Day 20: Back on the road! Hotel to Half Moon Bay Campground. 23 miles.

Hank and I were very excited to get back on the road, but we sure did enjoy our day off.  When I was looking at the weather forecast this morning I noticed that there was going to be a headwind all day.  We haven’t had any all day rides into a headwind yet on our trip.  Once we got going we had 4 miles of riding from the hotel to get back to the route that runs along the beach.  The sun was out and it was beautiful!  By the time we got to the top of the first hill, which was only a mile or two away, we hit the headwind.  It was much stronger than I had anticipated.  It was blowing so hard it felt like I was riding on two flat tires!  It was blowing at least 20 mph right in my face.  What also doesn’t help is the wind that the panniers catch.  If it wasn’t for the extra weight of the panniers and the extra wind they catch the wind wouldn’t be that big of a deal.  But here Hank and I are pedaling as hard as we can into this wind and we’re only going 4 miles per hour.  After an hour we finally get back to the beach where the wind was blowing even harder.  Don’t get me wrong, it is still beautiful.  After all we are biking the California coast, so how bad could it be? 

Below is a picture of a really cool hill climb we did today.  It wasn’t very hard to get up because the trail was cut into the hillside in a bunch of switchbacks.  So we just slowly made our way up by going back and forth a bunch of times.  Hank thought it would be a lot more fun to go down!  I thought so too.  We think alike sometimes.

There were three very cool beach areas we cycled through where surfers were out in the waves having a great time.  At Pacifica Beach we stopped and watch a surfing competition for a few minutes.  There were tons of people lining the beach and photographers taking pictures of the surfers while announcers told the names of the surfers and the names of the moves they were making.  It was a lot of fun, but we had a hill to climb and on the other side of that hill was a whole lot of fog waiting for us.

Once we got to the top of the hill the wind was really howling!  It was blowing at least 40 mph right in my face.  So hard that at one point I had to pedal to go DOWN HILL!  You would think gravity would do its job and pull us downhill, and it was trying, but the wind was blowing so hard it was trying to blow us back up the hill.  We made it down the hill as we always do, but when we got to the other side it was really cold.  It went from around 70 degrees and sunny to the foggy and in the mid 50s in a matter of half a mile. 

Once we got down off the hill we didn’t have much farther to get to camp since it was such a short ride today.  When we got to Half Moon Bay I looked off into the ocean and saw a whale!  We stopped to watch and ended up seeing at least three.  They would come up and blow air and water out so we could see them.  Once one of them came up and flipped its tail in the air so we could see it.  It was huge!  They are such beautiful animals.   

Hank and I were very excited when we pulled into camp and saw some friends from our earlier rides.  Hank and Carlos are hanging out right now under the tree in the picture below.  It sure is nice to run into friends.  It makes the end of the day so nice to have someone to talk to and share the events of the day with.

 Foggy but still beautiful!

Tomorrow we continue south!

Day 19: Rest day in San Francisco!

Hank has been sleeping all day!!

I don't blame him this is a very comfortable hotel room.  But really, look at him, he hasn't moved in 24 hours!  I'll just let him rest because tomorrow he's back on the job!

So I obviously left Hank in the room to rest while I went out and about in the city.  It was a fun day roaming around and seeing things I haven't seen in many years and eating really good food.  San Francisco has some of the best food I've ever eaten.  Well compared to some of the things I've been eating while camping it wouldn't take much to top that!  I used the local rail system here called B.A.R.T. (Bay Area Rapid Transit).  It is much like the Max trail in Portland, but covers a much larger area and seems to run more efficiently.  I got off of the BART right in downtown San Francisco and wandered around for a while until finally coming to one of my favorite areas in the city, China Town.  Below is a picture of one of the main entrances into this 16 block area of the city.  It is called the Dragon Gate.  Once you walk in it's like being transported into another part of the world.

 There are a lot of things for sale in China Town that you wouldn't normally find in American stores or malls.  For example, below is a giant turtle that reminded me of Shelly.  This one was about three feet tall though.

