DAY 2: Santa Cruz to Big Sur

Tale of the Wheel and Chain

Sometimes these things just write themselves – today is one of those. Train of Pain Day 2 was a doozy! But first, a little overview of today’s route:

We rolled out of Santa Cruz for a one of the most beautiful sections of the California coast:

Incredible views of the Pacific as we made our way 75 miles to Big Sur. We passed through Monterey, Carmel, and a myriad of small little towns – each with their own character – but each certain they serve the best seafood! And there’s no shortage of signs to let you know the choice is simple!

No ToP is complete without the requisite mechanical issues – and today was no different.  It started innocently enough – 5 miles into the trek and Tom pulled to the side – his chain having jumped the gears.  No problem, Tom’s an accomplished rider – decades of riding have left him with the ability to quickly correct such a small problem. He gently pulled to the side of the group, coasting smoothly to a stop.  The rest of the group rode on, confident that he would soon be back up and on his way – easily by the next stop light.

Two stop lights and a pretty good amount of minutes later – no Tom?

While the group continued on, a small group headed back to see what the problem was. Yikes, not such a small problem. Somehow Tom had managed to twist his chain in a knot.

Now keep in mind that a bicycle chain is metal links, all connected to form in a continuous circle – HOW DO YOU TIE THIS INTO A KNOT?? And more importantly, why would you want to?

Once the chain was back where it belonged it was apparent that bending the links did no one any good.  Here’s where the kindness of strangers – or in this case the kindness of the VW van repair garage and a couple of much needed pliers.  A twist here, a twist there and before you knew it we were ready for the road once again.

So, mechanical rectified – should be smooth sailing from here.  NOPE!  Next on the hit list was the broken wheel for Phil.

This on top of the shredded tire from the day before, the torn bike shorts, and who knows what else.

As to the wheel – no worries, spares are in the van – we just needed to call Richard. Turns out, he’s only a mile away – still at the last support stop.

Odd, we’d all left a while ago – shouldn’t he have already been on the road?

Seems that just as he was about to leave one final rider showed up.  Not from the road along the route – but out from behind a large crop of bushes.

Seems he had spent a late night (or an early morning, depending on your perspective) taking in the hospitality of the Santa Cruz drinking holes. Having arrived before the rest of the group, he took one look at the bushes, decided they looked perfectly fine for a short siesta, lay down and caught a much-needed nap.  While we’ve seen many things over the years of the ToP – this was a first.

There’s always tomorrow to see if we can top the sleeping giant.

Tomorrow we’re off to San Luis Obispo – 110 miles.  The short days are behind us.

Santa Cruz to Big Sur
75.7 miles
3715 feet of climbing
Total for the trip – 161 miles