We took our time getting ready this morning since we knew we had another short day ahead of us- which was perfectly fine by me! We enjoyed our bagel and cream cheese left over from the hotel and liked having a microwave to cook our oatmeal in instead of having to use our little stove. It was a little cloudy this morning, but the sunshine came out a little later. We continued riding down rt. 87 crossing through town after town. That made the ride go by pretty fast, there was no part of the ride that was boring. One thing we kept seeing were these pizza places called "Round Table Pizza." In fact the first one we saw was yesterday when we stopped at Safeway. They have an all you can eat buffet for about 6 bucks a person, which we thought was a pretty good deal. We were way too stuffed yesterday to even think about going there then, but ever since we've had pizza on our mind. Well, actually we've been talking about going to a pizza buffet since we got into the lower 48-that was always the joke when we were riding with Greg and Lea, but there was never a buffet at the right place/time. So, since we kept seeing them in all the towns we were riding through, we figured there would be one down the road at the perfect time. As lunch time drew closer and we got hungry, we hadn't seen one in a while and were beginning to worry we wouldn't. We came across a McDonald's, so we busted out the tablet and looked. Sure enough, there was one about a mile away. Pizza, bread stick twists (and my favorite- cinnamon twists!) and salad, it was perfect. The restaurant even had wi-fi, so we took that opportunity to look up the directions to where we were staying. Turns out we were a lot closer than we thought and the pizza place was on the corner of the road we needed to turn on, couldn't be more perfect. So after stuffing ourselves to the brim, we rode the 3-4 miles to where we were staying. Lenson, our host, is a friend of the original Warm Shower's Host we contacted (Monica). Unfortunately, Monica has recently moved and her new roommates aren't comfortable with the idea of WS. Fortunately though, Monica knew Lenson from the Stanford Triathlon club and he was able to help us out. When we got to the house he wasn't home but said he left the door open. It was the perfect place to stay for a couple days- he lived in what was called "the shack out back" (he rents from the people in the main house). Lenson is working on his Doctorate at Stanford and is really busy. It was still a bit early in the day, so we had time to relax. We both took showers and I had a chance to work on blogs outside in the sunshine. Lenson got home around 7 and then the three of us took a ride in his big van to the grocery store. Joe and I bought some linguine, sauce and cheese to make for dinner. Later on, we found out that Lenson bought a half gallon of ice cream, too! For the rest of the night we just relaxed, ate yummy food, talked with Lenson, and figured out our plan for tomorrow. It was only 26.05 miles from Burlingame to Los Altos where we were staying.
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After a great nights sleep in the worlds most comfortable bed, we headed upstairs to the Executive Lounge for breakfast. They had everything- fruit, cereal, yogurt, bagels, breakfast burritos, pastries, hot cocoa, etc. It was wonderful. Joe and I ate SO much food (and even grabbed a couple pieces of fruit and a bagel for later). We were sad to pack up and have to leave since the time here went so fast, but the good news is that we will get to see Aunt Mary Lynn and Uncle Ron when we get to FL. By the time we were all packed and walking out the door it was 11 o'clock; we stayed right up until checkout. We said our goodbyes and thank yous to Uncle Ronnie and Aunt Mary Lynn and then parted ways. Since I still wanted to ride down Lombard St. on my bike, we rode back up the hill to do so (this time taking a much less steep and rideable route). Just before we rode down, we met a nice lady who offered to walk halfway down to get a photo of the two of us riding down- it looked like she got one, so I hope that she e-mails it to us. It was so neat, but it definitely made your hands hurt from holding the brakes so hard. I had to stop a coupe times on the way down just to shake them out a little. After that, we rode back towards the financial district, where our hotel was, and rode around all the big tall buildings. We saw the Port of San Francisco where the ferry departs from and walked through an area near there that was full of artists and little stands where people were selling things. While there, we also used one of the worlds weirdest toilets. It had a button that you push to open the door, then there is no "flusher" on the toilet (instead the restroom is locked when you leaved for "cleaning"). The little sink inside was totally automated. You stick your hands under there and water and soap come out and then about 20 seconds later the water turns off and the air dryer comes on. It looked like a bathroom from the future. We rode by the SF Giants' baseball field and then a while later rode by Candlestick Park. There was a game today, so there were a whole bunch of people tailgating and walking around. That was pretty neat, but the area all around Candlestick Park isn't very pretty- not at all like the San Francisco near the touristy downtown area. In fact it was not a very good area of