A Pigeon and a Point: The San Mateo Coast

Althought I had hurt my knee on the previous day's riding and had stopped riding, I decided to continue (by car) to the hostel at which I had a reservation. This was a great decision. It was the Monday after the Thanksgiving Holiday and there were very few people staying at the hostel. The hostel is located next to the Pigeon Point Lighthouse on the San Mateo County coast. There are a few eating options around the area, including the very expensive and fancy, Costanoa three miles south and across the highway.

The hostel consists of three buildings. Each building has three rooms (one 6-bed men's bunkroom, one 6-bed women's bunkroom, a private couples room), a living room, and a kitchen. The only other person staying in my building was a women from the Netherlands. So I got the men's bunkroom to myself.

The Hostel also has a hot tub overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It is literally on a cliff overlooking the Pacific ($7 per 30 minutes).

I went in the hot tub. There was a full moon, a few stray clouds, and the lighthouse light would periodically swing around sending a beam over the ocean. This was one of the best-located hot tubs I have been in.

The next day, I visited the Ano Nuevo State Reserve and saw some sealions playing, sleeping, and fighting.

Day 62 - Stillwater Cove to Samuel P. Taylor (November 24)

It was another cold morning, though not as cold as Santa Rosa. Temperatures were a good ten degrees Fahrenheit warmer along the coast.

Clouds Over the Pacific

The ride was very curvy. Every descent was followed by a long climb. At least it was a great day to be out and about. I stopped in Jenner for a snack and to watch the surfers.

Surf at the mouth of the Russian River

I also saw the surfers at Salmon Creek just north of Bodega Bay.

The Beach at Salmon Creek

The road did not have a wide big shoulder. I actually felt unsafe riding along the coastal rode - less safe than riding in Vietnam. It may have had something to do with the speeds. People were zooming by me at 100 kilometers per hour (60 mph) or faster. Can't they just slow and give me some space when they pass?

I stopped for lunch in Marshall and then continued onto Point Reyes Station where it was an active early evening - many tourists were ending their day with a stop at the bakery and coffee shop. People stopped me and asked me about my bike trip. It was nice to talk to so many people that were genuinely interested in bike touring. It was nice to be a momentary celebrity, but I had to keep going because I had five more miles to ride and once again it was getting dark.

Bridge Across the Russian River Upstream of Jenner

It was dark as I rode up to the campground at Samuel P. Taylor State Park. Some bike messengers offered me some 'smores as they would be riding back to San Francisco (in the dark, on Sir Francis Drake Blvd.).

Camping here in the woods, it was much cooler at the coast, but the bike messengers had left me another gift - a warm fire.

Day 62 - Stillwater to Samuel P. - 61 Miles

Day 63 - Samuel P. Taylor to Oakland (November 25)

Blue Heron on Richardson Bay

Today's ride was pleasant and uneventful. I have learned that it is possible to go on a short weekender in the Bay Area. Just ride to Samuel P. Taylor State Park, pitch a tent, pay the nominal hiker/biker fee ($3), take a hot shower ($1.50 for 10 minutes), make some 'smores, and drink a beer. Then wake up the next morning and ride home. Very civilized, yet roughing it at the same time.

Today there were very high tides. Part of my route took me over a bike path that runs through an arm of Richardson Bay. The tide was so high that it flooded on the bike path. Many of the recreational cyclists that were using the bike path didn't want to get their expensive ($2,000+) bikes wet. I can understand that, but it wasn't really a concern for me because my bike had pretty much been ridden in rain each day in Vietnam. Just lube the chain after the ride and I am ready for the next ride.

North End Golden Gate.

I crossed over the Golden Gate Bridge. Coming around a tower, I wasn't paying attention because I was looking at my bike and I almost ran someone over. Fortunately she was friendly and she just treated the incident like I was crazy. She had a point.

Because it was lunch time, I decided to stop in Fort Mason and get take out from the Greens Restaurant. I wish I could end each day's riding with this type of food. From here, I rolled along the Embarcadero to the BART station and caught a train to Oakland.

