These Hills Are Made For Climbing

Day 17 - 70 miles (Trinidad to Stafford)

70 miles never seemed so far until today. We left camp around 9:30 and felt good about the day, but our legs were missing that oomph due to the day before. We didn't have any long climbs but the short hilly bursts definitely added up over the course of the day. We had only ridden 20 miles into the city of Arcata before we stopped for lunch. I liked it there. Many people were out enjoying the weather and I felt like we were in civilization again. We also stopped at a bike shop so Bo could see about getting an extra gear on his bike to help him with the hills. He only has two gears which means he's missing a good 6-7 speeds which would make climbing easier and reduce the strain needed to ride up hills. This lack of gear has earned him the nickname 'Two-speed': he can go fast or he can go faster; just don't ask him to go up a hill.

Two-Speed

The remaining 50 miles ranged from long highway stretches along the 101 to rugged pastoral roads which further zapped our already low energy levels. I didn't take a lot of pictures on my phone today but I got a few good GoPro shots (which look blurry since I took photos of a video...)

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Tomorrow and the next day will be two of the hardest days of the entire trip. We'll be climbing to Leggett, which will take us over 2,000 feet in elevation gain before spewing us out on the other end. All this on legs that still have yet to fully recover. This should get interesting...

Day 18 - 60 miles (Stafford to Leggett)

Today we broke 1,000 miles on the toughest day yet. We saw some beautiful forest preserve through the Avenue of the Giants and encountered some larger than life hills. It was beautiful, challenging and indelible. I've seen the redwoods before when I was a teenager, but biking through them is a different story. I have a hard time describing the scale with which they enshroud the landscape. Interestingly enough, I noticed I didn't register their size until a person or made object was within the vicinity. They definitely require a reference point to understand their magnitude.

My appetite is increasing. For dinner I had 1 quart of whole milk, 3 beers, and a rodeo burger. I'm not sure how my body crammed it in, but it did. Bo told me about hiker appetite and it's a real thing. Spend 7-10 hours a day being physical for a few weeks and you'll get a real taste for it.

We really lucked out today. We started at 10am and finished at 8pm just before the local grill stopped cooking food. We have our biggest challenge ahead of us tomorrow (eg surmounting Leggett) and it would have been a downer to go to bed on an empty stomach. Additionally, we met some new bikers and reacquainted with bikers we had previously met at our campsite in Standish-Hickey State Park. Some of them already had a fire going and were roasting monster mallows. It was fun interacting with people from different walks of life. We met people from Belgium, Taiwan, Canada, Ireland, Germany, and the U.S. and we all had this one adventure in common. I plan on keeping in contact with a few of them and wish them safe travels on the rest of their trip.

Although today was difficult, I don't think it was as challenging as the map made it seem. Additionally, my legs seem to be getting stronger and more accustomed to climbing hills so they aren't as tough as initially. I'll be curious to know if there is any marked difference in their appearance once I'm done with this trip.

We have 46 miles to go before I take a cycling break for a wedding celebration. We're renting a car on Wednesday and driving to San Francisco so I can fly back to Utah for 4 days for a wedding. Bo is going to watch a San Francisco Giants game Wednesday afternoon then drive back to Fort Bragg, CA and bike back to San Francisco. I'm bummed I'll miss about 160 miles of biking, but definitely excited to see my family for a few days. After these last three days, my body will be thrilled to have such a long break from cycling. I only hope it will quickly remember how to function once I get back to San Francisco.

Day 19 - 46 miles (Leggett to Ft. Bragg)

All the anticipation and nervousness dissipated as we conquered Leggett! We climbed 3,300 feet today, 1,000 of which took place in the first 3.5 miles. It was a thrilling challenge I will look back on fondly. Zooming down the back half of the mountain, navigating the steep terrain and sharp turns, was an amazing experience. I am glad I captured the entire climb and descent on video! I will share once I get it uploaded.

We finished scaling Leggett and made it back to the shoreline. The ocean kindly greeted us with the faint smell of sea salt and a cool breeze passing over our sweaty brows. A much appreciated gesture.

We biked into Westport and had lunch at the only store/gas station in town with some fellow bikers. After a tasty sandwich and a quart of milk (because that's how I roll), we headed to Ft. Bragg with our new Canadian bike buddy Pascal. Since Bo and I are renting a car into San Fran, Pascal decided to drive into town with us since he has a flight on Aug 1st and wants to spend as much time in San Fran as possible.

The three of us got into Ft. Bragg around 4:30pm and had the rest of the night in front of us! We checked into our motel, ate dinner at Sea Pal based on the local bartender's recommendation and enjoyed fish and chips on the restaurant's patio.

We then went bar hopping in a town of 7,500, which means we went to two of the three bars in town, played shuffleboard and stumbled home*. It was a good day. Tomorrow we're off to San Francisco!

*Pascal and I aren't big drinkers so we left while the night was young. Bo made it to all three bars... Such a trooper.

Day 20 - 0 miles (Ft. Bragg to San Francisco)

What a leisurely day. We scheduled a truck for our rental and ended up getting a minivan. I haven't spent much time in vans but I must say...it was sweet! It fit three bikes, all of our gear and three people in it with room to spare. I was impressed.

Today I also got a glimpse of how dangerous this highway can be from a motor vehicle's perspective. We were twisting, turning, dropping into valleys, accelerating up hills, braking around bends...it was actually making me nauseous. But after the nausea settled, I realized how narrow the roads are and how fast cars are passing by bikers and it made me think about how quickly things could spiral out of control if one motorist wasn't paying attention. Driving this route reaffirmed for me the importance of high visibility clothing/gear. I will definitely be increasing my visibility once I'm back on the trip.

We ended up dropping Pascal off in Stewart's Point so he could bike into San Francisco. Since we got a late start in the morning, Bo ended up missing the baseball game he was planning to attend in the city so we had lunch together at Tacolicious; it was...taco-licious. Definitely try it out if you're in town.

We had nowhere to cheaply park our van so after lunch we went to the movie theater and watched Southpaw before my 9:20pm flight back to Utah. Bo dropped me off at the airport and headed back to Ft Bragg so he can return the van and bike back into San Fran. I'm preparing to take off on this flight back home so I can go to that wedding and hang with family for a few days. I'll be back in San Francisco for part 2 of the adventure. We're going to try and go the remaining 600 or so miles to Tijuana in 9 days (Aug 3-11).

I'm signing off until next week. Until then, enjoy your weeks, weekends, days, hours, minutes, moments and everything in between. Life is happening now. So enjoy it!