Back on the road after 3 days off!

Today was so short! Hank was ready to ride 100 miles after being cooped up for three days in a motel. I was too! It was only 31 miles to camp. If we would have gotten an earlier start I think we would have gone all the way to Santa Cruz today. Oh well. After taking days off I get this sense of urgency like I need to make up for lost time. I'm still working on chilling out and slowing down. Below are some pictures of this camp. I like the tree that's giving me shelter. I don't think Hank likes being used as a clothes drying rack. Haha! I'm going to start sharing my route map the day after each ride from now on. Posting exactly where I am on a public FB page isn't a good idea. I did want to share my maps of the three days in San Francisco. As you can see I probably didn't rest as much as I was planning. I was all over that city! So fun! 

This one that says today was actually yesterday. 

Poor Hank the clothes drying rack! LoL

Canada to Mexico ride day 23 overall day 29

I made it to San Francisco! I'm ready for a few rest days. The Golden Gate Bridge was fogged in, but still amazing. It's just so unreal every time I see it in real life. Hopefully there's a day with no fog while I'm here so I can see the whole thing. If so, I will share pictures. Going to rest tonight. Tomorrow I'll be out and about in the city, so I will share some of my favorite things about the city. Take care!

Canada to Mexico ride day 20 overall day 26

Slow start this morning, but excellent afternoon! Hank and I didn't leave the motel until 9. We stopped and had breakfast and finally got rolling around 10. But then 9 miles down the road was Mendocino, which is one of my favorite little towns on this ride. So we spent almost two hours there drinking coffee, eating carbs in all shapes and sizes, and talking to locals and tourists. It was really cool. One of the guys I talked to showed me his Sprinter van that he and his wife travel in. It was awesome. Everything in there anyone would need. I'd love to have something like that. After Mendocino we rolled down the road for a few hours with a really great tailwind. Whenever we get conditions like that we like to take advantage of it, so after 38 miles we got to what was supposed to be camp for the night. Hank wouldn't let me stop for the day! That's what I get for keeping him cooped up in a motel room for a day. He's like a wild stallion just waiting to unleash his energy in the only way he can! So we decided, actually he decided for us, that we would go another 30 miles to another campground. It would have been close to 70 miles, but we stopped short in a tiny town called Gualala. So we did 61miles. Here's where things get interesting. I pulled into town and though "I really don't feel like setting up camp and cooking. I wonder if I can find a room for the night." So I pulled into the parking lot of this really cool little motel and got on my phone to see what the options were in town. All of a sudden i hear a woman's voice say "are you Jeremy?"  I replied with "Uh yeah, but how could you possibly know that?" She said "I'm waiting for you to check in." In my head I was thinking "how is this possible? Nobody even knows I'm here. I wasn't even supposed to stop here." Then she said "you are Jeremy (some other last name)" Then we realized there was another Jeremy with reservations which she was waiting for. What are the odds? So strange! We had a laugh and then she gave me a really good deal on a really great room. So here I am in a cute little coastal town for the night and I get a comfy bed! Oh and guess what I'm about to do...EAT! That's right! Eat, sleep, ride, repeat. I hope you all had a great day!

Canada to Mexico day off!

Well I found them! The best Mexican restaurant, the best Deli, and the best cookie all in one town! Seriously if you are ever in #fortbragg #california check out La Palapa for Mexican food and right next door Colombi Market and Deli. So good! Ths best cookie can be found at the Mendocino Cookie Company. I suggest the Backpackers Cookie. Yes folks I'm eating all day! Hahaha!

