PC09 - Fort Bragg to Ukiah

I was at the car rental desk at 9am only to find not only was there no car available yesterday, there was no car today.  I arranged for one in Ukiah and I had to get there by 5pm.

Without the car I had to call David and have him take back all the bags I was going to drive to San Francisco.  I packed quickly and was on the road before 10.

I did one smart thing on the way out of town; stopped at McDonald's and quickly ate a breakfast sandwich.  There was nothing until Willits.

Right out of town I started a 400m climb and that went well.  After some up and down the second climb began.  I was expecting about 500m but the Garmin Climb Pro show 800m.

I had to take this one in chunks.  5 minute breaks every 100m got me to the top.  My legs were tired and had been expecting a day off.  My butt really was hurting this trip and today I was pretty sore.

I got to Willits about 1:30 and got a burrito for lunch.  I was back on the road after 2.  I wanted to get to the Enterprise branch around 4.

I was back on 101 and there was a lot of fast moving traffic.

After another 200m climb I did get about 15km of downhill.  After than there was a slight downhill to Ukiah and I passed and Enterprise sign just before town but I thought it was in town and went into town.  At the city center I looked up the address and had to backtrack for an extra 8 or 9km.

I made it in time and was soon driving down 101.  While most of 101 was the busy road with a shoulder, there are several sections that had no should and would have been unrideable with all the big trucks.

PC08 - Redway to Fort Bragg

Last night David messaged he was in Myers Flat 25km behind me and wanted to ride with me to Fort Bragg.  We met in Garberville at 8:30.  I had scheduled a rental car for 4pm and David wanted me to take some of his stuff with me.

Today had a lot a elevation. It seemed every 3km we had a 50-100m climb.  We stopped at a good lunch spot at 11:30 and like David I should have got a burger but the biscuits and gravy I had 2 hours earlier were still weighing me down.  This was probably a mistake.

When we turned off 101 on to Highway 1 3km later we suddenly had almost no traffic.  We also had a nearly 400m climb.  Most of the way we were able to ride side by side.  Traffic came down the hill in one clump once and there were only about 5 cars passing us going up.  We also had brand new super smooth pavement.

At the top we were held up for 15 minutes for the line painting crew.  The pavement was so fresh the downhill side was just getting lines.

It was a long descent and nice to know that nobody would be coming up behind us except in a clump every 20-30 minutes.

We still had two fairly big climbs before we reached the ocean.  Suddenly, it was foggy and we could hear surf below.  I was pretty gassed at this point but the clock to 4pm was ticking.

The last 40km was achieved on will power alone.

Finally, we got to Fort Bragg and the car rental place was at the far end.  I walked in and a guy in the office told me, "Yeah, they went home at 4".  It was 4:10.  The rental car people just rent a desk at this car place.

So instead of sleeping in my own bed tonight I am stuck at the extremely sketchy Motel 6.  It is cheap, at least.  Room isn't bad but the clientele is a little rough.

David came over from his nicer place and we were a little nervous about leaving two bikes in the room so we went to the restaurant in the parking lot.  I was hungry and didn't feel like walking far and at this point food was only fuel.  I had two big beers, so that was ok.

I will go back to the car rental tomorrow morning.

PC07 - Eureka to Redway

This morning I made motel coffee and it was terrible.  I looked online and there was a Starbucks a block away.  I walked over and was kind of shocked that Eureka was such a dump.  It didn't help that 101 was two streets in the middle of town and people drove it like a freeway.  There were crazy homeless people everywhere. 

I left the hotel and joined a bike path the when along the water.  More homeless than dog walkers, walkers or cyclists.  These people are not going to pull themselves up by their bootstraps.

Soon I rejoined 101 and started to make good time.  During a map check about 10km out of Eureka, I saw another cyclist approaching.  We ended up riding together for most of the day.  Ruben is a Swiss accountant who decided to take a year off and explore the world by bike.  He started on the Arctic Ocean in Alaska several months ago.  He is heading through Mexico and on to South America. 

After a bit we got off 101 and suddenly it was quiet.  We could tell we were doing a little more climbing than on 101 because we could see it below us but the ride was nice.

We passed farms and saw a herd of really young calfs.  The flies around them were terrible and I am now itching a bit I got there 

We were looking for food and coffee in Rio Dell and only found gas station coffee wend two other cyclists appeared.   Grant and Theo were riding from Vancouver or Seattle.  Grant was going to the Mexican border and Theo lived in Palo Alto and ending there.  We all traded stories for a bit.

We rode off but would see them the next break.

Soon we were on the Avenue of the Giants and rolled past giant redwoods.  This was a really nice ride.

Ruben planned to camp at Hidden Springs Campground just after Myers Flat.  We parted there and I had another 28km to my motel in Redway.  I was pretty tired at this point but I kept grinding.

Redway was just 2km away and there was a nearly 100m climb ... I hate that.  I found my motel and had a little trouble checking in.  I screwed up the dates and was one week early.  The motel said no problem so I hope I'm not pay for a room tonight and next week.

Just got a message from David.  He rode all the way to Myers Flat and wants to meet me in the morning a few minutes from here.

PC06 - Crescent City to Eureka

Today started out foggy.  David and I met in the giant parking lot at 8:35.  He had started up a conversation with some rough looking guy and his energy drink in front of my hotel.  It was kind of nice but kind of humid.  Riding downhill was often quite cool.  It was one of those days where your core is warm and sweating but your skin is cold and clammy.

After resisting Mexican food since a poor experience in Calgary, David enjoyed last night's dinner and bought a chicken burrito for breakfast which he really enjoyed.  Later in the day he would have a good biscuit and gravy experience.

We headed out of town and almost immediately started an 8km nearly 400m climb.  It was a big climbing day, I registered 1500m altogether.  Fortunately, it was heavily loaded to the first part of the day.

Before the town of Klamath we stopped at a small market and restaurant.  We had a really good biscuit and gravy and got sandwiches to go.  David loaded up on canned chicken and a loaf of bread for his night camping in the redwoods.

We left 101 for the Newton B Drury Scenic Parkway through the redwoods.  For some reason the ACA route stayed on 101 and that added 400m of climbing.  The Newton was great.  Very little traffic.  There was a big climb at the start but where things got really nice and redwoody we had a nice 1-2% downhill and didn't need to pedal.  We just watched the giant trees and lush forest go by.

We stopped for a few photo ops, of course.

Near the end we came to a large meadow and David's camping area.  We ate our sandwiches which were really good.  The turkey was real turkey breast, not that slimy, thin sliced, processed stuff.

That little market/restaurant had good stuff.  I don't even know if it had a name visible.  The sing out front said: "A good place to eat".  Google thinks the place is called Woodland Villa Cabins - Restaurant - Market.

I left David there and still had 80km to ride.  I stayed on 101 for speed.  The ACA route added a lot of distance and climbing.  101 had traffic but it had a good shoulder and was fast.  I did take one side trip one on Patrick's Point Dr. And that turned out to be interesting as it took me past an island with hundreds of barking sea lions.  It also ended at a gas station market where I enjoyed a large cup of coffee.

I got back on 101 and my speed really picked up. I stayed on it until Arcata.  I took Janes Road exit which put me on a nice bike path.  There was a nice tail wind.  I was beside 101 when the bike path ended and it put me back on 101.  The bike path from it's current end into Eureka is under construction and will some connect Eureka and Arcata.

Eureka is kind of a dump.  For some reason it has a lot of hotels for a place that has so little going on.  I had a decent pho at a place a block from the Days Inn.  Wings to go for breakfast!

Pretty tired now.