After a decently good night of sleep in the bushes next to the highway, I packed up and was riding within 8 minutes or so. Years ago when I was in boy scouts, I took the camping merit badge and one of the best things I was taught was to stuff tents and tarps into a bag instead of folding. The idea here is to not make creases which could consistently wear and cause tears. I never really put this into practice until I realized I could stuff my quilt and bivy into my seatpost bag, followed by my rolled up pad and a pillow, thus maximizing my sack’s volume. This “hack” saved me so much time in the morning and put me on my bike after waking up very fast.
I was looking forward to a mystery day of riding through Big Sur. I made light plans to camp at one of the small camps halfway between the town and San Simeon but a little voice in my head was contemplating the possibility of riding all the way through to San Simeon. I grabbed a ham and cheese croissant and an espresso at Carmel Highlands General Store where I also got the chance to fill up on water and brush my teeth.
The road meandered through some fog with some light tailwinds. My body was feeling really good after the light snacks. The views started to get really really pretty over here and before I knew it, I was at Bixby bridge. Taco told me about a dirt road here that I could take to avoid a “boring” section of the road. After painfully enduring the stretch into Moss Landing and then towards Monterrey, I knew this section of the wonderful Big Sur couldn’t be as shit, and boy was I right! The scenery was just super stunning and was even cooler since the sun was rising and warming up everything.
Since I’m writing this trip report almost a month later, doing this section specifically felt like I was entering a portal to a heaven. There’s a few spots in the San Gabriels that give me that same feeling when I hike or bike. I think I’m gonna map every “portal” and talk about it later in more depth. There was some descent that took me to this fantastic flat-ish part just past the Big Sur Lighthouse. Portals are portals. Taco’s portal is a large green artichoke in Castroville and mine is this long grassy stretch past Bixby bridge!
I started the climb back into the redwoods and up to Andrew Molera campground where I saw Kass climbing up towards me! They told me that the campground was totally empty of other bikepackers so still at that point, we were the only 2 bikepackers we both had met on this tour. Kass and I rode into the town where we split off since I wanted to grab breakfast and lunch at a store over there. They told me they were gonna push to San Simeon Campground which I knew was 90+ miles from my Carmel start and I told them it was unlikely I could push through for that goal.
After my resupply, I started this pretty steep climb out of the town. The temps out here were blazing and I was sweating like crazy down my face and back. I soon found some other bikepacker in front of me who wasn’t Kass. This gentleman was an older guy, in his early 70s absolutely crushing! I passed him and said hi but he seemed not interested in talking to me so I continued on. At the Julia Pfeiffer State Park Vista, I stopped for a snack where the older guy caught up. I sadly forgot his name but we chatted for about 20 minutes. He regularly does the Pacific Coast bike route from San Francisco to Santa Barbara. We talked water filters for a hot minute and I learned he doesn’t filter anything anymore, even though he’s been hit with giardia multiple times.
I stopped at Rigdon Fountain Spring as per Taco’s recommendation and it was flowing very nicely. Definitely a 10/10 spring. I believe I drank 3 full liters of water here.
The scenery of Big Sur shifts as you move through it but a lot of it is subtle. I noticed the Limekiln area looks super mysterious as you look up the canyon. The canyon has a mix of Bay Laurels, Redwoods, and Maples all mixed together while the slopes are filled with small coastal brush and some rock. I don’t think I’m explaining myself well but I feel like it’s different around Limekiln than around Bixby.
I hit this super super super nice flat section where you’ve got this long grassy coastline to your right and a slight slope to your left where some fire station is. I remember taking a small break on the shoulder in the shade where out of nowhere, Kass shows up behind me!!!! Like dawg I thought you were ahead of me this whole time?! Kass told me they took a long water break under the Limekiln Creek Bridge which I passed over 15 minutes prior. We both caught up on the day and shared our immense stoke on the scenery we experienced. It was at that moment I decided to make the push to San Simeon to camp and complete my longest ride ever, with Kass.
These sections of the coast are so fucking stunning and I would happily teleport back to ride it again. There were some big landslides we passed, one of which was the recent one that closed the road for 3 years.
Out of the 20 or so descents of Big Sur, my favorite had to be coming down into San Carpoforo Creek and across the bridge. Just a stunning wide open drainage with this beautiful preserve on your right! Would love to camp there one day.
Then we had a straightaway with rolling hills as we approached San Simeon. From San Carpoforo forward through all this, I think I cried twice. It was around 5pm and the sun was slowly falling towards the coast behind me. The visibility opened up with still some light fog and there was a mega tailwind allowing me to float down the highway like a kite. This was the other side of the portal. I honestly felt like I was coming down from a powerful mushroom trip and I had to convince myself that I didn’t take any earlier. Kass and I decided to keep a solid gap between us to allow each other to enjoy this experience by ourselves. They told me at one point there was a large bird which looked like a bald eagle which was hovering above me, although I didn’t see it. All the emotions I was feeling during this final stretch to the campground made me forget the details of it, but I was definitely going through it for a whole hour.
Kass and I pulled into San Simeon Campground and got a spot in the bikepacking area. I just completed my now longest day at 92 miles, surpassing day 1 of the tour and I was feeling awesome and not exhausted. We both ate our dinner and passed out.
San Francisco to Ventura: Day 3 - Big Sur
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Matthew
- Supercaff
- Posts: 642
- Joined: Mon Nov 30, 2015 8:25 am
- Location: Pasadena
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stoke is high