the city. After getting lost a little trying to get out of the city, we found the road we were looking for and rode on that for quite a while. At one point we came into South San Francisco, which was much nicer. One thing we noticed is that once we were out of San Francisco, the houses looked like "southern cali" houses. We stopped at a Safeway and picked up some oatmeal since we were all out and a loaf of bread for later since we knew we wouldn't be hungry enough to cook anything. We were still pretty full from breakfast, so we just had a little snack of yogurt before continuing on. For a couple miles we rode along a bike path and then found rt. 87 which we would be riding on all the way to San Jose. That afternoon it got really hot and we were just dragging. Since we had a late start, we didn't get a ton of miles in, but we did make a little headway. We stopped at a library for a little bit and then continued on. In the town of Burlingame, we found a church, but there was no one around, so we decided to keep riding a little to see if we could find a church with someone to ask. Sure enough another mile or two down the road we found a church. There were a few cars there from the people having a bible study. When Joe went to ask, they didn't have any problem with us setting up our tent, but asked if we would rather sleep indoors. Of course we would! Reverend Jeff opened up the youth house for us and we were able to put our bikes right inside so we didn't have to worry about them. We rolled out our sleeping bags and were very happy to not have to set up the tent. It was wonderful, running water and electricity; we were so lucky. We both talked on the phone for a little bit. I talked to Kelly for quite a while. She had contacted her sister in Oakland just in case we needed a place to stay, but in the end we decided not to go there. It was a little out of the way and Kelly said her sister lived in a not so great area- so our bikes might not have been safe. But either way, it was nice to have the option if we needed it! Joe and I snacked on our bread and I worked on catching up on blogs since I had a working tablet again- oh do I have so much to catch up on now. What a great surprise to be sleeping indoors again tonight- this is why I love bicycle touring because you just never know what your day is going to bring. Our miles totaled 26.96 after riding around the city for a bit and finding our way to Burlingame.
San Francisco today! We woke up excited to ride across the bridge, see Uncle Ronnie and Aunt Mary Lynn, and see the sights in the city. It was still pretty chilly when we woke up, but once we got in the sunshine it warmed right up. We packed up and rode about a mile down the road to the picnic tables we saw in a little park yesterday. Now that the tablet was fixed, I was able to borrow Loic's memory card and copy his photos and copy my photos to his card- that will save us a lot of time not having to email them. Joe and I had a little oatmeal, but since I was working on the pictures and we were all so excited, I didn't have a lot of it. We retraced our path back to the bridge and then found the start of the bike path across it. The view of the bridge was beautiful with the fog. We took a couple pictures and then rode across the bridge! I stopped so many times to take pictures just because I was so excited. It worked out great that we had our little group so that we could get a nice picture of Loic and he could get one of us riding across. Not long after we had gotten on the other side, we said our goodbyes to Loic, with hopes that our paths would cross again. From there, we set out to find Aunt Mary Lynn and Uncle Ronnie at the hotel downtown. We were a little worried that we would get lost since the only map of the city was the little city insert on our road map, but somehow, we did just fine. We found Lombard St and took that for a little ways and then found ourselves climbing up Russian hill. The first couple sections were steep, and then there was the one section- it was one crazy hill. Joe had to try a couple times to get started up it because his gears were messing up, but once he made it he was able to ride 3/4 of the way up. I rode 10 or 15 pedal strokes up, before getting off to walk. It was just so steep- it was hard, but the worst part is that it felt like my front wheel was just going to come off the ground and I was going to fall backwards, which I knew couldn't happen, but I still didn't like that feeling. It was so hard to push that bike up the hill though, especially since my upper body strength is lacking- it was exhausting. After that, we had another section of the hill to climb, but it was much more manageable. Boy did we feel the burn in our legs. When we got to the top, we saw the famous section of Lombard St. I really wanted to ride down it right then, but since we weren't sure exactly where we had to go to get to the hotel and we just wanted to get there as soon as we could, we decided not to. We were worried that if we rode down it, we would have to climb right back up another hill. Somehow we found our way to the hotel without having to do any backtracking. On the way, we rode right through Chinatown, which was a pretty good size. The hotel was HUGE- 26 floors. We were so excited to see Uncle Ronnie and Aunt Mary Lynn, and then were even more excited when we saw the hotel. Neither of us have ever stayed in