May 26, Fort Hunter Liggett to Carmel

Start with Day 1, May 25

We were awake early to clear skies, and enjoyed reveille at 6:30am.

Our room at the Hacienda included a breakfast stashed in the fridge, a sizable selection including a hard boiled egg, tiny yogurt cup, fruit cup, fruit and juice and a scary muffin--all reasonably functional fuel and enough to get us on our way.

We started with 20-some miles through oak woodland on quiet roads. It was nice and cool and we sensed that we were dodging a bullet since at this time of year this should be really hot.

We made several creek crossings; I read later that these are fords, not bridges, because it would be absurdly expensive to build a bridge strong enough for tanks. Note to self that riding this way early in the spring one might have a lot more trouble at these crossings.

This last last bit of pavement pointed the way into the Ventana Wilderness.

And then we were onto the dirt, some 17 miles that narrows down to overgrown single track that leads to a crossing of the slide that closed the road some years ago.

At the top of the initial climb you get to roll along some miles of beautiful trail and savor the remoteness and the beauty, with lots of wildflowers, birds, very few people; we saw no other cyclists until we are almost done with the final descent back to the road.

The end of the dirt brings you to a campground at the end of Arroyo Seco Rd, where we bought a gallon of water. Next came a long slog into a cold headwind on Carmel Valley Rd, a steady climb that is very pretty, and then fast descending with less traffic than I'd expected, but cold. Somewhere in here we realized our day would somehow be 12 miles longer than we'd planned, so arrival in Carmel Valley was well timed for a stop for real food. You can see how intently I was focussed on my tacos here, with a hearty five stars for Kathy's Little Kitchen and her espresso bar a couple doors down.

Happiness was well restored for finishing the last grey, overcast miles in a river of cars, back to Carmel after 85 miles.

We capped the ride off with a stop at the gas station shop for a dose of the kind of food that we normally wouldn't admit to enjoying.

There's something special about sugar, salt, and caffeine for the drive home when your legs are glowing.

Link to an animation of our route: Relive