John Aylward Photography

Today’s Highlights:

Today’s ride had a lot of variety.  We started along the coast for 19 miles, through the towns of Ft Bragg, Mendocino, Little River and Albion.  It was foggy, but we had occasional views of the ocean or the rivers flowing into it.   We then headed east on Rt 128, out of the fog and into the forest, and enjoyed more miles among the tall redwoods.  It was a flat and peaceful ride, and cool under the canopy.  After 33 miles, we left the forest and entered farmlands of mostly vineyard and wineries.  The landscape opened up with fields of grapes and orchards of apples and other fruits, with a backdrop of rolling hills under bright blue skies.  And from there, we climbed higher into those hills among the oaks in fields of golden dry grasses.  Every phase of the ride was beautiful.

The last half of our ride gained over 1100 feet with many ups and downs, but eventually hitting the peak around 67 miles.  At the 70 mile mark we had a great fast winding descent for four miles.  It was as fun as yesterday’s.  We ran out of water on the big climb around 60 miles, so we made up for that by stopping at a frozen yogurt stand in the town of Cloverdale just a couple miles from our hotel for tonight.  It was very refreshing.

It was quite hot in the afternoon, which was welcome after our very cool visit along the coast over the past ten days.  According to our bike computers, the temperature hit over 100, but I think that was when we were riding along side freshly paved road.  There were certainly some hot climbs, but it was all enjoyable with the beautiful scenery and sunny blue skies.

We are half way done with the 1400-mile trip as of mid day today.  Every day brings another challenge to conquer and we seem to be getting stronger.  And every day treats us with great scenery and new experiences.  What a great vacation!

Our Glass Is Half Full
Half way done already? It feels like we only left yesterday… and I feel like I’ve been riding for a month. What an awesome trip. We’ve seen so many things and today was a little of everything. Dad did a good recap. And today’s terrain had a little of everything, too. We started with some nice 2-3% inclines. Just what I love. Just like shooting wamp rats back home. Then we hit some rolling hills and ended with a bigger climb. The climb was tougher than I thought, after riding all day and climbing so much yesterday. But we were rewarded with another awesome curvy downhill into town… and rewarded with frozen yogurt! At mile 70 we crossed into Sonoma. Tomorrow should be tasting day 😉

My bike is all grown up now. It started as a little boy bike which was too small for me. Then it grew into awkward, uncoordinated adolescence as the seat grew up. Today it reached adulthood as the handle bars grew up and now the bike finally feels great. It only took half the trip. I’m a genius.

Tree Houses
Yesterday: We didn’t get any pics so I forgot to mention the tree houses that we saw. One was a house built into an upright tree. I wonder how many floors it had. The other was built into a giant log. It looks so cute. From the front it looks like a hobbit house. It has an official website: http://www.oneloghouse.com/ You can see more pictures by Googling ‘the famous one log house.’ I wonder what the rent is.

It’s Medicinal!
We’re in Cali and it’s legal. It’s odd to see the shops and the dudes who hang outside. In Garberville our hotel was right next to Hemp Connection. There was a group of white boys with dreads sitting on the curb with the munchies so bad they were begging for a dollar to buy cereal. On the way out today we past Herban Legends. Seems unreal.

Chris

West Coast Bike Day 11

Statistics: Zoom and pan the map to explore the route.

Time: 9/12/2012, 8:08:1

Duration: 07:22:32

Ascent/Descent: 4370 ft 4161 ft

Distance: 77.35 M

Today’s Highlights:

We rode 69 miles today and climbed 5240 feet, our hilliest ride so far, rising as high as 1900 feet above sea level.  I don’t remember any flat sections, except for the last few miles into Ft Bragg which was accompanied by a headwind.  It was either uphill or down.  The first 25 miles were very hilly and tiring, and then we hit the big climb of the day – a constant 4-mile climb gaining 1100 feet.  Although that long climb was a challenge, I found that getting into a steady rhythm for the 30-minute aerobic ascent was easier than the many miles of shorter consecutive hills.

The ride down was the highlight of the day.  We dropped 1800 feet in 10 miles in 30 minutes on a very winding road through the forest.  It was thrilling and great fun.  That big descent returned us to the ocean with spectacular views of the shoreline.