Canada to Mexico July 13

Today was a great ride, and super fast! If you didn't see my live check-in I climbed the highest point of the trip in only 53 minutes. Five years ago it took over two hours. Training has paid off for sure. The downhill side of that climb was 14 miles of letting gravity take me from 2,000 feet back to nearly sea level. It was awesome! I got to Fort Bragg way earlier than I expected. My motel room wasn't ready, so I went and had lunch and looked around town. Now in my room I get to relax. I am taking tomorrow off from riding. The first thing I do when I get to a motel is start charging my battery packs. I have two of them and it takes both of them to keep my phone charged and my headlight and tail light for Hank for the times that I'm camping. Well tonight my largest of the two batteries stopped charging. I've had it for 5 years so I guess I got my money's worth. The problem now is that I'm in tiny little coastal towns that don't sell anything like this. I would have to order a new one. That's no problem but I will only be here for a day and there's no time to deliver it before I leave. I'll have to figure out how to keep things charged until I get to San Francisco in a week. It'll all work out. This is part of the adventure. Time for some rest.

Update! I have since figured out the battery situation. it was a cable, not the battery. All is good now!

My first look at the ocean in three days! So nice to be back on the beach. 

Taco Tuesday!

I haven't been very good at posting on here!

Not to be Debbie Downer, but I told myself I would always be honest when sharing about this journey. Today was my least favorite day so far. The main reason was the heat. I knew it was going to be really hot here today, so I got up at 6 and was on the road by 7. It was chilly for the first couple hours and felt really great. Once I got out of the Redwoods and the sun came out it got hot quick. My last 15 miles it was 95 degrees. That might not sound too bad until you consider what I'm doing, and look at my elevation map for the day. I was pretty much going up hill all day. I love hills but not when it's that hot. Since I left camp so early I got to my next camp really early too. When I arrived it was 95, I set up camp, and took a cold shower. It really helped to cool me down, but only a few minutes later I was sweating again. Just sitting there sweating. It was no fun at all. Now that the sun is going down its cooling off a little. I really look forward to getting back to the beach tomorrow where it is generally cooler. Tomorrow will be much better, after climbing the highest point on the entire route at 2,000 feet. I look forward to that actually because after the peak I get 14 miles of gradual downhill to the ocean! Awesome!

July 12

Hank looks so tiny next to this redwood stump!

Under 200 miles to San Francisco! I'm taking a couple days off there. 

Hiker biker site in the Redwoods 

Canada to Mexico Day off!

On a much needed day off I crunched some numbers. It is really relaxing and motivating to me actually. It gives me a sense of accomplishment to see what I have done so far. I'm old school and did it all on paper first, but then I plugged it into a Google spreadsheet. Geek alert! Here it is:

Washington: 7 days of riding

Days off: 4 due to heat wave

Total miles: 309

Total elevation gain: 13,104 feet

Total riding time: 23 hours 50 minutes 

Total time from point A to Point B: 40 hours 56 minutes 

Average miles per day: 44.14

Oregon: 7 days of riding

Days off: 0

Total miles: 375.1

Total elevation gain: 17,796 feet 

Total riding time: 27 hours 25 minutes 

Total time from point A to point B: 47 hours 3 minutes 

Average miles per day: 53.59

Totals overall so far, whole trip:

Miles: 684.1

Elevation gain: 30,900 feet

Riding time: 51 hours 15 minutes 

Time from point A to point B: 87 hours 59 minutes

Average miles per day: 49.37

On my days off I get groceries, do laundry, rest, eat way too much, look at ride date, plan hotels for the upcoming days off, and go over my calendar and my mapping app that I use to plan my days. Today I spent a couple hours fixing my calendar and route maps since doubling up a two day ride into one and skipping a day off in Oregon. I found that doing those two things fixed the three extra days I wasn't expecting to take off due to the heat wave. I had only planned to take one day off in Montesano, but it turned into four due to the heat. Well, now my expected arrival at the Mexican Border is back to August 7th. Only a month more to go! Haha! Almost there! I also figured out today where the halfway point will be. I may have spent too much time on this, but at exit 645 on highway 101 I will be halfway! That will be this Monday in the Redwoods. That reminds me...going through the redwoods I probably won't have much of a cell signal at all. So if I don't post it's not because Sasquatch got me...or maybe it is. LOL. 

The Oregon California border!

