11.11.08
Morro Bay SP San Luis Obisbo
40km, total
After an oatmeal and coffee breakfast I replaced my broken spoke and hoped that it would hold for a while. Instead of taking the short way out of the State Park I circled around it what made me have to climb a small hill for starters;-). I didn‘ t do it on purpose though, I just couldn‘ t find the other way. It was a nice ride that took me through Los Osos, away from the busy Highway. At 11:20 am I already reached San Luis Obispo.
At the Starbucks I enjoyed a Java Chip Frappucino and checked my e-mails. I was very surprised when I read an e-mail from Uli, one of the two german cyclists I met in Oregon and who are going south as well. They will leave San Diego to cross the border to Mexico on saturday. I expected them to be cycling down the Baja already;-). They are still waiting for 2 other cyclists to join them and asked me if I would make it. It wasn‘ t an easy decision, but I ended up staying in San Luis Obispo and purchasing a ticket for the Amtrak Surfliner for tomorrow, wednesday. The Surfliner is a train that leaves in San Luis Obispo at 6:45am and goes all the way south to San Diego where it arrives after about 8 ½ hours. The train has a bike-rack and it isn‘ t necessary to box the bike.
I guess there are 2 ways to look at it: 1) I‘ m not cycling all the way, that‘ s cheating! 2) It‘ s a pretty smart idea to cross the border and cycle through Tijuana together with other cyclists and not alone. I decided to stick with the latter.
On my way back from the Amtrak Station I cycled through Downtown San Luis Obispo. It’s too bad that I missed the Farmer‘ s Market which takes place every Thursday. It‘ s right downtown, they close down the streets and there’s a lot going on. I bought a map of Baja California and 2 books since I didn‘ t know if I can get english books in Mexico and since I don‘ t even speak spanish, yet, I won‘ t be able to read spanish book for quite a while;-).