I got rolling this morning after sleeping well, despite the external monologue of my new friend down the path. I rode without stopping to the bridge. Along the way I passed the two couples I met the previous evening, and waved my greetings. The roads down to Sausalito are quite confusing, and bikes aren't allowed on the major highways down there, so I was stopping frequently to check my map. At one point I was in or near a suburb called Lakspur and was trying to figure out my path when I saw four ladies cycling by and I asked for directions. They were heading the same way, so they told me to ride with them for a bit. They're all from the north side of the bay, and have been riding around the area together for some time, so they knew some sneaky routes that saved time and effort. Thanks ladies.
I climbed the steep hills of Sausalito that lead up to the bridge, which was lovely in the morning fog. I found myself on the southbound side of the bridge which I learned is closed to bikes and pedestrians until 3:30PM (due to wind?) and I had to take my bike down a long set of stairs, under the bridge and up a longer set of stairs to get to the northbound side's sidewalk. Son of a bitch that was awful, and probably the hardest part of my day. They need an elevator.
Crossing the bridge was fantastic and I stopped many times along the way to enjoy the view. I got across and made it into town by 11:30AM and tried to find a motel. There was no visitor's center near the bridge, and I was pointed to the visitor's center at the Presidio, where I met Ruth. I love Ruth. I was impatient and I felt like I had been misdirected to a Presidio-specific info booth, and wanted maps of the city and not just the Presidio. Ruth calmly and in a perfectly grandmotherly way told me that I didn't know it yet, but I will have all the answers I need. I love her. She did give me all the answers I needed. She even pointed me to the cheap motel district on Lombard street. Foxy grandma.
I stopped at the first place checked the rate. They wanted $130, which was more than I wanted to pay, and opted to shop around. The next place wanted only $75, so I assented, but when the gentleman behind the counter pointed to a sign saying that parking was limited and not guaranteed, I pointed to my bike. He then refused to let me stay there if I was to bring my bike in the room. Weird. He said it would mess up the carpets. Asshole. The next place wanted $90, but I talked her down to $80 and she was thrilled that I would be sharing the room with my bike. She even gave me the handicap accessible room so I didn't have to deal with the stairs. The designers of the Golden Gate bridge could learn a thing or two from this lady.
I got the room, showered and was out walking about within an hour. What a perfect day weather-wise. I got on the phone with Amberleigh and made plans to meet with her for dinner and had time to run around the city for the afternoon. My first goal was to find a Peet's coffee shop (the best coffee there is) and did so quickly and with great satisfaction. It was so nice to be on my feet instead of on wheels, and I must've walked about 5 or six miles all told. I started near the Presidio, and hoofed it along the wharf to pier 39 and got a sourdough baguette from Boudin (delicious) then went up to market street to Union Square and found the library at 8th and Market and checked my mail and blogged a bit in the 15 minute intervals that the library permitted. After 15 minutes you had to rejoin the queue, which never took very long. It was interesting though to see what people would do with their fifteen minutes while waiting. One guy was watching telenovellas via YouTube, and another older gentleman would load old black and white photos of pin-up girls and stare at them for maybe five minutes each. Good times.
Met up with Amberleigh and had coffee and then we met with Anna Maria and her step-brother Peter, with whom they were staying. He's the RA at a dorm for a University of Fine Arts. He keeps watch over the ballet students. Nice one. He knows the area well, and he took us to Japantown for sushi where we ate and drank so much and paid so little. I feel like we robbed them. Awesome. And the grilled squid was amazing. I'm still gearing up for some Tokyo Delve's once I hit L.A., so this was a nice tease.
He had to get back to his dorn by curfew though and to do a headcount, so Amberleigh and I hung out a bit longer, caught up and grabbed a late/early breakfast at IHOP. I love pancakes so much. It was a good day, but I wish I had more time to stay there, which can be said for so many of the places I've visited so far. Perhaps, I'll consider this a surveying mission for the next time I come out here to know at which places are worth spending time.
