Leaving the Coast

Wednesday, May 30, 2012 - Day 14

I slept pretty well last night considering we were camping in the middle of a city.  We road down the street and stopped at "Pigs-N-Pancake" breakfast place.  It is a chain restaurant along the coast of Oregon.  It wasn't the best breakfast place we ate at during our tour but it was edible.  After eating we headed east on Hwy 18.  It had a really nice shoulder and was basically flat with some rolling hills.  And there were no headwinds!  During our ride we met a woman who was beginning her solo tour across America to Virginia.  She was looking for a road that was listed in the Cycling Adventures map but the entry wasn't coming up on her Garmin she had on her phone.  James always carries a hard copy of a map, got it out and showed her that it was best to stay on 101.  Our recommendation is to always have a hard copy of a real map -- James cuts out sections of the Gazetter and keeps them in Gallon sized Ziploc bags.

We stayed on Hwy 18 and rode through the Mountain pass that took us out of the Coastal range into the valley that had a lot of vineyards.  The mountain pass was very reasonable and it had a gorgeous river that we were able to ride by for awhile.  The shoulders had disappeared but the traffic wasn't bad.  We made our way toward McMinnville, OR.  McMinnville is located at the confluence of the North and South Forks of the Yamhill River in the Willamette Valley. It is about 35 miles southwest of Portland. The city is home to Linfield College and the Evergreen Aviation Museum.

It has a very cute little historic downtown area and we stopped at Serendipity Ice Cream store.  It was the first time that I've felt discriminated against.  There were two women running the store and I went to the counter and they turned their backs and whispered to each other...as if they were flipping a coin to see who had to serve me.  I know I didn't look great but I always put a skirt over my cycling shorts and a bandana on my head.  They finally came over and took my order.  I made sure I paid in cash and left.  I wouldn't recommend this place -- the ice cream wasn't that great, it was overpriced, and the service wasn't good.

We kept going and rolled through a small town called Dundee, OR.  We didn't stop but it looked like it had some interesting art and good restaurants that served locally grown food.

We made a stop in Newberg, OR at the local bike shop and the manager and employers there were super nice!  We asked for guidance for the best way to get into Portland, OR and to our friend's house where we were staying until our flight left town.  We were advised to go up Hwy 219 to get to Portland.  It had some climbs but he said it was a really pretty backroad that the locals rode frequently.  We also asked about where we would go to get food and he recommended a place a few doors down from the bike shop.  The food was really good and they gave a very generous portion.

One of the things that has taken us by surprise is the behavior of people who are driving cars.  They actually stop to let us cross the street and give us the right-a-way.  In fact, we were at an intersection on the side of the road looking at a map trying to figure out where to go, we looked up, and every car at the intersection had stopped and was waiting for us to cross.  That is something that would never happen in Pennsylvania or anywhere we have lived on the East.

We decided to camp at Champoeg State Park (pronounced "shampoo eee" that was a few miles southeast of town.  It was easy to get to and it was a pretty ride out there.  The hike/bike area was in a really nice location in the campground.  It was near an open meadow and the nice part was it was warm because we had moved inland. This was the first night we didn't have to run to the bathroom and put on our wool leggings, wool socks, and wool base layer to stay warm as soon as we rolled in.

I can't believe that tomorrow we will be in Portland and our trip will be done in two days.  It seems like yesterday we were riding with Ian and Ronnie into Samuel P Taylor campground for our first night on our bike tour. At the time I was a little envious of them because they were completing their tour.  Now I wonder if they were envious of us since we were just starting ours.

The best cup of coffee and a strange State Recreation Area

Tuesday, May 29, 2012 - Day 13

Today was a sunny day with a small headwind.  We were able to push ~12 mph most of the time.  The coastline on this part of the trip was gorgeous and definitely lived up to the reports we had heard from the cycle tourers we had met earlier who were heading south.  We went through Yachats, OR (pronounced "yah hahts", stopped at the Green Salmon coffee shop and, in my opinion, had one of the best cups of coffee since we started the trip.  They also served pastries and breakfast sandwiches.  While we were eating and enjoying the fabulous coffee we were able to charge our phone and Garmin.  We left Yachats and stopped by Beachside State Recreation site so James could rest his foot and I could take a bathroom break.  It had a really nice forest surrounding it and a little hiking trail that we explored.

