Day 53 to 60: Los Angeles, CA to San Francisco, CA

A new leg of the journey and my sights are set on San Francisco, a likely endpoint for my cycling adventures of this trip. 500 or so miles up Highway 1.

After the train it’s hello-goodbye LA, you don’t much interest me, the attraction of the coast drew me on the quickest route from Union station to Venice Beach. The Highway 1 north of LA isn’t the riding you dream of; the sunshine brings the people and the people bring the sports cars and a roaring highway.

It soon changes and it’s hard to get tired riding when you’re under the full evening sun with the endless blue in your periphery.

Without consulting maps, I tentatively planned on getting to Big Sur on the fourth day out of LA, but this was shot down on sight of a sawtooth elevation profile. Boy am I thankful for though, as Kirk Creek Campground is probably the nicest I’ve been to, on a little disc of land extending out and sloping down into the Pacific.

After San Simeon the coastline gets to the real stuff. To my left the relentless Pacific crashing against the worn out rock, to my right a wall of Redwood covered mountains permanently crested with mist. Yourself on the cliffside, snaking, on repeat, up onto the headlands and down into the coves.

Kirk Creek through Big Sur the coastline is sublime. This really is dream riding. The cool ocean mist supplied on a daily morning basis a welcome refreshment.

There’s nothing like the invigoration of being by the seaside.

The wind presented the first real problem out of Santa Cruz. Sure, it was a nearly constant presence in my face all the way from LA, but manageable, especially after the Trial of New Mexico. I decided on camping up a hill 7 miles inland from Highway 1 on the coast, set amongst a patch of towering Redwood forest.

Bad rain I’ve mostly avoided since Austin(!) decided to all deposit at once overnight and I foolishly pitched my tent in a low lying spot. I awoke around 3am to find myself in a pool, giving me incentive to get away at the first hint of daylight.

Ample time for a cruise into San Francisco.

Day 52: Arizona to California

I took the train from Arizona to Los Angeles to trade desert for a cool Pacific breeze.

The coast should be done from north to south in order not to fight the prevailing wind every moment and keep sanity. The thing is, I really wanted to ride through Big Sur. It's only a week into San Francisco from LA, though, and oh-so-worth every second.

Days 50, 51, 52: Grand Canyon, AZ

GRAND CANYON TIME.

Yes, it's stunning. Got cold. Got snowed on. Done a little walk down into the canyon.

Spoiling a decent view

Day 49: Flagstaff, AZ to Grand Canyon, AZ

To the Grand Canyon today. The bloody Grand Canyon!

It dawned on me along the route today that I'm about to see one of the most spectacular features of the natural world, but what makes it feel more special is I didn't even plan on coming here few weeks back.

Hammock room at Joe's

Weather forecasts had told us to expect a cold snap so Ken paid a visit to REI and bought a new jacket. The day started at a familiar 'we're pushing it' late morning hour and we gained yet more elevation outside of Flagstaff taking us along the base of Humphreys Peak.

Not been since the freak night in Florida have I been uncomfortable in a short sleeve jersey, but today I donned the long sleeve wool and the down jacket never came off. Tonight will be comfortably below zero.

Unexpected introduction for the SockGlove™

Making the cold worse was the strong headwind all bloody day. I was seriously struggling for motivation as we were running out of light in the evening; the flat featureless highway hints no clue to what astonishing a feature lies just ahead. Luckily we reached the park entrance before it was pitch black and were told the campsite was just ahead of us. We'll have to wait until morning to see the main attraction.

This will most likely the last day Ken and I cycle together; I'll head back to Flagstaff in a couple of days and Ken will go on his epic tour of Utah.

Day 47 & 48: Payson, AZ to Flagstaff, AZ

Day 47: Payson, AZ to Flagstaff, AZ

Due to taking the unintended rest day yesterday, we decided on making the journey north to Flagstaff in one day.

It was another big day as we had the best part of 100 miles to cover across land that ain't flat. Awake at 5 (a time zone mistake, obviously) we were rolling by half 7 after another top breakfast burrito.

We said our goodbyes to Devin and Laurel, all-round lovely and generous hosts who made us feel like part of the family for the two nights we stayed.

The immediate section along the 87 out of Payson was probably the most unsafe I've felt on the whole trip. Such animosity. The road itself is gorgeous, however the lack of shoulder coupled with twists and incline makes for uncomfortable riding. Cars here are obviously not used to dealing with cyclists. One: they don't view waiting behind you for a suitable time to pass as an option whatsoever, instead just swerving wildly out into the oncoming lane around blind corners. Two: they view the cyclist as the problem and all frustration is directed towards the rider. Cycling is such a terrible use of a public road, isn't it?