For the day: (half day)
Rolling time: 2:48:46
Distance: 31.18 miles
Avg speed: 11.08 mph
01 September 2006
Day twelve - Salt Point State Park, CA to Samuel P Taylor State Park, CA
Those bastards. The only food I had was wrapped in their original packaging and (I thought) should have been free of scavenger-attracting odors and zipped up in my bags, but those beastly raccoons actually manipulated (claw-nipulated?) the zippers on my panniers and stole my Clif bars and some instant oatmeal packages. No big loss, but I'm no longer shedding tears over their dead cousins that I pass on the shoulder of the road many times a day.
I rolled out slow this morning and remained rolling slow for a while. Do pardon me while I wax excretory, but it's one thing to bike when one needs to urinate. It happens all the time, especially when one is constantly drinking water from a three liter reservoir strapped on one's back. But when there are "other matters to attend to" it is impossible to cycle efficiently. With few other options with in the first 15 miles, I had to tough it out and labour through the rolling hills. Not just rolling hills, but what other cyclists referred to as the "California corners," a seemingly endless series of rapid, winding descents into a cove along the coast that sweep around a tight corner (180 degrees of more) at the bottom and right into a not-so-rapid, winding ascent. What sucks most about the "California corners" is that at the bottom, the corner is so tight that you have to brake hard and you lose most of your downhill momentum which would have given you an edge on starting the climb. Suck ass. After a lot of this, I hit the town of Jenner and found a restroom in the "welcome center." I can only imagine that I left it a little less welcoming after my visit.
From there it was relatively smooth, despite a dozen or more corners to deal with, and I made it to Bodega Bay, which my friend Kat reminded me was where Hitchcock shot "the Birds." The visitor's center was lousy with memorabilia and stuffed birds. Lovely. I did my laundry, and took it easy for a while.
Rolling again, Route 1 cuts inland into rolling hills across the [dry] grassy plains of southern Sonoma/northern Marin counties. It was fine for a while until I turned to the southwest and faced a brutal headwind. After an hour or more of this I could only imagine what Samuel L. Jackson would say (emphasis added): "That is IT! I have HAD IT, with these MOTHERFUCKIN' HEADWINDS, across these MOTHERFUCKIN' PLAINS!" Incidentally, I feel like at random moments of despair along this trip, I've channeled Samuel L. Jackson in my internal dialogue. At another stop for instance, I could not find my bag of trail mix, and all I could say (to nobody, again empahsis added) was: "I am going to ask you ONE MORE time, where in the HELL is my MOTHERFUCKIN' SNACK MIX?!" In defence of one who thinks this is an over-reaction, I wasn't just looking for any trail mix, I was looking for one of many bags I'd consumed along this trip of King Henry's brand Aloha Trail Mix. Dried pineapples, mangos, raisins, peanuts, coconut flakes, banana chips, peanuts and almonds in just the right proportion. I haven't seen Kind Henry in Chicago. I think it must be a Pacific northwest thing, but I'm certain that you can also find it in every decorative candy dish on every cocktail table in heaven. So good.
The headwinds calmed down by as Route 1 hugged the Tomales Bay. I stopped for supper in a town called Marshall at the general store/restaurant and enjoyed some great coffee and some baked brie. Nice place. They were playing some great be-bop courtesy of satellite radio.
From there it was only 15 miles to Samuel P. Taylor State Park, which would bring me to only 26 miles outside of San Francisco. The hiker biker site was close to full, and I found one of two spots left. I met my neighbor, who looked like he would have gotten along quite well with Frannie and Dusty. I quickly invented a reason to move to the other site. (It's a good thing too, as even from a distance, I could hear him talking loudly in his sleep. I didn't get a full story from it, but I'm sure what I heard were the excerpts he would have put on the jacket liner.) Up and away from him, I met some other riders: Bob and Rita, a retired couple from the Seattle area, and Harold and Cynthia, a younger couple from Oregon. They weren't riding together per se, but they had camped by chance, at the last few campsites together and both couples were ending their respective tours in SF the next day.
