Maurice led us out of a busy LA skilfully, using his local knowledge as well as a cycling map. This meant we made a good start to the day as getting out of any major city area is usually, slow and stressful on a bike! After the heavy traffic we were able to use a well designed cycle path along the LA river and Long Beach harbour. This was pleasurable cycling and gave us a good perspective of the variety of scenery and vistas. After Long Beach we were able to use concrete cycle paths built through the middle of the golden sandy beaches - just fantastic to cycle on.
At Seal Beach we crossed the county lines between Los Angeles and Orange County and stopped at Huntington Beach where Scott provided us with a Starbucks coffee and buns. It was relaxing to take a 30 minute breather, watching surfers and the waves break on the shore.
After Huntington Beach there was heavier traffic on the SR1, but surfaces were smooth and we had wide cycle lanes to ride in. We passed through Newport Beach and Laguna Beach using the SR1 before turning off at Dana Point for lunch - 2 large pizzas and salards. Even though we are burning loads of calories, we failed to clear all of the pizza - TWIT points all round!
Shortly after lunch Tom suffered from a mechanical fault to his back wheel. One of his spokes broke and caused some serious damage to the wheel - we needed a bike shop! Fortunately, one was only a mile along the road. The staff in the San Clemente Cyclery came to our rescue. Tom limped in to the shop on his bike and after a quick look a new wheel was needed. Mark, the mechanic, sorted it out while we all talked to Sue the owner of the San Clemente Cyclery who made us very welcome and showed interest in our tour.
The delay caused by fixixng Tom's bike put us back by 90 minutes so we had to cover the last 40kms as speedily as possible to get to the hotel before dark. Part of the last leg was through Camp Pendleton, a US military training area, where we needed to show identification before we proceed. We didn't encounter any tanks on our way through, but traffic was light which was ideal for some fast cycling. We rolled in to Ocean Beach just as the sun was diping down over the horizon.
We are just 110kms (65 miles) from our target destination. By tomorrow we will have cycled 3000kms in 23 days - we are so nearly there. None of us can imagine not spending the whole day on a bike - it has become a way of life. Can't wait to finish tomorrow!!
There were multiple contenders for TWIT of the day, with Brian, Tom and Chris all sited for 'Twit' activities.
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| Chris punctured again ! |
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| Californian Brown Peleican at Long Beach |
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| The first Queen Mary, docked in LA |
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| Coffee stop on Huntington Beach |
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| Vancomex were here! Lunch stop at Dana Point |
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| Busted spoke for Tom at San Clemente |
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| Finally, a use for Toms first aid kit! |
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| Mark at San Clemente Cyclery gets to work on Tom's wheel |
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| We followed the bike trail at every opportunity! |
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| Thank you to San Clemente Cyclery for getting Tom on the road again |
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| Is the man in this passport really you !! Seargeant Hough at Camp Pendleton |
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| Sunset at Oceanside as we rolled in to our eveing lodging |
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| Sunset at Oceanside as we rolled in to our eveing lodging |
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| Best to open the door before you walk in to the hotel Simon |
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