Day 2: Santa Cruz to King City

There are a lot of ways to describe today. “Long” is probably the most apt. Here’s a shot of my bike computer, just after pulling into San Lorenzo County Park in King City. That’s right: 108 miles.

It was actually a huge amount of fun. After leaving Santa Cruz around 6:45AM, we wound through Soquel and Aptos, then past field after field of lettuce and artichokes into Moss Landing. We traveled south into Marina, before turning inland for Salinas. After lunch, the route turned south and entered the very windy Salinas valley. Fortunately (and this is what made the day so fun), the wind was entirely at our backs. Cruising at 30 mph on flat ground is awesome; it really makes the miles go. There were rest stops at Mission Soledad and in Greenfield.


Here Chris at the first rest stop, Manresa State Beach, pumping some iron…I mean, air. Pumping some air.



This is Jackie, mastermind of the G.O. bakesales, doing some hamstring stretches overlooking the Pacific.



Riding through the artichoke fields. Maybe it’s because I work for PG&E, but I really think those joint poles make a great backdrop for this photo.


Here’s some more PG&E infrastructure for you GT&D folks. This pipeline blaze is somewhere along San Andreas, or maybe Thurwacher Rd, north of Moss Landing.

The lunch crowd in Salinas Central Park.

This was my lunch. A chicken and brown rice wrap, baby carrots, string cheese, sea salt and vinegar chips (I’m told to eat these early in the week, before my lips get chapped and cracked), chocolate chip cookie, and a white peach. Like every meal so far, this was the best food I have ever eaten. Ever.

All the lunch breaks and rest stops have themes. The staff get all dressed up and really get into it. It’s a lot of fun. Yesterday’s lunch was “rock’n’roll,” which is why Jan is wearing a poodle skirt in her Day 1 photo. Today’s lunch was “barnyard.” This rest stop is “dancing bears.” Why that’s funny is left as an exercise for the reader.

Stop sign near Arroyo Seco, looking east towards Pinnacles.


Today featured another unofficial rest stop. Instead of pie, we got cookies and milk. This is the Cookie Lady’s dog. Her name is Ronda. The dog is named Ronda, not the cookie lady. Ronda looks mean in this picture, but she was very friendly.

As I rolled into camp I could hear occasional cheering off in the distance. This was the source: a group of campers “scoring” us riders as we walked past to collect our luggage and tent. Good times.