100 Days 48 States - The Journey

"It’s hard to stay mad when there’s so much beauty in the world.
Sometimes I feel like I’m seeing it all at once, and it’s too much.
My heart fills up like a balloon that’s about to burst.
And then I remember to relax, and stop trying to hold on to it.
And then it flows through me like rain
And I can’t feel anything but gratitude
for every single moment of my stupid little life.
You have no idea what I’m talking about, I’m sure.
But don’t worry, you will someday."
- Kevin Spacey as Lester Burnham in American Beauty

TODAY’S ROUTE:
San Francisco, CA to Big Sur, CA: SR-35 South past Pacifica to SR-1 South past Half Moon Bay, Pescadero, Davenport, Santa Cruz, Watsonville, Montery to Big Sur. (MAP)

THE DETAILS:
I don’t want to leave San Francisco. I’m literally having a hard time getting on the bike and heading out because I just don’t want to leave here. Toby left for work around 5:30 AM and I’ve been hanging out in her beautiful apartment all morning, catching up on odds and ends, but really just not wanting to leave. I should have scheduled more time here. Like another couple of days. Or a week. Or another hundred days. Or a year. Or the rest of my life.

All right, that’s it. This trip is over. I’m staying.

No. I can’t do that, at least not right now. But I’m coming back here as soon as I can. I’d like to try a 50CC, the Iron Butt ride where you try to run coast to coast in 50 hours or less. The Jacksonville, Florida to San Diego, California route is the most popular, but I’d like to try it from New York to San Francisco.

Around 2:30 PM, I head west across town towards the coast. I’m driving through the city as slowly as possible, trying to savor every last moment, every last block. I stop at Cliff House, just south of Point Lobos, where the ocean crashes against the city boundary. On the site is the third Cliff House, built in 1909. The first Cliff House, a modest structure, was built in 1863 and destroyed by fire in 1894. Two years later it was replaced by a grandiose eight story French Chateau. That building survived the 1906 quake but burned down the following year.

The Cliff House is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and I get another bonus stamp I hadn’t expected. Just south, at the other end of the Ocean Beach, is Fort Funtson, another part of the GGNRA and a popular spot for hang gliders, who take advantage of the high cliffs and strong winds. But the Ranger Station here is only open Saturdays and Sundays, and today is Friday. I can see the stamp through the window but I I hadn’t planned on getting this one anyway. Plus I got three stamps in San Francisco I didn’t even know about. Time to move on.

The coastal highway is very relaxing and as I ride down Route 1 I’m feeling very calm and carefree. I’m supposed to drive all the way to San Simeon today, a 230-mile trip, but there’s no way I can make it before dark. But I don’t care. For the first time on this trip it just doesn’t matter. I feel free. I’m flying, breathing the ocean air, slowly, feeling each breath fill my lungs with the moist salt air. I know it will all work out. This road, this place, this time, it’s all coming together.

I stop at the Pigeon Point Lighthouse just to get off the bike and look at the ocean. It’s like I don’t want this moment to end and by stopping I’ll delay the inevitable. I’ve been thinking about that movie last night, and how the main character, Lester Burnham, looks back on his life when he was younger and tries to get himself back to that time. And I’m wondering if I won’t be looking back ten years from now and wishing I was back here at this moment and this time. I don’t want to lose this feeling, this time, this beauty. The videotape will help me remember, but time will change everything. In ten years everything will be different, and it’s almost like I’m losing it now. The next second comes, and then, it’s gone. And people will come and go, and I’ll be missing you.

The National Geographic Scenic Highways and Byways book lists a 17-mile loop around the Monterey Peninsula which takes you along the shoreline past windswept cypress groves and the famed Pebble Beach golf course. But Chuck told me motorcycles aren’t allowed. And he was right, but I had to see for myself. At the entrance gate to the drive the guard tells me that the residents don’t want motorcycles riding through. Blame it on those loud Harleys with their straight pipes. Is this legal? It’s okay right now, and I don’t even argue because I should be getting south anyway.

Past Carmel, the Big Sur coastline extends for 90 miles south to San Simeon. Route 1 rises along the granite cliffs with frothy waves pounding the ragged rocks below. I cross Bixby Creek Bridge, stopping on the other side for the obligatory photographs. The fog is working its way inland, and the setting sun is hidden behind low, milky clouds. Just past the town of Big Sur, I stop at Nepenthe; a charming restaurant perched 800 feet above the sea. Kelly told me I had to stop here and she was right. It’s a great place, with a roaring fire in the center of the main room and tremendous views of the ocean. That is, when you can actually see the ocean, which I can’t because it’s too foggy.

After striking up a conversation with the lovely Bartendress, I decide to stop here for the night. I’ll catch up tomorrow, when the fog rolls away and I can see more than 50 feet ahead. There’s no point in riding down this wonderful road in the dark and the fog. After dinner, I get a room at the Big Sur Lodge (http://www.bigsurlodge.com), back north a few miles right in the middle of Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park. It’s the only room they’ve got left and it’s very expensive, but it’s got a fireplace and a big stack of wood. A great way to end another great day.

THE DAILY TAKE:
Miles Today: 161.5
Total Miles: 17,883
Time on Motorcycle: 3 Hours 50 Minutes
Average Speed: 84.7 MPH
States Visited today: 1 (CA)
Total States Visited: 32
National Park Service Passport Stamps: 1
NPS Stamp Totals: 135 Stamps, 29 States
Weather: Sunny, Warm, turning cooler and foggy along coast
Automobile admission charge for the Pebble Beach 17-Mile Scenic Drive: $7.50

SEEN ON THE ROAD:
"Bikes are not allowed in here" – Security Guard at the entrance gate to the Pebble Beach 17-mile scenic drive.

"Forget your worldly cares
At Nepenthe’s gay pavilion
Where the Phoenix Bird repairs
And is feeling like a million."
-Cover of dinner menu at Nepenthe Restaurant, California Highway 1, Big Sur.