 We rode another 15-20 miles to the next town, Walport, OR and stopped at a public library for James to determine the best route to turn inland so we could get to Portland, OR and for me, to check e-mail, Facebook and to connect with the rest of the world.  We left Walport, OR and headed to Newport, OR.  Newport, OR is a nice sized town - about 10K - and is a major port for the research ships that work with NOAA.  The bridge entering town was really pretty.  I wasn't comfortable riding my loaded touring bike on the little sidewalk available to cyclists and opted to walk my bike across.

  We stopped at the Fred Meyer for some food and ice cream, chatted with some locals about our trip and then got on our bikes and headed north.  As we were getting on Hwy 101, we saw some hitch hikers.  They jokingly asked us for a ride and we chatted a little bit.  That happened a couple other times during this trip.  The barriers that come with driving are let down because we all are sort of in the same situation -- reduced to the bare minimum in terms of belongings and trying to get somewhere using an unconventional means -- at least for today's society.

It's a bittersweet day today.  While I'm ready to have this trip wind down, I'm sad that this will be our last night on the coast.  Our goal is to make it to Lincoln City, OR, camp in the state park there and then we'll turn inland and head to Portland.  The ride to Lincoln City was really pretty, the ocean was a dark blue and we had good visibility.  There was a point in the road (after a small climb) where we were able to go to a lookout and get a great view of the ocean.

We made it to Lincoln City at a reasonable hour and found Devil's Lake State Recreation Area.  This was the strangest camping site we had on our trip and I can honestly say, in my entire life.  It was literally in the middle of town.  The hike/bike area was on the edge of the park and we could see the stop light that lead to Hwy 101 from our tent.  There were residential houses on one side of us and then the camping area on the other side.  The shower/bath facilities were very nice and the showers were hot.   If I had the choice to stay there again -- I probably wouldn't if I had the option to stay at a State Park that was before Lincoln City or had the daylight to go to the next one.  Since we planned to take Hwy 18 to get off the coast, it was our best option.

Total miles for the trip:  815 miles

Memorial Day traffic Madness

Monday,  May 28, 2012 -- Day 12

We rolled out of Sunset Bay State park and the one thing that really stood out to me was all of the stuff that American's take with them when they go camping.  There were air mattresses, 4 to 8 person tents (some had foyers on them), comforters, pillows, full-sized grills, electronic games, computers and TVs, camping chairs, camping hammocks, griddles, and other miscellaneous items.  People basically brought their entire kitchen with them. People were cooking sausage, eggs, bacon, pancakes for breakfast.  I have to wonder if people cook this type of food at home or only when they camp.  It seems like a lot of effort to try to bring their homes into the great outdoors.  What was sad to me was riding my bike by the dumpster and seeing alot of the stuff thrown away because the people didn't want to take it home.  I think the contrast was greater given the fact that I had everything I needed in two panniers and one dry bag and had been living that way for 12 days so far.

We rode to North Bend and ate at a wonderful breakfast place called the "Pancake Mill".  It's located on 2390 Tremont Street HWY 101, North Bend, OR and is open from 6 am - 3 pm.  We ate a huge breakfast and then set out on our way.  We had to cross a bridge to get out of town that was a little scary.  I got off of my bike and walked across as there was a small side walk for the cyclists to walk on and I didn't trust my bike handling skills while loaded to stay on the side walk.






In terms of the traffic, today was not a fun day to be on a bicycle.  In fact, if I ever tour over Memorial Day weekend again, I'll make sure that I plan to stay put on the Monday of Memorial day weekend day and roll out the Tuesday after.

Part of the problem for us may have been the fact that we were riding on the section of Hwy 101 that was next to the Sand Dunes State Park area.  All of the big Diesel trucks / RV trailers hauling dune buggy's were going home after the weekend of fun.  They didn't slow down, most did not bother to move over when they passed and it was maddening. At one point we just pulled over in front of a store and sat there for a hour hoping the traffic would die down.  It didn't and so we gave up and kept moving north.  It finally died down after we past Reedsville, OR.  We guessed that most of the people must have come from the valley area near Eugene, OR and turned off on route 38 as it was the quickest way to get to Hwy 5.