Day 61 - Santa Rosa to Timber Cove (November 23)

What exactly was I thinking? The easier and more sane ride would have been the River Road through Guerneville to Jenner or I could have just ridden through Sebastapol and into Bodega Bay. Not ever wanting to do anything easy, I choose the Stewarts Point Skaggs Creek Road. Bad decision. Unless I wanted to push my bike, which, of course, I did. The road climbs and descends and climbs...

Vineyards in the Fall Sun

The day started out cold as I left Santa Rosa. After breakfast in Healdsburg, I flatted twice before getting to Lake Sonoma. It was at about this point that I was passed by another cyclist who just shaked his head at the fact that I would try to ride this road. Oh, well.

Lake Sonoma

At least I had good company. The motorcycles love this road and descend and ascend its curves at dizzying speeds. At one point in my ride (or push), a group of them said "sorry buddy as they knew what was ahead for me...more hike-a-bike.

I hadn't planned well enough. I started later than I wanted and somewhere along the way I ran out of water. Although it was not hot, I didn't drink enough water and I was becoming dehydrated from pushing my bike up so many steep hills. Since I didn't have any water and there were no places to buy water along the way, I decided to flag some passing cars.

Curves Ahead

The first pickup truck that stopped only had iced tea. That wouldn't do. The passenger of the truck urged me to go back. He told me that I was at the midway point and the the rest of the road was just as curvy as the last 10 miles. I didn't believe him. I could see that I was steadily climbing up to the high point on the road where I would then be at the headwaters of a creek. From there, I would follow a river for 10 miles. So I knew that I would soon be done with all the climbing and would be able to have an easier ride. I was suspicious of the pickup truck passenger.

Since I still didn't have any water, I flagged down a minivan. The driver said he didn't have any water, then he thought for a moment, and asked me if I wanted cold water. I told him that I didn't need cold water because it wasn't hot outside. He went to the back of his car and pulled out two 1.5 liter bottles of Polish spring water.

After drinking nearly the entire contents of one bottle, I continued pushing my bike up the hill eventually reaching the top of the hill. It was downhill for the next 5 miles and then the road was flat or generally downhill as I followed the creek.

I had folded my map into three sections. I was now travelling on the second section. I did not know what was on the third section. As I reached the end of the section section, I unfolded the map and noticed that the rest of the road would not follow the creek. I assumed that meant that I would need to push my bike and I was correct. I pushed my bike for three miles to the top of one hill and then I pushed my bike a bit as I came out of another river drainage. However that last push was easier and I was able to ride the rest of the way (most of it downhill) to the coast.

Highway 1

Reaching the coast at Stewarts Point, I saw that it was 5 p.m. The sun was setting, yet I still had 10 or so more miles to ride. That meant that I would ride in the dark. So I turned on the flashing light and put on my highway construction worker vest. I assumed that the cars wouldn't be able to see me at all. So after a few minutes, I decided to be as safe as I could. Whenever I saw or heard a car coming behind me, I would just pull off of the road and wait for it to pass. Because the road was curvy, I couldn't see very far behind me to determine when the next car would arrive. Altogether, I pulled off of the road at least 20 times.

I arrived at Salt Point State Park in the dark and called my aunt's sister. Her husband came and picked me up. They fed me Thanksgiving leftovers and we watched a movie - "We Are Marshall." Because they had house guests, I was driven a short way down the road to the Stillwater Cove Regional Park. Unlike the State Park, this park has showers. Both the parks have hiker/biker sites ($3/night). I had a peaceful sleep under a full moon.

Day 61 - Santa Rosa to Timber Cove - 77 Miles

California Coast in the Late Fall

I'm not quite done yet riding this year, or so I think. This summer, when it was very hot in the intermountain west, I met many bike tourists who would were escaping to the coast to continue riding. I want to see what they experienced. Not only that, I want to contrast my riding experience in Vietnam with a riding experience along the California Coast from Salt Point in Sonoma County all the way to Santa Barbara.