I'm looking forward to being in city tomorrow, if only for a day. I think I'm going to cash in that "extra day" that I earned and spend the night in a motel in the city if I can find one on the cheap. It's a holiday weekend so who knows. My friend Amberleigh from Brooklyn, and her former roommate Anna Maria, who now lives in Chicago are meeting in San Francisco for the holiday. I'm hoping I can meet up with them for a spell. I've no cell service right now though, so we'll have to see. Also, some friends of the family (what my family has friends?) Joe and Kathy live in Palo Alto, and I'm hoping to meet up with them sometime along the way. Curse you T-Mobile and your lack of reception in the redwoods. To sleep.
For the day:
Rolling time: 5:22:31
Distance: 67.17 miles
Avg speed: 12.49 mph
I rolled out slow this morning and remained rolling slow for a while. Do pardon me while I wax excretory, but it's one thing to bike when one needs to urinate. It happens all the time, especially when one is constantly drinking water from a three liter reservoir strapped on one's back. But when there are "other matters to attend to" it is impossible to cycle efficiently. With few other options with in the first 15 miles, I had to tough it out and labour through the rolling hills. Not just rolling hills, but what other cyclists referred to as the "California corners," a seemingly endless series of rapid, winding descents into a cove along the coast that sweep around a tight corner (180 degrees of more) at the bottom and right into a not-so-rapid, winding ascent. What sucks most about the "California corners" is that at the bottom, the corner is so tight that you have to brake hard and you lose most of your downhill momentum which would have given you an edge on starting the climb. Suck ass. After a lot of this, I hit the town of Jenner and found a restroom in the "welcome center." I can only imagine that I left it a little less welcoming after my visit.
From there it was relatively smooth, despite a dozen or more corners to deal with, and I made it to Bodega Bay, which my friend Kat reminded me was where Hitchcock shot "the Birds." The visitor's center was lousy with memorabilia and stuffed birds. Lovely. I did my laundry, and took it easy for a while.
Rolling again, Route 1 cuts inland into rolling hills across the [dry] grassy plains of southern Sonoma/northern Marin counties. It was fine for a while until I turned to the southwest and faced a brutal headwind. After an hour or more of this I could only imagine what Samuel L. Jackson would say (emphasis added): "That is IT! I have HAD IT, with these MOTHERFUCKIN' HEADWINDS, across these MOTHERFUCKIN' PLAINS!" Incidentally, I feel like at random moments of despair along this trip, I've channeled Samuel L. Jackson in my internal dialogue. At another stop for instance, I could not find my bag of trail mix, and all I could say (to nobody, again empahsis added) was: "I am going to ask you ONE MORE time, where in the HELL is my MOTHERFUCKIN' SNACK MIX?!" In defence of one who thinks this is an over-reaction, I wasn't just looking for any trail mix, I was looking for one of many bags I'd consumed along this trip of King Henry's brand Aloha Trail Mix. Dried pineapples, mangos, raisins, peanuts, coconut flakes, banana chips, peanuts and almonds in just the right proportion. I haven't seen Kind Henry in Chicago. I think it must be a Pacific northwest thing, but I'm certain that you can also find it in every decorative candy dish on every cocktail table in heaven. So good.
The headwinds calmed down by as Route 1 hugged the Tomales Bay. I stopped for supper in a town called Marshall at the general store/restaurant and enjoyed some great coffee and some baked brie. Nice place. They were playing some great be-bop courtesy of satellite radio.
