And the winds calmed down...finally!

May 20, 2012 - Day 4

We had a 9 am roll out despite our intentions to leave earlier.  We got up, ate a little food, packed up and headed to Fort Bragg, CA.  It was only 12 miles and we had plans to get a big hearty breakfast when we got there and then to stop at Grocery store to buy some food and other necessities.

It was a long 12 miles and I thought we would never get there.  And the road was actually flat compared to what we had been riding.  We used our Garmin to find some places to eat and decided to eat at a restaurant called the Homestyle Cafe.  I ate a HUGE breakfast for me and it was so delicious.  A mini-omlet with spinach, cheese, mushrooms, sweet potato cake, toast, a pancake, and coffee.  It was a generous portion and can't image what the "regular" omlet was like.

The breakfast so filling that I only needed Gatorade and one energy bar to get through the rest of the day and I rode pretty strong.  I went through 3.5 bottles of Gatorade -- I should definitely drink more while I'm riding because I don't like to drink alot before I go to bed at night.  I really don't like having to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom when I'm camping.

The highlights of the day included several stops to take pictures of the coast line.  It was so pretty!  The wind actually calmed down and we later learned that we had been riding through a weather front.  The front had finally pushed inland.

Proof we were on Hwy 1

This was the point in the tour that we turned inland for a little bit and had to climb a mountain range to get to the Redwoods and Avenue of the Giants.  One of the climbs we did was a 700 foot climb and the next was an 1800 ft climb before we dropped down 900 ft into Leggett.  The second climb had a nice grade and we were able to push about 6 mph but it definitely seemed like it took a long time to get to the top.  I'm guessing we did about 5-6 miles of climbing.

The forest surrounding the climb was gorgeous.  I think it was a type of pine but I've never been good at identifying trees.  It smelled good and we had plenty of shade to keep us cool.  It really felt like I was riding in North Western, NC and South western, VA.  I was really grateful  for my exposure to big climbs prior to this trip!  

Up until now James had been slumming pretty bad and it was at this point that he got his legs back and he climbed really strong.  So much for seeing him on the climbs from now on!

We dropped down into Leggett, CA and went to the tourist attraction -- a drive-thru Redwood tree.  It turns out that this is a natural occurrence for Redwood trees.  At some point I think in the early 40s someone widened the hole so a car could drive through it.  James and I road our bikes through the tree a couple of times.  These trees are so big!




We left Leggett and continued on one of the worst sections of Hwy 101 on the trip.  It was tight, windy, no shoulder and cars, trucks, and big semi trucks were flying by us at 60 miles per hour.  The campground we went by was closed and so we stayed on the highway and finally got to a section with a shoulder.  We also noticed that it had gotten darker but we had plenty of daylight but didn't think anything about it.

While we were riding we saw a family standing outside of their car looking up.  James asked them if they needed any help and they told us that they were looking at the eclipse.  They were taking their polarized sunglasses and looking at it and offered to let us look.  So we stopped and hung out with the family and looked at the eclipse. The last eclipse that had happened in this area was 40 years ago.

The family was really really nice and their two girls were adorable.  The mother had just taken them shopping and bought them shiny red shoes.  The 2 year old had sparkly red slippers and was pulling on James and proudly showing them to him and asked him to take a picture of them.  It was so cute.

The family was super nice and gave us their contact information as they lived in Arcata, OR and we were going to pass through there.  They told us if we had any problems to call them and they would help us out.

We pressed forward and made it to Richardson Grove State Park where we shared a hike/bike spot with a couple from Vacouver, BC.  They were really nice and we had a great time chatting with them.  They were heading south to San Fransico and it was the woman's first time riding a bike and touring and she was tackling it like champ!  The campground had a horrendous amount of mosquitoes and I think they were giants!  James rode down to the convenience store that was about 3 miles away and bought a $9 can of bug spray.  Way over priced but the well worth it!

I really like meeting people and talking with them while we tour.  That is why I think the shared hike/bike areas in the campgrounds are great.  We get to meet other people who are touring, share stories, tips for what is coming, good restaurants, etc.  I really like the sensory aspect of touring too.  The sights, the smells, sounds.  All of that is missed in a vehicle.

To day we ended at 281 miles -- 78 miles for the day.  Tomorrow is Avenue of the Giants and a shorter day.