a Hilton Hotel before, so it was a real treat! As we were standing in line with our bikes to check in, Uncle Ronnie and Aunt Mary Lynn found us! We took the bikes right up to the room, since they didn't say we couldn't. Since food was on my mind more than anything, Aunt Mary Lynn took me up to the Executive Lounge (she is a Diamond Member, so she gets benefits!!!). Most of the food was put away, but we managed to get some fruit, a coke for each of us, and a bagel each (Mary Lynn made a special request for us). Joey and Uncle Ronnie went to our room first (yes- we got our own room even!) and as they were on their way up to the Executive Lounge to meet us, they ended up taking longer than expected. Joey was so excited about everything that he left the keys in the room and was locked out- too funny. After enjoying a little snack and catch up time with Aunt Mary Lynn and Uncle Ron, we went down to our room to shower and change real quick so we could all go sight seeing. The room was just incredible- what a view. We were right in the middle of downtown near the financial district and Chinatown. Being that our room was on the 23rd floor, we had a birds eye view of the city below. It was just awesome. Once we were all ready, the four of us set out on an adventure to explore all the sights. We walked around Chinatown for a little bit, headed over to Lombard St. (saw it from the bottom where the good view is instead of the top like we were at earlier), and then walked down to the Fisherman's Warf. There was a sougherdough factory that made bread in all sorts of shapes- including teddy bears and alligators. Lots of little shops and restaurants surrounded us. Since we were all hungry, we started looking for a place to eat-particularly seafood. We ended up finding a place called Alioto's, which is one of the oldest restaurants in the city. The hostess showed us our table and we were blown away by the view; the harbor in the foreground and the bay and the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. None of us expected a view like that, but it was perfect! After our wonderful lunch (I had shrimp-SO good!), we headed over to Ghirardelli Square (for dessert =D ). Between the 4 of us, we must have gotten 12-15 free samples. The chocolates were "pumpkin spice caramel" for fall, and they (like all other Ghiradelli chocolate) were amazing! Another place we stopped before heading back to the hotel was the Coit Tower. We didn't go to the top, but had fun walking around inside since there were murals painted on all the walls. Back at the hotel, we enjoyed relaxing in the Executive Lounge for quite a while. There were some great appetizers/snacks; from fruit and cookies to my favorite things- chicken cordon bleu balls. It was so pretty to watch the view of the city go from day to night. After a while, we decided to take a little walk around Chinatown to see it all lit up at night. We stopped in a couple stores and enjoyed some fresh air before retiring for the evening. What a fantastic day! We only rode 13.80 miles today.
We slept in a little bit today since we knew we didn't have as many miles to do as normal. We had a little "picnic in the weeds" as we ate our oatmeal and the last of our blueberry muffins. We didn't make it too far this morning once we were packed. In fact, we only made it to the driveway of the cemetery before we had to stop. Loic had a flat tire! Those darn pricker bushes. In the end though, it worked out perfect. As the tire was being fixed, who came riding along the road but our pal Fred! After splitting up for a couple days, we would get to ride into the San Francisco area, on Fred's last day of riding on his trip, as a group of 4. We found out that Fred enjoyed some free ice cream at the KOA campground he pushed to get to that first day when he decided to ride ahead- it definitely payed off for him! We had a little climb early on in the ride and then enjoyed what Joey said was "an awesome descent." It was curvy enough to make it fun, but had the right grade so that you didn't have brake too much. There was also a nice section of flat ground that meandered right level with Bolinas Lagoon. It was really pretty, and enjoyable since we had another tailwind pushing us along. We took a short break in the town of Stinson Beach so Fred could grab something to eat. I rode over to the beach and was excited to see a beautiful sandy beach full of sunshine. Almost immediately after leaving the town, we started to climb. The road climbed high up on the cliffs above the ocean. We got a great view of the beach behind us and were amazed at the path the road took ahead of us. It was just as good if not better than our ride along the cliffs just before Jenner. We had a couple really long "c hills" and a good mix of climbing and downhills. As we were getting close to the end of the section that was right close to the water, we had a pretty steep climb. Then a wonderful descent. About half way down, a car decided to pull out right after Joey had gone by. They had plenty of time, so there wasn't really a chance for a crash, but once they pulled out, they just went so SLOW. As I was trying to enjoy the descent that I worked so hard for, I was stuck behind this car and had to brake the rest of the way down. It didn't take long for Loic to catch up and have to do the same thing. That was pretty disappointing. A little while later, we were going