An Endless Summer, The Final Days
One big adventure done, many, many more in the future. My chance at a normal life is over. I'm positively ruined!
Hi! You may have forgotten about me (I know, it’s been so long. No way you thought I’d still be writing you😅), but I’m still alive! Finally, finally, you won't find yourself shocked, thinking, “Oh my he’s not STILL on his bicycle tour, is he?”
The answer is no, I’m no longer bicycling from place to place, countless miles, and long hours. I finished the last leg of this trip by cycling into West Hollywood, Los Angeles, on September 13th. I rolled into the warm and welcoming arms of two friends, Corbin and Corey. If you remember from a month ago, I met Corbin and Corey way way up in Central California, on the Lost Coast. They let me share their picnic table, good times, and campfire. The rest was history. Corbin and Corey told me if I made it down into LA (alive and in one piece), I should reach out. As I set out for my final leg, I told them I was indeed to going to pedal their direction!
I last wrote to you from the picnic table of the Guadalupe City Hall. The fiesta raged on as I laid in my tent, but fortunately at about 10pm sharp, they shut off the music and disbanded quickly. I slept feverishly, but it might have been because of the floodlights that turned on (coincidentally, at 10pm) right above me. Ah, the pleasures of camping in the city hall. The next day was wonderful, an early morning and slowly meandering hill to start the day. As I climbed towards Lompoc, I was looking forward to a “big” hill- a shorter, but steeper climb. It was a beautiful back road with no traffic, and as I stopped at a turn to put some electrolyte mix in a water bottle, I felt like checking the road behind me. JUST as I turned around, who would I see coming up the hill towards me?!?!
Turns out Ed and Suzie had been chasing me up the hill for the last little bit and were going to give up if I hadn’t stopped!! We spent probably thirty minutes just talking on the side of the road, about their travels (check out their travels here) and mine, and how lucky we were to have overlapped once again. Feeling absolutely blessed as we slowly climbed, in fantastic spirits. It’s like the hill wasn’t even there!
We stopped in Lompoc, the next town, as Ed and Suzie headed to the grocery store for supplies. I was forging on to Refugio State Beach campground, as I heard it was much nicer than the closer campground, in Gaviota. It was twelve more kilometers of highway biking, but I encouraged Ed and Suzie to come join me. I heard from a northbound bicyclist that it was well worth the extra distance.
I arrived at Refugio beach and promptly put my swimsuit on, as it was eighty degrees and sunny. As I came out of the bathroom, I stumbled upon a couple from Switzerland on a tandem, also headed south! We chatted while they set up their tent to dry and put their swimsuits on. A natural evolution, we all ran across the sand and into the surf.
We lounged around the picnic table eating snacks and I eagerly anticipated Ed and Suzie. Another gentleman from Switzerland joined us. California seems a popular place for these European’s. I can see why :)
Ed and Suzie arrived and I let out yet another whoop of joy. They coasted over to many smiling faces and proceeded to go for a swim as well. All my homies jump in the ocean! With nothing to do but eat dinner and watch the sunset, that’s exactly what we did. All crowded around one picnic table, pleasant conversation, big smiles, and even bigger laughs carried up into the evening air by the sea breeze. You wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in the campground that night. Such wonderful people, I feel so privileged to have been able to spend one of my last nights surrounded by such beautiful souls. Ed and Suzie remembered it was my birthday a few nights before, and picked up a cupcake from the grocery store. They carried it up over a fifteen-mile hill and all the way to the campsite.
I was almost in tears and truly it is one of the most special birthday’s and birthday cakes I’ve ever experienced. Again, I feel so grateful to call them friends and spend time with them. Augh it was hard morning to say goodbye.
I set off the next day, headed through Santa Barbara and Ventura, fortunate that Alex, a Warmshowers host in Oxnard, allowed me to camp in his backyard. My other option was an eighty-mile day to the next state beach campground. Thanks Alex! Someone named Ankur had requested to follow me on Instagram the evening before. Ed and Suzie had met him earlier up the coast, as he was also headed southbound. Completely coincidentally, as I turned onto the beach bike path in Santa Barbara, another touring cyclist turned onto the path in front of me. I said hello and as he said hi back, I immediately recognized him as Ankur!!! We both got quite excited at the happenstance of the situation and probably chatted the whole time while riding. The next thing we knew, we were in Santa Barbara, eating burritos on the beach.