Here what my tentative schedule as of November 2007. Unfortunately, my knee conspired to prevent me from riding further.

November 23 (Friday): Santa Rosa to Salt Point
November 24 (Saturday): Salt Point to Samuel P. Taylor (outside Fairfax, Marin)
November 25 (Sunday): Samuel P. Taylor to Oakland
November 26 (Monday): Oakland to Pigeon Point
November 27 (Tuesday): Pigeon Point to Monterrey
November 28 (Wednesday): Monterrey to Limekiln State Park
November 29 (Thursday): Limekiln to Morro Bay
November 30 (Friday): Morro Bay to Gaviotta State Beach
December 1 (Saturday): Gaviotta State Beach to Santa Barbara
December 2 (Sunday): Train ride home

Ride Wrap Up

So how was the trip? It was an experience. Would I do it again? You bet.

From the Rockies to Connecticut and Maine to Vietnam, I had such a variety of experiences this summer and fall. What they had in common is that I was on my bike. But they were worlds apart. The dry Rockies are very different from the wooded East Coast. The mountains are not as high in the East Coast. The East Coast is much greener that the Rockies. But the Rockies, with the exception of the National Parks, are empty. I enjoyed the wide open spaces and the solitude.

The East Coast has many people and places. You can't go far before you enter another town. I enjoyed the woods and lakes of the East Coast. I especially enjoyed the coastline of Maine.

But of all the travelling, Vietnam was by far the most different. It was ten times more green than Maine, 20 times flatter than the Rockies, and 15 times more populated than the East Coast of the United States. However, Vietnam was 100% safer for riding as bikes are very common in Vietnam.

At the end of my trip, after I landed in San Francisco, I chose to ride BART home. I had to reassemble my bike in the BART station. The BART station agent proved helpful as he walked over and said, "Hey buddy, you can't lean that bike box there."

I replied, "Okay, but where can I throw away the bike box?"

The agent said, "You will have to throw it outside the BART station."

Really? I thought. You mean, I will have to drag my suitcase, bike, and a cardboard box all outside. Instead, I asked, "can I break down and cut up the box here and dispose of it in a BART garbage can?"

He answered by grunting. How interesting, in America, I have to tear apart a perfectly good bike box so I can dispose of it, while in Vietnam, I would save the bike box so someone could reuse it or so I could sell it to someone.

In Vietnam, I bought a suitcase so I could easily place my luggage on the plane. I had a 2-bag limit to the amount of luggage I could bring, so I bought a large suitcase. On my flight to Vietnam, I actually checked 4 bags - my bike box and three panniers; I brought 2 bags - my handlebar bag and another pannier with me as carryon luggage. In San Francisco, I was not charged for being over the bag limit or for a bike, but in Vietnam (for my return trip to S.F.), I did not exceed the number of bags, but they did charge me for the oversized bike box.

Bike and New Suitcase Back in Oakland.

I found this great mosquito repellant while in Vietnam. It's manufactured by Jumbo. It has a vial of mosquito repellant that is vaporized from the top of a porous tube. Capillary action brings the repellant to the top of the tube where it is vaporized. The continuous vaporizing of the repellant forms gradient which pushes the repellant from inside the vial to the top of the tube.

Although I still saw one or two mosquitos while using this, I think it was generally useful.

Jumbo Mosquito Repellant.

Flying Home...Seoul Korea (November 6)

Flying east across the international dateline really extends the day. I can catch a plane in Saigon at 1:00 a.m. I awake in Soeul at 8:00 a.m. In the afternoon, I hop on a plane and still arrive in the City at 10:00 a.m. How? The international dateline. I am flying towards the begining of a new day...

From 8:00 a.m. until the afternoon, my layover in Seoul lasted 10 hours. Because I had planned on seeing Seoul during my layover, I bought a Lonely Planet Seoul guidebook. As with other international airports, the Seoul airport was located about 45 miles from downtown. This created a problem. How could I get to downtown Seoul, see the sights, eat some food, and get back to my plane in time? I could take the subway, but as far as I could tell, I would have to catch a bus to get to the subway station. The bus plus the subway ride might take 2 hours one-way. This would take at least four of my ten hours.