From China Town I wandered toward the Fisherman's Wharf area.  Along the way I had to stop and get a picture of the iconic Transamerica pyramid.  It is the tallest building in the city at 853 feet.  You can see it from almost anywhere in the city.

From there I continued on down to the waterfront and the Fisherman's Wharf area.  When you come over the hill and drop down into that area one of the first things you can't help but notice is Alcatraz Island.  My third grade readers may or may not have ever heard of Alcatraz, so for them they may have to ask their parents for a little background info.  Also in the picture below is one of the many ships that are in the harbor.  As you can see it was foggy again today, so no pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge again.

Another one of my favorite places in San Francisco is Ghirardelli Square.  Of course!  I love chocolate!  There is plenty of it here.  There are gift shops, restaurants, and ice cream shops all dedicated to Ghirardelli Chocolate.  They even give you free samples of some flavors!  Of course I got some!  

 In one of the gift shops they had bin after bin of their famous little squares of chocolate.  They even had flavors for sale here that you couldn't get anywhere else in the world.  I wished I could have bought some but I would have had to have Hank carry it for a few weeks in the hot sun.  Actually I probably would have eaten it all over the next few weeks and that wouldn't be a good thing either!

From there I wandered around a little more in the Fisherman's Wharf area, had lunch and coffee, and then my body reminded me that we have ridden over 750 miles and needed some rest before heading back out on the road tomorrow.  So I went to REI to get a couple things for Hank and a couple things for me before heading back to the hotel to get some rest and prepare for tomorrow's day of riding south.

More to come soon as the adventure continues!  

Thank you for reading and following me!

I hope everyone is enjoying summer break!

Day 18: Samuel P. Taylor State Park to Daly City. 41.5 miles

Hello from San Francisco third graders, families, and friends!  What a ride today!  started sunny and hot, ended foggy and cold.

You can see that for the most part the ride today was fairly easy with no big hills.  That was nice!  Hank and I started out the day in the sun.  It got up to around 80 before noon and continued to get hot until we reached the Golden Gate Bridge.  We could see the fog from many miles away, but I didn't realize it was going to be so thick and dark.  It was like riding through a cloud!  It was super windy too.  I bet it was blowing 30 miles per hour at least.  The bridge was filled with hundreds and hundreds of tourists on rented bicycles.  Some of them didn't seem like they have ever ridden a bike before the way they were weaving all over the place.  I even saw one guy riding a bike, taking a selfie, and drinking a coffee!  He was doing this all while weaving in and out of all the other tourists and the local people who run and walk the bridge.  Not to mention he is 220 feet above the water!  I was too busy concentrating on keeping Hank focused to take selfies and stuff.  Hank was really excited to be crossing such a huge bridge.  He didn't even know that off in the distance was the city of San Francisco.  If it would have been a clear day we would have had way more pictures to put on our blog tonight.  I took the one below I took right when we first got on the bridge.  To the left of the bridge on a clear day you would see the city.

Also, on a clear day you would be able to see the top of the two towers that are 746 feet tall.  Today you get to see them disappear into the fog.  It was still very pretty!

After we got over the bridge I had a riding buddy take a picture of me with the bridge in the background.  Oh that reminds me!  My riding buddy today is the guy that rides the bike I wrote about last night that Hank is friends with.  The one that I thought had no name.  It turns out the bike below is named Montague:

Tonight and tomorrow night Hank and I will be resting in a hotel.  I will be exploring the city tomorrow while he rests.  I am hoping the fog goes away so I can take some good pictures of the city to show you.  If not I will share some foggy pictures of the city.  Either way stay tuned!

Thanks for following!  I love you all!

Day 17: Bodega Beach State Park to Samuel P. Taylor State Park. 45 miles.

Today’s ride:

Starting today Hank and I thought we were going to have a fairly easy day.  It was easier than yesterday for sure.  Less miles and less hills, but if you know me and my strong dislike for hot weather (read blog day 1) you know that hot weather can change my day. 

Today was kind of weird riding.  For the 16 days prior to today I was in the forest or riding the highway along the ocean.  Both places the weather has been very cool.  Today I felt like we were transported to eastern Washington or eastern Oregon.  The picture below is what we saw all day today, and it was 90 degrees!!

