Sadly my very favorite week of the year has come and gone but I have some absolutely incredible memories from it! This is Olivia and I's 4th edition of a Coast Adventure. 1st time was Half Moon Bay to SLO over two days, 2nd time was Eureka to Fairfax over three days, last year we upped our game and did Portland to Fairfax in a week with a rest day in the middle, and this year we decided to take our two favorite sections of the California coast and mesh them into one epic 5 day ride from Eureka to Morro Bay! This year we were lucky enough to be powered by Equator Coffees & Teas each morning and outfitted in style each day by Velocio Apparel! Both of these companies are near and dear to my heart and create phenomenal product while also creating a unique & inclusive community.
I'll lay out the trip like I did last year with details of campsites, route, restaurants, snack stops etc so anyone who wants to 100% recreate this adventure, can do it! Obviously, I highly recommend it!!
Day 1 Eureka to Benbow via the Lost Coast/Avenue of the Giants!
The best start to an epic adventure, Equator Coffee!! Stoke level was so high!
This is always one of Olivia and I's favorite days because the Lost Coast is just spectacular! It is something I can't even describe. Plan a ride there and you will have the very best day ever!
Day 1 details:
- Route: https://www.strava.com/activities/488540403
- Good refueling points: There is a general store/post office in Petrolia that has pretty great snacks. Make sure you start off with enough food though as it takes awhile to get there with some pretty big climbs along the way! There is also a little store 15 miles past Petrolia in Honeydew.
- Campsite: Benbow KOA (Great campsite on the river, very clean, hot showers, laundry, it was great!)
- Dinner: We ate at Humboldt Bar and Grill and it was pretty tasty! Its just a mile or two down the road in Garberville.
Pre-ride, so excited to start Coast Adventure #4!!
Rolling through Ferndale! It was a Velocio Mid Jacket kind of day! Warm, comfy and super breathable.
Did I mention how high the stoke level was!
Can't beat a view like that!
Channeling my inner Johnny Cash with this Velocio get up! #woMANinBlack
One of my favorite spots on earth.
This stretch of the lost coast is our happy place!
The bridge between Honeydew and the start of the climb over King Range & decent into Humbolt National Park.
Dried mango in the Redwoods, yum!
Look who we found crushing it! Papa Wiles giving us inspiration for the last 25 miles of the day!
Families that wear Velocio together, stay together! ;)
Mandatory snack stop in Myers Flat
Day 2 Benbow to Manchester
Benbow is a cool little spot just off the 101 along the river. The KOA we stayed at was great! We got another early start, the fog in the morning was beautiful and then burned off making for another beautiful day! The first 15 or so miles of the day you zig zag on and off the 101 but it is still beautiful through the redwoods. Then you hit Hwy1 in Leggett and go up a climb and down Olivia and I's favorite decent until it opens up to the ocean. From there it is ocean views all the way!
Pre-ride shenanigans!
Started in the fog but ended in glorious sunshine!
- Route: https://www.strava.com/activities/490312891
- Good refueling points: There is a great general store in Westport that we love, and Mendocino is a MUST stop! One of my favorite spots on earth! In Mendocino Goodlife Bakery and Cafe has delicious food and pretty good coffee, Moodys also had pretty good coffee but not as much food choice.
- Campsite: Manchester Beach/Mendocino Coast KOA (Great campsite, clean, warm showers, laundry, short walk to the beach!)
- Dinner: Manchester is pretty remote so we BBQ'ed at the campsite that night, Burgers, salad, and sweet potatoes, mmmmmm! :)
Green mid jacket with Origami day!
Olivia was a pop of color among the fog in the Citrine ES Jersey & bibs and the cyan wind vest!
Wardrobe change thanks to Papa Wiles passing in the RV! Suns out, Origami and Pop red vest time!
My Dad pulling Roo! Pretty sweet set up!
Checking to see if she is as stoked as me! ;)
Rolling into Heaven, aka Mendocino :)
Great stop for goodies!
Lunch with a view!
Life goal, to live in Mendocino when I'm old and retired :)
We didn't want to leave!
Got to ride the last 10 miles into Manchester with my Dad, it was pretty specail!:)
Proud of this guy!
We decided to finish the ride at the beach near our campsite and have a ocean ice bath!
Foot race? ;)
Hamburgers, sweet potatoes, and yummy salad! Mmmmm so good!
Dreaming of smores!
Day 3 Manchester to Mill Valley (+Transfer to Half Moon Bay)
Waking up with some Equator Coffee Tayler Wiles Blend! Loved this campsite! KOAs are the way to go!
- Route: https://www.strava.com/activities/489925232
- Good refueling points: Stuart's Point general store is great, we booked it all the way to Jenner this year though to enjoy one of our favorite stops along the way Aquatica Cafe! Its on the right side of the road just as you are leaving town and it's another MUST stop! They roast their own coffee, make some incredible baked goods, and I hear the sandwiches are to die for!
- Campsite: We didn't stay in Mill Valley, instead we met my Dad their and he drove us to Half Moon Bay so we didn't have to ride through the city the next day. We stayed at Half Moon Bay state beach. This campsite was by far my FAVORITE! Right on the ocean, beautiful beach! The showers were coin operated but warm!
- Dinner: We ate at this great little spot in Half Moon Bay called Cafe Capistrano. It was delicious Mexican/Latin American food!
Ultra light jersey and Navy bibs today! Loved this combo with the cyan wind vest!
Sea Ranch near Stewarts Point
Sea Ranch near stewarts point.