First task was to climb over the Mogollon Rim which took us through the pine forests. Back up to 2300 metres elevation. It's amazing how quickly the scenery has changed from desert and cacti galore a day ago into dense pine forest today, and it'll be the Grand Canyon tomorrow. What a fascinating land.

We arrived at Joseph's house as the sun was setting. The greenery of today has been a pleasant shift in scenery. Flagstaff seems pretty with the bulk of Mt. Humphreys looming over town to provide an impressive backdrop.

Day 48: Flagstaff, AZ

A lazy day full of coffee and overpriced Whole Foods Market fare. Really, it's disgusting the prices of shopping at organic markets and similar places here. It commands the obvious slight premium back in the UK, but eating healthily here must be crippling! Maybe it's because I struggle to find the restraint at all the fancy pants items in the supermarket aisles.

Joe and his friends have a weekly BLT night; Joe supplies the bacon, everybody else brings another constituent part. So good.

I'm having a real dilemma of where to take this trip after the Grand Canyon. Ken has a much longer time in the country than I do, planning on a loop through Utah and across Nevada. I've decided to skip Nevada as I don't see much value in cycling boring roads for week when my time is limited. Where to go?

I think I'll come back to Flagstaff after the Canyon, get the train to Los Angeles and cycle the coast up to San Francisco and Northern California.

Day 45 & 46: Globe, AZ to Payson, AZ

Day 45: Globe, AZ to Payson, AZ

Up at 6 this morning for a big day bicycling. Larry cycled into town with us to get a coffee and we still didn't leave until 9.

Keep being awesome, Larry

What we like

Thankfully the day started off nice and quick with a huge descent that took us down to a normal(ish) elevation alongside Theodore Roosevelt lake. It's crazy that the last few weeks has been at an elevation regularly over 1000 metres and higher than pretty much all of the UK.

Trouble is it all had to be climbed again to get into Payson. Six miles uphill and we're cooked. Milkshake time. It was a long day, not easy by any stretch, but not the sufferfest we were quite expecting.

We arrived at Devin's house who thankfully agreed to host us at short notice. He and Laurel have a lovely house in Payson with their two kids. Great food and company and they made us feel super welcome from the off.

It's so comfortable here we decided to sneak a days rest tomorrow.




Day 46: Payson, AZ

Devin and Laurel are really spoiling us. Breakfast burritos all round for brekkie.

We went out to the Tonto Natural Bridge State Park, a natural arch 10 miles out of town, took a nice walk around and went into a few caves with Devin and Ryland.

Cactus tourism

We've lined up a film in their home cinema this evening (this Warm Showers hospitality is really getting out of hand!). Still, it's time to move on tomorrow. Sights to see n all that.

Day 44: Solomon, AZ to Globe, AZ

We were treated to some cracking alien creation theories last night in Safford. You hope to meet some colourful imaginations in the States and last night certainly provided. I heard of seven Eves, alien gold mining, DNA transplantation. We've been told to seek out some New Age literature. He warned not to go for the sensationalist stuff though.

Mon's parents sorted us out with an abundance of pancakes for breakfast and for the road. We got away early as we were anticipating a fairly long day on the road but It turned out to be a fast one with little wind.

A lot of the day was spent passing though the San Carlos Apache reservation

So excited to see proper cacti!

The road into globe was sketchy with heavy traffic and a shoulder bad enough to bring about Louisiana comparisons.

We are spending tonight at Larry's house. He let us raid the cupboards so we cooked up a large pot of soup to share. Conversation flowed all evening and Larry had a lot of interesting opinions to share; we really enjoyed his company.

We're going to divert from the Southern Tier route tomorrow and head to the Grand Canyon via Flagstaff, bypassing Phoenix. I've heard Flagstaff is a cool place and Phoenix isn't the most bike-friendly.

Day 43: Mule Creek, NM to Solomon, AZ

Camping by the roadside let us get away before 9. Unheard of. Mule Creek has a Post Office, big enough to fit one person, and nothing else. Luckily we could fill up with water as we had run completely dry but it had to be another 28 miles into Three Way until we could get food.

We had another mountain pass to get over, one a lot easier than Emory, a nice climb through Gila and Apache National Forests to take us into Arizona.

The wind has died down today and it's a pleasant change to the battering of the past few days. Maybe it was a New Mexico thing.