Riding dune buggies seems like an expensive hobby to me -- I can only imagine the amount of fuel that is used to haul the dune buggy's around and then there is purchasing the dune buggy, maintaining it and the cost of the outfit and shoes that were worn while riding on the sand dunes.

We stopped for snack at Jesse Honeyman Memorial State Park.  We didn't venture into the park and stayed on the outskirts where there was a little picnic area where you could sit  and look at the ocean.  It did have facilities to use the restroom.  During our trip we saw a couple with two baby carriers behind their bikes.  From what I could tell, only one of the carriers had a child in it.  The other was used to haul gear.  Personally, I would never take a child behind me on Hwy 101.  It is too dangerous!  Especially on Memorial Day.  I hope they made it to their destination without any problems.

We road into Florence, OR and after our day we didn't have the desire to buy food and then cook it so we thought we would go to a seafood restaurant since we had heard the seafood was so great in this region.  We rolled into town and asked some locals where to get food and they recommended Mo's seafood restaurant.  We locked our bikes and were walking towards Mo's and a waitress was standing outside of a restaurant called "ICM" with samples of clam chowder.  James was delirious and just wanted food and said we should just go there instead of walking over to Mo's.  I didn't have a good vibe about this restaurant but didn't follow my instincts and say no, we are going to Mo's.  Big mistake.  DO NOT go to ICM -- it is way overpriced for what they give you and the food is mediocre.  And it is obvious they serve instant mashed potatoes and for the money we were charged for the food - they should have made the mashed potatoes from real potatoes.  I recommend going to Mo's for sure.

After our disappointing dinner we road toward Carl G. Washburn Memorial State park.  I believe it was about 15 miles outside of Florence.  The ride was absolutely gorgeous.

We set up camp and met several other cycle tourers who had stopped for the evening.  Two of the cyclists were heading north and so James and I had caught up to the four cyclists who were touring northward like us.  We rode our bikes down to the beach and watched a wonderful sunset, which made up for such a frustrating day on the bike.

Carl G. Washburn was a nice state park.  The showers/bathrooms were a short walk from the hike/bike area but the facilities were well kept and the showers had plenty of hot water.  I definitely recommend staying there just to be able to sit on the beach and watch a beautiful sunset.

Total miles for the day:  76 miles
Total for the trip:  747 miles

Headwind Redemption

Sunday,  May 27, 2012 -- Day 11

We were up by 6 am, ate a decent sized breakfast of oatmeal and egg and cheese bagels, packed up our gear and were heading out by 7:30 am.  We stayed on Hwy 101 for most of the morning.  There was little wind and the traffic wasn't too bad.  I think everyone who was traveling for Memorial Day was at their spot for the weekend and didn't need to go anywhere.

After an hour the winds starting picking up, except this time they were our favor.  We had a wonderful tailwind that was literally pushing us along the road.  I'm guessing it was a 10-15 mph tailwind.  So we took advantage of this opportunity and road 110 miles for the day.  I monitored our speed and we were going anywhere between 19 - 22 mph when we typically went 12-14 mph when we were riding into the prevailing winds.  We kept seeing people traveling south and they were struggling.  James would ask them, "how's the wind heading south?  It's great heading north".  I definitely glad I wasn't riding into it.  It would have been brutal.

There was a nice shoulder on Hwy 101 most of the time and we had views along the ocean.  The ocean is a darker blue on the Oregon coast and the coast line is more accessible.  We road by Cape Sebastian State Park area and it was really pretty.  There were a lot of pine trees and the road was curvy and had a lot of big rollers on it.  It seemed like it would have been a nice place to camp had we not had it on our agenda to cover distance and the take advantage of our tailwind.

We went through Port Orfas, OR and then Langlois, OR.  We were told by some cycle tourers that the Greasy Spoon Cafe is a great place to eat.  It was closed for Memorial Day so we went into Bandon, OR.  Bandon is a cute little coastal town that had a downtown area that one could tell the town was working hard to revitalize it.  We ate lunch at McFarlin's bar and grill and then looked around.  There was a candy store that I wanted to check out -- Cranberry Sweets.  They gave out free samples and a lot of their candies are based on the cranberries that are produced locally.