We had one more big climb after that, and constant rolling hills in addition.  After several miles along the coast, we went inland a little, passed some farms and through a few small towns.  In a couple places we passed by large eucalyptus trees lining the road and their aroma filled the air.

I did not take many pictures today, because I was either too busy climbing or flying down a curvy road.

I Eat Hills Like You For Breakfast
*note: Sometimes it takes me a day to digest all the wonderful experiences of the day. I have updated yesterdays blog. Now back to today.

Everyday I say, “It can’t be better than yesterday.” but everyday it gets better. What a ride!

Dad and I were the last ones out today because he had a flat and didn’t notice until we were just about to leave. After we fixed it up we headed out fast and up hill, and caught the middle of the pack pretty quickly. Lots of rolling hills and a few bigger climbs before we got to the first SAG. In fact, we did so much climbing before the first SAG that I thought we had done the Big Climb already. Boy was I wrong. I should learn to read a map.

Just after the SAG we started the big climb. Since I hate climbs, I try to get them over with as soon as possible. None of this slow-and-steady nonsense. So I’m going to pat myself on the back because I destroyed that climb. I put it in high gear, lowered my head, told myself this was flat and spun like crazy. I passed people like they were standing still and had time for a nice 10 minute rest at the top while I waited for everyone to catch up.

And then came the down hill. Good thing we were surrounded by tree, thus there was not view, because we had to keep our eyes on the road. Long, fast and winding. Super fun!

It was great to hit the ocean again. It was a perfect day for the views of the great rock formations along the coast. A few lucky people had some very nice houses overlooking the ocean. Jealous.

There were a few more big up-and-downs followed by some rollers at the end, but after the first two huge climbs even the little hills felt big. We’ll sleep well tonight.

Chris

West Coast Bike Day 10

Statistics: Zoom and pan the map to explore the route.

Time: 9/11/2012, 8:09:1

Duration: 06:26:38

Ascent/Descent: 5236 ft 5665 ft

Distance: 69.76 M

Today’s Highlights:

Our day started under overcast skies and more comfortable low 50’s temperatures.  We wandered through the streets of Eureka for a few miles, then played on the interstate for another five miles.  So, the main objective for the first eight miles was just to get the heck out of there.  We reached a nice country road and enjoyed twelve miles through farm country and then had our first rest stop in the very nice town of Ferndale.  Its main street had interesting 1800’s Victorian architecture.

From Ferndale, we enjoyed many more miles of country roads with almost no traffic.  It was a very pleasant ride, although the road was rough in places.   We saw irrigation in progress, and the usual cows and sheep.  The most amazing thing we saw was a super sized sprinkler-like machine that was rotating in a circle shooting out something that looked like dirt.  As we rode by it and got downwind of it, the smell made us realize it was a manure canon!  I didn’t know something could throw poop that far.

For several mile we had some roller coaster steep hills just to add some challenge to the day.  After passing through the little town of Scotia and by their big sawmill, we played on the freeway (interstate 101) for another four miles.  Once off the freeway, the big fun of the day started.  We got on the Avenue of the Giants, which is a nice low-traffic road that winds through the Sequoia forest.  It is really too amazing to describe, seeing those tremendous trees in an almost mystical environment.  It was also very quite and peaceful and seems far from any civilization, except for the paved road.

We passed through the towns of Redcrest, Weott, Miranda and Phillipsville, all of which had populations around 250 to 350 people.  I don’t know where they all were though, as we only saw things like a gift shop, general store and restaurant in each town, and we were in and out of each in less than 1/4 mile.

We ended the day with a few big hills just to get us more hungry for dinner, then another three miles on the interstate before entering Garberville.  We enjoyed a huge Italian dinner at Sicilito in hopes that it will recharge our legs for another big day tomorrow.

They Might Be Giants

It was such a great day I don’t know where to start. How about with the boring weather. It started cold again but got warm in the end – nice sunny day. A lot of the roads today were really rough; about half way through the day everything on my bike was rattling. I had to tighten up the water bottle cages and my head set! That would have been fun, turning the handlebars and still going straight! Also, I was riding so fast that my Built 4 Speed fell off 🙁 I’ll have to find a way to get it back on.