up again. This time in a hot, dry area. Curve after curve we went. We could see the top of the pass off in the distance since there weren't any trees in the area. The sun made it a pretty hot climb. The best part of the climb was that as we were going, we got passed by a racing cyclist who was doing a training ride. For some reason, Fred decided he would try to race him- on his fully loaded road bike. Joe, Loic and I watched and cheered on as he took off after the cyclist. He caught up to him and passed him somehow. I guess Fred wanted to go all out on his last day. It was a lot of fun. After the climb that went on forever, we made it to the top. Civilization was in the distance! The other side of the pass was full of houses. As we descended it was like going through another world from where we were just climbing. At the bottom, we were in the middle of a suburban area full of shops. We were in the Mill Valley/ Tamalpais Valley area. We stopped at a bike shop and found out we were very close to the Best Buy store we have been waiting for. We were hoping to get our tablet fixed- and crossing our fingers that it was just the cord and not something wrong with the tablet itself. Loic was hoping to find a netbook with the right features he was looking for. The kid at the bike shop told us about a bike path to take and somehow we ended up going the wrong way on it. It popped us out in an woodsy area with a few houses. We knew right away that we headed the wrong way. We rode along for a few miles in the right direction and found a nice bike path. Since we were all super hungry, we decided to think about food before going to Best Buy. The 4 of us decided to go to Panda Express since there were only a few restaurants in the area and we wanted to go out to celebrate making it to San Francisco and Fred's last day of riding. Joe and I had never been to Panda Express before, but since we love Chinese, it was great. We all enjoyed a huge plate of food and relaxing outside for a little while. Later, we bid our farewells to Fred and the 3 of us that were left headed across the parking lot to Best Buy. Someone told us when we got there that it was kind of a bad area and that our bikes might not be safe. We thought about just leaving Joe out there to watch them, but then we decided to ask if we could just put them inside. The guy that worked near the door said it would be fine to bring them inside so we didn't have to worry about them. I went over to the Geek Squad desk and was a little anxious about what they would say was the problem and about how they would go about fixing it. I was pretty sure it was just the cord, but I was prepared for the worse anyway. In the end, it turned out to be the cord after all. The Geek Squad guys were great. Normally they would have to order a new cord and have me come back to pick it up in a few days, but since they knew our situation they tried really hard to figure out a way to get a cord for me today. They were just great- I don't know what they did, but I was able to trade in my old cord and walk out with a brand new one- problem solved! When I went to find the guys to let them know I was ready, they were both being boys- playing video games. From there, our next goal was to go see the Golden Gate Bridge since we knew we were pretty close. On the way we rode through a very cute little area full of shops. We rode right along the SF bay and could see Alcatraz Island and Downtown off in the distance. From where we were, you could see how hilly it was-just as I imagined. For some reason, the three of us were still hungry, even after going to Panda Express. So, we stopped at a little grocery store to pick up a snack. I got a loaf of Italian bread and some baby carrots to tide us over. The three of us found a nice bench overlooking the bay to relax for a little bit. What a view! From there we had a small hill to climb. Then, there it was.. the bridge! I was just so darn excited. There were a bunch of cyclists around and one of them stopped to talk to us. He told us that if we were up to it, to ride up to the Marin Headlands area because it would give us a fantastic view. So, that's what we did. It was a good climb and a wonderful view. For some reason, being there looking at the bridge was just so magical. I've seen photos, seen it in movies and on tv, but to be there, and to have gotten there by my bike was just so neat. It's such a famous US landmark and for some reason, I was more excited about this landmark than some of the others we have been to. After taking some photos and just taking in being there, we headed back down the hill to start thinking about a place to camp for the night. Since it was pretty much all houses and stores, we decided to ride back to the area the bike path took us when we went the wrong way. We did so and found a church that might be an ok spot, and then found an even better spot down a hiking trail. It was perfect; we were in a wooded area that was out of sight, but still about 5 or 6 miles from the bridge. Joe and I ate the rest of our carrots and bread for dinner. We were a little sad since it was probably the last night we would be camping with Loic. There was an animal, probably a deer walking around in the woods that we had fun trying to spot. We went to bed after another great day. After all the extra riding around we did after we got into the Mill valley, our miles totaled 40.63.
