Cloverdale to Petaluma CA, 72 miles

Even though we had a 72 mile ride - it was relatively a light riding day as there were not too many hills.  After four hard days it was great to have a mostly flat riding day.

We started out riding through the Dry Creek wine region and then though the Russian River wine region.  Had to be at least 100-200 wineries.  Only knew the name of a couple of the wineries.  Not sure where one even buys most of the small boutique wines that we passed by.    It was perfect weather (65 degrees) and the road was small rolling hills.  They had told us that the road would be really rough - but they repaved it this year and was smooth as a baby's ass.  This is what we ride for!

 About 12.5 miles in we were told to look out from some goats playing poker. They did not give us more information that this - but this is what we saw....

 Even had one goat taking your picture as you were taking his...

 Lots of great, fancy tasting rooms.  Again no way one can ride 72 miles if you stop for wine.  So we had to pass on all the "free wine tastings".

Small towns dotted the landscape.  Must rely on tourism for generating most of their money.

After the wine county we rode through about 35 miles of farm land.  It was really hot and one match would have burned hundreds of acres.    Seemed like it was 95 degrees out there.

We ended up in Petaluma which is home to Lagunitas Brewery.  

After 72 miles.  I checked into the hotel and immediately made a beeline to the brewery.  Damn that beer hit the spot (second one was even better).  As I was on my bike had to stop at two beers or I would never had made it back to the hotel.  

Tomorrow our destination is San Francisco.  Saturday we have a rest day and plan is to go see Alison, Steve and the Little Dude!.

Fort Bragg to Cloverdale 74 miles - hot, hot, hot

Wow.  Toady is why we ride.
Started off in Fort Bragg at 48 degrees and clear along the ocean for about 20 miles.

We rode along Route 1 and passed Mendocino....

And dropped down to sea level before heading into a Redwood Forest at about 20 miles.

I would guess the temperature in the woods was probably 50-52 degrees.  Nice and cool.  But it was hard for the cars to see us so we all had our rear lights on and flashing.  At about 30 miles we had a sag stop next to a former campground that had a "circle of redwoods".  You stood in the middle and tried to take a picture of the top of the trees - and you had to be careful you did not fall over trying to see the top of the trees.

As soon as we exited the forest the temperature jumped to about 80 degrees and we entered  Anderson Valley wine  country.  Lots of small vineyards dotted both sides of the road.

At 45 miles there was a cider stand.  First the cider was great (cold and fresh).  Second it marked the 1/2 point of our ride (700 miles down; 700 miles to go).

Almost immediately after the cider stand we began to climb for the next 25 miles.  By now, the temperature climbed to the high 80's. By the time we reached our hotel the temperature was 92 degrees.  

The staff did a great job of helping us today.  They had energy drinks for us before the big climbs and at the top of each 3 mile climb they were there waiting with ice and water for our water bottles.

Only complaint of the day were the logging trucks.  The shoulder of the roads in many places did not even exist.  While the speed limit might be posted at 30, these guys were hauling by us at 40-50.  They would honk their horns and my strategy was to get my ass off the road.  Not only would the truck come by - but probably 10 cars were right behind it as they could not pass the big trucks on the narrow roads.

But I survived and we got to see the glory of California.  From the ocean to the redwoods to the hills and farmland.    All in one day.

First thing I did when I got in my hotel room was crank up the air conditioner.   First time this trip.  Not sure where we go tomorrow but it will be hot, for sure.

Garberville to Fort Bragg 68 miles of climbing

They told us on Sunday that we would be climbing for the next 4 days.  First two days we did an average of 4000 feet of climbing per day.  Today we got close to 6000 feet.  

I got a little scared on a downhill that we had after we left the hotel.  I was doing about 36 mph downhill when my bike starting shimmering almost to the point where I could not control the bike.  I thought I had a flat tire and somehow I was able to stop the bike before I crashed and got off the road asap so I could see what was going wrong.  The scary part is that my tire was not flat and I couldn't see anything else wrong with the bike.  I have to tell you after that I lost all my confidence in my bike.  Braked the rest of the way down the hill.

I passed Jim (our mechanic) who was supporting us today and stopped for him to look at my bike.  He said the best way to prevent a high speed shim is "not to go high speed".  Having said this he check my front wheel and re-tightened it and it seem to solve the problem  Really glad I stopped.

There were one giant hill that went up for about 30 miles - with the last 8 miles at about a 7-8 degree climb.  While the downhill was awesome - we hit another "mini" climb of about 4 miles.   I took a shot of the ride's climbing profile that they included in our directions...

At about 45 miles we exited the woods and reached the California coastline.  After that we had 20 miles of "rollers"  that as soon as you went down (yea) you immediately hit an uphill (boo).

It started out in the fog, the sun burst through and we had great views of the Pacific Ocean.

Just before we got into Fort Bragg, we passed the Pacific Star Winery.  Cathryn and I stopped there a couple of years ago and really enjoyed the wine.  One interesting fact about the winery - the winemaker was one of the first woman winemakers in California.    Thought about stopping - but I had another 15 miles and would not have made it with some wine in my belly.

Got to the hotel and have to confess I am pretty tired.  We have another tough climbing day tomorrow so might be getting to bed by 7 pm tonight!

