Day 47 Monday 24th August

Thanks - I have stayed with 5 amazing hosts off the Warmshowers website. Tonight I am staying with a French guy called Christophe and his two children. He made dinner and dessert and is letting me stay for two nights. He has even offered to take me to work on Wednesday. Oh, he works at Steven Spielberg's company, Dreamworks....
I want to thank the hosts, Lee and family from Chicago, Sarah and Beth from Portland. Shirley from San Francisco, David from Lompoc and now Christophe. Hopefully there will be more while I am still here.

I travelled rode and camped with great people from my first day to my last. Nadeane on the train, Brendan and Katt at the first camp, Mike, Julia, Andrew, Scott and his son Will then finally Felix, Robbie, Nicole, Hans, Scott and Naomi.

Los Angeles came into view through the mid morning haze. It goes along the coast for nearly 100 miles. Well known areas like Santa Monica, Long Beach and Venice sit on the shoreline. People look healthy and tanned with their beaming white smiles and their fine clothes. It's easy to see why people want to live here. It's hot almost all year round. The beach is beautiful and the people are super friendly.

I was slightly disappointed though to go along the beach and not see it full of movie stars or porn queens. Maybe if I had got here yesterday I could have been riding alongside Lindsey Lohan or chatting with Leonardo and Ron Jeremy? I know by now though, that its the what if and maybe question that has been with me all along. Even before I got to the USA that was the case. I could've chosen so many different routes around this country, and had different experiences and seen different things. But, I was destined to only ever see a slice of life at what ever time I arrived. Getting to a town in the morning will be different to arriving there in the afternoon. One of the great things I have found regarding travelling lies in this fact. Things happen. You affect them. What everyone does effects what happens whether you know it or not.

From what I have now seen I think I know this country a lot more than I did than when I arrived. You can base what your thoughts of a country are on lots of things. But when you break it down its the people that make it what it is. I have found, despite so many differences, that the Americans I have interacted with across the country are connected by a "bred in them" sense of hospitality and also curiosity. People like to interact. Its what we need to do more of. Conversation is one of the keys to learning. Helping is one of the keys to happiness. I thought when I was sat talking about this trip with Cassie at work that the "being on my own" situation wouldn't be to much of a problem, and to be honest it hasn't been, but I haven't gone a single day without looking forward to interacting with other people. Whether it's been fellow cyclists, general town folk or even the odd nut case. If ever the slightest chance to do something like this presents itself then I advise to do it.

Someone asked today what my favourite part has been, my answer was, all of it.

Day 46 Carpentiera to Leo Carillo Beach 23rd August. (48 miles)

Carpentiera is a nice town. Clean streets, good signs, excellent bike paths and nice restaurants.
The campsite was decent apart from the train in the night and the arrival of a new camper around 3am. To be honest I thought it was 2 campers as I was hearing a conversation going with to different voices. When I awoke I only saw 1 tent that wasn't set up before I went to bed so I thought they must be sharing. When the owner of the tent woke up and emerged he finished his conversation with himself, packed up and left.
2 flat tyres put a dampener on the ride as the road and scenery had been good. That makes 5 in total on this trip. Although I still have the same inner tube.
I had my first brush with the law today when I had taken a wrong turn onto the freeway. He wasn't happy but I survived.
One more day (officially) and I will have finished what I set out to do. Ride from Astoria, Oregon to Los Angeles, California. I say officially as I may do some more riding but that wasn't what I had set myself at the start.

Day 45 Refugia Beach to Carpentiera 22st August. (27 miles)

What a difference to yesterday's ride. I will replace heat, dust, headwind and hills with hot (women), golden beach, restaurants and shops. A flat road meant I was stopping a decent 10 miles in to the journey after 45 minutes to sit down for a breakfast burrito. Oh man, I didn't feel like eating again till 7pm. It that was what the Friday sandwiches at work taste like and we're as big as then I would have been over the cafe in Darlaston at the crack of dawn every week back home.
Santa Barbara is a cool town. Not to big and busy but just right. It was nice to replace the pines of Oregon and the cacti of the recent part of California with the palm trees of the southern area. The beach is beautiful with 30 full size volleyball pitches at one end. There is an amazing harbour and a stunning park. The bike lanes are a decent size with good signs showing the full route and cycle path name. I think Santa Barbara is a bit of me, I could fit in just nice here.

