Monterey in March

We just returned from Monterey. While we were there something felt strange. We asked ourselves, have we ever been here in March? I combed through the many Monterey posts and it was true: we had never visited in March.

For the most part, the reasoning for this was simple. When the kids were young, there were many visits in April centered around Easter and spring break. When baseball became a central part of our lives, opening day was usually towards the beginning of March, and we played a couple games a week until the vacation window during spring break.

When the kids were older, Jennifer and I often went in January and February because the weather was often warmer in Monterey than at home. March is typically pretty nice in the Sacramento area, so we tend to enjoy the March weather at home.

Anyway, on the first day we rode south along 17 Mile Drive.

The weather was pretty damn perfect.

Afterwards we enjoyed a beer at Fieldwork, followed by an awesome meal at Alejandro's.

The next day we rode north with expectations of riding into Fort Ord. I knew the trail through Fort Ord Dunes State Park would be closed due to a campground project that will run through 2027. We would have to ride the less desirable trail along Highway 1 like last time and take the exit trail to 5th Street.

Unfortunately between visits they bulldozed the entire bike trail leading to 5th Street and were using it to truck in dirt.

<rant mode> This kind of shit has been happening for years. It really seems like municipalities will close off cycling infrastructure at the drop of a hat. Need to do road work? Close the bike lane! Want to organize a running race? Close the bike trail! Need to build a campground? Close the bike trail! Need to truck in dirt? Bulldoze the bike trail!

This isn't any new issue. I've been seeing the trend for a long time.

This past spring and summer I wanted to ride in Tahoe before we sold the condo. Then I saw that there were some trail closures due to a Marlette Lake dam repair, and I completely lost interest. These are some of my main trails up there.

The closures seem extremely excessive to me for one tiny little dam. But if you are a cyclist, you already know you are a meaningless blip. Anyway, back to our scheduled program. </rant mode>

We simply rode past the closure and continued to the north end of the trail. After turning around I had calmed down enough to start taking pictures again.

The weather was great and I told myself that things could be worse: I could be home working in the yard.

Afterwards we had a beer at Dustbowl and dinner somewhere that escapes me.

The next day we rode south again. I took some video. It's not my greatest work, but what can you do.

After that we packed up and headed home. It was a short but much-needed break from all the hard work we have been doing.

Later.