New Mexico will be remembered for it's hills and wind

The view when we made it over the pass was just absolutely breathtaking.

The best descent followed - full of perfectly wide, sweeping turns all the way down into Three Way.

Crisp sandwich amplified

A fairly substantial climb out of Three Way set up another massive downhill. It was time to loose another chunk of the altitude we'd gained over the past weeks.

Another stunning vista. Mt Graham in the background (with snow)

Today's scenery was spectacular. It's an unheard of arrival time as we're in Safford at half 2. Arizona has welcomed us nicely.

We are staying with Mons and family tonight who've hosted over 400 cyclists over the past few years.

Day 42: Silver City, NM to Mule Creek, NM

After yesterday's exertions we thought it'd be wise to have a shorter day.

Outside the Bike Haus

Ken had a mystery puncture as we were about to set off so had to get to the bike shop and buy a new tube. I hung around town for a little bit to stuff my face with pastries. Another PM start.

The wind was reliably present and bothered us for most of the day. No real destination, just to struggle on until we'd had enough. As the Sun dipped we found a spot to camp on the side of the quiet road.

Tomorrow we will head into Arizona.

Day 41: Caballo, NM to Silver City, NM

Today ranks as the hardest day of the tour and up there with the toughest rides I've ever done.

All started off lovely with a stunning sunrise over our spot on the lake.

The best camp yet

Brekkie

We knew the day would take us over the highest point on the Southern Tier route - Emory Pass at 2500 metres. We also knew we'd be riding directly west, so bang into the wind.

Plan A was to start early, beat the wind, over the pass and head north on the loop to the Gila cliff dwellings and hot springs.

The trouble is that our early is 9am. Five miles along the flat heading to the pass and the wind starts up. We also couldn't resist to stop for a coffee and pie at the nice cafe in Hillsboro.

So to Plan B, hitchhike up to the cliff dwellings with our bikes.

The climb sheltered us from the worst of the wind, but obviously it's replaced by a huge mountain. It's a long way up to the top and hard going but a beautiful road to ride.

High, windy and cold

The headwind is so strong it even turns the descent into work.

Plan C, then. Fuck it, we'll skip the loop and carry on to Silver City. The wind continues and what we thought would be the easy option turns out to be lumpy all the way to Silver City.

12 hours since we set off, 2400m of uphill, only 78 miles made and we grind our way into town just before dark and smash a Wendy's, the first sight of food in town. Spent.

Thankfully in town is The Bike Haus, a place owned by Jamie which we've heard about from many cyclists along the route, that are putting us up for the night.

Day 40: Las Cruces, NM to Caballo, NM

The wind is forecast to blow strongly from the west all week which doesn't bode well for us. Laundry and eating make us late leaving Las Cruces. The worst time for the winds it seems is mid afternoon so naturally we head off at 1. We get shelter from the pecan trees north of Las Cruces but quickly we're fighting the wind.

As the evening approached the wind started to die down and we made it to the state park at Caballo Lake. Hooray, they have primitive camping for $8, a lot more reasonable than encountered so far. We've set up a spot on the shore overlooking the lake.

The stars are out. This is such a stunning place to spend the night.

Day 39: El Paso, TX to Las Cruces, NM

We hung about in El Paso this morning to ensure a good Mexican breakfast even though the city itself was quiet because of Easter Sunday.

Another short day (fastly becoming the norm) over into New Mexico border to Las Cruces made sense.

Exiting the west side of El Paso took us down Mesa Road, an endless repeating sequence of shopping plazas and commercialism. We followed a bike path along the Rio Grande which is really one of the least impressive rivers I've seen.

The Grand River, everybody

Goodbye Texas

See ya Texas. It's been big, it's been hot, it's actually been a really great state. Austin was fantastic fun. West Texas especially has been kind to us with our run of memorable hospitality. The ultra-baron landscape never really materialised and even the stretches without sign of life never lasted long enough to grind you down.

A strong westerly sidewind really hit us hard on the exposed road heading into Las Cruces

Another Mexican lunch: barbacoa tacos. Possibly the best yet.

We arrived at Lisa's house, likely the most enthusiastic Warm Showers host I've met thus far. There were already three eastbound cyclists sat on the sofa when we arrived. She had baked cookies and was just over the moon to be socialising with us. Her enthusiasm was infectious. She took us all out for a meal (Mexican, obviously, to complete the breakfast, lunch and dinner trio) in the historic area of town.  We all had a few margaritas and a great time.