Hello friends, family and those we've met on the road! Welcome to the seventh edition of our newsletter, this time typed from sunny Los Angeles and San Diego.
Last time we spoke, I joked that you should wish us good fortune for our upcoming ride through the Sierras, and, failing that, the appearance of a friendly driver of a pick-up truck, should we need to hitch back to the coast. Well...
The above photo memoralises the single hour of hitching we attempted, while we waited for the thankfully easy-to-board bus out of the Yosemite area. So what happened? Shortly after the last edition, we cross referenced our plan with the forecast for the region we were heading towards, and were faced with daunting predictions of 45-degree weather. Although we had been planning to rise with the sun and stop cycling early in the day, we realised that in those temperatures, we could be at risk of heat exhaustion while simply sitting around in the campsite. After a hurried spell of googling from our tent on the edge of the National Park, we established that we were actually in a great spot to catch the bus to Fresno and, from there, hire a car to return us to the Pacific coast.
And that's exactly what we did. The only small hiccup was that there were no cars available in Fresno on the day we arrived, so we had to spend our first night of the trip in a hotel (oh no) before heading to Monterey - a city only 230km south of where we left the coast route.
Although this episode was a little difficult emotionally - we had really got excited for the mountains we were due to climb, and seeing some giant sequoias - we soon relaxed into our decision and realised that we were now going to be able to ride Big Sur. This dramatic section of the California coast was something we assumed we'd not see after taking our turn in-land, so it really felt like a treat.
It was stunning, especially in the mornings as dramatic mist descended on the rocky outcrops. We pedalled in awe, enjoying the scenery at the slower pace afforded by campgrounds at shorter intervals than in the Sierras.
Although hiker-biker sites were a little more confusing on this section (in county or forest service campgrounds rather than state ones! closed for no reason! without water!), we still found the route to be well populated with other touring cyclists, which meant we once again had plenty of company. Jolly, Nicole, Ed and Kurt were familiar faces for a number of evenings on the main Big Sur stretch, where we admired each others' bicycles, shared some exceedingly cold beverages and discussed the perils of US cycling. Later, while ascending a climb to the town of Lompoc, we re-encountered Ben, a pal from Bodega Bay, who was finishing the last few days of his Trans-America ride. Ben's enhusiasm really rubbed off on us (I think that happens with everyone he meets) and it was lovely to share another evening in his company, along with the rest of our impromptu crew at Refugio beach. Thank you to all the cyclists and Warm Showers hosts who brought smiles on this stretch, I've tried to give you all a shout out at the bottom of this newsletter!
After Big Sur, we pedalled through a smattering of seaside towns (we particularly liked Morro Bay, featuring the photogenic Morro rock) and the expansive agricultural areas around Santa Maria before chugging our way towards Santa Barbara, where we were greeted by palm trees and beach bike paths, signalling that we had truly arrived in Southern California. Here we were taken in by a family we had met in June, who stopped us outside the grocery store in Haines, Alaska, to ask what on earth we were up to. Doug, Julie and Ann (and Leah, who wasn't home, but hi!) invited us to spend the night in their beautiful garden office oasis, feeding us excellent food and asking us such thoughtful questions about our trip. It was wonderful to be in their company, and we left SB feeling excited for more social interactions in the big city - Los Angeles.
We pedalled into Santa Monica, where we started our tour of friendly faces from Ed's past life as a Rapha employee. We visited the store there, gathering plenty of recommendations, before heading to Luft, a cycle shop in Venice run by Cody, another Rapha alumnus, where we had the most incredible coffee and were treated like royalty (which was fabulous considering we didn't smell great after a 50km battle through Malibu traffic). We also managed to squeeze in visits to the Cub House and the Golden Saddle Cyclery during our trip, fulfilling Ed's longheld ambition to stock up on headwear and stickers from both spots.
We spent a fabulous first evening with another former colleague of Ed's - Jake - in Pasadena, which is a beautiul, historic area of the city he was excited to show us. Jake's generosity was incredible, as were his dogs, anecdotes about hiking in the area and his appreciation for a good curry and ultralight kit.
After that we moved to downtown LA, where we spent a few nights catsitting Chanel and Ronnie, two beautiful creatures owned by Gary and Doy, who were out of town for a few days. Taking over their flat was a real treat - we enjoyed the building's pool, as well as its proximity to a number of touristic sites. We spent our time mainly at art galleries, indulging a hobby of ours that's been hard to satisfy during the trip so far. We also enjoyed Korean tacos, falafel, electric scooters and Japanese hardware, as well as a delicious meal courtesy of Ed's old boss Caroline, who, fortutiously, happened to be in town.
The only downside to all this city-based fun is that we've realised it's time to get back on the bikes. We took a train out of the main LA metro area on Wednesday, and after a day of riding we've arrived in San Diego. We're staying with the fabulous Nicole, a friend we made at Big Sur, in her heavenly backyard. Next we will head to the border and cross into Mexico for the first time. Although we are undoubtedly scared, we are also excited to finally experience a culture more unfamiliar to us, and to find a rhythm that might be more akin to how the rest of the trip will progress. Onward to Baja!
Toot or boot
Trader Joe's TOOT
When there's not a Trader Joe's BOOT
Abundant seals and sea lions on the California coast TOOT
The racket they make barking while you're trying to sleep BOOT
Traffic around Big Sur being stupendously polite, despite it being Labor Day weekend TOOT
Traffic in Malibu being hellish, and the houses being criminally ugly BOOT
Refugio's hiker/biker campsite being right on the beach TOOT
Oceano's hiker/biker being between the highway and the railway line BOOT
Getting a nice new hiking shirt in REI TOOT
Having to get a new hiking shirt after leaving the old one in a tree after going to the bathroom behind it BOOT
Thanks and shout-outs
Peter and the Monterey campsite crew!
Nicole, Jolly, Ed and Kurt
Francesco and Manuela
Ben!
Ankur
Matteus and Michaela
Phil and Rolf
Jeff, Faith and Edward
Doug, Julie, Ann and Osiris
Alex
Martin and Christa again :)
Brett, Caroline and everyone at Rapha LA
Cody, Peter and Seth (those slices were outstanding Seth, thank you!)
Jake! and for being our PO box too
Gary, Doy, Chanel and Ronnie
Rosie and Nick for all your recommendations
Eugen
Karen and Steve
Anna and Martin
Phil and Debbie
About us
We are Edwin Foote and Suzie McCracken - thanks for signing up for our newsletter! Edwin is from England and Suzie is from Northern Ireland and normally we live together in Deptford, south-east London. We arrived in Fairbanks, Alaska, in May 2022 and are attempting to ride our bicycles the length of the Americas, hoping to finish in Argentina in 2024. If you have any recommendations of things we should do, people we should meet or places we should stay, we'd love to hear from you! Please reply to this email, or follow us on Instagram (ed_win or _suziemccracken).