It is interesting to watch the landscape go from farm to forest so quickly. We passed so many cool sites there was no way we could stop to take pictures of everything.

The first bit of the ride was pretty flat, so we rode in a group — not as a group, more of a mob really. There were no hills to separate the men from the boys, so to speak. Stayed like that until Ferndale. Ferndale was a quaint little town. I would have liked to explore it a little more, but the trees were calling.

We passed by Redwood College. This is were the trees go to get there Higher Ed. All the big trees know that without an education you can’t get a good job, without a good job you can’t make lots of money, without lots of money you can’t afford good healthcare, and without good healthcare you can’t live to be 1500 years old and grow to 300 feet tall. So as Mr. T(ree) says, “Don’t be a fool! Stay in school!”

There were numerous shops and touristy places selling redwood gifts and crafts. Many had creative carvings displayed out front, but we kept riding right by, until we hit…

The Avenue of the Giants!! You have to see it to believe it. I don’t know that the pictures do them justice. I would love to come back here and hike around for a week or so. We did stop for one touristy thing: We rode through a tree!! (pics 43-45) I guess I’ve done it all now. Time to go home.

Chris

West Coast Bike Day 09

Statistics: Zoom and pan the map to explore the route.

Time: 9/10/2012, 8:04:0

Duration: 06:47:34

Ascent/Descent: 3184 ft 2667 ft

Distance: 80.62 M

Today’s Highlights:

Our ride today was totally awesome!  The day started with the sun shining on our smiling faces.  In the first mile we cycled on a flat easy stretch with a view of beautiful Crescent Beach with a calm surf rolling in and mist rising into the cool morning air.  As the road turned away from the beach into a wet meadow area, we encountered two large male elk with huge antlers.  We carefully passed the one near the road, then started a big mountain climb.  We climbed almost 1000 ft in two miles, then another 200 ft in the next two miles with some nice rollers in between.  It was a great way to start the day, and the best part of this accent was our first ride through a sequoia forest.  The huge trees were amazing.  After spending about five miles above 900 ft, we had an fun ride down with more amazing views of the California coast, which at times seemed to be straight below the edge of the road about 500 feet.  Reaching the shoreline again after 13 miles there were more beautiful uninhabited beaches.

We made a quick stop at the Trees of Mystery just to take some cheesy tourist shots of the Paul Bunyan and Babe statues, then continued down Rt 101 between towering trees and open meadows.  One of the biggest treats of the day was a eight mile ride on Scenic Parkway through magnificent redwood groves.  It is hard to capture their immensity on camera.  I would have like to spend all day hiking around this area.  We made one side stop at the “Big Tree”, a sequoia that is 21 ft in diameter and over 300 ft tall and estimated to be 1500 years old.

As if the Sequoia forest was not enough of a treat, our route took us back to the coast again along Patrick’s Point Drive with more amazing views of beaches, rivers and lagoons under sunny blue skies.  Our second rest stop was in the town of Trinidad.  From there, we went on a rough road called Scenic Drive, and wow there were more incredible views of the ocean, beaches and cliffs!

Eventually, we returned more inland and spent some miles on a bike path which had an interesting old railroad bridge to ride across.  This led to a very scenic country road through farmlands in a valley bordered by mountains to the east.  It was very bucolic, however the road had just been tarred and graveled, and was a little rough to ride on.  From there we hopped on the 101 highway for a few miles, then entered the town of Eureka.

In all, we covered about 84 miles and climbed over 4400 feet today, and although it was our longest day so far it was also the most enjoyable I can remember.  We even had a few minutes before our barbeque dinner to soak in the hot tub.

Sunny California

Ahhhhh! Now that’s what I’m talking about. It was a beautiful day with lots of great views. Between Dad’s post and the pictures, I don’t need to repeat the day. But I will say, Wow those trees are big. We ride the Avenue of the Giants tomorrow. I can’t wait.

I’m happy to report that raising my seat was a success. It was hard to adjust to at first but ultimately everything felt good. Thanks for always watching my rear end, Stacia.

Chris

West Coast Bike Day 08

Statistics: Zoom and pan the map to explore the route.

Time: 9/9/2012, 8:03:21

Duration: 08:02:22

Ascent/Descent: 4234 ft 4224 ft

Distance: 84.66 M