One of the reasons the landscape has changed, and the temperature, is because we are headed inland toward San Francisco.  As of right now we are only a little over 30 miles from the Golden Gate Bridge!  Tomorrow we will be crossing it!  Hank and I are super excited! We will be staying two nights in San Francisco with a full day of play on Friday, and of course, plenty of rest. 

Hank wanted me to share pictures of a couple friends he has made along the way.  The first one is Carlos.  He is a tandem bike being ridden by a very cool couple from Forest Grove, which is near Portland.  The second picture is another one of Hank’s friends, but unfortunately this friend doesn’t have a name.  This make Hank sad, but I tried to explain to him that not everyone has a close relationship with their bike.  Hank has met lots of friends so far this week but I haven’t gotten pictures of all of them.  I will be better about that for the rest of the trip.  The other night I woke up in the middle of the night and Hank and Carlos were having a deep conversation about how much they love flying down hills at top speed!  It makes me so happy that we are both making friends!

Tomorrow's blog will have San Francisco pictures!!!!  

Day 16: Manchester Bay to Bodega Bay. 69 miles!

Today Hank and I broke two records!  Longest riding day, miles and time on the road.  We also broke our elevation gained record!  Today we climbed a total of 5,773 feet.  No wonder I'm so tired!

Last night was weird!  At 2:30 in the morning a helicopter hovered over the campground.  It was only a couple hundred feet above me!  Woke me out of a dead sleep and it flew around for about 5 minutes.  I have no idea why, but it definitely got my adrenaline going in the middle of the night. 

This morning I had breakfast and got ready to go as quickly as I could because I knew today was going to be a long day.  I looked at the maps last night and saw that the next campground with a shower was right around 70 miles away.  There was one without a shower that was closer but I don’t like trying to sleep after sweating all day and not getting a shower.  So after breakfast Hank and I got rollin’!

It was a beautiful day for riding down the California coast!  The wind was at our back, the sun was out, and the hills weren’t too bad.  Well the hills weren’t too bad at the start.  There were some pretty intense hills toward the end of the day.  The highest hill of the day was fairly scary.  Hank and I were up around 500 feet above the ocean basically on a road that was carve out of the edge of a cliff.  There was no guard rail!  So if the wind hit me just right or a car bumped me a little Hank and I would tumble to the ocean 500 feet below.  There were some tense moments, but we made it!  Around 2 o’clock today we passed Jenner California, which happened to be the 700 mile point on our journey (roughly), which means we are a little over halfway now!  Thursday we will arrive in San Francisco and stay for two nights with a full day to play around in the city.  That will be a lot of fun! I love San Francisco!

Hank told me that he didn't get all of yesterday's pictures posted last night.  Here they are:

 I figured out my phone does a Fish Eye photo.  The picture below is without the fish eye.

 Hank enjoyed these flowers while I enjoyed a mocha in Mendicino

The post Hank is leaning on has the mileage to cities around the world on it.

For now I need to go to sleep.  I rode for almost 7 hours today and I am exhausted!

Day 15: From Hank's perspective

Day 15: Fort Bragg to Manchester. 42 miles. 

Today Jer (that’s what I like to call him) and I both slept in.  Yesterday’s day off from riding was nice for us.  We both got caught up on some things we needed to get done and Jer even took the time to check me over for loose parts and make sure I was in tip top shape for our next ride.  Jer takes very good care of me.  We have become very close over these first 500+ miles.  We talk about things that I wouldn’t normally talk to other bikes about, let alone other humans!  I really feel like Jer has a deep understanding for what I need to help us both get down the road and up those crazy hills.  We both cheer each other on when we need cheering and we listen to each other when we need an ear or a shoulder to cry on.  I see us carving out a relationship that will last a lifetime.

Jer went and had breakfast this morning and let me sleep a little longer.  When he got back from breakfast he got me all loaded up with all of our gear.  He is getting very good at getting all of our gear loaded in the right panniers and he does it so quickly now! Once we were all loaded up we rode up the street to the Fort Bragg bike shop so we could get a new patch kit for punctured tubes and a new spoke wrench just in case.  After that we hit the road and headed south!