Footnote: it is 2am and a fecking train has just gone past the campsite. In case we didn't realise it was a train and if we didn't hear it's rolling wheels and heavy carriages it decided to blast it's horn over and over........train 1 - whole campsite now awake 0.

Day 44 Lompoc (Warmshowers Host) to Refugio Beach 21st August. (35 miles)

Heat, Dust, Headwind. I could leave it there for the blog but I would have missed out Hills. If ever I had any thoughts of biking inland after LA then they have evaporated like water spilled on the road to Refugio Beach. The campsite was very good though. It was probably 30ft from the beach. Imagine the cost of that if it was beach front property.
The camping fee has gone up the last three times. It's a sign I'm getting close to LA. The next stop will be Carpenteria Beach. Apparently the world's safest beach. I may arrive late though as part of my ride goes through Santa Barbara with it's nice shops, restaurants and ladies. I may have to sample some of them....

Day 43 Costal Dunes RV Park to Lompoc (Warmshowers Host) 20th August. (32 miles)

I had sent out some warmshower requests and as well as they one that came with added farm work I had a confirmation from a guy in a town called Lompoc.
The ride there was pretty boring. Fruit fields, head winds and dust. Not a sniff of Ocean. There was a mega hill that came around midday so I had to take that on at the worst time. I arrived in Lompoc which is a nice town with shops and coffee bars and I had two things to sort out. One was to find the hosts house and the other was to find the local camp site just in case the host situation went wrong. I pulled up outside a coffee shop with WIFI and started to chain my bike up when I heard someone say "oh jeez, another vagrant". I did a double take in case there was someone else they could be referring to but no, I was the vagrant they meant. A quick reply of "how many vagrants do you see with GoPro's, iphones and an ipad"? Before I unlocked my bike and set off for Starbucks. I decided that due to the "vagrant" misunderstanding  I would get a haircut, a new t-shirt and some new shorts. It wasn't along time before i was at the hosts eating pizza and charming his guests in my new threads. All showered, shaved and fresh. I actually bought some new jeans as well. It was from the USA version of TK Max so I didn't spend to much but the retail therapy did the world of good. The hosts name was David. He works at a company that build rockets that are used to launch the world's communication satellites. Once again the website delivered an excellent night with good people eating very good food.

Day 42 Morro Bay to Costal Dunes RV Park 19th August. (26 miles)

I got up at 6am and ate breakfast then set off to Morro Bay Golf course for my pre booked round. I had a chat with the club pro as he was interested that I was cycling along the coast but had come in for a game. I didn't do to bad. My score was 92. It may have been better if I wasn't check get my arms for mosquitoes every time I went to hit the ball. Still, 92, happy with that. I don't really have much to say about the ride to the camp as it was pretty uneventful. I only had the ocean in view for a short while. The heat gets a bit intense once I come off the coast even more if there are hills blocking what little wind there is. LA is only a few days away now and I'm over the 1000 mile mark. I will call my road part complete when I photo myself with the Hollywood sign in the background.

Day 41 San Simeon to Morro Bay 18th August. (32 miles)

I knew that the 32 miles between campsites were going to be pretty standard as the terrain was not anything to worry about and the wind was forecast to be helpful as normal. I arrived in the town of Cambria really early and was able to update all the social media sites, sort out bank details, get coffee and eat breakfast. Within an hour I was making headway to Morro Bay. I stopped in the top part of the bay as it was really nice and picturesque with quaint cafes and beach huts then finished the days ride into the lower part of the town and the harbour area. The campsite has working showers which is better than the last 2 sites so luckily no washing in a stream or the sea. Looking from my tent I can see the 16th fairway if Morro Bay golf course. Because of me being on such a loose schedule I have booked a round and hired some clubs. It may not be Pebble Beach or Olympic Club but at least I will have played a round on this continent. The  next campsite is called Oceano Park around 40 miles away with the one after that being Gaviota at a further 61 miles. I have sent out some warmshower requests for a couple of towns between Oceano and Gaviota which if successful will shorten the distance and save some money. I have already had a reply though the person asked if I have any farm experience. Looks like I may be mucking out the stable and the cow shed or scaring Rooks in his Ten Acre Field. Maybe I have finally found my calling in life. A cycling Scarecrow.....