Day 1: Pescadero, CA to Turlock, CA
July 31, 2015: the day I had been waiting for. I was finally there in Pescadero, California dipping my wheels in the Pacific Ocean.
The whole thing didn't seem real to me. I had dreamed of riding across America since I started cycling avidly back in 2004. It was always number one on the list of things I wanted to do. In 2015 10 years of dreaming transitioned into 7 serious months of planning, training, and obsessing. The time had finally come.
At first I was walking along the beach and I didn't feel any emotion. I felt like I should have been more excited, but the whole thing just didn't seem real to me. It didn't feel like a momentous occasion. It felt like just another ride.
It wasn't until I was on the road getting ready to clip in and take that first pedal stroke when the emotion finally hit me, and it hit me hard. More than anything I was grateful. I was grateful for my health and for the opportunity to ride. I was grateful for my wife, who was with me for the first two and a half days. Without her Petoji wouldn't have been possible. I felt very fortunate to be able to live a dream for 23 days. I'm not going to lie- I cried a little bit there on Pescadero Creek Road. I never thought I was the type of person to cry tears of joy.
The ride itself was a good one. As expected, it was foggy and cool near the beach and sunny and hot as I moved inland. The route began with a few nice, winding roads with little traffic. There was a little bit of climbing up to about 2,000 feet before a descent back to sea level towards the outskirts of San Jose.
San Jose was the first test of the Petoji route. Would I make it through without landing on any congested roads with no shoulder? I'm happy to report that the route was good. It was mostly bike lane with a few quiet side streets. The only problem is that I ran into some road construction (Hacienda Ave) and the detour was poorly marked. However, I made good use of the maps on my new Garmin Edge Touring GPS and found my way back to the route.
After San Jose it was time to ride up to 4,000 feet at Mt. Hamilton. Mt. Hamilton itself wasn't too bad. I rode a conservative pace, saving energy for the next 22 days. It was the little climb on Quimby Road (this segment) that really killed me. My wife met me at the top of Mt. Hamilton at the Lick Observatory and I actually took a little time to walk around and check it out. I had ridden up to Mt. Hamilton a few times but was always in a hurry to keep on riding. There was no rush this time.
The rest of the ride was mostly downhill and flat into Turlock. The descent of Mt. Hamilton itself was a big mess. There was a ton of loose gravel on the road and I took it super slow. I averaged 14 mph on the descent! I'll admit that I was a little extra cautious. Who wants to crash on the first day of a cross-country ride? But it was ridiculous how much gravel was out there, and it seems like they put it there on purpose.
After the Mt. Hamilton descent the scenery changed from mountains to farmland. By the end of the day I had climbed over 10,000 feet but was still at sea level. I stayed at the Travelodge in Turlock. I don't remember much about it, so it couldn't have been that bad. Just your average budget hotel.
All in all it was a good day. 10,000 feet isn't a ton of climbing over 130 miles, but as far as Petoji is concerned it was one of the biggest climbing days of all 23 days. The biggest climbing day was still to come on Day 2.
The ride itself was a good one. As expected, it was foggy and cool near the beach and sunny and hot as I moved inland. The route began with a few nice, winding roads with little traffic. There was a little bit of climbing up to about 2,000 feet before a descent back to sea level towards the outskirts of San Jose.
San Jose was the first test of the Petoji route. Would I make it through without landing on any congested roads with no shoulder? I'm happy to report that the route was good. It was mostly bike lane with a few quiet side streets. The only problem is that I ran into some road construction (Hacienda Ave) and the detour was poorly marked. However, I made good use of the maps on my new Garmin Edge Touring GPS and found my way back to the route.
After San Jose it was time to ride up to 4,000 feet at Mt. Hamilton. Mt. Hamilton itself wasn't too bad. I rode a conservative pace, saving energy for the next 22 days. It was the little climb on Quimby Road (this segment) that really killed me. My wife met me at the top of Mt. Hamilton at the Lick Observatory and I actually took a little time to walk around and check it out. I had ridden up to Mt. Hamilton a few times but was always in a hurry to keep on riding. There was no rush this time.
The rest of the ride was mostly downhill and flat into Turlock. The descent of Mt. Hamilton itself was a big mess. There was a ton of loose gravel on the road and I took it super slow. I averaged 14 mph on the descent! I'll admit that I was a little extra cautious. Who wants to crash on the first day of a cross-country ride? But it was ridiculous how much gravel was out there, and it seems like they put it there on purpose.
After the Mt. Hamilton descent the scenery changed from mountains to farmland. By the end of the day I had climbed over 10,000 feet but was still at sea level. I stayed at the Travelodge in Turlock. I don't remember much about it, so it couldn't have been that bad. Just your average budget hotel.
All in all it was a good day. 10,000 feet isn't a ton of climbing over 130 miles, but as far as Petoji is concerned it was one of the biggest climbing days of all 23 days. The biggest climbing day was still to come on Day 2.
