Save Our Seas Ride 2019

I passed hundreds, maybe even thousands of cars that were all stopped due to an accident on 101. It was beautiful along the cost. Los Agaves Restaurant in Goleta has amazingly good Mexican food. What is a road trip without an Elvis sighting? :-)   Lots of beautiful bike trails and beaches from Santa Barbara down to Ventura.

This was a very hard biking day -- major headwinds, rain, and a ghost bike memorial to a fellow bicyclist. Thankfully I found a great place for 2nd breakfast and there was also lots of fresh new life -- particularly all the wonderful smelling fields of vegetables, herbs, and other plants.  And Highway 101 was much more pleasant than I expected.  It's exceptionally smooth pavement made the cars and trucks much quieter as well as my bike zippier. I've now biked a bit more of El Camino Real :-) 

When you meet someone, do you treat them as a stranger or a new friend? Mr Rogers said that strangers are friends you just have not met yet. I agree with Mr Rogers. Some new friends from Fort Bragg helped me get back on schedule when severe headwinds slowed me down so I was at risk of not making it to San Luis Obispo in time for my talk with a Central Coast Aquarium audience. Some new friends (Steve, MA, Zena and Corky) let me join them for lunch at the most excellent Ruddell's SmokeHouse at 101 D St, Cayucos, CA 93430 then I bumped into them again at Whole Foods in San Luis Obispo. And another new friend took a picture of me at Morro Rock. Our world is full of strangers who are looking forward to becoming your friend.

It is marvelous to see that elephant seals are making a comeback just south of Big Sur.  Alas the western migration Monarch butterflies are not -- their numbers are currently down about 95%! Total insect populations are down as well worldwide. We are killing the life support systems on our Spaceship Earth. Billions of canaries in our coal mine dying and warning us of the damage humans are doing to our earth but many humans are not paying attention :-(  Can you imagine if 19 of every 20 humans died within a few years. Wouldn't we all take notice? Nature may yet have her revenge on us, much to the detriment of our children and grandchildren. Will we be able to change our practices and save our spaceship Earth before it is too late?

The Pacific Valley School in Big Sur blew me away with their friendliness and Zero Waste practices! Living in Big Sur, they all have a deep respect for nature and its power. They treat nature right by using reusables instead of disposables for all their meals -- each child washes their own set of reusable plates and utensils. My hats off to them! I wish all schools did this as it is a great learning experience for kids to be responsible for themselves and for their environment.

Murdock is an absolutely incredible  Warmshowers.org host. Warmshowers is a nonprofit that helps bicycle tourists find people willing to host them. It is a great way for bicycle tourists to meet locals and for locals to meet people from all around the world. Murdock has hosted over 100 cyclists -- giving them their own bedroom and bath. He even has a map of where they all live. He is a warmshowers hero with a Mr Rogers disposition. And now he has a 100 or so friends around the world who are happy to host him as well if he should ever visit.

On day 2 of my ride I visited the Sweet Shop at 994 Los Altos Ave, Los Altos, CA 94022. What a wonderfully delicious place that supports Zero Waste! If you have not yet visited it yet, check it out!

Big Sur is beautiful! Why do so many people still dump trash there??? This is so sad...

These pictures speak for themselves... Had a great ride with lots of climbing!

Beautiful roads from Summit down to the coast. Lots of agriculture in Watsonville. I made it to the aquarium with Olivia my Sea Turtle! Many thanks to Maria Ristow and David Coale for riding the whole day with me from Los Gatos to Monterey!

Another crew from the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition and Climate Ride escorted me up to Summit Road in the Santa Cruz Mountains. We also saved a California Salamander from being squashed by a car. What a fantastic bunch of bikers! Thanks guys and gals!

At Skyline Boulevard where John Yook said goodbye, David Coale met me to accompany me down to Los Altos. He had ridden my route up from Palo Alto. The Sawyer Camp Trail was gorgeous. We bumped into Karl and Paula Danz of the Citizen's Climate Lobby in Woodside. If you don't know about the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act , learn more ASAP. This is a critically important bill in front of congress right now. Please contact your congress people! David Coale introduced me to the Sweets Shop in Los Altos. We both enjoyed chocolate frozen yogurt with blueberries. Even though this shop is super eco (all compostables), they served mine in my own reusable bowl and I used my own spoon.