Right away Jer and I were in a great mood because there was at least a 15 mile per hour tail wind.  When the wind is helping us along we don’t have to work nearly as hard as when the wind is in our face.  Sometimes when the wind is in our face Jer gets fooled by the wind slowing us down and thinks I have a flat tire.  I keep telling him I don’t but he always pulls over and checks anyway.  He always says “better safe than sorry Hank!”  I have learned to understand what he means and I just let him bring us to a stop and check out my tires.  That also gives me a great little rest break. 

The first 25 or so miles today were pretty but not nearly as pretty as the last 20 or so from Medocino to Manchester.  That section was even more beautiful that the southern Oregon coast that we both thought was the most beautiful of the trip so far.  Jer kept on saying “Wow Hank!  Would you look at how beautiful this is!  These cliffs are amazing and the ocean is so beautiful!”  He really loves the ocean and I think he would ride next to it for the rest of his life if he could.  But he loves teaching and he misses being in the classroom.  He even talks about it with me sometimes.  He told me not to tell you about that though, so I’d better keep my mouth shut.  There is one thing I’m sure he won’t mind if I share.  Before we left Battle Ground 15 days ago Jer went and had dessert with one of his student’s families.  The student gave him a card that she made.  Inside she had drawn a couple pictures of me!  That was awesome!  But I think the most important thing that Jer got from it were the words she had written because he keeps saying them when the going gets tough or there is a really steep hill.  He says “Just keep pedaling.”  He has said that so many times now that I almost know when he is about to say it, so I give him a little extra boost to help him out.

Today there was one hill in particular that Jer was saying “Just keep pedaling” and everything else he could think of to get us up that hill.  He was even cheering me on!  He does that quite a bit, but today he was actually yelling “LET’S GO HANK!!  LET’S GET UP THERE!  WE GOT THIS HILL!!”  He was pretty pumped up.  It was the steepest hill I’ve ever been on.  I would actually be scared to go down it.  After that hill Jer got really quiet.  We stopped several times after that to eat snacks and rest.  He kept telling me that hill really knocked the energy out of him.  I was glad we were getting close to the campground so we could stop for the day. 

 This is the steepest hill on the entire route and we crushed it today!

When we pulled into the campground I didn’t see any of our friends from the last four or five nights.  I met some really nice bikes and now I missed them!  The funny thing about those other bikes though was that none of them had names.  They wouldn’t tell me why they didn’t have their own name like I do, but they didn’t seem to mind.  I didn’t have a name for a while and I was OK with it, but now that I have a name I feel like I am more a part of this journey than ever before.  I must be the luckiest bike in the world to be able to carry Jer around and have him taking care of me every day.  We have seen some amazing things so far and he keeps telling me we have so much more to see.  I can’t even imagine it!      

Jer was too tired to type this so he let me.  I thought I was too tired too, but now I’m glad I typed it.  This was fun!  Maybe I will do it again sometimes if Jer lets me.  There were a few more pictures from today's ride but Jer wasn't able to email them, so I will remind him tomorrow to post them.

Day 14: Rest day!

Today is rest day for me and Hank.  I think we both deserve it.  We've ridden over 500 miles in 12 of the last 14 days.  That's pretty good!  That's a rough average of 42 miles per day.  That's right around where I wanted to average with some longer days and some shorter days.  I just figured out roughly where we will hit the halfway mark.  Right around Duncan Mills, California should be the 702 mile mark, which should be about halfway through the planned route.  The thin about that is the halfway mark changes as I take a side ride that isn't on the planned route or I ride on a day off like today. Today we rode a few miles here in Fort Bragg just to check out the town.