To complicate travel matters further, Seoul has a weird street numbering convention. They number the buildings sequentially based on when a given building was built. So number 17 on a street might be next to number 245. Additionally, the streets don't have their names posted on street signs. So if I were to explore Seoul myself, it seems as though I would likely get lost.

Exiting the plane, I was told that I had the option of getting a free hotel room or a free tour of Seoul. I opted for the free tour instead of trying to find my way around Seoul by myself.

As I went through customs, there were a group of 4 of us who wanted to go on the tour. Some other passengers had told me that to find the tour desk, I had to go the first floor and walk to door A. So, I tried to lead the group of us to door A. The problem was that we were all tired and not all of us were sure that we were going in the right direction. Door A happened to be at the other end of the airport, so it was a long walk. But eventually we made it and we were wisked away towards Seoul.

Ann (her anglicized name) told us about our itinerary - see the Presidential Palace (Blue House), visit a pagoda (Jogyesa), and see an ancient palace (Changdeokgung - The Palace of Illustrious Virtue). We also would be fed, but drinks were on us. Ann then ran us through some basic Korean - hello, thank you, good bye. I was too tired to pick up any words. One last thing - we also stopped to do some shopping. I didn't need to buy any more kitsch, but I did find a French bakery!

After the bakery, the group of us went to a "Korean" restaurant. Here I was, the only person not originally from Asia, eating kimchee and an assortment of other pickled items. The remainder of the group were Vietnamese. They were American, but at the restaurant, the group only spoke Vietnamese. I wished I had spent more time learning the language while in Vietnam.

The Blue House (Cheongwadae) - The Presidential Palace

The Colors of Fall in Seoul

Fall Colors on Bugaksan

The One Pillar Gate of the Jogyesa Pagoda

Daewongjun Hall of the Pogoda

400+ year old Pagoda Tree

The Blog Author in Front of Daewongjun Hall.

The Jongo Tower (Insadong District)

Changdeokgung - The Palace of Illustrious Virtue (Gwanghwamun District)

Palace Grounds and Wall

The Throne Inside the Palace

Saigon - War Remnants (November 5)

On this day, I visited both the War Remnants Museum and the Presidential Palace as well as the Museum of Vietnamese History. The War Remnants Museum was disturbing while the history museum was educational. What I didn't know is that my admissions fee to the history museum also covered the admissions to the zoo. I didn't take any pictures of the history museum as there were pictures everywhere warning not to take pictures.

Presidential Palace Entrance Ticket

In the history museum, I had a sense that sometimes there was a struggle to present enough Vietnamese-specific material to make the museum interesting. Sure the museum went from era to era going way back into the past (4,000 years ago?), through the Nguyen Dynasty, up to today's activities, but the physical evidence was lacking.

Entrance Ticket to History Museum

When I reached the Buddhist section of the history museum, I was surprised at the lack of Vietnamese examples.

Bombs at the War Remnants Museum

Presidential Palace - Stuck in the 1970s

President's Office

President's Reception Room

This Palace is Very User Friendly. Drop Bomb Here.

Saigon - Zoo and Botanical Gardens (November 4)

Entrance Ticket to the Zoo

Over the next few days, I visit the sites in Saigon - The Zoo, the botanical gardens, the museum of Vietnamese history, the War Remnants Museum, and the Presidential Palace. During the nights, we play pool at Allez Boo or spend time at the Jazz Club - Sax 'N Art. There is not much room at the Jazz Club, but I get Maya (Terry's friend) on the dance floor and we East Coasted to one song.

Map of the Zoo and Botanical Gardens.

This is the extent of the Botanical Garden.

Pagoda at Botanical Gardens.

A Gaur

Pink Flamingoes at the Zoo.

Yes, There Were Dinosaurs at the Zoo.

A Hedge-Animal Stampede. Was I Back in Calgary?