18 Dec How 2 strong ladies cycled 250 Miles down along HWY 1 – Part 1

Maybe you’re thinking “how stupid is that?!” while reading the topic or you might be curios about that experience. Well, what other tourists doing by car – me and my friend Sterre did it by bicycle and we are pretty proud of us! For us both it was an amazing and unforgettable challenge. In my following two blog I want to write about it and to provide you with more details about the trigger for that idea. Furthermore I want to share the new experience I gained during the whole process including preparations and the trip. 

It all began when I met that girl from Amsterdam during the orientation week, Sterre. She mentioned that her goal during the exchange semester is to cycle from SF to LA and I immediately went to her and asked if I could join. At that point I want to thank you SFSU for bringing us together, haha! Meanwhile, Strerre became a really good friend, whom I will miss very much once I am back home to Germany. We did many funny adventures together while discovering new places and cities. The beginning of our friendship (or rather the proof if our friendship) was the cycling trip – 4 days, hot sun, steep hills, Clif bars everyday, a lot of fun and tears!

First of all, I am a passioned cyclist and that is why Sterre got me immediately by mentioning her idea. Back in Germany my hobby is triathlon and especially cycling is my favorite part of the training. So, when I arrived in San Francisco, the first thing I did was the purchase of an used racing bike. 

Before I came to California I have heard from my friends and different blogs, how beautiful  California is for cycling. Especially the the HWY number 1 along the coast down to LA is well known for its breathtaking views. So, I was very excited to see it and was happy to meet Sterre, who wanted to experience the same things as me.

Preparation:

Although Sterre and I had the idea to cycle the HWY 1 down to LA from the beginning, we met two weeks in advance to make concrete plans about the route and book the accommodations. We had regretted it very fast, that we did not met earlier due to the fact that it is super difficult to find affordable accommodations along the west coast. So, we realized that we have to cycle much more Miles a day than we expected. Especially the Big Sur area is overbooked for a long time in advance. So, if you don’t want to camp, what affected us because we wanted to avoid any additional weight, you have to look for accommodations months in advance or stay at super expensive hotels for about $100/night. Due to that fact we decided to cycle 100 Miles within a day from Monterey (where our trip together started) through Big Sur until Cambria, the closest place which we could find with the possibility to stay overnight. At the following day we planned to cycle another 80 Miles from Cambria to Santa Maria, a quite, small city to rest and finally (for me) at the last cycling-day we would make 80 Miles to Santa Barbara. From there I would leave Sterre alone for one day to complete her dream to LA, because I have had obligations in the university and could not miss that day. In order to get back to SF fast we would take a long-distance bus from Santa Barbara or LA, so we booked the tickets in advance.  

A day before the trip we did some groceries for the first days and packed our small backpacks very thorough only with the necessary things like a separate shirt, pants, sunscreen and food for the first day, in order to keep it as small and light as possible. 

So far the plan, but could we complete it without any serious incidents? Which adventures were waiting for us on the way? And finally, how did we survive?

If you are curious to know how we ended up, read my next blog! 

Have a good day!

Your adventurous Anja:)