a cycling adventure: day thirty seven

July 16th

Doheny State Park to Vagabond Inn, San Diego

69 miles

Up at 5:45, hardly slept at all. Group camped next to biker/biker area up drinking and partying all night. Earplugs didn't help. Made coffee, oatmeal, broke camp. Ended up visiting with the others longer than I wanted, but its always nice to talk to people after being alone so much. Netherlands couple are headed south to Mexico, then back up to LA where they will fly home.

Hit the road around 8:30, stopped at same McDonalds for breakfast and to try out their free wifi. Really slow, couldn't decide on a hotel so decided to wait until I was closer to San Diego.

Hit the road again. Tired and sore from yesterday, despondent, lackadaisical. Just going through the motions. Feeling like a robot. Realized I haven't taken a day off since Gold Beach, OR. 18 days and many, many miles ago. Getting up at 6 and riding all day is really beginning to take its tole on me, both mentally and physically.

Rode into San Clemente, some kind of Beach Festival. Crowded, dickhead security guard, unfriendly people. People acted like they've never seen a bike before. Got the out of there ASAP, fuck that place. Kept riding, passed Netherlands couple just before Camp Pendleton, a Marine base.

As I approached the main gate into Camp Pendleton, I wasn't sure what to expect. The bike route goes through the base only because the only other option south is Interstate 5. Got to the gate, had my ID out and ready. Guard was friendly, didn't even ask to look at my ID, and gave me directions through base.

Rode through Camp Pendleton, not much too look at, lots of open desert. A lot of other people riding, all triathlon-type bikes, blowing by me like I was standing still. Still haven't seen one bike tourer all day, aside from the Netherlands couple.

Finally reached the other end of the base. Rode through Oceanside, cool town! Lots of people, seemed more friendly, having more fun. No mansions, just little cottages on the beach. Wanted to hang out here all day, weather still perfect.

Rode through Carlsbad, another cool town. Through Encinitas, okay town. Lots more bikers and more traffic, almost bumper to bumper. Passed "World Championship of Beach Bocce Ball" outside of Del Mar, tons of people.

Big 700-800 foot climb out of Del Mar, not expecting it. Very hot. Reached top and rode through La Jolla, extremely exhausted now. Found a Starbucks, got coffee, scone and used wifi. Weighed my options and decided a flight was the cheapest way to go. Booked the flight for Monday and decided to ship my bike home. Found a decent hotel and booked 2 nights. Feeling much better knowing I was headed to a hotel 10 miles from here.

Headed out, went through Mission Beach. Again, very cool and looks like a fun place to hang out. Tons of people, hard to make progress on bike path.

Made it to hotel, checked in, walked to a Subway and ate dinner. Came back, showered and relaxed for a bit. Big day tomorrow, where this whole trip comes to an end. Not really feeling anything special or excitement, which kind of bothers me. Just feels like another day. Although, I do feel excitement for the continental breakfast in the morning.