Day 2 - Newark, San Francisco
Nick had to leave the house really early and as such, we had the opportunity to take our time in departing. We knew we had about an hour’s ride to Santa Cruz, our first stop for the day, so the plan was to leave Newark and head to a suitable location in Santa Cruz for breakfast. After a little bit of repacking, as the bikes are way overloaded, and some quick checks to oil levels, chain tensions, brake pads, etc, we left Nick around 10:30. Probably later than we initially had hoped, but the sun was out and the day ahead looked promising. For info, the camp char didn’t make it past Nick’s house as I realised that Jorik was probably right, the chair was indulgence and I need to harden up.
We were expecting that the first part of the ride to Santa Cruz, through San Francisco, would be relatively mundane as it was primarily on main roads. The traffic was horrendous, even at that time of the day and well clear of rush hour, but as we left the San Francisco area behind us and started towards Santa Cruz, the roads become a little better, the mountain passes included some great riding, even though traffic was still pretty heavy. It required a fair amount of concentration to keep up and ensure that we stayed well clear of the nutter trucker drivers.
We arrived at Santa Cruz Boardwalk at around midday. Having not had breakfast at Nick’s before leaving, we were both starving and in need of a decent location to overlook the beautiful beaches and get some much needed grub in. We eventually found a spot called the Crow’s Nest, right on the beach front and overlooking a marina. Probably not the most cost-effective location for motorcycle travellers on a budget, but hey ho, we were in need of a little spoiling.
We had a great lunch, shot a little video clip on the Santa Cruz beach front and then got on the road heading south for Santa Barabara. The initial plan was to follow the coast road south and pass through places like Monterey, Big Sur and Morro Bay. However, there is a road closure along the coast road and the risk of getting caught up in a massive delay and then having to back track to get onto Highway 101, was just too great. So, the plan became to head straight down Highway 101 to Santa Barabara taking the first opportunity to hit the coastline when it presented itself, which appeared to be near Pismo Beach.
As we approached the coast from the inland near Avila Beach, it quickly became clear that there was a very heavy sea fog that was sitting along the coastline. Not only was the fog really thick, but the temperature dropped drastically. We made the decision to skip getting off Highway 101 at Pismo Beach and joining the coast road as there was no chance of seeing anything worthwhile and as it was already getting late, we felt it best to stick to the faster route along Highway 101, which we followed towards Los Olivos. This route took us through a mountainous region where we passed Cachuma Lake and stopped at some incredible vista points to take a few photos and meet a few people who were also checking out the stunning view and stopped to chat about bikes and ask us about our trip. We then descended from Cachuma Lake towards Santa Barbara (and the cold) and arrived at our accommodation at around 7pm – Casa Del Sol.
We checked in, unpacked our gear and headed out to find a bite to eat. The first stop we pulled into – Zookers, looked great and we grabbed a table and started to go through the menu. It quickly became evidence that this was not the kind of place we should be eating at on a budget. The mains were around $45-$50 and it looked like we might drop around $150 if we were to include a few beers. So, with much embarrassment, we had to leave Zookers and found a local place called the Rincon Brewery that did much more reasonably priced food and we managed a tasty craft beer. Following dinner, we popped into a dive pool bar for a pint and couple of games of pool before heading back to Casa Del Sol and a good night’s sleep.