Yesterday's ride

The beach near my hotel

Hank the Tank hanging out in the room. 

Over the next few days after today I will be in the first part of the Redwood National Forest,  so I might not have a good enough signal to post. I will try though. 

Take care!

Canada to Mexico ride day 12 overall day 16

Another great day! Tonight I am staying at a hotel. Last night I realized I am out of food, out of power in my devices and batteries, and out of fuel for my stove to cook the food I don't have. Haha! I also need a few other things and I don't like to leave Hank outside alone where someone can mess with him or steal him, so I lock him up in a hotel and go get what I need. He usually doesn't mind. Anyway, I have chores to do! Take care friends!

Canada to Mexico ride day 11 overall day 15

Last night I didn't have an cell service or wifi so I couldn't post anything. Tonight I have some cell service, but not much. I wrote a really long post summarizing my day and in the upload process from my tent it canceled and got deleted. So rather than try that whole thing again I am just going to say that today was a very good ride of almost 60 miles and I am looking forward to getting some rest tonight. I will share more when I have better cell signal or better Wi-Fi from a hotel on a much-needed day off. I hope you are all enjoying your fourth of July and staying safe.

Take care.

Oops! Yesterday was day 13 overall and day 9 riding.

Holy cow what a day! I had an interview with KOIN6 news! How does an introvert like me end up on the news?!?! Well actually it's because I have Mazey Copeland as my most valuable volunteer! She is so amazing. Not only is she shooting and editing the trailers and the documentary,  but she is also organizing things like news interviews to help me promote my charity. I couldn't do this without her. I had a great ride today. It was much shorter than yesterday but it had the second highest hill of the whole trip. Hank and I crushed it of course! I didn't get any pictures today because I was riding as fast as I could to get to where my cell signal would be strongest enough for a Zoom interview. I do have a picture of the kind of weird stuff people eat on a long distance bike tour. It's almost embarrassing, but I used a turkey pepperoni stick to spread almond butter on a tortilla! That's right folks! Sodium and calories are a must when cycling all day.

Canada to Mexico days 12 and 13

Well that was a productive day! Fun too! Two nights ago the campground had awful cell signal, so I couldn't post much. Last night I was just too tired. It rained all night in camp two nights ago. I stayed nice and dry and cozy in my tent. When I woke up yesterday morning I really didn't want to get out of bed. It stopped raining for a few minutes and I thought that might be my chance to have breakfast and pack up camp without getting soaked. As soon as I stepped out of my tent I was swarmed by mosquitoes. They were relentless! I didn't even want to cook breakfast and make coffee, so I packed up camp in record time and hit the road. It rained for the first two hours. I stopped at a little cafe and had an incredibly high calorie meal. It was so good! It's almost disgusting how much I'm eating already on this trip. As I type this I'm eating almond butter on a tortilla AND Skinny Pop popcorn. Haha! My ride for yesterday was only supposed to be 38 miles, but I had that done before noon. I don't like sitting around camp, so I kept going. In a car it's easy to just change plans and be in the next town in a few minutes. On a bike it's a little more trouble. Since I skipped the campground I had planned for the night I ended up at a hotel in Tillamook for the night. Hotel prices are going to kill me on this trip. $180 for something I paid less than $100 just a couple years ago. I was planning on taking a day off in Newport over the weekend but it's 4th of july weekend, so all the rooms are over $300! Insane. I think I'll be taking way less days off. Anyway, after 64 miles I ended up in Tillamook for the night. Skipping that campground screwed up the next three nights, so I spent nearly an hour reworking my schedule and destinations. It's worth it to just keep pedaling. I love to just keep going. Much like Forest Gump. Lol. Today's longer ride and another upcoming one actually shave off a whole day. So the three day delay due to the heat wave is now down to two. Saw some gorgeous coastline today. Rode through a tunnel. That was interesting. Hank and I ran into the side of the tunnel a couple times. There was barely any shoulder. I hope you all had a great day!

Yummy! On to the next campground today! More to come!