Weekend Round-Up: Saddle Sore

Rob and I seem to be kicking off the summer by spending a lot of time down in Half Moon Bay. We biked to Point Montara lighthouse, spent a short week with the family at Moss Beach and this weekend rode down to Pescadero.

If only all these lovely rough beaches and wildflower covered bluffs were a little bit closer. The bike ride south and back this weekend ended up being 130 miles total…whew.

On Saturday morning, a cyclist friend went with us from the city, around the reservoir in San Mateo to the top of the road connecting to Half Moon Bay.

Once we reached the coast, we had another 20 miles south along the water to the Pigeon Point Light Station. Rob and I stopped at a cute British pub for lunch along the way. Finally, after six hours on the road, we spotted the Light Station!

We checked in to our room, took hot showers and then grabbed two seats on the bluff to watch the sun set for a few hours.

Margaret and friends arrived a few minutes after the sun went down with provisions (not many grocery stores in the middle of nowhere). We used the shared kitchen in our cabin to cook up a roast chicken, rosemary red potatoes, asparagus and biscuits. I forgot to take photos, but it was delicious! After dinner, we walked out to the water – sparkling under a full moon!

It was tough to get out of bed the next morning after all those miles on the bike. We managed with a little coffee and started back along the ocean. We chose a different route for our return, up through the mountains to La Honda.

We passed a bike race going the other direction. Our tandem and trailer combination gained us a lot of support and thumbs up from the other riders. In La Honda, we had lunch in a little British place called Sullivan’s. The restaurant had invited a local old-timer to tell stories of the town’s early days.

After lunch, more biking up forest hills. We ended up climbing from sea level to around 2,500 feet. Brutal. Back down the 92 and along the reservoir. We stopped to refill water bottles along the lake and ran into another tandem-riding couple. They gave us all sorts of tips for the upcoming tour down to SLO.

The last 20 miles home were tough. We were running out of steam in a big way after doing over 100 miles in two days. Reaching Ocean Beach was such a great feeling!

We pedaled through the city and back home. A huge amount of Chinese food for dinner and hot baths. Moving is going to be tough for the next few days. You can see all our photos from Pigeon Point here.

Beach week on the blog kicks off tomorrow!