Avenue of the Giants and some Campground Karma

Monday, May 21, 2012 - Day 5

Today we road one of my favorite stretches of the tour -- Avenue of the Giants.  We planned a short day of 43 miles and headed out of Richardson Grove State Park onto Hwy 101. It had a nice shoulder and there were some rollers but no major climbs like the day before.  Our total for the trip after today was 324 miles.

I can't think of a more perfect way to see the Redwoods in mass than by touring through the Avenue of the Giants by bicycle.  I could barely keep a straight line because I kept looking up at the massive trees while I was riding.  The Redwood's technical name is Sequoia sempervirens and it is one of the tallest trees in the world getting to heights of 379 feet and 26 feet in diameter.  And no,those numbers are not typos.  These trees are spectacular and I have never seen anything like them before.

We turned off the Avenue of the Giants and took Mattole road into Humbolt Redwoods State Park.  We camped at Albee Creek campground.  James and I both agreed it was one of our favorite places.  It was definitely off the beaten path and the park rangers were really nice.  There wasn't anyone in the park when we arrived and so they let us stay in the regular camping area at the hike/bike rate.  The facilities at Albee Creek were excellent and I would highly recommend staying there.  The bathrooms/showers were all tile, plenty of room, and they had really hot showers.  $1 would buy 10 minutes of wonderful hot water.


  


















James and I took advantage of the fact we had a short day to go on a hike and I must say that it ranks as one of my all time favorite hikes that I've ever done.  We hiked a trail that took us the "Tall Tree" and the "Giant Tree" and "Flat Iron Tree".  The ground was covered with Redwood Sorrel which looked like clover to me.  With the enormous trees I felt like I was a character in Alice in Wonderland wondering through a magical forest. I kept expecting a little gnome or elf to pop out and start talking to us.

 As I discussed earlier, some Redwoods will become hollow and will form a room inside.  Some are big enough that a person could live in the tree.  The trail we hiked was well built, curvy, smooth and followed the contours of the land.  James and I both were dreaming of riding our mountain bikes on this trail someday.

We arrived back to the campground from our hike to some campers who were blaring their music from their vehicles so loud that it disturbed the entire campground.  The rangers said they couldn't do anything about it until quiet hours went into effect.  It saddened me -- those campers were in one of the most beautiful forests and set up their camp by a creek that had water flowing and making a beautiful relaxing sound.  But they overpowered nature's music with the modern pop crap.  It baffles me that people would go to so much effort to get away from it all and go into the woods only to blare loud, horrible music.

We went back to the campground and made some dinner of quinoa, with sauteed onions, spinach, zucchini, and flaked salmon with pesto.  While it was tasty I learned that I can't have that much quinoa and expect to ride comfortably after it hits my small intestine--too much soluble fiber.

Campground Karma...
A little karma happened the next morning, hehe.  James ran into the camp host while he was washing the morning's dishes and the camp host said that the campers who were blaring their music the night before couldn't get their car started because their battery had died.  They asked her if she had cables to jump the battery and so she messed with them.  She asked if they had top or side cables, they said top.  She told them her cables were side.  Sweet.

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.

More headwinds...

Saturday May 19, 2012 - Day 3

We rode along Hwy 1 along the coast and battled the headwinds.  There were times the wind was so strong it felt like we weren't even moving.  I remember looking down at my speed and it said 6 miles per hours and we were pedaling pretty hard.  It was so bad that we had to pedal on the descents just to keep moving.

James' comment was he really didn't think that the prevailing winds were this strong...we kept thinking that this must be a front that was moving through but it had last a long time and were thinking we had a long trip ahead of us.

Even though the wind was torture, we had blue skies, ample sunshine and the scenery was gorgeous.  We both agreed that this was one of the most beautiful roads we had ridden in all of the cycling we have done over the years.

There were a few steep "punchers" as James likes to call them.  Steep, short climbs along a relatively flat road.  Those are killer especially when loaded.  Just when you think you are done with the downhill you go back up and it seems steeper than the first time.

One of those steep climbs was Point Arena -- man that was a steep climb!  We had stopped for lunch and a rest break and that was a mistake.  In fact there was a guy who had stopped at a cross road as we were climbing and he yelled out words of encouragement as we slowly climbed up it with our 40 to 50 pounds of extra weight. If I did it over again I would have pick up lunch, kept riding out of town and then stopped once we climbed out of town.  I can't find a picture but I think it had to be at least a 18% grade.

That has been one thing I noticed so far.  People have been exceptionally friendly and have offered a lot of encouragement as we are cruising along -- especially on the climbs.  Yesterday we were going up a big climb and a car passed, honked, and gave us a big thumbs up.

We made a lunch stop at Elk, CA so I could grab a sandwich and a Coke.  When I was purchasing the sandwich the lady asked me what direction we were going and told her south to north and her comment "oh, that isn't how most people do it, the prevailing winds are awful.". I'm thinking, no kidding!

