwind, I beseech thee to come to my aid. But no. Had I waited a couple of hours, then yes. So I pedal harder into Cayucos then later to Morro Bay, both visible.

No AC in a California beach town, so the little Cayucos Super Market cooled off the checkers the old fashioned way.

Getting closer to Morro Bay, with Morro Rock in the distance.

Home for the night at Morro Bay State Park hiker biker sites.

Sunset on the bay from the state park marina was popular that night.

Today's ride: 28 miles (45 km)
Total: 190 miles (306 km)

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