We kept heading north and stayed in Sunset Bay State Park.  To get there we had get off of Hwy 101 (at this point Hwy 101 turns eastward for awhile and then bends back towards the coast after 15-20 miles). We turned left onto West Beaver Hill road which turned into Chrome Mountain Road, then 7 Devils Road and then we saw signs to the park.  These roads had some rollers on it and given we had 80 miles on our legs, it was more challenging.  It had started to mist and it then began to rain by the time we were on 7 devils road.  James' heel was hurting him pretty bad by this point and so he was grateful to get off of the bike.


The camp hosts and staff at Sunset Bay State park were very friendly and guided us to the hike/bike area.  I would say that this wasn't the best hike/bike area we had stayed in at this point in the trip.  We were in a grassy area that didn't drain very well when it rained.  There were two cyclists set up for the night when we arrived.  It turns out they were 2 of the 4 tourers we had heard about who were heading north like us.  One guy was from Michigan and the other San Francisco, CA and they were heading to Vancouver, BC.  One guy was on a 1995 Cannondale and had to be carrying at least 60 pounds of stuff.  He had a 4 person tent, computer with solar power, and a lot of other gear.  Needless to say he was traveling much slower and he was trying to figure out how to cut some of the weight.

The facilities were fine and they had nice hot showers.  It was definitely much busier at this campground and we were mixed in with the car campers.   Given the fact it was the Sunday night of Memorial Day weekend it was a lot louder -- radios playing, people playing games, etc.

At this point we've realized that we don't have time to make it to Astoria, OR and so we've altered our plans to turn east at Tillamock, OR.  I'm curious to see it and am guessing that it has a lot dairy farms and factories that make cheese since a lot of the dairy products I've seen in the grocery stores are labeled from Tillimock, OR.  I've really enjoyed this trip but I have to admit I'm starting to miss my dog.

Total miles for the day:  110 miles
Total for the trip:  672 miles

Welcome to Oregon

Saturday May 26, 2013 - Day 10

Today was another short day - about 30 miles.  James' achilles heel was bothering him and he was feeling tired.  I think his extra credit excursion at Prairie Creek State Park caught up to him.  We left Jedidiah State Park around 12 pm and road to Smith River Ray's Market which was about 14 miles from the park.  The town was really really small it was surprising to see such a large and nice supermarket.  We grabbed lunch and then headed towards the Oregon border.

We took a back road (Lft on First street then right on Oceanview Drive) to Hwy 101.  It was a nice road, relatively flat and very low traffic.  We rode past a cemetary that was lined with flags for Memorial Day.

As we got back onto Hwy 101, we met 3 women who were doing their first bike tour from Portland, OR to San Fransisco, CA and chatted for a brief moment.  They were having a great time and very excited to be on their trip.  We crossed 101 and stayed on Oceanview Drive until it intersected with Hwy 101.  It had some rollers but very low traffic.  Once we popped out on Hwy 101 we rolled northward and crossed the OR border about 2 pm and then kept going towards Brookings, OR.

Brookings is a medium sized town with a Fred Meyer (I learned that these stores are great places to stop during bike tours...more about that in a minute) and Harris Beach State Park is 2 miles from town and there is a bike path that connects town to the State Park.  The weekend we were there was Memorial Day weekend and they were having a lot of activities to celebrate.  If I did it over again I would have stayed an extra day, gone into downtown to see the celebratory activities.

Harris Beach State Park is within walking distance to the ocean.  James and I walked over and hiked some of the trails down to the side of the ocean.  It was rocky on one side and we spent a little time laying on the rocks listening to the ocean pound on the rocks.  Another trail led us to a a nice sandy beach and we walked along it. It was chilly and windy and I was definitely glad James had me pack my heavier wind breaker.

