California pedallin'

Image by Flickr user timparkinson under Creative Commons

Mark is southbound today on Highway 1He is having a lighter day today, according to Joe:
The day will warm up and he should have a tail breeze. Good weather is expected in general for the coast route, though much cooler than New Zealand.

Joe also reported Mark started his day with 7 eggs, 3 toasts, box of cereal, lots of juice and a coffee. First day on the bike after stopping for a day, can be a challenge to get back into the zone. So, a recovery day is planned today keeping the heart rate to 110, and may make 89 miles to Watsonville for the night.

Mark now has the Pacific on his right hand side as he moves down the Cabrillo Highway. Here's a taste of the ocean for you...



The road passes through a series of small towns: Half Moon Bay, San Gregorio, Pescadero and Santa Cruz.

Santa Cruz lies on the northern end of the famous Monterey Bay. To the north lie the Santa Cruz mountains, a high point of which is Loma Prieta: epicentre of the 1989 earthquake I referred to in the previous posting.

Like many settlements nearby it has its origins in the founding of a Spanish mission. As with New Zealand, there is a thriving industry based around whale watching, and of course surfing.
Pictures of any location along the CALIFORNIAN COASTLINE can be found on the website of the Californian Coastal Records Project.
A few minutes ago for example, Mark crossed THIS BRIDGE.

Now that Mark is in the USA, there should also be plenty of opportunity to exploit the various layers produced for GOOGLE EARTH by the Google Earth community bulletin board. One addition is the ability to see Traffic levels on the roads that Mark is cycling along.

Thinking about California got me thinking about the long list of songs that mention California. I thought of about 8 ...
The Eagles: Hotel California is an obvious one...
Going to California by Led Zeppelin...
California Girls by Dave Lee Roth, and the Beach Boys of course...
California One by the Decemberists

and then looked up Wikipedia and discovered a long list of songs...

Did you do better than me ?
Many places are mentioned in songs: geographers are often looking for that 'perfect' song to put with a set of pictures for a slideshow...

California Dreamin'...

Alan Parkinson
AKA "Mrs V"