Why I Love Half Moon Bay

I am trying to establish a pattern of riding my bike on the beach 4-5 days a week. I want to take advantage of living here as much as I can...

Today I rode farther south than I've ever gone before. There's a paved bike/jogging path that parallels the beach, and I want to see how far it goes. The path is anywhere from 20-100 feet removed from the beach, and there are certain stretches where the beach is below; there are cliffs, and the sand is anywhere from 5-50 feet below the cliff's edge. Although the path is removed from the cliff's edge, in a lot of places there is a dirt strip that runs right along the very edge of the cliff, and so if you're careful, you can ride along that, which is a thrill.

Today, as I was riding back home, I saw someone pointing out to sea, and so I pulled onto the edge and looked out, and saw something partially breach the sea. "Hmm, I thought, is that a dolphin?" But the shape somehow didn't seem quite right. Then I thought perhaps it might be a sea lion. But then I saw a small fin, and so that ruled out a sea lion. Now that I could kinda see the body in the water, it seemed to be just lazing around, which is not my understanding of how sharks move.

And then I saw the big one. And it was really big.

"Holy shit!", I thought, "Whales!"

It was a mother and a calf, lazing around barely 50 yards offshore, right around where the waves that hit the shore first become visible. It was amazing. I must've watched them for half an hour. And all I could think was:

damn.

damn, damn, DAMN!

1) I don't have binoculars.
2) I don't have a camera. (Still haven't replaced the one that got drenched in the Mendocino Incident)
3) I was at a place where the cliff rises 30 feet or so above the sand, with the nearest convenient path down a solid half mile back the way I'd come.
4) I was alone.

If I had been with someone else, I'd have had them stay put on the cliff, then raced back at top speed to the place a half mile back where the horse trail goes down to the sand, left my bike, and ran back along the beach until I saw whoever was waiting (That's the only way I'd've found the right place). Then, I'd've shucked most of my clothes and gone into the ocean. The whales were almost certainly gray whales, which are not particularly belligerent, and they were close enough to shore to easily reach them.

I discovered a new goal today: before I leave here, I will swim with the whales.

Sweet mother of Jesus, I love this place.