Sunset State Beach to Big Sur

With a full night’s sleep and the bus back and working the Sustainable Living Bike Crew woke to Thanksgiving with a fresh start. We departed Sunset Beach State Park in good spirits heading south towards Moss Landing and were thankful for Kyla’s friend Kim Mayer who took our leftover compost from Almaden Country Day School’s Thanksgiving feast to a local farm. With no schools to visit, our only plan was to put miles under our wheels and enjoy California’s majesty. We were pleased to ride in the safety and ease of the coastal bike route that is mostly well marked from Santa Cruz to Monterey.

As the agriculture lands surrounding the areas of Sunset State Beach and the adjacent state parks faded the Moss Landing (natural gas) Power Plant stood in stark contrast to the surrounding threatened coastal wetlands that are critical to the path of migratory birds and home to numerous other plants and animals. Originally a whaling village, Moss Landing has retained its sea faring sensibilities and is also a popular with tourists en route to Monterey Bay or Big Sur.

After a quick snack stop in Monterey we headed to Point Lobos. California’s Coast Highway 1 does not offer the same amenities to cyclists that we had experienced during the previous half of the day. As cyclists, today we were often relegated to a small shoulder and speeding cars but that was a small price to pay for the view of California’s rugged coastline. Finally we wandered into Big Sur and marveled at its natural beauty as our fifth day on the road came to an end and we prepared for the night’s Thanksgiving feast.


What am I thankful for this Thanksgiving? Morgan gallantly captaining the sag (support and gear) wagon, the green shortbus.

Miles Rode: 65
Flats: O
Broken Buses: 0
Written by 1st time bike-tripper: Kamron Sockolov