Today was expected to be a very challenging day! The thought of scaling those hills (illustrated below) scared a van-full of riders off part of the route, if not all of it. It is always an option to get a 'bump' ahead 20 or 30 miles to shorten the day or eliminate an especially big climb. Many are being careful of knees, and/or wanted to do some touring of the area. San Simeon boasts Hearst Castle, which has very interesting tours.
The day was foggy almost the whole way...and I mean REALLY foggy! I have to admit there were quite a few long hills that wound around the jagged coast line between Big Sur and San Simeon. The last miles did smooth out, and we enjoyed seeing the pod of Elephant Seals on the beach.