Cheers,

Eureka to Hippy town (Garberville) 80 miles of weird weather

Today's ride ended in Garberville which is the pot capital of California - all of which is illegally grown.   On the way into town where you normally have people holding " help wanted" signs there were young kids hold up signs "pot horticulturist for hire".  I kid you not.

Again not a lot of pictures mainly because of a heavy duty fog.  It was so thick that it was almost like rain when you rode.  My sunglasses were useless for the first 40 miles.

Then the sun came out and the temperature jumped from the 50's to the 80"s in the span of a couple of miles. The first 50 miles were rolling hills and the highlight was riding through the Avenue of the Giants.  This is a road that stretches for about 30 miles that have giant redwoods on either side of the road.  They are so tall you can not take them all in with a tiny camera...

At about 50 miles we exited the trees and ended up next to the Eel River.  In 1964, after two days of rain (32 inches in two days) the Eel River overflowed and wiped out the entire city of Weott  The water level was 32 feet about the ground.  Even more amazing is that the river is actually 20 feet lower than ground level - so this means the water crested at 52 feet above normal.  A couple of photos to show the scale of the water level.

As you can see by the above photos by now the sun is out and it is about 80 degrees.  And almost immediately we began to climb for the next 30 miles.  Lots of climbing over the last 30 miles.  I knew it was coming so I had been pacing myself over the first 50.  

Had it all worked out except for the heat.  I was wearing a long sleeve shirt and a vest (which was ripped off on the first climb).  Stopped in a gas station for a drink and John (75 years old John) stopped as well as and of course his drink of choice was a Starbucks Frappuccino.  I think I pointed out that John was an early investor in Starbucks - so his choice of drink was probably predictable.  

Got to Garberville and after checking into the hotel went walking in the town.  You could get high just walking by all the stoners hanging out on the street.  I went into a quick mart and tried to buy a beer to go - but the clerk asked me for an ID (which I had left in my bike at the hotel) and the clerk would not sell me the beer.  Here are kids hyping pot right outside the quick mart - and a 66 year old is being carded for a beer. What a town!

Eventually I had to leave and go to the quick mart next store who thankfully did not card me.

Tonight we are going to have dinner at the local restaurant that specializes in Italian and Mexican cuisine.  I tired using Trip Adviser for some alternatives - but this was the only place in town open after 2 pm.    We are having dinner at 4:30 because the place has a reputation for being slow.  Ended up being pretty good - so no complaints.

Expecting another big climb day (for the next two days).  Heading to Fort Bragg home of Sea Glass beach.  

(Mike Driscoll - have to tell you my ass is killing me - first time ever).  Everybody on the ride has a home-gown solution on how to deal with this. Ranging from baby diaper rash to AD ointment to custom designed bike rider cream.  Decided not to take a chance - so my solution is I am using all of the above.

Hope I make it over the next couple of days.

Crescent City to Eureka - 85 miles of pain

Today was a really foggy day so there are not a lot of photos.  Not to mention it was a really hard ride so I spent most of my time trying to figure out how the hell I was going to finish the 85 mile ride.

The ride started out with a 13 mile climb.  I averaged about 5-6 mph so it took pretty close to 1 1/2 hours to get to the top.  The ride down was obviously out of sight - but as soon as we were on the bottom we had another climb that had to be at least 5 or 6 miles long.  I think the average slope was in the 6-8 degree range with a couple of short 10 degree climbs.  Almost as challenging as climbing up the pass on the way to Jackson Hole.

I reached the first Sag stop (first rest spot) at 19 miles and I was the last person to check in.  People that have never passed me before had already signed in and I could not figure out when they passed me.  I thought I must have been hallucinating due to the climbing - but I found out that a lot of people started 1/2 hour earlier (early loaders).

We are in Humboldt County where most of California's pot is grown.  But it is also the home of the mighty Redwoods.  On our day off we got to take a hike in the Redwood Forest.  We were able to speak to a ranger who told us the average tree was between 400-600 years old and they have life expediencies of 2500 years.

Again my little point and shoot camera could not take in the shear size of the trees.  We passed on tree that had been uprooted and had one of the riders stand in front of the root ball.  Big.

As I mentioned we has a lot of fog for most of the ride.  When I was coming down the first climb there was one place to stop and take some photos and you could see the fog rolling in.  Five minutes after I got this shot off, the whole shoreline was engulfed in fog for the remainder of the ride.  So not too many photo opportunities.

After we got out of the Redwood Forest there was a Elk Viewing Area.  We were told that no one on any previous ride had ever seen an elk there - but lo and behold there were two elks feasting on the grass in the meadow (not the Humboldt variety).

With 30 miles left to go I had to take a shot of this sign as Sf is a about our 1/2 way.  

Speaking of signs I have to tell you I hate the sign that says "Passing Lane Ahead".  It is never good to see this just means the rest of the damn hill is going to be long and steep.  On the other had the sign "Trucks Check Your Brakes" is a really, really good sign.  All downhill from there.  

Not sure where we are going tomorrow.  Been told next two days are the toughest climbing days. So hopefully I can blog when I get in.  

P.S.  Before I sign off congratulations to Ellen and David for completing their first half marathon.  Going to have to figure out how to get them into long distance biking! Better on the bones.