From there it was only 15 miles to Samuel P. Taylor State Park, which would bring me to only 26 miles outside of San Francisco. The hiker biker site was close to full, and I found one of two spots left. I met my neighbor, who looked like he would have gotten along quite well with Frannie and Dusty. I quickly invented a reason to move to the other site. (It's a good thing too, as even from a distance, I could hear him talking loudly in his sleep. I didn't get a full story from it, but I'm sure what I heard were the excerpts he would have put on the jacket liner.) Up and away from him, I met some other riders: Bob and Rita, a retired couple from the Seattle area, and Harold and Cynthia, a younger couple from Oregon. They weren't riding together per se, but they had camped by chance, at the last few campsites together and both couples were ending their respective tours in SF the next day.
I'm looking forward to being in city tomorrow, if only for a day. I think I'm going to cash in that "extra day" that I earned and spend the night in a motel in the city if I can find one on the cheap. It's a holiday weekend so who knows. My friend Amberleigh from Brooklyn, and her former roommate Anna Maria, who now lives in Chicago are meeting in San Francisco for the holiday. I'm hoping I can meet up with them for a spell. I've no cell service right now though, so we'll have to see. Also, some friends of the family (what my family has friends?) Joe and Kathy live in Palo Alto, and I'm hoping to meet up with them sometime along the way. Curse you T-Mobile and your lack of reception in the redwoods. To sleep.
For the day:
Rolling time: 5:22:31
Distance: 67.17 miles
Avg speed: 12.49 mph
Day eleven - Cleone, CA to Salt Point State Park, CA
I stayed tucked in as long as I could this morning from such a cold night, but got out of my tent to find a pretty fair morning; and the sun was out despite my being close to the ocean. Things must be looking up.
I got rolling by 9:30 and went into the town of Fort Bragg for breakfast and to hit a bike shop. I saw a Denny's and was very tempted to stop there, but I wanted to get a taste of the local flavour, so I found the "Route 1 Restaurant" which had nothing but organic food and proud slogans slapped everywhere to back it up. I had some organic oatmeal with organically grown and dried raisins, and raw organic sugar. The was also organic. My only complaint about the place was that it was understaffed and it took a long time to get in and out.
Next to the bike shop. A great place (Ft. Bragg Cyclery, aptly enough). I needed a new pedal (pedals really, they're sold in pairs like shoes) as my last set had a plastic element which had given way under the power of my massive calves and amazing thighs. Also, they were cheap and poorly made. I got the new set (similar to the last pair, but with aluminum where the plastic had been on the last pair). They had a little workshop in the back for people to put on new parts and save the labour charge. It's a nice touch. I also finally got my tires up to a decent inflation using their fancy pump. My hand pump is hard to use and is really limitted in its output.
On the way out of town I hit a Safeway (they recognize my Dominic's card--so to them my name was also Aldo Mendoza) for some lunch/supper items and then hit the road for real by noon.
It was a beautiful day weather-wise, and scenery-wise. Sunny with a tailwind, and such great views of the coast. I would like to spend more time in southern Mendocino county when I get the chance, and have more time to enjoy it.
The day was good but long. I rolled into camp at 7:30 and was exhausted, but felt good knowing that I was only a day and half outside of San Francisco. I set up camp, ate, and started writing when I heard some raccoons who were interested in my bike. The campsites in California offer boxes for campers to put to their food, but all I had in my panniers were pre-wrapped powerbars and the like. I shooed them away, but I expect they'll be back. No bears to speak of yet, but as I said, I'm only a day and half outside of San Francisco.
For the day:
Rolling Time: 6:34:27
Distance: 86.70 miles
Avg speed: 13.18 mph
I got rolling by 9:30 and went into the town of Fort Bragg for breakfast and to hit a bike shop. I saw a Denny's and was very tempted to stop there, but I wanted to get a taste of the local flavour, so I found the "Route 1 Restaurant" which had nothing but organic food and proud slogans slapped everywhere to back it up. I had some organic oatmeal with organically grown and dried raisins, and raw organic sugar. The was also organic. My only complaint about the place was that it was understaffed and it took a long time to get in and out.
