Riding the Pacific Coast from Portland, OR to San Luis Obispo, CA for the second time in two years offered up a wide variety of emotions. While it is true that the mystic of traveling unknown roads (to me) was missing, and therefore some of the magic of long-distance bike touring (for me) was missing ... overall, the month-long ride proved to be satisfying.
One aspect that I enjoyed was becoming aware of how various cities are offering amenities for the bike-riding public. Of course Portland makes it very easy for cyclist to travel around town (bike routes and easy access to mass-transit options), I was pleasantly surprised with what other areas provide.
The San Francisco area (both the City of S.F. and Marin County) make it quite easy to get around on a bike. Easily followed bike routes are well signed, and bike maps are easily read. I do have a bit of a problem with Marin County charging $15 for a map, but the $3 S.F. map was well worth the money. Lots of bike racks and bike lanes make it feel as though the city/county agencies care about cyclist.
The bike boulevard photo above was taken in San Luis Obispo ... the City makes it clear that these boulevards are meant to be for cyclist, not cars, by installing barriers at each intersection which requires cars to turn off of the boulevard.
Anyway, the ride was enjoyable, even if sometimes I felt down due to weather or other factors. Of course the overnight train ride did not disappoint me in that I knew beforehand that sleeping in a coach seat is next to impossible and extremely uncomfortable. Amtrak met my expectations, however it was the easiest means of returning to Tucson ... and I am happy to say that baggage and bike (and me) made it to Tucson all at the same time.
So, I am back in Tucson just in time for the monsoon season. Ruth and Henry Jacobson are most generously allowing me to stay in their guest house while they are in British Columbia. On July 30, I will be flying to Minneapolis to begin a two-month ride across to Maine ... and hopefully see the leaves change in New England. Meanwhile, I am doing some of the usual volunteering at the Food Bank and with Living Streets Alliance ... and am enjoying being back home for awhile.
Oh, one other comment regarding other cities and cycling ... as the adjacent photo shows, the "rough" quality of road surfaces is not something on which Tucson has cornered the market.
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