There was a nice little park across the street and James did a little exploring and took a path that went to the right and found some picnic tables and sunshine with a magnificent view of the ocean.  We also saw sea lions popping their heads out of the water!

We finished our picnic and kept rolling until we reached Van Damme State Park.  They had hiker/bicycle camping which meant we had another night that cost $5.00 for each of us.  They also had hot showers but you had to pay 50 cents for 3 minutes.  It is amazing how long 3 minutes can last and the hot shower was welcomed.   I wish Pennsylvania and Virginia State Parks would add this amenity to their state parks.  Bicyclists don't take up much space and we definitely don't bring in the amount of stuff that people who drive bring.  Who knows, it might actually motivate people to ride their bicycles to state parks.

We had a big meal of spaghetti and french bread and set up camp.  James took his bike out and did a little bit of exploring and I laid down. 

Our game plan for the next day was an early departure so we could get most of our miles in before 12 pm since that is when it seemed like the winds began to pick up.

We ended this day with 203 miles.

Fighting the Headwinds

Friday, May 18, 2012 - Day 2

We left Samuel P. Taylor with the goal of reaching Sea Ranch State Park but unfortunately the strong headwinds prevented us from getting that far.  At one point we were on a flat section, working really hard, and only going 6 mph.  Typically we average 13-15 mph to help understand just how strong the headwinds were.  Regardless, it was during this ride that we were introduced to the coastline along Pacific Coast Hwy 1 and the stunning views helped make the headwinds tolerable.




We passed through a small town called Tomales where we stopped at a convenience store so I could get a Coke and buy my notebook so I could record our day's events.  There wasn't much to it - just a few buildings.  We continued on rolling hills and the scenery was beautiful.  If you look at a map you'll see that we had been traveling along Tomales Bay and then Pacific Coast Hwy 1 turns inland for a bit and then goes back to the coast.   So at this point, we still had not seen the Pacific Ocean.

The traffic started to get pretty heavy along Hwy 1 - my guess people were heading to their campsites for the weekend since a lot of the traffic was RVs.  James found an alternate route to get away from the traffic called Bay Hill Road.  It was a rough road, it had some climbing, and had some beautiful scenery.  We bypassed  the Doran area but I don't think we missed much.  We ascended the final climb and got our first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean and it was awesome. 

We continued to Bodega Bay State Park and took a rest to eat some bread and Peanut Butter.  James was feeling sluggish but I convinced him to continue a little further.  The views along Hwy 1 were just like you see in the brochures of Hwy 1.  Later we were told that the section of Hwy 1 we rode is a favorite spot for car companies to tape commercials.  I can see why.














An interesting aspect of Hwy 1 were the "gully's" that were along the coast.  We would ride along and then the road would take a sharp turn to the right with a descent, have a sharp left (almost a U shape), and then climb to take us back to the coastline.  Although it wasn't steep or long, over a long distance the elevation climbed added up.  At times there were some steep climbs that were about 1 mile long.  We saw a school bus on one of the steep climbs we did (see the photo below) and we decided to wait for it to go by us before we started the climb.

Our resting place for the evening was Salt Point State Park.  We had ridden 66 miles for the day.  I was pretty tired.  We stopped at the State Park Entrance and the ranger told us there were no camp sites available...and then she told us she was joking.  I was so glad she was joking.   I was so tired.  The hike/bike area for this campsite was basically in a meadow and they had no showers.  We had purchased food at one of the grocery stores we passed by and so we were able to cook a decent meal.  We purchased some quinoa and realized we had no way to season it.   We decided to buy some salt and pepper at the next grocery stop.  It was chilly and so I was grateful to have my wool leggings, wool socks, long pants, wool long-sleeved baselayer and the heavy rain jacket James told me to bring.  I meant to bring my stocking cap and forgot to pack it.  Next time it will be in my bag.

 Total miles for the trip = 136

Leaving San Francisco and the Masked Bandit

Note:  I wasn't able to get to a computer to post on this blog during the trip so I kept a written diary and am now going to post my experiences after the fact.

Thursday, May 17, 2012 - Day 1

Leaving San Fran was a "little" unnerving for me.  It was strange to be riding and maneuvering a bike with an extra 40-45 pounds on the back of it.  Add that on top of riding up and down the steep hills of San Fran with traffic and I was definitely stressed out.




















We finally made it out of center city to the area along the "Wharf" where we bought some sour dough bread from Boudin bread shop to take with us for our first night camping.  We road the bike path along the bay into a major headwind.  It was actually cold from the wind.  We stopped at the Sports Basement outdoor store to pick up some fuel for our camp stove.  It was a really cool store - a converted grocery store that still had all of the "headings" for the separate food departments like the "Bakery", "Meat", etc.  The staff was super helpful, in fact one lady tracked down one of the guys in the store who had ridden on some the roads we are going to ride on and he talked with us about the routes and told us about the terrain, the towns, etc.  We also picked up another map that focused on cycle touring Northern CA.  It was a great little map that James ended up using more than the Cycling Adventures map.  It was a little dated but worked well for us.  It is made by Krebs Cycle Products and we both recommend using one if you ever do a cycle tour and they have a map for your route.   They are really nice for those who like to explore alternate routes and use roads that don't have as much traffic.  While we were at the store we decided to buy a couple of packets of "camp ready" food.  It turned out that that was a good decision on our part.


