The Central California coast has a way of getting inside your head—of rewiring your sense of time and priority. Something about the salt air, the shifting marine layer, the rhythm of the tides and two-lane blacktop cutting through towering cypress trees. A few days here and suddenly your phone feels heavier in your hand and your bike feels lighter beneath you.
Last week, we loaded up the rig and pointed it down the Pacific Coast toward Monterey. It wasn’t a mission as much as it was a mental reset—good food, daily coffee rituals, and long evening road rides fueled by leg power, voltage, and curiosity.
Captain + Caffeine = Control
First stop every single day: Captain + Stoker Coffee in Monterey. If you know, you know. If you don’t, get there—fast. Built out of an old auto garage, the place has a soul. It’s equal parts cyclist clubhouse, espresso science lab, and all-day hangout for locals, travelers, artists, and weirdos. Track bikes and gravel rigs stacked out front. Kids drawing chalk sketches on the sidewalk. A latte that tastes like a revelation and somehow sets the tone for the entire day.
Inside, the scene is always humming—vintage vinyl on the turntable, someone building a bike in the corner, and baristas who don’t miss. It’s the kind of spot where time slows down just enough for you to remember that life isn’t a race. Unless you’re headed to Big Sur, in which case: gear up.
17-Mile Drive: Coastal Therapy in Motion
In the late afternoons, we clipped in for golden-hour rides down 17-Mile Drive—a stretch of road so famous it almost sounds like a cliché. It isn’t. It’s a meditation. Hugging the Pacific with every curve, it’s a rolling, smooth ribbon of tarmac through Del Monte Forest, past Pebble Beach, and down into Pacific Grove. Each mile delivers a new rhythm—sea lions barking on the rocks, cypress branches twisting in the wind, the sun dropping fast behind the horizon.
We’d stop and pull over at Lone Cypress, the Ghost Tree, and Spanish Bay—moments to take a breath and just be where you are. Temps hover in the low 60s, and that ocean air keeps your core regulated, even when your legs are screaming. It’s coastal magic—sunset miles and barely any cars, just the rush of wind and the sound of your drivetrain spinning smooth.
Stretching It Out: Carmel to Big Sur
One morning we decided to push the ride—out of Monterey, through Carmel-by-the-Sea, and into Big Sur. Call it a test of legs or just pure wanderlust. The ride from Monterey to Big Sur isn’t short (about 60+ miles round trip if you go deep), and it's not flat, but the payoff is beyond worth it.
Riding into Carmel is like slipping into a dream—stone cottages, ocean breeze, dogs off-leash running the beach. We grabbed pastries from Carmel Bakery, filled bottles, and kept rolling. South of town, the road tightens and the climbs start to hit. But then you get it: this is what all the training was for.
Bixby Bridge comes into view like a movie set. Cliffs dropping into foam. Redwoods brushing the road. The energy on this stretch of Highway 1 is wild—it’s heavy and quiet and cinematic. You ride harder without realizing it. Every stop feels earned. Every mile feels more real than the last.
Voltage Mind Control: Activated
This kind of road trip? It’s what Mind Control is all about. Tapping into something deeper. Realigning the mental. Connecting the dots between caffeine, cadence, coastline, and community.
You don’t need much. A bike. Some socks with a little Voltage. A solid crew. And maybe just one more shot of espresso from Captain + Stoker before you roll south again.
See you out there. Monterey to Big Sur and back. Mind right. Legs lit. Let it ride.
— The Voltage LTD Crew 