Carlsbad to Laguna Beach, CA

This ride proved to me the importance of calories!! In an effort to save some cash, I went without breakfast before leaving Carlsbad. Bad move. About ten miles short of Laguna Beach, my body began to shut down. I was riding on flat ground, in my lowest gear, struggling to move forward at even the slowest pace. It was so frustrating!!! As soon as I could, I stopped for food. I ate a 12" inch sub, a bag of chips and a bottle of Pepsi. After a nice break, letting the meal settle, I took off again and was blown away at how my body reacted. I could feel the energy and power in my legs being restored. I finished the day having a new level of respect for calories and what they do for me.

Laguna Beach is beautiful. A great place to spend the night. I stayed at my third hostel on this tour. Man, hostels are a hoot. Cheap and fun. Ive been one of the very few Americans to stay at the hostels I've been to. I've met great groups of people from Australia, Germany, New Zealand and England, to name a few. The people I've met are right up my ally. Good humans spending as much of their lives, as possible, traveling. Definitely inspiring.

No pictures tonight! My phone was dead for most of this ride, so only my words will have to do.

San Diego to Carlsbad, CA

It is definitely hard to push big miles through this part of the trail. Most of the time I'm more worried about paying attention to the map and to the traffic than enjoying any kind of scenery. Ill ride for maybe 2-3 miles, max, before having to turn onto another street. Don't get me wrong, though, a quick glance over my left shoulder would always reveal SUPER AWESOME views of the ocean. I've been riding so close to it, I can almost always hear and smell it. I love my Colorado mountain views, but this is pretty neat.

I pulled into the South Carlsbad State Park to camp for the night. Pretty low on funds so I tried to get away without paying. Didn't work. I was booted... but not without two free shower tokens from the Camp Host. Not sure if it was due to his kindness/guilt or if I just smelled really, really bad. Either way, it was much appreciated. I ended up getting to a little park in town. I set up my tent, fell asleep, then woke up to some bums set up around me. Yea...

I've been battling with my bike since before San Diego. The bottom bracket broke, which would be like a blown engine in your car. Without it working properly, you're not moving. I got it over to a Performance Bike shop and they took care of me... and also my parents!!! for helping me pay for it. Thank you so much!

Here are some pictures! Got to see Petco
Park!

San Diego!

Well, I made it. 640 miles on the odometer and here I am! San Diego is a pretty neat place. Cycling is definitely big here... dedicated Bike Lanes on almost every street, all throughout the city. Cars are respectful. In fact, I dealt with more bicycles in traffic, than cars, in Pacific Beach. People have pride in their bikes, too. Custom paint jobs and part modifications are pretty common. I love it! Met an old friend for a drink and later hung out at what was probably the coolest hostel ever! I was the only person there who wasn't German or Australian.

Took a lot of patience to get here! A motel, in Brawley, mistakenly charged an enormous price for a room to my debit card. Didn't find out until I was DECLINED for a meal at Taco Bell. To cut a long story short: no money, mo problems. Anyhow, with help from my folks I will push onward, to San Francisco!!