It was really cool to cross the Bay Bridge as the "starting" point of our big tour.  It is the 75th year since it was built and so they only had one lane open for the pedestrians and bikers.  That made things a little crowded at first and once we reached the halfway point there weren't as many people.  I have to admit that the scariest part of crossing the bridge were the people on the "rent-a-bikes".  They were swerving all over the place and it was hard to know where they were going and I was afraid they were going to hit me.












 

We rode through Saulsalito, CA about one mile after we got off the bridge.  It is a charming little town and we decided to stop to get a bite to eat.   James saw a line out of one little restaurant called "Hamburgers" and he said this is the place to eat.  They had a great set up for grilling hamburgers.  The grill rotated over a fire and I have to admit that it was one of the best burgers I've ever eaten.  I'm trying to get James to build rotating grill for me on our back deck :)


We rode along the bike path out of Sausilito through several adjoining towns.  The bike path eventually ended and we stayed on the bike route riding with traffic most of the time.  Since it was my first day and I really wasn't used the bike, I found it pretty stressful to ride in traffic and dealing with a loaded bike.  I was amazed at the number of people riding bikes, without helmets, in dark clothing with traffic and they didn't seemed phased by it at all.  The people driving their cars seemed used to cyclists and were pretty good at working with us.   Although I have to admit the drivers in OR were much better.

James decided to take an alternate route to the designed route on the Cycling Adventure map called "Bolinas-Fairfax" road.  It definitely involved some climbing.  I think he said we climbed to 2200 feet (keep in mind we started at sea level in San Fran), then dropped about 900-1000 feet, and then climbed again.  It was a gorgeous road with a lake on part of it.  It was very popular with the road cyclists.  We saw several on their nightly ride.  The descent would have been a blast on my road bike and unloaded.  However, I was a little nervous descending on a loaded bike.  I made it down slowly but surely and my shoulders were definitely starting to hurt.  We met a cyclist at the end of the descent and his comment was "wow, you descended that on loaded bikes?"

Climbing Bolinas-Fairfax Road

After finishing Bolinas-Fairfax road we headed towards Point Reyes, CA into a head wind.  Our plan was to camp at a campground near there.  We got to a cross-roads about 10 miles South of Point Reyes and it was 7 pm.  We happened to meet 2 cyclists touring north to south at the crossroads and chatted with them.  Ian was from Cheshire, England and been touring for the past 3 months.  He started in Florida, worked his way to Texas, then up to Portland, OR and then was going to San Fran.  Ronnie was touring from Portland to San Fran and lives in Portland.  Because we had about 1.5 hours left to get to Point Reyes and we were tired from our first day we decided join them at Samuel P Taylor State Park and camp with them for the night rather than head to Point Reyes.







I have to admit that this was the first campground that I've seen that has a machine that accepts major credit cards for a campground reservation.  We all were a little surprised and weren't sure what to do at first.  But, we plugged our cards in, paid for our campsites and were good to go.  One thing neither James nor I knew about California or Oregon is their State Parks have sections for bikers and hikers at a reduced rate.  So, if you roll in on a bike it only costs $5-$6 per person to camp.  They usually put all of the bikers/hikers in one area of the campground and I liked that because we were able to meet a lot of neat people and share stories, advice, and good food spots with the people we met.  Because most were heading South, we had the advantage them telling us of all of the good spots as we headed North.

Since we didn't make it to Point Reyes, we didn't have the opportunity to go grocery shopping for food.  Fortunately we had bought the camp food from the Sports Basement and we ate that with our Sour Dough bread.  We shared our loaf with Ian and Ronnie and Ronnie shared his dark chocolate with us.  We had 1/3 of a loaf left.  James took all of our food except the bread to the "box" to keep raccoons away from it and I was left to clean up some other items.  I turned my back on the bread to put one item in the tent.  When I turned around the bread was gone!  James came back and he told me he saw a raccoon running down the trail with the loaf of bread in his mouth.  We then shined our headlamps on the edge of our campsite and saw about 30 eyes looking at us.  One coon even came into our campground and we had to yell at it to get it to leave.  Ian said that a coon ate a hole in his bag at the last camp site he was in.  Ronnie woke up in the middle of the night and saw a coon on James panniers and so he brought them into his tent so the coons wouldn't eat holes in them.  The coons out in CA are not shy and I definitely recommend putting all of your food in a box if the State Park provides it!