feel great ALL the time! ask me how...

I'll tell you.

I been thinking. Friend J__ had mentioned that she would be working in Big Sur on/off throughout the week and would I be innerested in riding down and catching a ride in her truck back home. Or, I could ride down, camp, and catch a ride back the next day...That sounded like a Good Idea, but the requisite meshing of schedules didn't happen.

I had been making plans and revising them for a couple days by that point. It was Monday evening when this all came down. Then my lovely wife suggested I ride down and camp, and she and the kids would drive down to pick me up Wednesday. See why I married her? Thank you, Boba Fet.

The plan was to ride the Condor Tour route, and camp along Indians Road somewheres; wherever dark found me. I drove D to school (no walking right now in the morning for him) and dropped J off at preschool, and returned home to frantically pack. You know how that goes. Rode out at the crack of noon.



Heading out the valley, it was ~60 degrees and overcast. Significant rain the night before, but the forecast called for increasing sun.


The sun shines on all bike touring endeavors...




Carmel Valley Road was cold and dank on the upper reaches. You remember how that gradual climb goes on and on? Well, it's longer than you remember.




Running to beat the timer. Story of my life on top of the incline.





Yes, that is what it looks like. I considered leaving this out of the post, but it makes you feel better about yourself. My story is: while frantically packing and experimenting with rack sets for this bike (which I really wanted to ride because I just put it together in this incarnation, and in spite of the fact that I had a perfectly set-up and tuned Long Haul Trucker with racks mounted, in the same room...), I pulled the Nitto canti-mount rack off the LHT, and attempted to mount it on the KM. No go- suspension corrected fork. But I'd already removed the brake mounting bolts, and even though I put them back on the LHT ( so's not to lose them, you know) I neglected to remount them here. I found this out here, at the top of the incline (6-12% grade), roughly 35 miles into the tour. Just happened to walk away from the bike and the gaping post holes caught my eye...

Yeah. I know.

All's I know is: Thank God for zip ties! and always carry plenty with you on tour... I considered whether to swap the bolts from the rear brakes to the front to avoid possible issue with the front brakes getting pulled off the post by the forward rotation of the wheel, but it was cold and you know how I do. I kept my eye on it. Really.


I saw a huge group of hogs on the way down. Maybe 14? Lots of little football sized babies. They were scared by my incredibly dangerous brake set up and ran off. Lots and lots and lots of deer. Hawks. I noticed in passing the Forest access was closed heading out the end of the valley, but did not think anything of it.




Looking south rounding the turn to G17 for Arroyo Seco you see the evidence of the Indians fire.


Upon arriving at Arroy Seco, I approached the gate to Indians Road only to see dozens of sandwich board signs regarding the closure of the Los Padres National Forest due to the fire damage. They were all dated August, so I pushed on a little. It became very clear this was not a workable plan. Ask me about it in person and I'll tell you the story.

The water in the Arroyo Seco River runs the color of espresso. The ground is black.

Suffice to say here that I was denied and ended up camping in Arroyo Seco. Yeah yeah yeah- you would have checked before heading out and all. The camping cost me $20 of the $21 (total) I had. I spent my other $1 in quarters for the (HOT!) shower.



Camp and cooking dinner. I had: 1 can pinto beans, 1 small can Tomatillo Salsa Verde (with the pop top lid...), 1 avocado, 1 heirloom tomato, 1 ziploc bag of dehydrated corn/peas/carrots/tomatoes+added oregano/cumin/chile powder/salt, 1 bag Have'a corn chips.

You know I don't like to camp without forgetting a utensil. Since there was only one utensil I needed, I forgot that: a spork. That's where the pop top lid came in. I crimped the sides and extended the tab, and that was my tool. It worked ok.

I found the weak spot(s) in my Esbit. The tabs leave a thick and sticky residue on the bottom of the pot which really needs to be scrubbed or it'll make a mess in your mess kit when packed. You really need a lot of water for this, and a scrubby. Luckily, I had both. Also, the tabs don't burn that long- one is not enough to boil 16oz. You need 2. Or twigs, which I've used with good success in the past. But everthing was damp that night, and the twigs took a looong time to catch. I used all my fuel on the dinner and coffee the next morning, which meant that I had none left to make the grits I'd planned for breakfast. Well, the coffee is more important, and I had an "extra" PBJ, so it worked out. Lesson to me: always bring 2x the fuel "needed".




With the sun came coffee and clearer thinking. I realized I didn't have to turn back, but that I could (potentially) access Ft. Hunter Ligget via King city/Jolon Road. This meant a fair detour further inland (to the tune of 20 miles extra) but it meant I could still reach Prewitt Ridge and hopefully ride singletrack down to the coast! And if the point were to arrive, I could have just driven. No, the point is to travel well, and that means the bicycle. All day, the bicycle.

Lloyd, the conspiracy minded camp host, came by to tell me that Obama had won. Works for me. If I needed another reason to despise the Mormon Church, I got it with their funding and pimping of the (lamentably) passed Yes on 8 campaign.

If 2 people love and commit to one another for life, where is the harm?

Shame on us, California.





Yep. The same jury rig as last time down this path...




Lowered center of mass with this arrangement of tarp and pad.





2nd day's load arrangement. Smartened up (a bit) and strapped the tent and poles along side the rack, taking them out of my small pack and off my back. Muuuuch nicer. Loaded the solar powered lantern/water bottle on the seatbag for charging and to keep weight off my back.

I was not sure about the water situation ahead, so I loaded up all I had here. My bladder leaked and I had to toss it. Bummer!that was 100 oz of water. Yay!that was so much less weight on my back.



This is such a perfect little vineyard tucked into the foothills. And I lik their water tower.




Looking at the perfectly spaced oaks along the road into Ft Hunter Ligget. That place should be a park. Instead it's full of tanks. At least they let you through (with an ID-don't forget that) to access the backside of Prewitt Ridge.




Spend more than a day on your tour, and you will look like a hobo. Gear strapped everwhere, dirty clothes in odd arrangement, etc. I was trying to keep the sun off my ears/neck. I had my shirt rolled up to my armpits for cooling, exposing my undershirt along with this getup when I rolled up to the gate at the military base...





Climbing, looking at the remains of the Cone Peak foothills. The stream along the lower sections of the eastern flanks is running clear (even with the rains of this past weekend), but the hillsides are pretty torn up. Not as bad as the Indians fire, I guess...though the smell of wet charcoal was so pervasive it made me a little nauseous on the climb. Not that I feel super on that climb, anyway, but you know.




There will be a terrible problem with slides this winter. Those hills are ruined.





This is looking down a drainage on the Pacific side of the ridge. I see why the mountain lion decided to move into Carmel looking at all this. That is a lot of ruin.




Looking eastward, descending with the last of the light. Time was tight by the time I reached the top, so I took the road instead of the punishing climb to Prewitt and it's always elusive trail...




Cold. Sunflower seeds. Got some grey hairs in my moustache.



West.






This is a truer feel for the light conditions. Looking south down the Nacimiento-Ferguson Road to the Pacific and the finish. Pampas Grass is going crazy right now...





Done. Nothing for it but to eat my remaining PBJ, potato chips, apple, and drink whiskey in the sleeping bag until pick up several hours later...

Thank you L___ for the motivation and support! You are good to me.