Day 46 - Scotts Valley to Monterey

I woke up luxuriously late (9ish) having thoroughly enjoyed sleeping indoors again.

Irene cooked breakfast - which was quite tasty and another great luxury for me.

After dragging my heels for a while, I rolled out.

I liked the ride down into Santa Cruz.  I passed the "Mystery Spot," Santa Cruz's classic tourist manipulation.

One of the classic tourist joints

I never actually knew where it was before.

I stopped at Home Depot to buy a new crescent wrench so that I can remove the cassette from my rear wheel if necessary.

The greater Monterey area has a bunch of really good bicycle paths:

This was a great trail

As I went down the bicycle path, I went into Fort Ord Dunes state park:

Fort Ord Dunes state park

I took the bicycle path through the park for several miles.  It's quite nice.  Very wide and smooth with rolling hills and great views:

The Fort Ord dunes state park

I exited the trails and Rode into Sand City to go to a sporting goods store where I bought some UA heatgear - great stuff!  

Finally, I got to Monterey and started to head towards veterans memorial park.  I was warned about the hill into the park, but wow - that was a seriously steep hill.

When I got there, I found that the hiker/biker area was pretty full, and full of characters.  The first people that I met were John, Dick and Rick - three old hands at bicycle touring who all oohed and aahed over my bike as I arrived.  I unloaded the bike and when these guys asked how I was doing, I admitted that I wasn't doing as well as I might, as I heard the tink tink of a broken spoke on the back wheel.  Rick asked if he could take a look at my back wheel, and I said absolutely, I'd be glad to get any help that I could.  John then told me that Rick was a frame builder.  Rick found that I had broken not one, but two spokes, and also made comments about how the wheel could be better engineered.  

Then, when I was making dinner (in the dark, as I arrived at dusk), John observed my machinations and said that I'd give his brother Dick a run for his money as a camp cook.  

That night, I also met Pete, who was doing a tour with his dog Bachi.

After eating and cleaning up a bit, I was completely exhausted and just crawled into my tent and went to sleep.

Distance: 54.5 miles
average: 10.4 MPH
Max: 44.1 (error) mph