 Harris Beach State Park definitely lived up to the expectations that had been given to us from the cycle tourers we had met who were heading south.  The shower facilities were clean, relatively new, had hot showers at no charge, and there were laundry facilities and vending machines.   The staff was really friendly.  The state park also has Yurts as an option if one were to get stuck in a rain storm.  One of the travel tourers told me she was stuck in a rain storm, her gear got wet, and she got a Yurt and was able to spread everything out and get it dry and have a nice bed to sleep on.  Granted getting a Yurt on or after Memorial day weekend requires advance booking -- at least a year out for Memorial Day weekend. We took the opportunity to wash all of our clothes and have some snack food while we were doing our laundry.  The laundry facilities were really close to the hike/bike section.  There was one other cyclist in the camping area, a woman who was riding from Washington to San Fran, CA.

 

"I like long walks on the beach..."

 Fred Meyer  is a great grocery store to stop in during a cycling tour.  The parent company is Kroger which is the named used for the grocery stores we have out east.  It has clif bars, bulk bin items, a lot of fresh produce, a deli, a section that has prepared foods that caters to the busy family, regular grocery items, camping gear, camping supplies, clothes, electronics - it is basically like a department store.  I regretted that I didn't bring my Kroger card with me on this trip.  James found some "chunks of energy" in the bulk bin section.  We decided we definitely needed some of that.

We are getting tired quinoa, spinach, and spaghetti for dinner so we splurged and bought some Tortellini from the refrigerator section, spaghetti sauce, a loaf of artisian bread, and fresh fruit.  It was a nice change and tasted really good.

Since today was such a short day we are hoping to get 80 miles in tomorrow, which means an early start.  Hopefully we can do it!

Total miles for the trip:  557 miles.

Scenic start, off-roading in the middle, Babe the Blue Ox, a big scary climb, and a fantastic end to our day

Friday, May 25, 2012 - Day 9

We woke up, ate a little breakfast, packed our gear and James did some necessary bike maintenance (lubed the chains, tightened my headset, etc).  On our way out we stopped by the Visitors Center.  We met a couple from Michigan who had started in Seattle and was heading south to San Fran.  That definitely seems to be the popular direction.  We had heard from the other cycle tourers that they had seen 4 other people heading north.

 

We left Prairie Creek Redwood State Park and headed north on the Drury Scenic Parkway.  The bike tourists who shared the campground rode in on it and said it was very pretty, low traffic, and a must ride.  James had already planned to take it on our route and their feedback reaffirmed it was a good decision.

The Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway is a 10 mile stretch that was full of redwoods, ferns, and a mix of vegetation that made it very pretty.  It definitely met the promises of our cycling friends.  Cyclists who take it heading South are rewarded with a nice 3-4 mile descent.  Because we were going north, we got to climb.  It wasn't a difficult climb and it made for a nice warm-up for my legs. After climbing most of the parkway we had the option of continuing and getting on Hwy 101 or taking the Coastal Range road that is closed to cars.  The Coastal Range road is an abandoned road that starts out with asphalt then turns to broken asphalt, then turns into a bike path, then single track, then nothing where one has to hike a bike, then back to some gravel, then broken asphalt, then full asphalt.  To be blunt -- I do not recommend anyone who is touring this route to take this road unless you have good tires and a need for adventure.  It isn't for the faint of heart.  It did provide some nice views of the ocean and it ended outside of Klamath, CA. 

Klamath, CA has an interesting history.  In the photo below, I'm at the historical bridge that used to cross the river that brought visitor's into the town of Klamath.  The bridge was noted for the two bears that were at the entrance of the bridge, one on each side.  The photo I have only shows one of the bears.   If I remember correctly, the flood of 1964 was a 100-year flood that submerged the town of Klamath and destroyed the bridge.  They tore down the bridge except for what is shown in the picture and rebuilt a new entrance into town.  As you can see in the next photo the the townspeople made sure that the new bridge had bears welcoming guest like the old bridge only they had them painted gold.

We stopped at the Log Cabin Diner for lunch/brunch.  We parked our bikes along a fence and the ostriches in the neighboring field were quite curious about our transportation and came to say hello.








