13 Dec Cycling 3.0

My previous two blogs were about the start of my cycling trip. The following three days, my friend Anja joined me. It was a lot more fun and a lot easier to cycle together with someone. Spending an entire day on your bicycle with nobody to talk to can be a little lonesome, even though you meet a lot of people on the way and in hostels. But from day two I had my friend by my side, someone with whom I could look at the beautiful ocean views in Big Sur, or complain about the insane climbs, or speed down the hills with 40 miles per hour. We cycled from Monterey through Big Sur to Cambria; from Cambria to Santa Maria, a weird city in the middle of a vast plain that only consisted of fields of crops; from Santa Maria to Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara is a place that I will forever remember, and also a place that I would really want to go back to. It is such a cute little place with it’s Spanish architecture, it’s wonderful restaurant and it’s lovely beachfront. Of course, it is a lot smaller than SF, but the main street is pretty vibrant with nice bars and some live music. We had a great evening until I had to drop Anja off at the greyhound bus station. She was going back to SF, and I still had one day of cycling ahead of me. I was a little sad as I turned back to my hostel, because my partner in crime was not going to be there to help me to get through that final day. A small comfort that I got from a strange lady that I met today was a 2-dollar note. They do not make these notes that often, but there are perfectly legit, so you can pay with them. Nevertheless, they are meant to bring your luck so you’d be better off to keep them in your wallet.

On my last day, I had to cycle 90 miles, from Santa Barbara to Santa Monica (Los Angeles) after which I would go home with the bus. When I woke up in the hostel, I felt energized from a good nights sleep, and I felt motivated to finish what I had started. The entire day I was in such a good flow, the road was easy and flat and the wind was in my back. It only took me 7 hours to get from Santa Barbara, all the way to Santa Monica, and I was welcomed with a beautiful sunset at one of the largest beaches that I have seen. The beach in LA really looks like a movie set, with those blue wooden shacks from which the lifeguards keep an eye on the people who are swimming and surfing.

It was a strange feeling to have finished a trip that I had been dreaming of for so long. I was exhausted and energetic at the same time, a feeling of melancholy mixed with a feeling of content and completion. Still a bit confused with all the experiences and ups and downs of the past five days, I fell asleep in my hostel bed at my final destination.