Next to the bike shop. A great place (Ft. Bragg Cyclery, aptly enough). I needed a new pedal (pedals really, they're sold in pairs like shoes) as my last set had a plastic element which had given way under the power of my massive calves and amazing thighs. Also, they were cheap and poorly made. I got the new set (similar to the last pair, but with aluminum where the plastic had been on the last pair). They had a little workshop in the back for people to put on new parts and save the labour charge. It's a nice touch. I also finally got my tires up to a decent inflation using their fancy pump. My hand pump is hard to use and is really limitted in its output.
On the way out of town I hit a Safeway (they recognize my Dominic's card--so to them my name was also Aldo Mendoza) for some lunch/supper items and then hit the road for real by noon.
It was a beautiful day weather-wise, and scenery-wise. Sunny with a tailwind, and such great views of the coast. I would like to spend more time in southern Mendocino county when I get the chance, and have more time to enjoy it.
The day was good but long. I rolled into camp at 7:30 and was exhausted, but felt good knowing that I was only a day and half outside of San Francisco. I set up camp, ate, and started writing when I heard some raccoons who were interested in my bike. The campsites in California offer boxes for campers to put to their food, but all I had in my panniers were pre-wrapped powerbars and the like. I shooed them away, but I expect they'll be back. No bears to speak of yet, but as I said, I'm only a day and half outside of San Francisco.
For the day:
Rolling Time: 6:34:27
Distance: 86.70 miles
Avg speed: 13.18 mph
Day ten - Myer's Flat, CA to Cleone, CA
Got up nice and early and out by 9AM. It had been warm last night and I could sleep with the fly off of my tent and see the stars. Very nice.
Rolled past Miranda, CA and into a town called Phillipsville, which had the most amazing little general store. It had terrific coffee and a nice old bearded man playing some 70's fusion jazz. I like these parts of California.
I left the redwoods and made my way to Leggett, the little town where U.S. 101 meets California's Rte. 1. And just past the town of Leggett is "Leggett Hill," which is the biggest "hill" on the coast climging to 2000 feet. I rested a while beforehand, and then pushed through it in about a half hour or so. It was quite a climb (over 4 miles in length) but it flattened at spells so it wasn't always that hard. The descent was amazing. I could really feel the difference the new tires made. I got up to 47 mph. Hot damn.
After the almost 6 mile downhill, I hit another pretty hearty climb, which I might have been harder than Leggett if only because I had put so much mental energy into the first "hill." I crawled up it and hit flat land, but had to race to get into my campsite by sundown. On the way, I went through a number of small towns, the most memorable of which was called Westport. There was one main center of business and culture which was the general store/ post office/ gas station. Outside there were a few locals driking "Mates" (which is coffee for hippies), and a group of guys playing various guitar instruments. One man I met had travelled on foot (his belongings in tow on a makeshift rickshaw sort of contraption) with his dog from Dallas, TX. He'd been on the road for over three years. Pretty crazy. I liked his spirit though.
Got to camp and endured a brutally cold night. I put on my jacket and zipped up my mummy bag all the way and only then could I get comfortable.
For the day:
Rolling Time: 6:57:53
Distance: 84.54 miles
Avg speed: 12.13 mph
Rolled past Miranda, CA and into a town called Phillipsville, which had the most amazing little general store. It had terrific coffee and a nice old bearded man playing some 70's fusion jazz. I like these parts of California.
I left the redwoods and made my way to Leggett, the little town where U.S. 101 meets California's Rte. 1. And just past the town of Leggett is "Leggett Hill," which is the biggest "hill" on the coast climging to 2000 feet. I rested a while beforehand, and then pushed through it in about a half hour or so. It was quite a climb (over 4 miles in length) but it flattened at spells so it wasn't always that hard. The descent was amazing. I could really feel the difference the new tires made. I got up to 47 mph. Hot damn.
