CLIMBING

Friday's ride. 10/12 Garberville-Fort Bragg
67.8 miles. 5200 ft climb
Remote & beautiful- kept following the Eel River thus morning. Then the climb- turned on to Rte 1 and ascended 4 miles at 7%.Good pavement /slow traffic. Had our 1st taste of switch backs- oh it's just the beginning! We put on rain gear to keep warm for the 12 mile descent- more ups and downs over this coastal range and finally popped out of the woods to the Pacific cliffs and sun!
Smells of the open road( am I losing it??)hemlocks,redwoods,giant fennel, wood fires, chilly/damp sea air - all so intense on a bike.
*Michelle and sous chef Vicki (ME)
*Foo this could be us with Tilly and Popzilla
*local color
*the Green Jacket Society

Avenue of the Giants

Eureka- Garberville (marijuana capitol of CA so it's said!)CA. 60 miles
Ride started on a soft day; cloudy, high fog, damp,misty, wet road surfaces through rolling farm land - many big dairy farms with hundreds of grazing cows. Went through the architecturally charming town of Ferndale. Just as the fog lifted we entered the Avenue of the Giants in Humboldt Redwoods State Park- 25 plus miles of redwood forests. Learned at the Visitors Center that the coastal redwoods (sequoia sempervirens) are one of the worlds oldest trees- they can live more than 2000 years- old redwoods can be up to 375 feet high and diameters of 10 to 15 feet. Redwood cones are only an inch long. Followed the meandering and very low Eel River all day.
*Chef/guide Michelle hooking up trailer this morning
*1100 year old redwood stump at visitor center
*Donna(NY),Nancy(NC),Carolyn(CA),
Mary(FL)
*Mike(OR),Carol(PA),Katie(WI) helping to change Mike's flat

ANOTHER DAY of REST

Same routine- different town-Eureka
Laundry/massage/2 hours at Starbucks/outfitting store for more essential stuff (toe warmers for biking shoes- that means it will warm up now)
Bike cleaning/ topped off with delicious dinner at local restaurant!
*oh yes and scouting out some cute dogs!

GIANT REDWOODS

Tuesday, 10/9 Crescent City- Eureka, CA 81.2 miles. 4700 ft. Elevation
Redwoods wider than trucks! All those trucks wizzing past us on 101.
Impossibly long( we were on the road 10 hours), hilly ( ok I'll stop moaning about the hills) and magnificent day. Started the day with a 3 mile mother of a climb but then after a Paul Bunyan and Babe sighting, went through a virgin redwood forest in the Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. Words that came to mind-- majestic, mythical, mysterious, silent, meditative,cathedral- like. Amazed that I didn't fall off my bike from the sheer awe of it. Elk herds everywhere which everyone saw except Katie and me! Made it to lovely Trinadad,CA for a quick warmup soup at the Beachcomer Cafe and then travelled a cliff hanging scenic drive, then an 8 mile gravel & paved bike path over the Mad River Bridge, through some very scenic in a Dutch sort of way lowland farm land Ended the ride hammering over 3 bridges across the very wide Humboldt Bay into Eureka. They held dinner for us and we topped off our last dinner of chef Patty with delicious Eli's chocolate and carrot cakes. THANK YOU ELI'S! We are half way through the trip- Patty leaves us, Michelle will become chef and Cy joins us as guide. A rest day on Weds-eureka!!
*Sheila leading us in America the Beautiful and reading an ode to Patty

CALIFORNIA!

Gold Beach,OR-Crescent City,CA
60 miles
The sun came out and our spirits lifted! Celebrated the last day of the wild Oregon coast with spectacular vistas and NO FOG! Crossed the highest(and thankfully not the longest) bridge in Oregon. Fern covered forest floors.
Crossing into California the change was dramatic- we were in farm land- cattle ranches and crop farms along the ocean
Beautiful Harbor ride along the coast near Crescent City where we could hear the sea lions.
Strange travel fact -- Oregon and New Jersey only states where you cannot pump your own gas-who knew?
*Graffiti on Welcome to CA sign
*Carol (PA)and Lin (MN)
*Downtown Smith River
*Light house in Crescent City
*The Sweeps
*Yesterday's fog

"The Fog Comes on Little Cat Feet"

Bandon-Gold Beach,OR. 55 miles
All the way on 101 today.Started out in the sun and then the fog crept in. Foggiest day we have had- there were beautiful vistas out there but we couldn't see them. A constant stream of old restored cars and trucks heading north.