Today Hank and I are very tired.  This morning we both slept in and took our time waking up and getting our day started.  Normally, when camping and riding each day we get up fairly early, take down the tent, have breakfast, pack everything back up into the panniers, and hit the road.  We've gotten pretty good at the morning camp routine.  At first it would take roughly an hour and a half, but the last few times we have been much quicker to get to riding, maybe 45 minutes.  That is one of the things I was testing myself with this trip was adapting to new routines.  I knew that I would be able to adapt eventually, but I didn't know how long it would take.  It amazes me what people can adapt to.  I went from teaching everyday, eating meals cooked at home, and sleeping in a bed everyday to riding a bike everyday, eating meals cooked in camp or from restaurants, and sleeping in a sleeping bag in a tent.  Physically and mentally this is a very big lifestyle change.  With that big change I have to keep in mind that I will need to rest my mind and body along the way.  So today Hank and I did just that! We slept in, we ate food (well I did. Hank still isn't eating very much), we went to the store and got more things we need for the camping nights, I stretched all of the muscles that are tired from all those hills, we relaxed, we ate more food (riding all day builds quite an appetite), and I took over an hour and checked almost every nut and bolt on Hank to make sure everything was tight and ready for more riding.  Oh and I patched the tube that went flat yesterday so we can use it again.  I almost forgot...we did laundry!  Well I did, Hank was being very lazy, so I had to do it all.  There's nothing like fresh clean clothes after riding and camping in the woods for many days.

It was a rest day, but it was a productive day.  I now have 9 oatmeal, fruit, and nut breakfasts packed and ready for camping.  I also stocked up on snacks for along the way.  In a few days we will be going through San Francisco.  We are still thinking about staying there a day or two.  That is one of my favorite cities I've ever been to, so it would be fun to roam around a bit.

The only picture I have today is of Hank posing next to a fire truck.  He loves to have his picture taken!





















Tomorrow we ride once again!  South we go to another campground.  This one near Manchester, California.

More to come tomorrow if I have internet.  If not it will come as soon as possible!

Day 13: Beautiful ride, but weird evening. 47 miles

Hello 3rd graders, families, and friends!

I am sitting in a laundromat in Fort Bragg California doing laundry and getting caught up on yesterday's blog.  Yesterday was a challenging day.  It seems like once a week so far I have a more challenging day than usual.  It's usually the day before I plan to take a day off from riding.  Today I am taking a day off.  I rode a couple miles this morning to get breakfast but my body and mind need a rest today.  Below are the events from yesterday, day 13.

Below is a picture of our "cycling camp" from the night of day 12.  It was so nice!  There was power to charge phones, battery packs, bike lights, computers, and whatever else.  It had been days for some of us since we've had power.  Another thing that was fun were the diversity of the people in camp.  I have found that the majority of the people cycling this route are from other countries.  They have all been very nice people and have been fun to hang out with and talk with.

As you can see from the tracking map Hank and I started the day with a lot of hill climbing.  The hill we climbed is the highest hill on the entire trip at 2,000 feet above sea level.  After day 12 we were already some of the way up the 2,000 foot hill, but we still had quite a bit to go. It was challenging but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would have been.  The thing that made it a bit less challenging was that the hill was a gradual climb for a few hours rather than a super steep climb over only a mile or two.  Once we got about 25 miles into our day the hills were done and we were back at the ocean for the first time in a couple days.

Below is a picture of one of the MANY switchbacks Hank and I had to climb.  We just kept going back and forth and back and forth and up and up and up for MILES!  It was such a great feeling to get to the top.  We celebrated with a snack break.  Hank doesn't eat much though. ;)

Hank was so excited to see the ocean again that he made me stop and get a picture of him with the ocean in the background.  We both love the ocean so much!  Riding along the ocean usually means a nice cool breeze and almost always a fantastic view.  Looking ahead at the map we will be along the ocean almost all the way to San Francisco.