Once you get within 10 miles of Jenner everything turns green, twisty, and incredible! Such a beautiful stretch of road, and all the climbing to get to Jenner is made worth it by the treats and coffee you get to eat at Cafe Aquatica! :)
Cafe Aquatica!!
We were so happy to meet up with Ted King in Point Reyes for the last few hours of our ride! Kept us entertained and cruising up Hwy 1 to Mill Valley :) Ted rocking Velocio Origami!
Cruising along Hwy1 between Bolinas and Stinson Beach.
Love that view of Stinson Beach, was fun to incorporate home training roads into our coast adventure this year! So lucky to be able to train on roads like this all the time!
Day 4 Half Moon Bay to Big Sur!
This was by far my favorite campsite, waking up to the sunset on the beach was something I'll never forget! I will definitely be back! Another early start to get us rolling towards our first stop of the day in Santa Cruz. Today's ride starts off beautiful, the road from half moon bay to santa cruz is gorgeous. Navigating Santa Cruz is a bit tricky but not too bad, admittedly between Santa cruz and Carmel isn't the most scenic as you are mainly passing through strawberry farms and on and off the 101, however Carmel to Big Sur might be the most spectacular stretch of road I have ever seen (I know I said that about the lost coast too but it is another one I just can't describe, its just spectacular!)
- Route: https://www.strava.com/activities/495246079
- Good refueling points: We stopped in Santa Cruz at a bakery/deli called Buttery and it was great, there are tons of great spots there and really good coffee but most of it is off the beaten path. The Buttery was on the route and it was great! There is a great general store on the left just outside of Carmel that has lots of goodies to fuel you for the BEAUTIFUL final 25 miles to Big Sur.
- Campsite: We stayed in the Riverside RV Campground. It was good, right on the river, super friendly staff. Coin operated showers again but they were warm! There are 3 RV campsites clustered together in Big Sur and I think they are all pretty good.
- Dinner: We ate at the Riverside Inn just down the road from our campsite and it was delicious!
Matching the scenery today!
Citrine ES jersey and bibs, so so good!
Rolling into Santa Cruz!
A bird, a plane, a whale, a surfer, who knows what the heck I'm pointing at!
The Buttery!
Cooooookkkkiiiiieeeeee!!!!!
We were chasing light all the way to Big Sur from Carmel, which was a bit nerve wracking but riding that section at dusk was something I will never forget! So beautiful I was at a loss for words!
I mean is this for real!!??
One of my favorite shots of the whole trip, such a gorgeous place!
Day 5 Big Sur to Morro Bay!
Last day of the trip! Coffee by the river was a pretty great way to start the day! We climbed out of Big Sur and it was epic ocean views the whole way! We stopped in Gorda for a snack and saw fog WAY out in the distance, it crept up quick so we boogied to get to San Simeon and it hit just before we got there! We stopped to check out the MASSIVE elephant seals that lay on the beaches there that time of year, that is something else haha definitely worth seeing if you are every there! Then hit the road for the last section of our adventure into Morro Bay!
Morning foam rolling!
- Route: https://www.strava.com/activities/491454005
- Good refueling points: Gorda is the first place to stop along this route and there is a general store with lots of goodies and a beautiful view. I love sitting on the porch, eating goodies and starring at the ocean! :) We stopped again in Cambria at Cambria coffee for a quick caffeine hit to get through the last 18 miles!
- Campsite: We stayed at the Morro Bay State Park. This is a nice campsite but if I had it to do over I would stay at the Morro Strand State Beach campground just up the road because the sites are right on the beach. This site was beautiful and kind of wooded, but I love waking up to the sound of the ocean :)
- Dinner: Taco Temple!!!! It is delicious and you get GIANT tacos with lots of fresh green piled on!
Calibration!
Look at the face, am I lucky or what!? Looking beautiful in the red classic jersey!:)
So happy!
Olivia attempting a selfie! ;)
Turkey sammy, feet up, check! By this point in the trip we were only craving savory stuff!
And then the fog hit!
Elephant seals are a very interesting thing!
And then this happened....just as we were entering Morro Bay we hopped on a bike path that I knew from having team camp there a few years ago...but then the bike path was closed in the middle because they had just put fresh tar over the top of it...of course Olivia and I are rebels, or just plane dumb and tried to ride over said new tar....which quickly stuck to our tires and left permanent marks in the path (if you ever ride that path and see those divots, think of us and our stupidity, or stubbornness, or both?) Highway 1 was just on the other side of this fence so I thought I'd channel my inner child and hop that thing like a boss....well its been a long time since I hopped a fence and I've never done it in bike shoes and yep it happened, I got stuck, just like this, chamois down on a sharp chain linked fence! Of course Olivia snapped this shot before helping me, and reminded me that 2 seconds before I scaled that fence when Olivia questioned my fence climbing ability I said "Olivia, I'm an excellent fence climber!
And there it is, the Morro Bay town sign!! We made it 600 miles over 5 days and a whole lot of smiles!!
I have to give a huge shout out to my Dad who drives his RV all the way from Utah to Fairfax to pick us up, drive us to Eureka, and then follows our crazy butts all the way down the coast! You get the best Dad ever and best supporter out there award! This trip would never be possible without you! :) And thank you to Equator Coffees and Velocio Apparel for helping us stay caffeinated and stylish from day 1 till the end!
This was seriously one of the best adventures we've had and I'm already scheming next years version! Have you been on an epic adventure that we should re-create, or have any ideas for our next big adventure! Shoot them through in the comments section, we would love to hear from you! Thanks for reading! :)