Once upon a time in … California
We arrive in San Francisco on October 23, 2019 on the eve of the Critical Mass. What luck! No time to leave our bikes anywhere, so we hit the road and join the procession, cycling nearly 40km though the city. The idea is simple: gather with other cyclists, occupy the width of the road, and make noise in order to remind bigger vehicles that cyclists are not a detail of the city. This is a global movement, so be sure to look it up in your city – the event usually happens on the last Friday of every month. Despite this nice event, we must admit that we leave San Francisco a bit disappointed. Obviously, it’s impossible to judge a city within a few days. But having Portland in mind, we expected SF to be a hipster, multicultural, trendy and green city. Yet that was not the case, or at least San Francisco did not show us that side.
Getting out of the city is quite easy. We plan on a short day, only 40km. Through the Warmshower community a host lends us his sailboat for the night. Good surprise, we are not alone on board. We meet Linda & Dom, a Swiss couple also cycling towards Mexico. It is quite natural that we move forward together, and under the sign of good humor we continue our route along the Pacific. We are almost getting used to these ocean landscapes. We always feel much pleasure in pitching our tent at the edge of the cliff, under the stars, with the sound of the waves as a lullaby.
It is an unfortunate material breakage that forces our small group to separate. Dom breaks his rim somewhere in the middle of nowhere, forced to hitchhike back to the previous town to find a bike shop. But we promise to meet again, in a few days, a few months, who knows … It is therefore in a duet that we continue our journey, at a slow pace because we have time. We take advantage of the wild side of California because we know that the closer we get to the Mexican border, the more crowded the road becomes. Yet we are spoiled: tarantulas on the road, condors in the sky and sea lions in the ocean, it’s crazy. We cross the renowned Malibu Beach and pass oversized houses where the traffic is more present, and the cars more prestigious. No doubt, we are getting closer to Los Angeles.
We reach Los Angeles on November 8th, greeted like princes by Aleks, a friend of Daisy’s. For the first time since we left Alaska, we are taking a real big break. We spend 10 days in Los Angeles. Santa Monica, Venice Beach, Hollywood, we discover only a tiny part of this sprawling city.
The plan is to rest before another 10 days of road trip in the American West with friends visiting us. We intensely enjoy those moments with our loved ones. As a parenthesis for the trip, at 100km/h and from one national park to another, we are on vacation.
After Los Angeles, we are only 3 days away from Mexico, and we exceed our 6500th km. It’s crazy. So much has been achieved, and so much more is yet to come. We are cycling excited by this new challenge to come. New country, new language, new culture, before us it is a new world. We pass on the ..side of the “wall” on December 6 … the adventure continues.