The diner served basic food.  I ordered a big bowl of New England Clam chowder and two sausage and egg burritos and a coffee for breakfast/lunch.  This was a new trick that I had learned.  I don't like eating a big breakfast after I get up so I would eat just enough to get me going.  Then we would ride 1-2 hours and stop at a restaurant for breakfast.  By then I was ready to eat a lot of food and kcals that could help sustain me for the rest of the day.  So I'm sitting and eating my large breakfast and the other thing I started to notice was the people around me were eating similar portions to me.  I knew they weren't going out and riding a loaded bike for 50-60 miles.  My guess they were going to their jobs and sitting.  I was eating a lot of kcals -- no wonder people in our country are so big!  They don't realize how many kcals they are eating and how little they actually expend.

We continued north and briefly stopped at the entrance to the "Trees of Mystery" and saw Paul Bunyon and Babe the Blue Ox.  Paul would talk to the visitors as they approached the giant statue.  It was quite hilarious.

After we left the "Roadside America" tourist attraction, we were committed to Hwy 101 for the rest of the way into Crescent City, CA.  We didn't have any other options.  There was a shoulder most of the time, two lanes of traffic but the cars, trucks, semi-trucks still blew by us at 65+ miles per hour.  A lot of the time the trucks/semi-trucks with trailers wouldn't move over into the left lane.  It was really scary and very unnerving.  To get into Crescent City required a substantial climb over a mountain range.  I clocked it at 5-6 miles and I believe it was a 1200 ft climb.  To make matters worse they were doing road construction on part of it so we had to deal with the stop and go of a one lane highway.  This road was very tight in spots and didn't have much of a shoulder on this section.  It was very unnerving.  James noted that it seemed like the shoulder was wider heading south.  We finally got to the top and descended into Crescent City.  By this time in the trip I had gotten pretty good at handling my bike going down hill while fully loaded and I went as fast I could while staying within my limits -- I believe I topped out at 40 mph.  I just wanted to get off that road!

Crescent City, CA is a really nice sized town (about 8K) right off the coast.  We had strong headwinds going into town.  The Tsunami of 2012 had impacted it and we could see some of the remnants of the damage.  The stores also had a lot of before and after photos that were interesting to see.  James' bike rack was broken so we went to Home Depot so he could buy a part. We ended up talking to one of the workers who had a mullet.  He was a really nice guy with an interesting history.  James had seen him driving a fork lift and heard a string of obscenities leave his mouth and immediately went to ask him where we should get dinner.  He recommended a great local seafood restaurant called the Chart Room.  The Chart Room was right on the dock of the bay and there were seals lying on the docks.  We had a view of the ocean and wonderful seafood with decent sized portions.  We both would go again if we were ever in Crescent City.

We filled our tummies and James then took us the "back" way to Jedediah Smith State Park via Howland Hill road.  I was not very happy about this route in the beginning.  To get to Howland Hill road required a steep climb out of town and while climbing it I sounded like the fork lift driver we met at Home Depot. Once we got to the top and entered the forest it was totally worth it.  Howland Hill road was one of the most scenic roads during the trip and definitely the most beautiful gravel road either of us have ridden.  It was hard packed, curvy, and giant Redwoods everywhere. James had read that the oldest living Redwood lived in the forest but it's location wasn't made known to the public to preserve it.  I'd definitely go back and ride that road again if I have the chance.  Unfortunately the pictures I have below don't capture the awesomeness of this road.

Given the fact it was the Friday of Memorial Day weekend I was a little worried about getting a camping spot.  The nice thing about riding in on a bicycle in the CA state park system (Oregon as well), bicyclists are guaranteed a spot. They just squeeze as many people into a camp spot as they can.  In Jedediah Smith State Park the biker/hiker spot is way back in the picnic area and is very private.  In fact we were a good distance from all of the Memorial Day car campers, which was awesome!  We rolled into the bike area and we were the only bikers in the biker section and no one showed up for that evening.  We set up our tent in the middle of some Redwoods which also happened to be next to the Smith river.  I couldn't believe it, the Friday of Memorial Day weekend we were camping by ourselves - away from all of the car campers, looking up at Redwoods and listening to the sound of flowing water.  So peaceful.  I'd rank this as my all time favorite state park in CA.

Tomorrow we cross the CA border into OR.

Total miles for the day:  56 miles
Total for the trip: 528 miles

One week of touring and energy levels have dropped!

