Although it’s well into Ventura County, the huge rock at Point Mugu has always felt to me like the milestone between the agricultural landscapes of Ventura and Oxnard, and the vast urban expanse of Los Angeles.
This was the Monday of a holiday weekend. I stopped at the venerable Neptune’s Net on the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) for lunch outdoors with two or three thousand hungry patrons – mostly couples and young families – along with all but a few of the Harley Davidson riders in North America. We were entertained by a long, loud truck rally of flag-waving, horn-honking enthusiasts driving north. They were conspicuously not driving electric vehicles, or even hybrids, which just may have been part of the message they wanted to convey.
The campground at Leo Carrillo State Beach, where I’d planned to spend the night, was closed due to damage from winter storms. That meant more miles as I had to ride past Trancas and Zuma Beach to a private campground at the northern edge of Malibu. The sun had broken through, and the most exhausting climb of the day was the last one: several steep grades to reach the tent campsites a few hundred feet above PCH.
I valiantly defied the temptation to get off the bike and walk it up the hill; somehow, people seemed to know that. As I rode sweatily up through the RV sites, a fellow smiled at me, pumped his fist and called, “Stay strong!” On the final climb up an unpaved path among campsites, three women sitting outside a tent paused their conversation as one of them called, “We’re really impressed by your talent!”
You take your cowbells where you can get them.
Thus, The Road rewarded my perseverance. Especially when I took in the view from my campsite.
I phoned the relatives I would stay with the next night to update them on my progress.
“How are you going to get from Malibu to Manhattan Beach by 4:00 tomorrow afternoon?” asked my cousin, incredulous.
“The bike can do it,” I answered. “So can I.”
“Three dozen miles in a day? Who can ride that?”
“It’s not that far. In fact, if you stand on your roof and wave your arms, I may be able to see you from here.”