After the almost 6 mile downhill, I hit another pretty hearty climb, which I might have been harder than Leggett if only because I had put so much mental energy into the first "hill." I crawled up it and hit flat land, but had to race to get into my campsite by sundown. On the way, I went through a number of small towns, the most memorable of which was called Westport. There was one main center of business and culture which was the general store/ post office/ gas station. Outside there were a few locals driking "Mates" (which is coffee for hippies), and a group of guys playing various guitar instruments. One man I met had travelled on foot (his belongings in tow on a makeshift rickshaw sort of contraption) with his dog from Dallas, TX. He'd been on the road for over three years. Pretty crazy. I liked his spirit though.
Got to camp and endured a brutally cold night. I put on my jacket and zipped up my mummy bag all the way and only then could I get comfortable.
For the day:
Rolling Time: 6:57:53
Distance: 84.54 miles
Avg speed: 12.13 mph
Day nine - Eureka, CA to Myer's Flat, CA
Slept in a bit this morning, at least as much as I could with a fully functioning lumber mill only a wood fence away. Bought coffee and limped up to the laundry room to warm up my clothes. Amazingly, once I got rolling again, my hell was fine. I'm somehow training my body against its pedestrian tendencies. Weird.
I found a bike shop in Eureka (pretty town by the way, lots of Victorian crap). I needed a new rear tire as the tread on my current one had been erased to nearly nothing and I was concerned that it might go. I had been running on hybrid tires, smooth in the middle for roads, but with some grip on the sides. I traded them in for some slicks, but slicks that are just as wide as my hybrid tires (700x32 for those out there geeky enought to know or care). I got them "to go" and planned on swaping them out later when I got to camp.
It remained cold and windy and damp by the coast and then as I went inland, it became gorgeous. In fact the weather was just about perfect right as I turned off U.S. 101 for "The Avenue of the Giants," a 32 mile stretch of scenic highway through the Humboldt Redwoods State Park. Amazing.
Early on I ran into an Australian couple who were touring the entire coast, from Canada to Mexico. They rode with trailers (the first I'd seen so far, though they are quite popular with bike tourists according to online forums.) Nice folks.
Made it into camp after a leisurely ride down "the avenue" and set up camp among the redwoods. Changed out my tires adn gave them a test spin around the park. My bike felt so different without the extra 50lbs of panniers weighing her down, but I couldn't yet feel the difference of the slicks. I'm sure I'll notice tomorrow.
For the day:
Rolling time: 5:06:40
Distance: 62.62 miles
Avg speed: 12.25 mph
I found a bike shop in Eureka (pretty town by the way, lots of Victorian crap). I needed a new rear tire as the tread on my current one had been erased to nearly nothing and I was concerned that it might go. I had been running on hybrid tires, smooth in the middle for roads, but with some grip on the sides. I traded them in for some slicks, but slicks that are just as wide as my hybrid tires (700x32 for those out there geeky enought to know or care). I got them "to go" and planned on swaping them out later when I got to camp.
It remained cold and windy and damp by the coast and then as I went inland, it became gorgeous. In fact the weather was just about perfect right as I turned off U.S. 101 for "The Avenue of the Giants," a 32 mile stretch of scenic highway through the Humboldt Redwoods State Park. Amazing.
Early on I ran into an Australian couple who were touring the entire coast, from Canada to Mexico. They rode with trailers (the first I'd seen so far, though they are quite popular with bike tourists according to online forums.) Nice folks.
Made it into camp after a leisurely ride down "the avenue" and set up camp among the redwoods. Changed out my tires adn gave them a test spin around the park. My bike felt so different without the extra 50lbs of panniers weighing her down, but I couldn't yet feel the difference of the slicks. I'm sure I'll notice tomorrow.
For the day:
Rolling time: 5:06:40
Distance: 62.62 miles
Avg speed: 12.25 mph
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