A really great guy from West Virginia, he works in the tech industry AND leads bike tours on the side ( he has the most excellent personality for it). Endless energy, an effortless smile and a fascinating individual. I feel so special meeting all these great people I’ll remember forever. We kept talking on the way to Ventura, as Ankur informed me he was leading a tour from San Diego to Florida right about now. Even better? He’s been biking down from San Francisco to get to the start! Super cool, I almost joined him! We stopped at the Patagonia Ventura headquarters to browse around and see pretty much all of the original buildings and the surfboard shaping shop!
Andrew, one of the crew there, brought us out back to check out his awesome custom bike build and gush all about biking, touring, and big adventures. Shoutout Andrew for making it the best experience and being such a genuine character! Hope we can get some biking in together in the future!!
Ankur and I had to part ways later. I’m always sad to leave such a great new friend. I don’t think our story is over though, as I’ve added it to my list to head out to West Virginia and get some biking in with him. Who knows, we might mess around and create the next best bicycle touring company…
The next day I set off for West Hollywood, on the east side of LA, to see new / “old” friends, Corbin and Corey. Malibu traffic combined with derailleur troubles made for a slow and moody start, but once I put some tunes on, I was singing and happier than ever. My troubles disappeared behind me.
I arrived happily at the Santa Monica pier for a huge funnel cake. What else do you have when you’re at the boardwalk? People watching is quite entertaining. I hit the Patagonia store in Santa Monica for more stickers and on Ed and Suzie’s suggestion, I headed to the Rapha store to see if I could catch Lachlan Morton, an ex-pro road cyclist turned long-distance endurance adventurer. Can’t recommend checking him out enough. Seriously awesome.
I had just missed Lachlan, but the real treat were all the gentlemen at the shop! They invited me in for an iced-coffee and spent an hour listening to me ramble about the trip and my setup. Bicyclists chatting bikes and loving the stoke! I pulled myself out to hit the road to West Hollywood, more excited than ever to see Corbin and Corey!
Corbin, Corey and I had the best two days in LA- burgers, cold drinks, celebration, sleeping in, hiking at Griffith Observatory, checking out the Hollywood sign, driving around Mulholland, and swimming at the pool. Life is good in the company of good people. They put me up for two of the best days of my trip and I couldn’t miss them more! They headed off to Italy this past week and I wish I could’ve joined them. Truly great people that I can’t wait to see again. Much love you two!!
After the days in LA, a long-time supporter, good friend, and family- Randy came and picked me up for a quick ride down to Del Mar in San Diego. More on that to come!
Stay tuned for a reflection and finishing thoughts piece in the near future. I’m still living a bit of a Southern California fever dream; sleeping in, surfing, eating loooads, hiking, swimming in the ocean, watching sunsets, cooking, and hanging out with my true and dear friend Randy. The days are long, and filled with many smiles and sweet melodies that Life plays when all is well.
As with all trips and experiences that come to an end, the true struggle is to keep all that you learned and changed you, close to your heart. Remember what becomes important in the absence of the unnecessary, and to use it as you transition into a different chapter of life. I find myself forgetting about my trip at times, getting caught up in the regular rush of a day burdened by (albeit, few) obligations and responsibilities. If I take a few deep breaths, I can call back the most vivid memories, lessons learned, and true feelings about the person I discovered all those days on the road. The biggest thing now is that I notice myself becoming tired easily by rushing from one thing to another, the day full of activities and different things to do and balls to juggle. The art of being present was something I practiced and flourished in each and every day. I’m learning to blend it back into a world that seemingly demands your attention and self to be split and divided. I’m finding it hard to juggle the weight of the past, the overwhelming importance of the present (and being present in it), and planning the future. I know for certain I’ll pick it up fast and figure out what works. The ninety-some days I spent out there, in the big, wide, world each day, taught me so much. All experiences and lessons which I’ll never forget. I just have to translate to a different world. It really was something else out there.
What’s next for me? Moving to Victoria in British Columbia to start the next chapter of my life. Work, bills, responsibilities, and some semblance of a normal life (oh my goodness he’s gone! A lost cause!) I’m really looking forward to it. I have the next big plan deep in my mind’s eye, keeping me excited about waking up each day, focused on the goal, and ever-hungry for the Spirit of Adventure. Stoking that fire next? When I get to Victoria, I’m accompanying my good friend Theo and a crew on the Juan de Fuca Trail, a 29.2 mile, or 47 km point-to-point backpacking trail in the Juan de Fuca Provincial Park. Should be a blast! I’ll figure out how to start another newsletter for those interested in stories from a new side of life!
With love and ice cream in the freezer,
- Benjamin Stevens
—Epilogue—
I’m writing this sitting in the San Diego airport, about to board my flight to Victoria, a new home. New adventures, challenges, and opportunities in abundance. I’ll catch you on the other side.
Thanks for your time, this time, until next time!