After we got to the ocean we had a very pleasant ride down the coast to the super small town of Westport (population maybe 100).  We stopped at a little store that had burger and snacks.  After I ate my burger I noticed a tick in my forearm!!  I have never had a tick latch onto me before.  I wasn't sure what to do.  It was a really small one but it still freaked me out!  I asked a couple biker friends what they thought.  They were helpful but we weren't what sure I should do to make sure I didn't get an infection.  Also, ticks can carry Lyme Disease, which is not fun from what I hear.  So I decided I would ride 20 miles to Fort Bragg and go to a clinic and have a doctor take care of it for me.  So Hank and I start peddling like crazy to get there before the clinic closed and because I was fairly freaked out about this little tick in my arm!  Wouldn't you know it though another challenge had to be thrown our way...two miles down the road our first flat tire of the trip!  It was the front and we were going down hill.  I had just been talking with some of the other riders yesterday about how I hadn't had a flat yet...here it was...GRRR!

It took about an hour to fix the flat because I had a hard time finding what caused the flat.  I have always been told to find what caused the flat otherwise you might put in a new tube and just get another flat right away.  I finally found the tiny TINY hole but it was in a weird place.  Nothing actually poked through the tire, the hole was on the inside away from the ground, so that was weird. It was nice that a few of my new cycling friends stopped by and checked on me as they were riding by.  Cyclists are such nice people!  (If any of my new cycling friends are reading this...you're awesome...it was so nice to meet you and hang out with you!)

So with flat tire fixed I still had the tick in my arm and roughly 18 miles to go to get to the clinic that closed soon.  Hank and I peddled like crazy!  Then we started having issues with gears!!  I would shift on a hill and it wouldn't go into the gear I wanted.  This made the hills very hard to ride.  I stopped and made a few adjustments, but I don't know too much about adjusting gears, so it was a "learn as you go" experience.  I tried to assure Hank that the flat tire wasn't his fault, nor was the gear issue, but I think he was feeling bad about it.  He tries so hard to please me!  He does a great job!  He is my best friend on this trip and we have some great conversations.  I kept telling him it wasn't his fault and everything was happening for a reason.  He didn't talk much the rest of the day.  He seems fine today though.

We got into Fort Bragg too late to see a doctor about the tick, so I stopped by a fire station but there was nobody there.  It was rolling around 7 pm and I hadn't eaten and I hadn't figured out where we were going to stay the night.  At this point we were too far from any campgrounds, so we found a hotel for the night, had a shower, had a meal, and stopped by a drug store and got some supplies to remove the tick myself and clean and disinfect the area.  I got it out but I was still a little freaked out. I got some really good advice from a nurse friend of mine (thank you Ricki!), so I was able to relax a little after that.  I will just keep the bite area clean and keep antibiotic ointment on it and I should be fine.

It was a challenging day, but I expected to have many challenges along the way.  Isn't that what life is?  Coming up to challenges and finding ways to get past them?  I think so.  Small challenges or huge challenges can be overcome.  One thing I always tell myself when a challenge comes up that seems overwhelming is "It won't always be this way" or "It won't always feel this way".  Things are always changing in life.  We just have to do our best at everything we do and everything will play out the way it is supposed to.

My laundry is done and so is this blog!  

More to come soon!!

Day 12: UPDATED! Burlington Campground to Standish-Hickey Campground. 46.2 miles.

Today was a somewhat challenging day.  It was a beautiful ride, but there were a lot of hills and it got up to around 80 degrees.  4,819 feet of hills!  I think that's a new record.  I'll have to look. 

Last night a bunch of the riders I was camping with started talking about going all the way to the beach today and doing the biggest hill of the whole trip all in one 70 mile day.  I almost did it too, but I decided I need to save my body and my energy for the remaining 1,000 miles I have to go.  The only reason I would have done it was because of my competitive spirit.  I had a long conversation with Hank for the first 10 miles of our ride today.  We decided that there was really no responsible reason to put my body through that with so much of the ride to go.  Also, I’m not in such a hurry. I want to enjoy the ride and the scenery, not torture myself and Hank.

Tomorrow I will ride from here back out to the beach over a 2,000 foot climb.  That will be challenging but should be a lot easier after a good night of rest.  Once I get back out to the beach I am considering getting a hotel and taking a day off at Fort Bragg.  I could use a day off to let my muscles and my mind recover a little.  My legs have been doing pretty good considering what I am doing to them.  I have now ridden up and down hills all day for 10 out of the last 11 days.  As for my mind, everyone knows I’m a bit crazy.  HAHA!  I think riding with the people I have met has actually helped me the last few days.  Most of these riders are stopping their trip in San Francisco, but I am sure I will meet new people from there on.  If not, no worries! This has still been such an amazing trip so far!  I can see travelling like this a lot more in the future. 

