Day 47, September 17th 2007 (Richardson Grove,CA to Manchester,CA)

The light hadn't even started to pour in as I set off for the road this morning. I started to ride for the first 30 minutes with all of my extra warm clothes on, but since it warmed up so quickly I was able to ride comfortably with shorts and a jersey for the remainder of the afternoon. The ride started with high traffic on highway 101, even though it was as early as it was. I was on a fairly flat road for the first time in awhile and it was nice to wake up to a good break. After riding for the first 15 miles of the morning I was off of 101 and this was a detour that was going to last awhile. I was able to head off on highway 1 and was able to get myself as close to the coast as possible. I started with a brutal awakening to what I was going to deal with for the remainder of the day. There was a significant mountain that I climbed that was just as difficult as it was beautiful. I was riding around some incredibly windy roads and going up and up to about 2,000 feet. It was an incredible climb and the downhill seemed just as phenomenal. I was constantly holding my brakes as I flew down each twist and turn. Anything over 15 mph around these turns and you would go down the mountain, but not on the road. It was a great wake up for the morning and it had me riding well aware of my surroundings in only a few seconds. There were hardly any cars on the road and that helped a substantial amount. The road was so narrow and full of all this new terrain that with a lot of traffic it might have been the last road of my trip. After spending a good 20 miles through the mountainous terrain I started to see the highway 1 that I had heard so much about. The road opened up to a beautiful vast ocean as soon as I escaped the mountains. I had been given such a ride for the day that I took about a half hour break overlooking the ocean at a nearby park. It was a perfect way to relax for a little while in the afternoon. The temperature was just perfect and it was great both off and on the bike. As I started to ride again I was along the coast and was closer than I had been on my entire trip along the ocean. The road was constructed in a way that was to be with the ocean always visible and with that came quite the demand, physically. For the entirety of the day I was on a road that would take me up and down and around turns left and right. It could be compared to riding a bicycle along a roller coast ride of a terrain. Nothing seemed like it stayed level for more than 10 feet. With that came a lot of shifting and working to get forward the extra miles. Needless to say, by the time I was able to get myself to where I wanted to be for the night it felt great. I had taken myself about half way down the coast of highway 1 and my legs could easily tell that this part of the trip made Oregon's coast, still difficult, seem like nothing at all. I could only think during my ride about some of the other riders that I had met along the way that were carrying about two or three times as much luggage as me. Not only were the other riders I had seen larger than me but with 80-90 lbs of luggage, some climbs almost seemed impossible. The grades were fairly tremendous on a few hills and with so many so often I knew that a lot of riders were going to have to take it easy in California. Although I had put in a fair amount of miles to get to set up camp for the evening, I knew that to be where I wanted to tomorrow it was going to take a few more miles. I didn't waste anytime at all to set up camp and prepare myself for the rest I needed because tomorrow was going to be a longer ride, but the beginning to a much longer vacation.
Daily mileage: 100.5 miles
Average Speed: 11.9 mph
Total mileage: 2,969.9 miles

Day 46, September 16th 2007 (Eureka, CA to Richardson Grove, CA)

I don't think that I've ever realized how great a bed feels until I woke up this morning. My body was asleep with a numb sensation as I opened my eyes. There was a continental breakfast that was being offered at the front desk and it was my first target as I woke up. As soon as I could get my body out of bed I was down the stairs and staring at a table full of pastries. I think I surprised the guy at the front desk when I piled my little plate about 3 stacks tall. I told him I needed my carbs and sugars and he just nodded his head, probably trying to figure out how I was going to manage to eat it all. I went back to my room and finished the food in a few minutes, took a shower, and laid in bed for a couple more hours. When I opened my eyes it was a little before 10 and I had wanted to see if there was a church service I could get to. I headed out of the room and I only saw a couple of churches on my way out of tow that all held an early church service. I couldn't find a church with a late service, but figured if I made it to the next town then maybe I could catch a service at 11. It was a great sunday to be outside on a ride. I really couldn't complain about the weather that I had received for today or yesterday. It was a great feeling being able to cycle in my jersey and cycling shorts and not having to worry about any extra clothing. It felt like 70 degrees and the sun was shining over the ocean and the mountains. I didn't have hardly any big climbs to start the morning and after about 30 miles I was able to to on to an incredible detour. It was the "Avenue of the Giants," the name of the highway. With huge redwoods over 2,000 years old and stretching over 300 feet tall it made for a magnificent ride. I had been told back in Oregon that i was going to see some redwoods. If this is what they were supposed to look like then there was no way I had seen redwoods back in Oregon. If they were redwoods, then they were babies compared to these because these trees were of a phenomenal stature. Everywhere around me it seemed like giants were peering over me. It was an amzing sight that I was able to witness for 30 straight miles. Weaving around to different towns within the area, it was amazing. I took my time within the site and enjoyed every stop that I could along the way. I felt like I was hardly going anywhere and that everything was still going by too fast. I can't imagine flyiing through that place at 50 mph in a car because there was too much to see. I hated to end my ride through the Avenue of the Giants because it meant that I was now back on the freeway and had to deal with the traffic. I was starting to get used to only seeing a couple of cars every once in awhile and now they were all around me again. I stayed on my little shoulder on the right side and paced myself further ahead. Although I wasn't in the Redwood Forest anymore, the scenery was still amazing. I biked until I reached the next town, Garberville. I saw there was supposed to be a campground there, but I was unable to find it. I ate at a local Subway in town and asked if they knew where any nearby campground was. The guy who I had asked couldn't have been any older than 20 years old and he told me he didn't know. He went on to tell me that he had just hitch hiked his way up here two weeks earlier and so he hardly knew the place. Then he wanted to keep the conversation going so he told me that he was sleeping outside down by the river and that was the only camping he knew about. I didn't think I was going to find out where the campground was so I figured I would head down the road and see what I could find a few more miles south. I felt bad for the kid sleeping outside and all, but if he now has a job and doesn't have to pay for a place he should have some money coming in. I headed further south and was able to find a campground within about 10 miles down the road. It was a hiker/biker site and was 3 dollars. I was really starting to enjoy these little sites for only a few dollars and I was glad thatthey offere them to cyclists passing through. It just doesn't make sense for a cyclist on the road to pay 10 or more dollars, but 5 or less is a fair amount. I laid down my tent and since I was the only cyclist in the campground, I figured I could get some good sleep before putting in some miles tommorrow.
Daily mileage: 80.7 miles
Average Speed: 13.0 mph
Total mileage: 2,869.4 miles

Day 45, September 15th 2007 (Mills Creek Redwood National Park,CA to Eureka,CA)

My legs were given a break this morning, for a couple of miles. I woke up with a nice hot shower and a good breakfast. Al and Joan saw me awake from inside their RV and instantly invited me inside. I was welcomed to a cup of hot chocolate for the morning and was able to spend the morning with them. I told them how I was not looking forward to the start of the morning, going straight uphill. They hadn't even remembered a hill as they came into the park, but instantly offered to give me a ride to the top. It just goes to show that unless if you're actually physically climbing a hill, you don't always see everything as it is. We put my bike on board and headed up the 2 mile climb to what I thought was the top of the mountain. At the top we said our goodbyes and they gave me a gift for the road. Dinner on them they said. I thanked them for being so gracious and headed south as they were headed north for a little while. Although I was at the top of the hill that I had climbed up last night, the climb continued. I thought I was already at the top, but apparently I still had a little further to go. It wasn't long before I reached the top and started my descent, but it wasn't my last climb for the day. I was about 10 miles into the ride and the grade of the road changedsignificantly. I felt like I was cycling up the side of a cliff and couldn't beleive how some of the other cyclists pulling some 80lbs behind them were going to make some of California's grades. After a while I reached the top of the mountain summit at 1,485 feet. It was a climb that had started at sea level and once at the top it ended back down at sea level. I stopped for lunch at a little cafe and asked the waitress if she knew what my ride would be like for the rest of the day. I planned on riding for another 60 miles and was ready for anything she was going to throw at me. I had contacted a family from the warmshower's list and they had told me I could stay with them. When the waitress told me that the rest of my ride would be full of a lot of windy roads and hardly any more hills I thought I had it made. My legs were a little tired from the mountain climbs and I was ready for a relaxed ride. When I was back on the road I quickly realized the waitress had no idea what she was talking about. I started out of town up a steep hill and then went into a lot of windy and hilly roads for the entire rest of the ride. The curved roads turned around mountains and there was nothing flat about the ride ahead of me. From uphills to downhills, I was growing tired fairly quickly. I stopped and took a break in Arcata to catch my breath and have a snack at the local university. I was only a few miles from Eureka and the family I was going to stay with. I was back on my bike and made it the remaining 10 miles ahead of me. When I reached Eureka I turned on my phone to call the family and see where I needed to go. I had a voicemail from the family that told me they had another visitor coming over and they wouldn't be able to host me anymore. It was starting to get dark outside and I had just passed a campsite 6 miles north of me. The next campsite I was told was 17 miles south of me and I was left with quite the predicament. I didn't enjoy riding my bike on the freeway when it was dark and so I headed towards a hotel to stay at for the night. I wished I could have saved some money and camped out for the night, but there was nowhere near to make that possible. I checked into the cheapest hotel I could find and was finally able to get a few things done. My laundry hadn't been done for about a week and that was the first thing on my list of things to be done. I was also able to get a nice shower and sleep in a bed for the evening. I wasn't quite sure what to think of the bed because it was so much more comfortable than the ground I had been sleeping on. The bed sucked me in and put me to sleep in a matter of only a few minutes.
Daily mileage: 79.5 miles
Average Speed: 12.5 miles
Total mileage: 2,788.7 miles

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

Day 43, September 13th 2007 (Jessie Honeyman, OR to Humbug Mountain, OR)

The morning was just about the same as the last couple of days. Cold, foggy, and now there was a slight mist in the air. When I was waking up everyone else was starting to pack up and a few were sitting down for breakfast. I joined the few that had been eating breakfast and knew that this was the last time we would see each other. They were all headed to the next hiker/biker site which was 50 miles south. I wanted to join them, but I knew there was another site 100 miles away and that was the kind of ride I was looking for. As I started to ride the mist dissapeared and it was only cold and cloudy. The ride was perfect, but a little depressing, because it had now been a few days without seeing the sun shine. The ride started out mostly flat, but after the first 50 miles it started to get fairly intense. It went to a practically straight uphill climb and then had a lot of rolling hills at the top. I was off of highway 101 at this point for about some 30 miles and it was nice to get away from all of the traffic. I wasn't able to see much of the ocean on the path I was on, but it was a scenic ride through a lot forest areas and it was a good change of pace. At the end of the climbs came the relaxing portion of the ride. The downhill was plenty worth the battle I had gone through. It turned and took me through another beautiful forest and took me practically all the way to the next town. With only a few miles left I ran into a few cyclists from Germany. They were with an organization America by bicycle and had started in Seattle and were headed towards Los Angeles. They told me they considered themselves credit card cyclists because they would stay in hotels along their entire trip. There were about 20 riders involved in their group ride and they had a couple of support vehicles to carry all of their luggage. Once in the town they were done for the day and I still had another 30 miles ahead of me. In the town there were some great rock formations to see beside the ocean and I could see why they had decided to stay in this town. In the town there was one rock formationin particular call "Face Rock," and it was enormous. It was just at the brink of the ocean with a lot of other rocks, but with it's size it stuck out from all of the rest. I stayed for a while to enjoy the area, but was on my way again shortly after to finish the day's ride. As I went over my first big climb out of town I started to warm up a little. For the first time in a few days the sun had started to show itself again. I was able to get a couple of good looks at the ocean while the sun had shown itself, but after putting in about 15 miles the clouds quickly came back. I was thankful for the good sun that I had for only a short period of time. It was nice to finally see some blue skies. I hit the last big town on the road before the campsite and went in to grab a few things. I went to the grocery store and was able to find some good fruit and granola to make for a good breakfast in the morning. I left the store and was given a few excellent shots of the ocean before I ducked back into the trees towards my campsite. For another spectacular price of 4 measly dollars I shared a hike/bike camp with 8 other cyclists for the evening. The shower was incredibly warm and was great to hop in after the ride. I arrived at the site around 7. So after setting up camp and showering it was around 8 and I was too exhausted to spend much of the evening chatting with the other cyclists. I was able to spend a little time talking with one cyclist who was from Reno, NV. He had flown into Canada to start his ride in Vancouver and was heading down along the coast to San Diego. It sounded like he was on quite the journey. After spending the little remaining energy I had talking with him he went to join a few people next to us who had started a fire. It looked like it would have been nice to sit around and chat, but my day was done. I crept into my tent and dozed off in only a few moments.
Daily mileage: 108.6 miles
Average Speed: 12.7 mph
Total mileage: 2,623.6 miles

Day 42, September 12th 2007 (Beverly Beach, OR to Jessie Honeyman, OR)

The morning started with a nice hot shower that I had a tough time forcing myself out of. I must have been in the shower for at least a half an hour and came out to a temperature in the low 50's. I said my goodbyes to the three other bikers at the site and was off. I was in need of a new chain so I headed to the first town, it was only about 10 miles into my ride. It didn't open until 10 and it was only 9 so I had an hour to kill at a cafe down the street. As soon as 10 hit I was in front of the shop and could only hope that they carried the 10 speed chain I was looking for. They only carried a 9 speed chain just like all of the other shops I had been to, so I was still on the hunt. I was riding on 101 and continually hoping that I might see some sign of the sun. It was nice to ride in cool weather, but the view of the ocean just wasn't as it should have been. Instead of seeing the ocean I was seeing fog, just as I had yesterday. At one point I pulled over and was able to see some dolphins in the ocean. It was cool to see, since I had never seen one in the ocean before. I continued riding and was in love with the fact that so many people were riding on the highway. It seemed like everyone was on a tour of Oregon's coast, the Pacific coast, or just out riding for the activity. The weather was supposed to be overcast and rainy for the next few days so I was glad that I had spent my time on te beach in Oregon the one day that I had. I thought I was going to put in another 100 miles today, but the idea of a hot shower sounded too good and I pulled over around 4 for another hiker/biker campsite. The day today had the least amount of climbs and was fairly easy, but for some reason I had a slight headwind. I just can't seem to find the right direction to be going to have the wind at my back. I had gone through one tunnel on the road, my second so far on the coast, and I'm not sure why they do it, but they put both of the tunnels on an uphill climb. If highway 101 is much more traveled from the north to the south why do they not only have me working so hard to get through so I don't get hit and then have me climb a hill at the same time. The highway is a fairly nice road and you can tell that with it being traveled so much they put a lot of time into making it nicer for cyclists. With the hiker/biker site that I was able to stay at for 4 dollars, there were a few more people this time around. By the time I had showered and come back to my tent, there were 10 of us. Two from the last place that I had stayed at and 7 others. Two of the cyclists were on a trip I could only hope to do someday. They were on a tandem bicycle and were biking from Alaska to the southern tip of Argentina, South America. From Anchoridge, where they had started in late June, they had made it here. It seemed like quite the journey on a tandem, but they were well equipped. They had taken a year and a half off of work to do the trip, and with about 50-60 miles a day, they seemed content. They had left from Switzerland, where they were from, and traveled Europe for a little while before they flew to Anchoridge to start their trip. They spoke English very well and said that although they didn't know Spanish very well they were going to take some classes in Mexico before they went on their way to the rest of their trip. For dinner the couple had made enough spaghetti to feed the campground, and another family had started a fire to cook a huge slab of salmon. The entire campsite sat at a picnic table and enjoyed a feast. It was cool that for one night we were all one big family on the road together. After the meal we built a larger fire with some wood that a couple had picked up and we all sat around the campfire and enjoyed eachother's conversation. Everyone came from a diffferent background from Switzerland, Canada, Spain, the east coast, the midwest, and the west coast. We were all able to peacefully enjoy eachother's company and had a great evening together. I went to bed and slept great, I was warm and was sleeping on a full stomach.
Daily mileage: 61.6 miles
Average Speed: 12.9 mph
Total mileage: 2,515.0 miles

Day 41, September 11th 2007 (Arcadia Beach, OR to Beverly Beach, OR)

My night last night could have worked out a lot better. I started out last night in the prime location, on the beach. I was told that high tide would probably come around 1:30-2 am. At about 11:30 pm I woke up because I could hear the waves and they sounded as if they were coming closer. I opened my tent and my attention instantly went away from the ocean waves and straight towards the sky. I had never seen the stars and the space so clear. It was incredible that even with all of the foggy mist from the ocean that I was able to see such a clear sky. After staring into space for a few minutes I remembered why I had woken up in the first place. The waves were approaching my tent and I was fairly high up on the beach as it was. It was time to move. I grabbed my bike, gear, and my tent and I headed up the hill to find a new place to call home for the night. I looked around and I could not see a single good place to pitch the tent. There was a large sign that read "no camping" at the top of the hill, the same one I had seen last night. I knew that if I put my tent anywhere it would be as light as day for any cars going by. On top of the whole deal there wasn't a single place to put a tent besides on gravel or on the road. I had no place to sleep except for one spot. Directly in front of me were two bathrooms. It was the only place that I could see that wouldn't involve me getting run over or washed up by the ocean waves. The floor was clean, the room was warm, I had a lock, my own personal stall, and I couldn't have smelled much worse than the bathroom did. I was able to fit the bike in the little room with me and I spent the remaining six hours of the night sleeping on the bathroom floor. I had gone from the most prestine spot, the beach, to the worst spot imaginable, the bathroom floor. From the best view of the sky to the best view of a bathroom ceiling. Although it was the most comfortable sleeping on a concrete floor, it was much better than being washed up by an ocean wave. After spending an incredible evening from two completely different envirionments, I awoke to a new surrounding in the outdoors. It was 6:30 and about 45-50 degrees. The sun I had seen yesterday was gone and showed no sign of coming back. It was overcast and there was a thick fog in the air. I couldn't see further than 20 feet in front of me and I could tell that this was the beginning to a good day. For the first 30 miles I had a couple of good climbs that were supposed to have great views of the ocean. Instead when I climbed to the top of the coastal hills all that I could see was a thick fog in every direction. I pulled over to get some breakfast and figured that if I waited for an hour that maybe the fog would pass. It did but I was right back on the road with the temperature still around 50 degrees. After riding in above 90 degree heat for so long I never thought I would find myself complaining about it being too cold, but here I was. I pedalled away and as the day approache noon it had started to brighten up a little. The sun was starting to come out along with some blue skies. I was able to catch up with a few riders on the road who were headed south bound to Lincoln City. I was going to try and get myself a little further south than they were going to ride, but I figured I could ride the portion to Lincoln City with them. They were apparently part of a 38 person group ride for the American Lung Association. With three support vehicles tagging along they weren't required to carry any of there own gear. They had started in Seattle and were headed south to San Francisco. I rode a couple from the group for a good 15 miles and was amazed to find out some pretty cool things. Although one of the riders was from Texas, he had done a lot of cycling through the summer. From RAGBRAI to a bike ride across Minnesota to what he was currently doing now. He wasn't continually cycling around the country, but he was still putting in a lot of miles and was seeing the country by way of the bicycle. After cruising with the couple for a little while, I headed out to see the rest of highway 101. It was such a beautiful ride and after I had just started to really enjoy it, the clouds started to roll back overhead. I rode the rest of the day still enjoying the views but with it being so overcast I knew it could have been better. The last 15 miles it was slightly misting outside and I couldn't wait to set up camp. On the map of the Oregon coast that Terry had given me earlier I was able to see that there was a biker/hiker campsite just up ahead. The cool part about this type of campsite was that I only had to pay 4 dollars and was able to use a nice hot showeer and had restrooms at my access. I showed up and it was starting to get dark, but there were still a few people that were up. Three other bikers had cycled about 60 miles to get to the point we were at and had decided to call it a day. They were all headed towards San Francisco and although separate from eachother they had started at different spots in Washington. I chatted with the cyclists for a little while before I started to call it a night. It was nice to be able to share the journey with other people on the same route. I was looking forward to seeing what else might lay ahead on this route of 101.
Daily mileage: 105.9 miles
Average Speed: 13.3 mph
Total mileage: 2,453.4 miles