PCH - Day 5 - 52 Miles – to Cardiff-By-The-Sea, CA

​Final night of the tour.  The sunset and weather did not disappoint.

To rewind to the beginning, we began the day heading out from out loud campsite next to the train tracks but content that the sky was clear.  A boat that drifted in the night ended up washed up on our beach.  Lifeguards, police, and locals were with a tugboat trying to pull it back out to sea.  It was only supposed to be a 40 mile day, but we got lost in Camp Pendleton.  Camp Pendleton is a military base that touring cyclists are permitted to enter and cross pending notification approval of ID.  However, once in the base, we missed our turn and ended up seeking help from a marine.  12 miles off route, we hightailed it out and exited in Oceanside.

The minute we hit Oceanside, a local cyclist came over to excitedly talk to us.  He told us that Race Across America (RAAM) was preparing to leave tomorrow and that if we followed him, he would take us to see the pros.  We found the Trek Pro team.  They were psyched to see our steel-framed touring bikes and wanted a pic with us with their ultralight carbon frames.  Fucking tight.

We then made it to Carlsbad and ate at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants with Baja fish tacos.  We made it to our campsite where we met up with Fred again plus this awesome crew of other cyclists up from San Diego for a weekend touring trip.  One the guys, Andy, turned out to be a board member on the Tourism Bicycling Network nationally.  The evening ended around campfire, an epic sunset, and great conversations.