Thursday, May 24, 2012 - Day 8

We woke up to cooler temperatures and rain.  I snuggled deeper into my sleeping bag not wanting to get up and get wet.  James was a trooper and got up and got breakfast going.  We had purchased eggs and cheese at a local grocery while we were in McKinleyville, CA.  I was snuggled in my sleeping bag and all of the sudden a hand reached into the tent holding a wonderful cup of hot coffee.  Five minutes later it was back with a hot egg and cheese sandwich.   James is awesome.  I thoroughly enjoyed my wonderful breakfast and coffee, warm dry, and in the tent.  I finally dragged myself out of bed, got dressed and helped James pack up our gear and we headed north.

It rained for most of the time, Hwy 101 was busy and it didn't have much of a shoulder in places, and the traffic didn't seem to bother to slow down.  It was sketchy.  James found a back road that was parallel to Hwy 101 and we took it.  It had some rollers on it and I was really tired at that point.  Fortunately we had already planned to have a short day.

Hwy 101

Backroad

The back road we took came out on Hwy 101 again and it was really close to a convenience store.  This was one of those stores that has everything in it -- groceries, prepared food, milk, basic cleaning supplies, etc.  We were on a stretch of isolated highway and I think this was a place the locals got food items when their bulk purchases ran out.  I told James that my legs were beat and I was just exhausted.  I remember he asked me if my legs were tired or if my whole body was tired and my response was my whole body was tired.  He told me he could see the exhaustion in my eyes.

My body was craving sugar.  I've never had such a craving for sugar in my life.  I went into the store and purchased one of those single serving bowls of Fruit Loops and bought a quart of Chocolate Milk.  I poured the chocolate milk on the Fruit Loops and ate it.  James looked at me like I was nuts but asked how it tasted.  I decided I would never do it at home but it tasted really good at the time.  That wasn't enough sugar so I bought a package of Keebler fudge rounds and we both downed the entire packaged in 5 minutes. 


We left the convenience store and cruised to the nearest State Park -- Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park.  We passed through a town on our way but it was run down and I would not have wanted to sleep in any of the hotel rooms.  Prairie Creek State Park was really nice.  It was quite a ride to get to the hike/bike section and the showers were not close but never-the-less, it was a stopping point.  It is actually a really nice park.  It has majestic Elk that show up and hang out in the meadows in the early evening and morning hours.  There are signs everywhere telling the campers how to behave around them.  We set up camp and I immediately went to bed and slept really hard for 2 hours.  James in the mean time went exploring on his bike and found some really neat trails, beautiful country, saw several Elk and some really big slugs.  I've provided a preview of the amazing photos he took during his excursion.

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While I was asleep some bicycle tourers showed up and set up camp near James and my campsite.  I had a lovely conversation with them and we exchanged stories about where we had been, the good places to eat, good grocery stores, etc.  One of the cyclists was a female engineer who was doing her tour solo.  She started in Washington State and was heading to San Francisco and then taking the train back.  The other cyclists were a couple from Ithaca, NY who were biking from one daughter who lived in Seattle, WA to the other daughter who lives in San Francisco, CA.  Neither daughter rides and they indicated they thought they were crazy.  I learned that they had done a lot of touring before they had kids and now that their kids are grown and on their own they are beginning to tour again.  I think this means James and I will have plenty more tours in our future!

 

getting more creative with my camp stove cooking

I learned from this trip that it is important to have planned rest days where either the distance is short (in our case 25 miles) or don't ride at all.  While I was eating food, we were riding so much that it was hard for me to stay up with my energy output.  Eventually my appetite had become suppressed and I wasn't finishing my meals and my kcaloric deficit became greater.  I was able to sustain a good output for a couple of days but eventually my inadequate kcal consumption caught up to me.  That is why I had such an intense craving for the simple sugars.  My body just wanted to be fed.  The rest day was exactly what I needed and I was able to close my kcalorie gap.  In addition the food I ate above, I had a Coke and a Hershey's chocolate bar with almonds which ended up becoming a staple in our daily meal.  I also figured out that we were covering some big distances compared to our touring peers.  They were going 30-40 miles a day.  We were averaging 65 miles a day.  James called our touring "performance touring".  I believe it.

Total miles for the first week of riding:  470 miles.