The last, last hurrah: San Simeon to Los Angeles

Coming into Morro Bay

Ban and Mark doing a little offroading to avoid freeway roadworks.

After a massive day yesterday we were once again up and away in good time, heading south in search of breakfast, even though we had already had one. There was a reasonably sized town a few miles down the road and we were keen on a decent coffee, and after receiving a recommendation from a local tradesman we found what can only be described as a breakfast nirvana. Such a wealth of options. We spent too much time there before remembering that we had a plane to catch and a bike to get us there and this was no time to be smelling the roses.

On the quiet roads past Morro Bay

The plan was to head to Morro Bay for lunch but with the sun beaming down and the wind at our backs we decided to carry on to San Louis Obispo, a university town about 20 miles further. After riding alongside the coast for the first part of the day we took the scenic route inland through some bone-dry farmland, so different from the fog covered country of a few days ago.

Mark and Chip freewheelin' into San Louis Obispo.

After a bit of fluffing around deciding where to eat (and when someone mistook us for homeless people and told us "don't you folk hang around these parts") we settled down to some Greek food and watched the locals set up for the Farmers Market happening on the street that night. We had left all four bikes outside on the footpath unlocked but nobody seemed to mind.

The day had got away on us a bit (as it so often seemed to) as we cycled on past some wineries back to the coast and its campgrounds. There was a large number of campgrounds and RV parks in this area and with the State campground full we wheeled back to another campground that seemed to be entirely full of RVs - our first trailer park! Ben got a flat tyre just as we were registering and our lonely little hiker/biker spot was right at the back, between the highway and railway line. It was a long walk but we got to have a good look at other folk camping there which was a cultural experience in itself. By the time we had mucked around setting up camp all the food outlets had closed with only a convenience store open across the road selling frozen burritos and assorted junk food. We ate junk food, fired the burritos for breakfast and lived to fight another day.

Our neighbours at the trailer park.
They arrived in the night after we had gone to sleep and proceeded to wake the dead. 

Leaving town the next morning was a stop-start affair as everyone stopped to take photos, buy fruit, check the map, disagree, have a drink, chat with other cyclists, etc. A ill-informed change of direction for a believed "short cut" resulted in a short but very, very steep uphill that no one needed first thing in the morning. It was so steep there was a significant amount of embarrassing pushing. Things picked up as we headed inland seriously for the first time on this leg. We noticed a change in farming, but also the strong Mexican presence in the small towns that we passed. This area felt more conservative than many of the coastal cities we had seen, perhaps due to the airforce base nearby. We stopped for a break outside the "Living Water Church" in Guadalupe where Mark delighted in adding some of his own "living water" to the mix. We carried on up over one of the last major hills in the ride before pulling into Lompoc in the mid afternoon to end a early day. After a satisfying Texan Cattle lunch we parted from Mark and Chip as they were going to stay in a motel and us two high rollers were going back to the campground. We agreed to meet again in the morning. After pitching the tent we biked back into town to enjoy the town fair which is held weekly where we eat redneck bbq, strawberries and cream and considered joining the Republican Party before chickening out. We were tucked up in bed by 9pm.

A sign in the camp at Lompoc.
Oh. My. God.

The next morning dawned bright and sunny as we packed up camp. We spoke to the ranger on the way out, it turns out he visited New Zealand as a student in the 1980s and was a big fan of the country - he wished us all the best and gave us some pointers to stay safe on the road, including to watch out for illegal immigrants as they are the worst drivers (in our experience white middle aged guys in pickups were much worse). Everyone in Lompoc was exceptionally friendly to us. Leaving Lompoc involved a 2 hour uphill climb before a fast downhill back to the coast along the 101. We sometimes rode on the freeway through here, all perfectly legal. We stopped for a snack at El Capitan beach before carrying on into Santa Barbara. We took the scenic route towards town that got too scenic and ended up in a sand dune, where a nice family guided us back to the relative safety of a carpark. Once reconnected to the bike path we met a pair of local cyclists who were interested in our trip, the offered to show us to a good local Mexican place. It turns out that he had cycled in the bicentennial ride in 1976, the second cyclist we met who had done this - California is full of awesome cyclists! Not only did they lead us to what was a truly amazing Mexican place, they then gave us some money to pay for it! How awesome is that? Their kindness totally eclpised homeless comment of the day before and confirmed that most Americans are the nicest people ever. After lunch/dinner we visited the Santa Barbara Mission, biked through downtown with Anna pointed out what houses she liked (all of them, it seemed) before spending the night in another socially isolated hiker biker site in Carpentieria State Beach.

The mission at Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara beach.

It was really beginning to feel more like Southern California the next day, with sun, light winds and water that looked warm enough to swim in. We mostly followed the coast into Ventura where we tried our first proper cajun food - yum- before carrying off down the coast on a variety of busy and not so busy roads. Later in the afternoon we bumped into some other cyclists Chip and Mark had ridden with before San Francisco who recommended a fruit stand about 10 miles further. With thoughts of food always at the forefront of our minds we stocked up for the nights dinner at the supermarket before going to town at this fruit stand. We brought two huge punnets of strawberries that Ben strapped onto the front of his bike. Across the road we saw readylawn being grown, another first. With only 10 miles to go we passed another military base complete with  weapons showcase before a few miles of oceanside riding into a great wooded campsite across the road from an actual beach that you could swim in. We went over and soaked up some rays while Mark braved the icy waters. The evening rounded out with a monster food-fest cooked by Ben and Mark, complete with dessert. There was easily enough food for eight people, but we fought through to finish it off. A great end to our last night camping in our whole trip!

Just out of Ventura

So this is where they keep all the weapons of mass destruction...

Our final ever camp was quite nice. Chip pitched his tent (centre) directly over a large low hanging branch, which he banged his head on every time he got in or out. It was a little bit funny.

After 10 months of camping, it was nice to see we still couldn't put up the tent properly.

The beach across from camp. The water looks warmer than it is, but that didn't stop Mark.

A huge pickup in the campground/parking lot

Mark on the way into Malibu.

A little puncture repair amongst giant trucks..

Ben on the Santa Monica boardwalk, with the pier on the right.

Our final day biking was thankfully easy, with a straight run along the coast on the edge of a moderately busy road. We enjoyed gawping at the homes of the stars as we rode through Malibu, stopping in the town centre for a nice lunch. From there it was a simple amble into Santa Monica in northern LA, where we parted ways with Chip and Mark as we had to pick up Annas engagement ring from the store near there. The other guys were staying in Venice Beach, a bit further down the boardwalk. It was sad to say goodbye as we had a great time riding with them but they were on a mission to get to the border in two days, and we had a plane to catch!