Day 44, September 14th 2007 (Humbug Mountain, OR to Mills Redwood National Park, CA)

It was time for a change today. I was the last one to leave the campground and I left at 9 am. Everyone seemed to be in a hurry to get out and ride this morning, but I was ready to take my time before putting in some miles. I couldn't blame evryone for taking off because with the weather being so great this morning, who knew how long it was going to last. It was starting to warm up outside and there was a great blue sky with the sun shining over the ocean. Today was the first time in a while that I was able to ride without my leg warmers, wool socks, and jacket. My legs were plenty well rested after yesterday and I was ready to jump back on and put in some more miles. From looking at the elevation portion of the Oregon map I could see that I was going to have some good climbs to start the day. I was continually climbing up about 300 feet and then back down, until I was about 30 miles into the ride. Then I was able to climb up 1,000 feet and then down that hill. That didn't last long because directly following that I was back to a 300 foot climb and down just as I had before. It was about 70 degrees outside and I was able to have a head wind to cool me down as I pushed forward against it. As I pushed forward my legs began to grow more and more tired, but I knew I was close to something new. Directly in front of me was the border. The end of a great stay in Oregon, but a new start in California. It was nice to change states and pursue forward in the adventure. My first 15 miles in California weren't anything special, but I had finally made it. After heading south past Crescent City, I was starting to enter the Redwood National Forest. The trees were giants. When I attempted to look up towards the top I almost fell backwards off of my bike. The hiker/biker campsite I intended to stay at was only 6 miles south of Crescent City, so I knew I was close. My legs were ready to rest and it was a great feeling knowing that I was near. Glaring in front of me was one problem after another. I didn't have a map to tell me the elevation of my climbs anymore, so everything was one surprise after another. It all started with a short slope uphill. Then it winded around to another climb and then another for a good 4 miles. I must have climbed to at least 1,500 feet before I saw a sign of life. the sign for the campground told me to turn just ahead on my left. I was releived that I had made it to the campground entrance and stared in disbelief as the campground was 2 miles on a windy road almost all the way back to sea level. Instead of having a nice campsite at the top somewhere, they had placed it at the bottom of the mountain. For the next two miles I flew down a steep and windy mountain knowing full well that this was how my ride was going to start the following morning. I was surprised at the elevation changes I was going through, but I knew full well that this is what I had signed up for. At the bottom of the mountain I picked up an envelope in which I was supposed to fill out and put 3 dollars in for the evening. I was unable to find a place to put the envelope and as I headed down the road to find out, a man leaped out in front of me. He was in an RV and asked me where I was going. I thought he was the park host, so I explained how I was unable to figure out where I was supposed to put the money. He told me to put it back in my pocket and to pitch my tent behind his RV, and so I knew then that he was not the park host.The idea sounded good enough to me and I snatched at his offer. As I set up camp and started to indulge in my delicious peanut butter sandwiches, he came out of his RV and invited me in for some hot chocolate with he and his wife. It was too good of an offer to pass up. So I stepped inside the warm RV and was able to meet Al and Joan. They fed me a great sweet dessert with my hot chocolate and replenished my calories that I had burned so many of as I climbed the hill earlier. They told me they were headed down to Arizona in the RV and had started their trip in Vancouver. They themselves were actually from New Hampshire and had flown to the west coast and rented an RV for their trip. Since they had both retired at this point they were spending their time travelling. For the winter they had a houseboat in the Carribbean Islands and tried to avoid the cold temperatures from Connecticut, by evacuating to their boat. When we had finished our hot chocolate they told me that the park ranger was going to be having an informational meeting about the Redwoods in the area. We headed down the road a half of a block and showed up just in time for the presentation. It was around a campfire, but it was still fairly cold outside. The slideshow was actually about water conservation and lasted for around an hour. Although it had about nothing informative on the redwoods, it was still interesting to hear what she had to say. The slideshow ended and I was ready to curl up in my sleeping bag and call it a night. Tommorrow was going to start with a big climb and my legs needed to rest.
Daily mileage: 85.6 miles
Average Speed: 12.9 mph
Total mileage: 2,709.2 miles