Day 23

September 4th 2008

Oceano, CA to El Capitan Beach SP

78.8 Miles

I awoke to find the same depressing cold and fog that I fell asleep to the night before. It was 5:45am. I packed up my damp sleeping gear and hit the road. On a trip like this things become very repetitive. Get up, pack gear, start pedaling. Eat, stop pedaling, take out gear, go to sleep. Today wasn’t much different. About 10 miles into the ride I had another flat. Three so far and this one just a few days after the last one. I inspected the tire and found that it was missing a chunk of rubber. I decided to look for a bike shop when I reached Lompoc.

The fog was so thick that condensation formed on me while I was riding. On my bags, my clothes, my bike, my skin, even my eyelashes. Along with the low/no visibility and the cold damp conditions, I was riding with out any shoulder again. And this road was busy, very busy. I had to endure this for about an hour before I turned inland again just south of Guadalupe. Of course, once I left the fog behind, the sun came out and started to bake everything, including me. It surprised me just how hot it got so quickly. About 10 minutes earlier I was considering putting on my long tights (and you know it has to be cold for me to consider wearing my long tights in public!) and now I was regretting wearing a long sleeve jersey. Of course the terrain got steeper as I entered the sun zone.

I left Hwy 1 in favor of a smaller back road the guidebook suggested. Soon I was climbing a steep grade. According to the guidebook, I was gaining 600 feet of elevation in less than 3 miles. It was a tough climb full of lots of switchbacks and absolutely no shoulder or shade. Fortunately there was very little traffic. At the top of the grade, I had a great view down into the valley where Lompoc was located. Another plus of the steep climb was that I got to coast almost all the way to Lompoc, about 4 miles.

Lompoc in the distance

That was nice. Once I was in town, I found the bike shop, bought a new rear tire and was on my way. Although the itinerary called for me to stop at Gaviota State Beach tonight. I thought I might push on to El Capitan State Beach, another 10 miles further south. The guidebook suggested it might have better camping facilities. The second half of the day was even hotter than the first. I struggled over a couple of long hills and finally coasted into Gaviota. At Gaviota the route reconnects with 101. I haven’t seen you in awhile.

I knew the terrain flattened out after Gaviota so I figured I could push myself another 10 miles to El Capitan. When I got to the campground, I was delighted to find out they still had Hiker/Biker sites available, no homeless problem here. I was chagrined to learn that those sites were at the back of the park. Still it was the best deal around.

The park itself is long and narrow. It is wedged in between 101 and the ocean. The entrance to the park is at the southern end, the hiker/bike sites are at the northern end, about 1.5 miles from the entrance. I slowly pedaled to the end of the park and discovered that at least I was the only one back here. I was about 1/2 mile from the other campers, not too bad. I made camp, dinner, a few phone calls and then went to bed.

Sunset over El Capitan Beach

I woke up a couple of hours later to animal noises. I’m no ornithologist but I was quite sure they weren’t birds. It almost sounded like cooing though. I figured they must be harmless if they are cooing, right? Then I heard a crash. It sounded like my bike fell over. I know I parked is securely so for it to fall over someone or something had to push it over. Something big enough to push over my bike is not harmless, right? I sat up and extricated myself from the bivy. I walked over to my bike and it was on the ground. I picked it up and grabbed my bike light and shined it into the darkness. There were 4 raccoons hanging out about 5 feet away. I yelled at them to beat it figuring the loudness of my voice would scare them off. The leader, I’ll call him the leader, made a growling hiss at me. OK, now I was a little worried. I suddenly felt very alone in the dark and far end of the campground. These things could be rabid. They might be waiting till I fall asleep again to gnaw my face off, you know, just like coyotes. I like my face. I flashed the light at them again and took a step in their direction. They slowly backed into the bushes and slinked away. I don’t think they were frightened of me. I decided I was done sleeping out here in the boonies, I figured I could find a spot near the other regular campsites and take comfort in the proximity of my fellow man. I started packing up my gear so that I could move it. While I was doing that I heard some noises in the bushes behind me. A completely different set of 4 raccoons were hanging out watching me. I suppose they could have been the same 4 but now they were coming from a totally different direction. The story sounds better if I just say it was 4 new raccoons. I flashed my light at them and tried to scare them off. The leader just looked at me for a few seconds, and then looked over at his minions, as if to say “I’m bored, lets move on”. And then they turned and walked back into the bushes. I finshed packing quickly and moved to the safety of a campsite surrounded by lots of other campers. Geez, when did I get so citified?

I know I let them win by giving up my campsite, but I saw it more of a compromise. Later I realized they got away with my last energy bar, I had accidentally left it out on the picnic table.

The bastards!

Maury