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Gene and I rolled up and got out of camp fairly early.  My morning is more complicated than his as I have to roll up a full tent, sleeping bag, tent footprint, and sleeping pad and pack them carefully in my panniers.  He just rolls up his tube shelter and puts a couple things in trash bags.  Because we knew that there were no services for the first 30 miles, against routine, we had breakfast before miles in HMB– dry toast, the same crappy Smucker’s tubs, and potatoes again.  Gene was surprised that I could ride after such a “small” breakfast, but for me, this is huge compared to my usual bowl of grains in the a.m.  I really would rather not feel full while I ride.  I actually don’t like the feeling at any time anymore which probably has a lot to do with why I don’t drink beer anymore.  Eating a big breakfast after 20 uphill miles is different, though.  It seems to burn as you eat it and isn’t a problem.

We’ve known all along that a major Pacific storm is on the way and is supposed to hit tonight (Monday) so the goal is to make it to Santa Cruz and stage in a hotel room.  The elevation profile for this part of the coast is fairly mellow and the miles are in the 40s or 50s, so it shouldn’t be too gnarly.  What we didn’t expect was the massive headwinds.  And massive sidewinds.  It felt like uphill riding even during minor descents.  At 20 to 25 miles per hour, I felt like I was being pushed back up the hill and with some effort, I could have track standed right on the slope facing down.  As we got somewhat close to Santa Cruz, the coastal riding became hillier, as headlands necessitated climbing.  When they turned to sidewinds, however, the shit got scary.  At some point, the winds rose above 20-25 and we were being pelted with sand and blown off the shoulder and into the road.  At some points, we had to walk.  On the beach, the swell was clearly rising as this storm was the remnants of a monsoon in Japan.  About 15 miles north of Santa Cruz and the first available lodging, the winds rose some more and the sky darkened, creating a real Wizard of Oz situation.  Gene and I discussed what we could do, but in no way, did it appear that we could make town before the real storm hit.

I half-heartedly tried to thumb down a few trucks without success.  Gene was stuck on principle and didn’t want a ride no matter what.  It didn’t look like anyone would stop.  The closer you are to civilization, the less helpful the populalace (oh FSM how I hate them) are.  We were pedalling for it.  I stopped and waited while Gene secured all of his stuff inside his panniers and in plastic bags.  We started riding again.

The little town of Davenport, the first services on the route was just ahead.  We had been planning on a stop there for sustenance and I thought we might find shelter or a ride there.  Just outside, I stopped to make sure that my panniers were secured against rain.  My bike fell over (I don’t use a kickstand) and when I got it upright, Gene was well ahead, pushing along.  Shortly thereafter, I got to Davenport, a one corner town with a store and some kind of tour bus stop.  I looked ahead and Gene was still pushing.  I briefly stopped at the store to explore possibilities but it was less than a minute and I didn’t buy anything.  When I looked ahead, dude was gone.  If you’ve read the road rage incident earlier in this account, you know that this is the second time.  A bunch of people have asked me about him bailing when a guy threatened to attack me (partially based on Gene’s actions as well) and I declined to comment, giving him the benefit of the doubt.  So this is twice.  I’m still not going to say anything about it because I don’t really want to shift to the negative right now but seriously–twice.

Seeing that getting a ride was unlikely, I pushed it.  It turned out that whatever disturbance that we had hit north of Santa Cruz was something before the main force hit and there was a relative calm before the storm.  Still, the next 10 miles into town were extremely tough, probably among the hardest of the trip.  It was still calm when I arrived in town and found a hotel, where I was very relieved and checked in to wait out the storm.

I only took two pictures, both of Pigeon Point Lighthouse.

Here is the somewhat incomplete (user error again) track: