Tag: surlybikes

Days 24, 25, 26; June 2-4; San Francisco > Campbell > Santa Cruz, CA; basically 0 miles riding

When we say we need some time off, apparently we mean it. After taking 3 days off in a row, we are both very anxious to get back on the bikes and get in some miles. I think we both feel a little guilty by taking some time off when there are miles to get in, but let me tell you – it was worth it. It truly feels like weeks since we rode the bikes.

On Saturday we indulged in a wine tasting in Sonoma and Napa Valley. With some of the best wine in the world coming from this area, we figured we may as well get a little dressed up, feel some semblance of being ladies, and learn why this wine is so sought after. Not knowing much about wine myself, I just enjoyed taking a bus and seeing the changing scenery during the drive. The beautiful day tasting wine (they all taste the same to me) was all an added bonus!

After the tour we got dropped off at Fisherman’s Wharf – a central gathering location for all the tourists who flock to San Francisco. So basically it was my worst nightmare. But we made our way through and had a good seafood dinner. Plus I got to reminisce about the last time I was in San Francisco- a mere 20 years ago when I insisted that we just HAD to visit Alcatraz despite all the tickets being sold out. In my bratty youth, I had a temper tantrum until my mother bargained with a shady scalper and got us tickets. Worth all the drama! Still one of my strongest memories – “if you’re not happy, I’m not happy! So be happy!!”

We made our way back to Mindy’s and decided to call it a night. All of the wine made us sleepy. But we did get a ride with Mindy’s daughter Alexis up to the tallest point in San Francisco- Twin Peaks. We were lucky enough to have a clear night and could see the entire city. Being dark, we weren’t able to get a good picture, but believe it when I tell you it was quite breathtaking. We were pretty lucky in San Fran – a city known to be shrouded in fog. We had clear warm days the entire time we were there, much different than my memory as an 8 year old.

On Sunday we departed Mindy’s after breakfast. We really and truly cannot put into works how grateful we are to be blessed with her generosity. She gave us anything we needed and asked for nothing in return. I don’t know what we did to be given an opportunity to meet her, but I’m pretty darn thankful! My cousin Megan picked us up, again our skills in Tetris and shoving our bikes and bags in cars came in handy. We spent the day and night at her and her husband Michael’s apartment in Campbell just relaxing. I’m sure the town of Campbell is great and has a lot of fun spots to check out, but we were perfectly content just hanging out with them and plain relaxing. Pretty sure we ate just about everything put in front of us, but Meg and Mike are such great hosts they kept the food coming! It was absolutely fantastic catching up with them and seeing their adorable little puppy Kona. We could not ask for a better way to spend our Sunday.

In the morning, Megan dropped us off in Santa Cruz. We made our way to Whitney’s house to unload the bikes. Whitney was one of our leaders on the trans am. Unfortunately she had to leave us after 2 weeks and she has been missed ever since. We met some of her awesome housemates before going out to do some surfing! Another one of Sheena’s bucket list items, we had an awesome time catching some rad waves and hanging ten in typical California fashion. Being pretty much our first time, we did kinda okay with it! Though we caught more laughs than waves, I think.

We have decided that since we only have about a week left to finish this journey before Sheena has to return to work and I have to really get my butt in gear for the JMT, there is no possible way for us to get all the way to San Diego without killing ourselves. Everyone told us that Big Sur is a must do and anything south of there is t worth checking out. We’re hoping they’re right because we are going to ride through Big Sur, then hop on a train in San Luis Obispo to head down to San Diego to spend a little time and eventually fly out of. It’s a little disappointing we’re not finishing the entire ride, but honestly this trip has been so vastly different from the Transam in such a positive way – being free from a group has opened us up to so many different possibilities and experiences we could’ve never had otherwise. Being more lenient with time and scheduling has made this trip feel less like a chore and more like a vacation. But with that being said, we have to go to bed in preparation for getting back on the bikes!!

Day 24: June 1st; Bodega Bay – San Francisco; 75 miles

Another totally unexpected, random, but truly spectacular day today! We made it to San Francisco, although not all by pedaling. Having gone since Astoria without a rest break (that’s over 2 weeks), we are truly burnt out. With the miles, hills, traffic, wind, and just general mental fatigue from being on the bike, we needed an off day more than anything in the world. Resorting to hitch hiking yesterday only solidified that which we already knew. We wanted to take a few days off in San Francisco but than meant not getting there until Saturday afternoon. We were not in any sort of shape to pedal those miles, so Sheena put out a craigslist ad for a ride to just before San Francisco. Now yes, we know all about craigslist and how there is questionable safety using that site (especially for rides to unfamiliar places. Craigslist killer, anyone?) but Sheena has used it before and never got murdered. Desperate times calls for desperate measures!

And we got a response! After talking on the phone for a while and passing our preliminary vetting process, we agreed on a price and time for Nick to pick us up this morning. Problem solved!

Because the pick up time wasn’t until 10:30am and the rendezvous destination was only a mile and a half a way, we took our time waking up and breaking down camp this morning. At the campground we stayed at, there were 7 other cyclists. Us taking our time, we left before all of them. I don’t know how they get out so late, we’re normally riding by 6:45 am! We had a big breakfast and too much coffee at the meeting place and waited for Nick.

He arrived right on time and we once again shoved all of our stuff into his truck. At this point in the game, we’re pretty much pros at getting our bikes and bags in/out of trucks. We enjoyed an hour long ride into Corte Madera talking with Nick. He had some interesting thoughts on life and some even more interesting stories. In his youth he hitchhiked all around the country and even spent a year living alone in a cabin in Alaska. Now he works with homeless trying to give back to the world in any way he can. When he dropped us off, he said that he didn’t want the agreed upon price but only gas money – he was inspired by our ride and wanted to make it as easy for us as possible. We were thrilled by his generous offer, but still paid the majority of the original price. And then we were off!

It was a hot day today with lots of bright sun. We only had 10 miles to ride to the Golden Gate Bridge – a major goal for us to ride our bikes over, which is why we got dropped off there. We rode the majority of the ride on a beautifully paved and scenic bike path. Soon we found ourselves in Sausalito where out from the buildings of the small town the San Francisco Bay opened up to us. It was completely beautiful and unexpected. It really was inspiring to see and honestly gave me chills.

After a short ride over some hills, we arrived at the Golden Gate Bridge amongst a sea of tourists taking pictures. So we followed suit! With our bikes in tow. We have to commemorate our achievement (with the exception of a few rides).

Then the real adventure started. We had to part the sea of selfie sticks and oblivious tourists to get ourselves across the bridge. There was plenty of dodging and yelling so as to not get into an accident and we eventually made it across without any issues besides an elevated heart rate and blood pressure.

We got our bearings straight after the bridge to let things settle. We still weren’t sure where we were going to stay (warm shower requests went unanswered) so we decided to find a taco place to sit and figure things out. Upon trying to get to the taco shop, we found ourselves lost. Apparently it was obvious we were lost because another cyclist provided us with directions. After hearing about our journey, he asked where we were staying. We responded honestly – we had no idea! “Here, let me give someone a call. I’ll find you somewhere”. In an instant he was on the phone with his mom Mindy and without a second thought, she said we could stay with her the whole weekend! Jesse then was on his way to cross the bridge on his bike. Such a random encounter, but at least we had a place to stay!

We still went to the taco shop to plan our time here in San Fran – particularly figure out a wine tour for tomorrow. After calling around we found ourselves a good deal, booked it, and was on our way to Mindy’s.

What a trek to her house. San Francisco is an incredibly beautiful city, but with beauty comes pain. And that pain comes in the form of hills of mind boggling grade nearly impossible to climb on bikes. Needless to say, we arrived later than we thought to Mindy’s, but she didn’t mind at all! She welcomed us with open arms with a place to store our bikes, shower, bed, and appetizers. She offered to make us dinner, which we declined because we were full from Mexican food and appetizers she presented. I am still in disbelief that we somehow were fortunate enough to stumble upon Jesse and by default landed in his mother’s house. We have no words to describe how grateful we are to have met such giving and selfless people on this journey. I don’t know why people had warned us about California, it’s been nothing but an absolute pleasure!!

We are off to bed, we have an early bus to catch tomorrow to explore wine country!

Day 23: May 31st; Gualala – Bodega Bay CA; 50 days

Today was such a whirlwind – in more ways than one! We both stayed in our tents a little longer than usual. We’re both pretty road weary and ready for a day off. We rode the 11 miles into Stewart’s Point pretty quickly with a gentle (emphasis on gentle) tailwind that we both thoroughly enjoyed. Since we finally had cell service, we spent a good deal of time in a coffee shop planning out our time in San Francisco since we’ll be there before we know it!

After we left the coffee shop, the winds with deathly intentions started again… so much for yesterday being the last day of gale force winds! While they mostly were tailwinds, they were still forceful and violent. As we made our way into Fort Ross, we decided to stop for a break from the winds at a convenience store that was marked on the map. We went through the town with no sign of the store, so we decided to keep going a little further to see if it was up the road a bit more. The only thing we found was more road construction with flaggers holding up traffic. We walked our bikes up to the beginning of the line and debated what our next move was. Not sure if it was the sun or the wind getting to me, but something moved me to stick my thumb out in search for a ride. Sure enough, after 10 seconds, a pickup truck stopped. “I’ll drop you off at Jenner if you’re sure you want to go” was all we needed to hear.

Within 10 seconds all of our panniers were off our bikes and loaded into the bed of the truck with the bikes following suit. Now this is our second time hitching a ride, not something I’ve ever really considered doing mainly because of the questionable safety of hopping into the car of a complete stranger. But both times we’ve done it I’m convinced it was some sort of divine intervention. Nothing could’ve prepared us for the hill we would’ve had to have climbed otherwise. It was well trafficked, steep, windy, no shoulder, and steep drop offs with most sections having no guardrail. With the wind as violent as it was today (30 mph gusts) I would’ve had a full blown panic attack and would have not made it down the hill. One unfortunate gust of wind, one mistimed squeeze of the brake, or one car coming a little too close could’ve resulted in a fall down hundreds of feet into the Pacific. I was terrified just riding in the car I could not imagine navigating that road on bicycle.

The man who took us, Scott, works for (or owns) a lumbar business and rides from Santa Rosa to Mendocino quite frequently. He said that he sees hitchhiking cyclists along that stretch all the time, but we were the first he picked up because we “looked like nice people”. I think that’s code for we looked ravaged by wind, sun, and fatigue. He has 3 grandkids he dotes upon and is in the process of buying real estate in Thailand to retire on. Considering he saved us from a harrowing journey, he’s a super awesome guy!

Although terrifying, the hill we got a ride over was breathtaking. Sheena and I were both disappointed we didn’t get to experience it from behind handlebars, but we both believe we made the right call.

After a brief stop in Jenner, we rode on. The wind again whipped us all over the road, including into oncoming traffic. It was complete ridiculousness. We met a gentleman from France coming from Mexico going north to Vancouver. Quite the hardened old man, he didn’t look a bit phased by the enormous headwinds he was facing. Bet he doesn’t hitch any rides!

After snapping a few scenic pictures, we made it to camp in Bodega Dunes Campground relatively early and just relaxed and ate. We are looking so forward to spending some time off the bikes and out of the wind in San Francisco soon!

Day 22: May 30th; Mendocino- Gualala; 53 miles

Today we slept in a little after being assaulted by wind and raccoons all night. We shared coffee and conversation with Jesse for a decent while, he has some pretty interesting stories. We departed Mendocino, but not before stopping by the most expensive gas station in America! Jesse says he’s witnessed a lot of people fill up, not realizing the absurd cost until paying – there’s no refunding or returning gasoline!

We stopped for coffee number two (I seriously have some work ahead of me if I want to ween myself off of it before John Muir!) in Elk. We had a few conversations with some locals all of whom said we had an extremely steep but short hill coming our way. They were not exaggerating… it’s the first time I had to use the granniest gear the entire ride. What a great leg workout! When we made it to the top, a man offered to take a picture of us to mark our accomplishment!

The entire ride was mostly along the coast, with gorgeous views of the ocean displaying the entire spectrum of blues. Together with a cloudless sky, it was hard to tell when the ocean ended and the sky began! It was a lovely distraction from the rolling hills. We even passed a ton of farms full of cows. I wonder if those cows realize they have one of the most beautiful views in the world?

Despite having rolling hills all day, it wasn’t too bad. We had a very decent tail wind (22 MPH!!) that pushed us along the entire ride. In fact, at some points it was just downright violent. After having an extended lunch in Point Arena, we set off to Gualala (pronounced much like “Ooh-la-la) and got blown quite a few times into the opposite lane of traffic. No matter how hard we tried to combat it, the crosswinds coming from the west were too aggressive. Luckily there wasn’t any traffic coming our way. But let me tell you, when you’re going 40 mph down a hill and a crosswind tries to take you out, you see your life flash right before your eyes. We saw a few unfortunate souls going northbound combatting the fierce winds. I could not feel more sorry for them. Apparently the magnitude of this wind is out of the ordinary according to the locals and is likely to subdue tomorrow. Although it pushed us today, it did a great amount of tiring us out as well, so I am definitely looking forward to being whipped around the road a little less in the upcoming days.

With the wind’s help, we made it the 16 miles to Gualala pretty quickly. We are once again back in the redwoods in Gualala River Redwood Park. It’s a gorgeous campground tucked away in the woods, but the trip to the bathroom is a hike. I got lost for a good 20 minutes coming back from it, but along the way discovered a cute little swimming hole. Luckily it’s super quiet here and the wind is nonexistent, so just as long as the raccoons stay at bay, we should be in good shape for a good night’s sleep!

Day 21: May 29th; Leggett – Mendocino CA; 56 miles

We’re back on the coast! But not before traveling miles through the forest. We also conquered the tallest climb of the ride and we didn’t even require a Sherpa to summit! After getting coffee first thing in the morning, we hot tailed it up the climb with relative ease – it really and truly wasn’t that bad. The second (much shorter) climb proved to be a bear. It was steeper than the first and felt excessively longer. But we pushed through and the descent was worth it.

Ever since having an unfortunate run in with gravel in Kentucky on the Transam and wiping out twice in one descent, I have not had a very good relationship with downhills. Particularly steep ones with hair pin turns with RVs likely to be waiting around the corner. I take them even slower now that I’ve had LASIK performed. Ever since the operation, seeing in shadows is near impossible. I cannot tell the road surface in shadows, so I either have to slow down excessively or risk going over a huge pothole or gravel. So needless to say, I got very well acquainted with my brakes and my hands and forearms got a great workout.

The last hill dropped us off into the sparkling blue waters of the Pacific Ocean. We were welcomed back to it with all five senses fully engrossed. It was breathtaking and such a stark contrast from the lush greenery we’ve been accustomed to the last few days.

We hit a bunch of rollers before taking an extended break in Westport at 11:30am. We originally thought we’d be pooped by this point based on the elevation maps, but we both felt great! We decided to trudge on and looked at warm showers hosts in the area. We found one 26 miles away in Mendocino and he responded promptly with a yes! So we were on our way.

We had a beautiful ride into Fort Bragg and the wind was to our backs. With the exception of a few honks, impatient drivers, and some single fighter salutes, traffic was very courteous and gave us plenty of room on the no shoulder roads. To get away from traffic, we rode on a rather rocky bike trail that could’ve used a little love, but we liked it anyway.

We arrived in Mendocino around 4:30pm to our host Jesse’s house. This town is tiny but really stinking cute with gorgeous views. He lives in a rehabbed water tower built in 1850 and has been on a few tours – the latest was the Baja Divide in January. We talked with him a bit and showered/ate dinner. We promptly had second dinner after grocery shopping. Our appetites are increasing exponentially.

Not really sure of our plans for tomorrow, but we’ll be one day closer to San Francisco!

Day 20: May 28th; Redcrest- Leggett CA; 53 miles

We started the day just as we ended yesterday – riding amongst the redwoods. And we had a pretty early wake up call… between the someone doing home repairs until 12am, roosters cock-a-doodle-dooing at 3am and dogs barking all throughout the night, we did not get a very good night’s sleep.

But the first 25 miles made up for that, because we got to ride the rest of the length of The Avenue of Giants. We basically had the entire road to ourselves, which was perfect because the trees really do command respect and silent reverence. We stopped for coffee in Weott and left right as the sun began to shine and the heat started to encroach.

We got in a few good miles before stopping at a roadside tourist trap, something having to do with Bigfoot. We were just about to get off our bikes when the owner started to yell at us to move and get out of the way. He clearly didn’t give us any time to walk our bikes off the parking area, so we didn’t give him any of our business, hmph! Sheena affectionately nicknamed him Hillbilly Joe, mainly because she was not thrilled with his customer service skills and, well, the nickname speaks for itself.

We parked ourselves out of the way in the shade and were thoroughly entertained by the chaos that ensued by tourists stopping trying to park right off the busy freeway. While watching the spectacular show (we could’ve used some popcorn), a man in a hummer asked us a few questions about our trip. He offered us water, banana bread (yum!), and a great joke:

Why can’t a bike stand without training wheels? Because it is “too tired” – HA!

We trudged on in the heat, and boy was it hot. Because we’re pretty far East of the coast, the temperature is a lot hotter than it would be further west. The sun was relentless but we took it in stride. We found the ever rare shadey spots and sought refuge under them for short rests. Much like how we crossed the Snake River endlessly in Idaho, We also crossed the South Eel River about a thousand times, each bridge bearing a “So and So Memorial Bridge”. Unsure if the person the bridge was Memorializing was killed on the highway (there was one bicyclist memorial bridge) or what, but to quote Sheena, “well that’s reassuring”.

We shockingly made it to Leggett (well, 2 miles north of Leggett) in pretty record time. We were not expecting to get in until 5pm or so with the heat, hills, and breaks. But lo and behold we rolled into Standish-Hickey State Park at 2:30pm! The winds really did help. Across the street from the park is a restaurant with outdoor seating and live music. We sat ourselves down and enjoyed some beer, burgers, and ice cream. We met a new cyclist couple as well! He is from Norway and she is from Spain. We talked with them until around 5 when we decided it was time to check into the campground. We met back up with the Canadian we met in Patrick’s Point and talked with him until well past our bedtime.

In preparation for a lengthy hill tomorrow, Sheena is finally getting rid of a fuel can she’s been carrying this entire trip. In Vancouver, the only fuel we could find was a 2 gallon can. We only used about 1/2 of it so, not wanting to waste it, she’s been carrying it. Not anymore! She’s keeping it at the hiker/biker site here so others can refill their fuel containers. I’m going to miss her carrying it – I always know when she’s near because the fuel can makes so much noise whenever she rides over even the smallest of bumps. If she were to have a trail name, it would definitely be the Tin Man for obvious reasons, as well as she doesn’t have a heart — kidding!

All in all, it was a much easier ride than we were anticipating and it was beyond pleasant to enjoy a relaxing holiday afternoon.

Oh! And 2 years ago exactly we started the TransAm! Oh how time flies.

Day 19: May 27th; Patrick’s Point State Park – Redcrest CA; 70 miles

I honestly can’t remember anything from this morning until we arrived in Arcata at about 9am this morning. The 22 miles before that are completely lost. But Sheena and I both slept extremely well, so we just needed those miles to shake off the tiredness!

We made a pit stop in Arcata, a super cute little town. We ran into Jon again, an older gentleman who owns a touring business we met yesterday in the state park. He saw us riding and stopped by to say hello again and to offer us free tours when we get into San Francisco. Really nice guy!

After Arcata, the tail winds picked up and we basically flew through a whopping 38 miles. We were advised by everyone we encountered to go through the town of Eureka as quickly as possible. We did (well, we did stop to get some donuts. I mean, when it comes to life or death situations, you need a belly full of donuts, right?!) and understood why. The word of the trip is “transients” – that’s how locals refer to homeless. It’s no secret that this area of the country has a widespread meth issue, and we have encountered a lot of towns suffering from the aftermath, including unpredictable individuals roaming around (i.e. the knife wielding man in Orick). We just keep our heads down and keep pedaling so as to not draw too much attention to ourselves – a difficult task considering how massive our panniers are.

We did some shopping and ate lunch in Rio Dell. We only had 5 more miles left to our original destination, but because we were feeling good, we decided to push on to take advantage of the gorgeous day and tailwinds. But not without detours! We encountered a bridge under construction. In order to not backtrack and pass a group of people who had previously been yelling obscenities at us just before the bridge, we decided to push our bikes across and see what happens. Success!

We soon found ourselves back in the redwoods – the Avenue of Giants in fact! I finally can check off riding through the redwoods from my list. Riding along them really captures the unspoken beauty of the trees and captures the magnitude of how incredibly large they are. You can’t get that experience through a car ride! Although those Winnebago RVs are trying really hard to rival the tree’s powerful stature. Hopefully there are less of them tomorrow… seeing them careening down such a narrow road is kinda harrowing.

We’re staying in an RV park tonight, Redcrest Resort. It’s a nice enough place and I got my first shower in a while (gotta practice for the JMT!) so it’s okay in my book! Tomorrow we’re tackling the first part of the highest climb of the trip (we’re splitting it up between two days) so we gotta get some good sleep tonight!

Day 18: Elk Prairie State Park – Patrick’s Point State Park, CA; 22 miles

We slept in today! If you call waking up at 6:15 am sleeping in, then technically we did. I mean compared to our normal wake up time, it was late. The rain let up around 11pm and we woke up to glorious sunshine. We took advantage of being in the redwoods by going for a short hike amongst the giants. They really are magical and larger than life. Words can’t really put into words the magnitude of these behemoth trees.

We soon broke down camp and were on our way. Our original plan was to just bike it to Orik. However, after talking with the ranger yesterday, we realized that it was way too short of a ride. She also told us that there was a man wielding around a knife running around the neighborhood earlier that day. So needless to say, we only stopped there for some coffee and breakfast. And thank goodness we did. We checked out the places we would’ve stayed, and let’s just say that a man running around with a knife would’ve been the least of our worries.

The remaining 15 miles of the ride were up and down with minor headwinds. We made it to Patrick’s Point State Park early and got to hike to Wedding Rock. We really enjoyed climbing the rock and getting a great view of the Pacific Ocean. We are camping right next to a huge group of young Boy Scouts. None of the bathroom doors lock and they seem to not have gotten their “knocking” badge just yet. We stuck around wedding rock for a great sunset and met another cyclist. We never got his name, but this is his 20th time riding the coast. He gave us some pointers and told us not to worry about an upcoming hill that looks pretty intimidating. So that was reassuring. We’re heading to bed early to get some good sleep (questionable because of the volume of noise coming from the scouts) before getting back into higher mileage days.

Day 16: May 25th; Brookings OR – Redwoods National Park CA; 66 miles*

Today was the kind of day where I wish I could’ve curled up on the couch, snuggled with Addie, and binge watch Netflix. Unfortunately, Addie is thousands of miles away, my couch even further, and Netflix doesn’t exist in the wilderness.

But we made it to California! And what a cold and wet reception we received. The ride in was relatively flat with rolling hills. We hit the Welcome to California sign super quickly… it snuck up on us! We snapped a few pictures and ran into some more German riders going south. We’ll likely run into them again soon. Since we missed the “Welcome to Oregon” sign last week, we quickly got a few photo ops with the sign today. Oregon is the first state we rode through both vertically and horizontally!

After a short stop at the mildly disappointing Pebble Beach, we stopped in Crescent City for some food and to mentally prepare ourselves for the hill we have been warned about for a few days now. When we were right about to leave the cafe, the heavens opened and it started to pour. Thinking it was just a quick shower, we did some grocery shopping. That’s where the locals told me that it’s going to rain all day and going south on the hill would be pretty dangerous. Sheena was warned in the store that going down the hill would be treacherous and a guaranteed way to wreck. Great!

We decided to set up camp in a McDonalds and wait a few hours for a bus to take us to over the hill. The rain was forecasted to continue until 2pm, at which point it would be too late to start our 36 mile journey to our destination. Riding up the 5 mile hill in pouring rain after being warned so many times didn’t sound like a safe idea. While I was ordering, sheena was talking with a local. When I walked over I overheard he had a truck. A shot in the dark and basically joking, I asked if he wanted to give two cyclists a ride. He said yes without skipping a beat. *We stuffed all our junk in his truck and he drove us all the way to Elk Prairie! Jeff is retired from the Peace Corps and worked for a while with the UN. Now he just drives his truck up and down the coast fishing. He drove us the 30 plus miles to the campground and saved our day.

Riding in the redwoods was one of my most anticipated parts of the trip. A part of me is really disappointed we got a ride, but we also have a pretty solid few miles still in the redwoods. Plus, as Jeff was driving, we saw why we were warned. A good bit of the road had absolutely no shoulder with blind turns. Parts were under construction and had steep drop offs. Visibility was extremely limited and I realized that we really did make the right decision. My pride will just have to take a hit.

But despite the danger, the ride was absolutely stunning. We got our first glimpses of the magnificent redwoods and I was in awe. We’re staying in Redwoods National Park in Elk Prairie campground. Because it was still pouring when we got there, we stayed in the visitor center for warmth and to stay dry. We met a young cyclist who started his trip from Bandon, OR to LA two days ago. He and his brother rode in the rain without any gear and they lived to tell the tale. His parents are sagging for the next few days, then he’s on his own. We’ll probably run into him a few more times this trip. The visitor center closed at 5, and it was still raining. We decided to buy ponchos and bite the bullet. We set up camp and later rode back to the visitor center to eat dinner under a porch roof. And thank god we got the ponchos. They kept us warm and dry and provided hours of entertainment. And even as I write this at 8:30pm, it’s still raining. So much for sunny California!

Tomorrow we plan on hiking in the morning here in Elk Prairie (praying the rain stops), then riding 20 miles south to a state park that a ranger highly recommended, where we’ll do some more sight seeing. Between the short day today and tomorrow, we’re considering it an “off day”. I’m super excited to ride amongst the giants of the redwoods!

Ps… to all those who said California would be horrible, you were wrong! Everyone we have encountered in here have been nothing short of awesome, kind, and generous!

Day 15: May 24th; Port Orford – Brookings OR; 50 miles

We didn’t make it to California today… and that’s okay! We’re only a few miles from the border so we’ll get there super early in the morning! Plus with everyone we run into saying to get through California as quickly as possible because traffic is horrible, there aren’t any shoulders, you’ll get everything stolen, and you’ll end up murdered (seriously… we need to stop talking to people) we are in no rush.

Today started with a very misty morning along the coast. Got to see more of the coastal beauty, but with all the rocks shrouded in fog, it added an eerie mystical vibe to the atmosphere… I loved it! Out of the mist, however, we ran into a garden of dinosaurs… the T Rex was not happy to have us there!

We rode another unscenic few miles where I don’t remember anything to Gold Beach. We had coffee and muffins and mentally prepared ourselves for a monster of a hill we knew was waiting for us.

And so we climbed it. Both of us agreed it wasn’t nearly as bad as we anticipated. Plus we were rewarded with an amazing downhill… which at the very last turn dumped us out into sparkling blue water with gorgeous rocks which we just had to stop at to snap some pictures.

We had some more considerable climbs in Samual H Boardman State Scenic Corridor where we didn’t stop for anything scenic. Except at lunch we got stuck talking to an ex-Californian for entirely too long… Sheena got to hear all about my frustrations of the situation for the rest of the ride.

But alas we got out of the conversation and faced some headwinds heading into Brookings. We decided to get some Subway (courtesy of Matt, an old co-worker… thanks Matt you rock!) to do some planning. We figured with headwinds, hills, and it already being pretty late we were going to stay in a hotel and do some planning for the next few days over some Mexican food. So California, you’re just gonna have to wait till the morning for our joyous arrival!