Day 11: Eureka to Burlington State Park and the Avenue of the Giants. 54 miles.

This morning I started out 5 miles north of Eureka California. I tried to stop in Eureka to get some groceries and fuel for my stove, but I couldn’t find a store that I felt comfortable leaving my bike outside of.  That’s kind of been a problem with riding solo.  I don’t mind leaving my bike where I can see it, but I get pretty uncomfortable knowing that everything I own on this trip could be stolen in seconds.  I stopped at a Big 5 Sporting Goods and asked the manager if I could roll my bike inside while I shopped but he said no.  I didn’t want to take the chance so I rolled on down the road.  I usually get everything I need at little gas station stores.  That way my bike is right outside where I can see it.  I do have a lock for the bike but there’s no way to lock up the panniers.  If I really had to go into a store I could lock up the bike and take all four panniers off and put them in a shopping cart and take them in with me.  It would be very inconvenient, but it would work.

The first 40 miles of my ride was on Highway 101.  The last 14 miles was on the Avenue of the Giants.  The Avenue of the Giants is a section of road 32 miles long that goes through a huge forest of redwood trees.  It is absolutely gorgeous!  Trees so big and old it is almost hard to understand.  It really made me feel very small biking through there today.  I biked almost all day with four of the cyclists from last night’s camp.  It was fun riding with other people.  I don’t mind riding alone, but there’s something more motivating about riding with other people. 

 These pictures really don't do this forest justice!  These trees are enormous!  I will try to get some better ones tomorrow with Hank for perspective.  The mosquitoes here are enormous too!

Right now I am in my tent typing this blog and when I get it done I will walk over to the Ranger Station where there is WiFi and upload it.  It’s kind of weird being out here in the middle of the forest and having WiFi.  It is nice though for staying in touch.  Also, in camp tonight there are almost a dozen riders all doing the same ride I am doing.  I expect I will continue to meet riders as I go. 

Tomorrow I have roughly 15 more miles through the Redwoods before I head up the highest climb of the whole trip, over 2,000 feet.  I haven’t had a chance to look at the map yet to see just how far tomorrow will be.  I guess it depends on whether or not I want to climb that hill all in one day. 

More to come tomorrow!

Day 10: Elk Prairie Campground to Bayside, California 46.5 miles

Wow it got cold last night in the Elk Prairie Campground!  Low 40s!  That doesn't seem that cold until you're sleeping in it and you prepared for temperatures in the mid 50s.  I survived though!  Here I am to tell the tale!

Last night after I post yesterdays blog I went back to camp and there were 6 other cyclists in camp that I had seen here and there along the ride.  We all stood around and got to know each other and talked about the ride and bikes and stuff.  It turns out I was one of the only Americans.  There was a couple from Holland, two from Canada, and two from Great Britain.  It was very cool to meet so many people from around the world.  I knew that this cycling route I'm on is a very popular one but I didn't know, until last night, that it's a famous ride all around the world.  There are people that come from all over the world every summer to ride Highway 101 from Vancouver, B.C. to the Mexican border.  It is really neat to be a part of their adventure.

I don't have any pictures from my ride today because it was foggy almost the whole way.  I did see a whale today though!  Right off shore I spotted its back pop up out of the water and air and water sprayed from its blow hole.  I stopped and watched for a few minutes.  It probably did it six or seven times before I got back on the road.  I wasn't able to get any decent pictures because cell phone cameras don't zoom in enough.

I also scared a deer today!  Hank and I were rolling down a hill at top speed and I looked over just in time to see a deer minding her own business eating grass.  I must have spooked her because she started running along side me trying to find an opening in the brush and trees to get away from me.  It was pretty cool!

