Half Moon Bay State Park to Sunset State Beach, California

Saturday, May 17,2014

Half Moon Bay State Park to Sunset State Beach, California
76 miles

Sailing in to Santa Cruz

We had help to pack up this morning. Owen, a three year old from the neighbouring campsite paid us a visit.  He gave our tent a thorough inspection, was thrilled that he could stand up inside it and that we could not and brought us up to speed on all of the Transformers - good guys, bad guys and of course the antics of Optimus Prime.  He was a wonderful little man and we enjoyed the visit.  He was camping with his Dad, on their boys weekend, and Dad seemed so grateful that we had distracted Owen for a while that he offered us a place to stay later on done the road in Ventura.

It was a morning of firsts as we pedalled along a bike path on the headlands.  Our first pelican sighting, and our first fruit stand.  We could not resist stopping at the fruit stand to feast.  It was quite a timely stop.  As we purchased our cherries, Gabriel, as student from Berkeley in San Francisco rode up on his bike and purchased Apricots.  We began chatting and quickly negotiated a trade - half of our cherries for half of his apricots.   Delicious!

Speaking of firsts, we also experienced our first really strong tail wind.  IT WAS UNBELIEVABLE.  Before we knew it we were going an effortless 20 miles per hour.  We enjoyed the wind support for most of our morning ride and what a ride it was.  The route took us once again across grasslands, with steep drop offs to the ocean.

The views continued to be spectacular and we found we had to force ourselves to focus on the road.  It is so easy to be distracted by the view and before you know it a pothole has played havoc with your forward momentum!

Focus on the road ahead is a must!

We passed countless State Park beaches and each seemed to have their own sport:  hang-gliding, para-sailing, surf-sailing and we even rode by a radio operated glider club.

The Whale City Bakery Bar and Grill in Davenport was the locale for second breakfast.  It was the place to be as weekend cyclists by the dozens stopped for breaky.  We chatted with all kind of folk and once again felt motivated by the positive energy and good wishes that came our way.

After lunch, we began the final few miles to Santa Cruz and stumbled along a fantastic bike path leading to the sea wall into town.  Being the weekend, the seawall was busy.  As we rounded the bend, to the tourist area our senses were assaulted with the hustle and bustle of the Santa Cruz beach area.

If there had been any doubt before, we now knew we were in California.  We took it all in:

-kayaks
-sailboats
-stand up paddle boards
-surfers
-swimmers
-fishers
-walkers
-rollerbladers
-cyclists
-nude sunbathers
-kids cliff jumping
-boogie boards
-beach volleyball

....and whales, seals and otters!

We then rounded another corner and came upon the pier and seaside amusement park.  It was a beehive of activity and we enjoyed getting caught up in it.

We managed to get quite lost in Santa Cruz and found our way to a bike shop where the friendly staff helped us to get back on track.  We had quite a few miles to the next camp ground and it was time to get moving.

As we left Santa Cruz the area began to change.  We were once again in rolling hills and farmland.  It was easy riding.  As we approached, Sunset State Beach we passed acres of strawberry farms.  We could smell the strawberries in the air and as we set up camp we are backing on to fields of blooming flowers.

Hiker/biker campsite at Sunset State Beach

Giggle of the day:

We had spent far too much time exploring Santa Cruz and so it was quite late in the day when we began the search for a campsite.  A local in San Apto highly recommended a KOA up the road, so excitedly we rode in to the KOA only to be offered an $85 site.  Unfortunately, this KOA did not offer hiker/biker sites.  We just couldn't imagine paying that much money for a campsite, so we decided to move on.  The next State Park was full and once again speaking of firsts, it was a State Park that did not offer hiker biker sites.  We falsely assumed all State Parks accepted bikes.  I looked at the Park Ranger in disbelief as they turned us away, and muttered under my breath that it would be really nice if they put the FULL sign up at the bottom of the hill NOT at the top off the hill.  We really had no choice,  but to get back on the bikes.  I grumbled the whole way to the Sunset Beach turn-off and then we arrived at the check-in booth just as the sun was setting.  What a beautiful sunset.  We set up our tent in the dark and just as we were almost done another pair of cyclists rode in.  Guess what - they were grumbling, "how hard would it be to put the FULL sign at the bottom of the hill!"