Pine Flat Reservoir

Fuelled by the generosity of the Owens family we rode nearly 100 kms on some steep hilly roads recommended by our Sierra Cascades ACA map. This route took us along Pine Flat Lake - yet anotherLeia mais
Warm Fire and Wild Fire

At the end of our long day we climbed up to Pinehurst, where Warmshowers host Linn provided a warm fire on a very chilly night. We became even more thankful that she took us into her home as weLeia mais
Snow and Sequoias

Not long after leaving Linn's house at ~4000 ft in elevation, we saw the first skiff of snow, and soon we were riding in a proper winter wonderland. We had a nice surprise when we arrived at the KingsLeia mais
Moro Rock Vistas

The temperature didn't drop off too badly during our night camping in the snow, and we were really glad we didn't rush down out of the park the previous day, as we decided to hike our breakfast up toLeia mais
Down down down!

The first 1000 ft of the descent from the Giant Forest were still in the shade and potentially icy so we proceeded slowly. The ride down the rest of the crazy switchbacks below Moro Rock was a lot ofLeia mais
Optional Climbs? Yes, Please!

We could have taken a straight, flat path to our next Warmshowers host's place in Porterville, but we decided to stick to the mountainous ACA route, so turned up Yokohl Drive as the sun was setting.Leia mais
Hank's House

After quite a few days on the road in the mountains (i.e. with lots of climbing!) we were really looking forward to taking a rest day and restocking on energy and provisions. And with the snow and iceLeia mais
Citrus Galore

The thing about cycling through the Central Valley is that you can spend hours biking by the same crop. When we first headed from Coalinga to Fresno it was almonds, then pistachios, then grapes. InLeia mais
Bakersfield

No one we talked to recommended Bakersfield ("the armpit of California") as a destination, but we had decided we were done with the mountain pass route and there isn't really anywhere to camp in theLeia mais
Reroutes and Gushers

The ride southwest from Bakersfield was a challenging one. We did enjoy the Kern River Bike Trail, but from there we tried to follow the Google Maps suggested bike route and were led to many dead endsLeia mais
Pistachios and Pines

Having not made the distance we intended to the day before, we were not sure if we could pull off the big day that would get us over the hill back to the coast, but we decided to get up early and giveLeia mais
Weeeeee!

After cresting the Pine Mountain Summit at 1pm, we had 60 km to go, and 1500 m of potential energy to use. With a 6% grade and wide radius corners we were able to go ~40-50 km/hr for about 20 minutesLeia mais
Ojai, pronounced Oh-hi

We were lucky in Ojai to be hosted by Peter - we were actually his first Wamshowers guests since Ojai is a bit off the beaten Pacific Coast path. He suggested we hit up Ojai Ice Cream in town, and weLeia mais
Ad-Ventura

We made our return to the Pacific Coast at Ventura and it felt tropical with the warmth (a general return to good weather apparently occurred concurrently with our return to the coast, but to us itLeia mais
Back on 1

We pedalled past more fields and fruit stands, then the Missile Park at the Point Mugu Naval Base (only in the US?!?) and then we were back on highway 1, the Pacific Coast Highway, that we had leftLeia mais
Malibu

When we saw that Malibu was on our route into Los Angeles, we were excited to go through such an iconic place on California's coast, but we honestly didn't quite know what to expect. The sceneryLeia mais
UVic Outdoors Club LA Reunion

When we decided we were going to brave the megatropolis of Los Angeles, we got in touch with our friend Aaron who we know through the University of Victoria Outdoors Club (ODC). As with many of ourLeia mais
Mount Wilson

Our first outing with Aaron was in the Angeles National Forest, above Pasadena. We were very jazzed to get into the mountains above the city without the grunt work of riding up all the hills. TheLeia mais
I'm Like a Bird...

We had a lazy morning the next day after a late night touring the streets of Hollywood and LA, but when Aaron checked the weather we quickly shifted gears and were soon driving to Santa Barbara to doLeia mais
Road Trip!

Our good friend Eva Holland had mentioned a plan to road trip into the States and meet up with us when we were just starting our journey, but it seemed like we were going to miss seeing her as we wereLeia mais
Wonderland of Rocks

After our late night drive, we were lucky the next day to snag the last tent site in the Jumbo Rocks campground - apparently parks are pretty busy the week before American Thanksgiving! With our campLeia mais
Ryan Mountain Hike

To get a bit of perspective we hiked up Ryan Mountain to see the desert and jumbles of rocks from afar. Strangely, we found this landscape more striking at the micro rather than the macro level, butLeia mais
American Thanksgiving!

Back in 2013 we hosted Ilan when he rode his bike from Whitehorse to Anchorage, so we thought of contacting him on this trip, but weren't quite sure we were brave enough to cycle through Los Angeles.Leia mais
Reciprocal Hosting

It was really fun getting hosted by Ilan, and seeing his world in LA after sharing our little home in Whitehorse with him. We cruised down to the beach with him along the canal trails, getting to seeLeia mais
Donuts by the Beach

We pedalled through nearly empty streets as we left LA, then rode along the Los Angeles River Trail for close to 30 kms to Long Beach. There wasn't much of a river flowing through the concreteLeia mais