I've ridden 385 miles so far!  That's not including the U-Haul miles on day 1.  That's 385 miles sitting and peddling.  I'm over 1/4 of the way already.  Only a little over 1,000 more miles to go!  HAHA! My halfway point will be around Jenner California, which is roughly 75 miles North of San Francisco.

Tomorrow I will ride another 40 or so miles to get back off the coast and back into the redwood forest.  In a couple of days I will be posting more pictures of huge trees!  The days after tomorrow I will be starting down a road called The Avenue of the Giants.  That is where some of the biggest and oldest Redwoods in the world are.  I am really looking forward to that ride!

For now it's time for Hank and I to rest!

Take care all!

Day 9: Redwoods!

It was sure nice to get back on Hank the Tank today!  What a beautiful day to ride too!  Today we rode from Crescent City California to the Elk Prairie Campground near Orick California for a total of 36 miles (that’s right third grader my favorite number).  We had some crazy hills again today, but Hank is a hard worker and together we conquered the second highest climb on the entire 1,400 mile route.  It was over 1,200 feet!  We totaled 3,140 feet overall today.  I’m really glad we only went 36 miles because those hills had me beat.

This morning on my way out of Crescent City I stopped in front of the motel that was built from one single redwood tree.  Some of my third graders may remember me talking about that when we were doing our science unit on seeds.  Below is a picture of the motel:

Shortly after that Hank and I headed up the first giant hill of the day.  About halfway up there was a sign welcoming travelers into the Redwood National Forest.  Of course Hank just had to have his picture taken in front of the sign to prove how hard he has worked so far to get us both here.  I am very proud of him!

I don’t have any pictures of the hill climb because it was pretty brutal to be honest and I needed to concentrate.  (Mom don’t read this next sentence.  lol)  Most of the way up this climb there were no shoulders on the side of the road for Hank and I to ride on.  Not too far up I had a fairly close call with a van.  I saw him in my rearview mirror (I wear a little rearview mirror that attaches to my glasses) but he wasn’t moving over.  He got close enough that I rode off the road into the dirt on the side because I was afraid he was too close.  (MOM!  I told you not to read that sentence!)  Now I’m going to get a phone call.  HAHA!  Anyway, after that there were some spots with really wide shoulders, but for the most part there were none and I was in the lane with the cars.  Most of the drivers are very nice and patient, but there are always a few that get upset that I’m in the way.  I wish they would realize how hard Hank and I are working to get up the hills and just give us the room we need while they sit in their comfy air-conditioned vehicle.  Oh well, ya can’t have everything.  Once we got to the top it was a very steep and very chilly ride down the other side.  Overall it took us about 2 hours just to get up one hill.  Coming down the other side there was a tourist attraction called The Trees of Mystery.  Hank and I pulled off to take a few pictures and have a snack break.  Hank didn’t eat a snack.  I’ve been worried about him not eating enough.  He must eat while I’m sleeping.  At The Trees of Mystery tourists are greeted by Paul Bunion and his pal Babe the Blue Ox.  Below is a picture of them both (and Hank).

After our rest and a snack we headed down the road deeper into the Redwoods.  At first there would be one or two giant redwood trees, and then more and more as we went.  Eventually there were almost all redwood trees and the forest just looked magical and amazingly huge!  It made me feel so tiny.  For the next few days I will be going through the redwoods and have many more pictures, but for now I thought this one of Hank hiding INSIDE a redwood is pretty cool!

Tonight we are staying in a campground where we have to lock up our food in what is called a “bear locker” to keep bears and other animals from stealing our food.  It’s not so much the bears as it is the blue jays and the squirrels that steal food, but bears have been known to come around.  Another really cool thing about this campground is that there is a herd of Roosevelt Elk that come down into the fields and roam the campgrounds in the evening.  I’m hoping they are out this evening so I can get some pictures to share.  Below is a bear locker picture.  It’s basically is a big steel container anchored into the ground with a door on it that only humans can open. 

I've met so many nice people along this journey!  Tonight a few of us have a camping spot together.

Tomorrow we will be headed farther south and deeper into the redwoods.  I will have more to share tomorrow.  We are tired tonight from the crazy hills!  Time to get some rest!