I slept incredibly well last night and woke up almost refreshed with legs that only felt like they had been riding for 5 days. After a good breakfast at the aptly named Quality Inn (highly recommended) I looked at the map and figured that I would just follow highway 1 and 101 and be done... Continue Reading →

Woke up at 6am this morning and sat outside on the balcony reviewing the route, as useless as that would turn out. A typical chilly and overcast May day but who cares when you have a view like this. Met up with the parental unit for a leisurely breakfast in the Sandcastle Hotel lobby, judged... Continue Reading →

After a late night last night and a super comfortable bed at the Hampton Inn it was time to get up and get going. The hotel is right on highway 46 so no guidance challenges first thing. I thought today was a 50 mile day so was in a pretty relaxed mood as I churned... Continue Reading →

Short version - don't be put off by the climbing, it's worth it. Long version - A huge milestone today both in terms of miles traveled on this journey and somehow making it to 50 years old, despite my best attempts. Definitely a day of reflection of how I got to where I am, both... Continue Reading →

Didn't sleep too well last night and got up at 7am to check on the route for today, which was good and bad. The good was I realized that the map I did on Ride With GPS was taking me up and over the hills behind Laguna Seca and bugger that, I had this day... Continue Reading →

I stayed at the Super 8 in Santa Cruz last night, a stone's throw from the Boardwalk. Nice basic hotel and, thankfully, a ground floor room I could just roll the bike straight in to. Spent a little while at the pool stretching my legs before heading out for dinner and then slept like a... Continue Reading →

Well, today was the day to stop planning, not start training and get on the bike and ride. My lovely wife gave me a ride to the bridge at 5:30am, despite just returning from London yesterday, so that I didn't have to deal with getting there via public transport and more miles. A good friend... Continue Reading →

I've been doing more research than training for this ride, starting with the "bible" that everyone refers to, the nattily titled "Bicycling the Pacific Coast: A Complete Route Guide, Canada to Mexico", a number of blogs from those who have done it and a private Facebook group of people currently on the route. There's lots... Continue Reading →

"WTF?". Those weren't the exact words from my wife but close enough. I've a small army of specialists helping me through the various ongoing side-effects from chemo and radiation so the idea of a 500 mile bicycle ride on my own seemed to cause some concern. It seemed pretty straightforward, start at the Golden Gate... Continue Reading →