{"id":177,"date":"2017-04-21T21:00:39","date_gmt":"2017-04-22T04:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pididu.com\/wordpress\/bike2017\/?p=177"},"modified":"2021-08-18T13:02:54","modified_gmt":"2021-08-18T20:02:54","slug":"pinnacles-national-park-ca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/pididu.com\/wordpress\/bike2017\/pinnacles-national-park-ca\/","title":{"rendered":"Pinnacles National Park, CA"},"content":{"rendered":"

9:00 pm 21Apr17 I’m doing this editing offline in my tent. When it shows up on the site, I will have already left the Pinnacles.<\/p>\n

I felt much better today. Google showed the Pinnacles, my destination for the day, as being 58 miles away. A little further than planned, but all right. There was no coffeemaker in the room, but there was a microwave, so I made some nescafe that I had brought along. I filled my water jug. 8 extra pounds of weight, but at least I wouldn’t run out. I also wrapped up the sleeping bag and tent like a package in the tarp, hoping that would help them not to slip out as I rode. Learning from experience.<\/p>\n

I left the motel at maybe 8:30, had a gas station breakfast (an outrageous $2 for a danish), and while sitting at the table, met Walter from Santa Clara County services. He and his colleague Paul (? I think) run a mobile medical van that does needle exchanges and screenings. These were the first cards I handed out on the road.<\/p>\n

\"selfie\"
Highway 25 is pretty good, with wide shoulders from Morgan Hill to Hollister.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"important<\/p>\n

The first priority in Hollister was to get replacement bike tubes. Google pointed me to Off the Chain bike shop<\/a>. Robin, the super-friendly owner, came out to welcome me. She and her husband Brian Lucas own the shop. I spent time chatting with them, and Brian told me about how he had ridden in the desert when he was younger. They each took a gallon of water, but rode at like 4:30 in the morning, found shade at mid-day, then resumed in late afternoon. Brian lent me his shoes so I could walk to the nearby Lucky, where I got 3 bananas, 6 bagels, and a full size dry salami. I also got a replacement emergency meal at the Big 5 next door.<\/p>\n

\"bike
L to R: Robin, me, Brian at Off the Chain bike shop in Hollister. Besides getting 2 more inner tubes, I got a new pair of cycling shorts, with intact padding. Brian gave me a discount, which made the tubes basically free.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"at
L – R: Robin, Gordon, Brian<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Back at the bike shop where I had left my bike, I peeled one of the bananas, It was crushed and brown inside, but I ate it anyway.<\/p>\n

\"Robin's
Robin gave me a business card holder, She crafts items out of old inner tubes. Completely waterproof. Just what I need to hold my calling cards.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Hollister
A little down the road, I saw a Burger King, so stopped for lunch. Clay, this is in honor of our lunches.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"no
In spite of this sign, there actually are services, just no gas. There was a small store in Tres Pinos, and another beyond that. I didn’t stop, as I was packed in anticipation of no refueling.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"banana\"
Lots of sun. Good thing I’m screening up every day. I stopped under a shady tree for a banana. This one was firmer than the first one<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The last few miles before the downhill into the Pinnacles were daunting. I had to unclip, and stop on the hill to rest. Something I didn’t do even once on the TransAmerica trail when young. In fact, I never even used the granny gear until Hoosier Pass. But now I know why they call it a granny. Because I’m a senior citizen, and need it.<\/p>\n

\"campground
This often doesn’t apply to cyclists or people on foot.\u00a0 But in fact, there was no hiker-biker area.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Roy\"
After surveying a bunch of sites, I decided to ask Roy and Rita Romel whether I could pitch a tent on the edge of their space. They were in an RV, without a tent. They said sure, and wouldn’t take a dime.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Rita\"
This is Rita. Roy is holding the camera. They are both world travelers, having visited Thailand, South America, and too many other places to remember. They have a blog at http:\/\/www.travelpod.com\/travel-blog\/thriftydrifters\/1\/tpod.html<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"new
I decided to just pitch the old pair of shorts in the background. That’s the last banana in my hand.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"pinnacles
This is my dinner, and tomorrow’s breakfast and lunch. I finished all the bananas already No cramps on the road, maybe it helped. I cut up the salami into slices, so it will be ready to eat tomorrow.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It’s now 9:30 pm, my teeth are brushed, and I’m going to turn in. 78 miles to San Miguel tomorrow, no services.<\/p>\n

Miles: 57.0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

9:00 pm 21Apr17 I’m doing this editing offline in my tent. When it shows up on the site, I will have already left the Pinnacles. I felt much better today. Google showed the Pinnacles, my destination for the day, as being 58 miles away. A little further than planned, but all right. There was no … Continue reading Pinnacles National Park, CA<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[17,18],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/pididu.com\/wordpress\/bike2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/pididu.com\/wordpress\/bike2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/pididu.com\/wordpress\/bike2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pididu.com\/wordpress\/bike2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pididu.com\/wordpress\/bike2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/pididu.com\/wordpress\/bike2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/pididu.com\/wordpress\/bike2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pididu.com\/wordpress\/bike2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pididu.com\/wordpress\/bike2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}