We were visited by a couple raccoons last night, but we scared them away and they didn't return- our food was safe! It was pretty chilly this morning as we were packing up. The three of us headed back over to the picnic table where we had dinner last night and made our breakfast. We rode along the Russian River for a couple miles before crossing it and heading uphill. More beautiful seascapes to ride by. The fog was still around, but the sun was shining, making for some unforgettable views of the rocks in the water. At one point we stopped at a little grocery store and bought some grapes. They were pretty expensive, but very sweet and definitely worth it. We rode right next to the water for about 10 miles before the road cut inland and we were riding through very dry rolling plains. Once we were away from the nice breeze from the water, it got really hot. We had a few hills to climb as the sun was beating down on us. The last 12 or so miles before we stopped for lunch went by slowly for me. We stopped in the town of Tomales for lunch. There were a couple picnic tables right next to the post office where we found two other touring cyclists just getting ready to have some lunch. After talking to them for a while, we found out they were the same cyclists (Germans riding from NY to San Francisco) that had camped at the church in Gold Beach a few days/week before us. The touring cycling world is so small. We enjoyed hearing about their time going through the midwest, since that was the area we went through too. Joe and I made some mac and cheese and enjoyed our grapes. Fresh fruit is just so good. We thought about buying a loaf of bread from the bakery in the little town, but it ended up being closed. When the German couple found that out, they gave the three of us a hunk of their bread. It was so nice of them! Right after we left town, we found ourselves winding along a little river. For that little section we had a pretty good head wind that slowed us down a bit. Before long, we were riding next to Tomales Bay. Most of the way along the bay we had small rolling hills that made the ride fun. The afternoon ride went by very fast because we had a pretty strong tail wind. There was a little town called Point Reyes Station that came out of no where. It was quite a bit bigger than we had thought. As we were taking a little break there, the German couple rode by. They seemed to be going to campgrounds, so we ended up not seeing them again after that. Since all of us were really hoping for a shower, we asked around to see if there were any places where we could buy a shower. We found out that about 2 miles outside of town, in the direction we were heading, there was a privately owned campground that would allow us to do just that. It was perfect! On the way out of town, we saw a familiar face- it was Fred! He was riding an unloaded bike, with normal clothes, going in the wrong direction! Confused at first, we found out later that he was staying at the campground we were looking for and he was just riding back to town to hang out for a while. After we got "lost" a little thinking that we had rode by it, we found what we were looking for. The campground is in the town of Olema. At the office of the campground we asked how much it was for a shower. The lady said $5, which for us was definitely worth it since it had been about 5 really hot days since we've had one. We went to pay for 3 showers, and the lady said she would only charge us $5 for all three of us! It was great. That lady was really nice because even though it was mainly an RV park, she let Fred set up his tent free of charge! Joe and Loic took their showers first while I watched the bikes. When Joe came out he asked where Loic was. I replied with "he's still taking a shower." Joe told me that there wasn't anyone else in the men's room. That's when we figured out that Loic was in the ladies room!! We walked over to the door and yelled his name. He replied right away and all we could do was laugh. We told him that he was in the women's bathroom and he laughed- he had no clue. Later on we found out that in France they put WC (water closet I think) on the restrooms. Loic said he saw the W and didn't think anything of it. It wasn't a big deal at all since there weren't many people there and both bathrooms were the same. It was just really funny. I took a pretty long shower and ended up washing my hair twice since I felt so gross. We thought about camping at the church that was close to the campground, but there was a big event going on there, so we decided we would just have our dinner and ride down the road a little ways until we found a place to set up. Since there was a laundromat right next to the office for the campground and the table we made dinner at, we decided to put our clothes together to do a load. Showers and clean laundry, what a great day. As we were finishing our rice, and getting things put away, it was getting close to being dark. It made it a little more of a challenge finding a spot, but we didn't have to ride too far. We found a spot that would work in the field next to the cemetery. There were a few pricker bushes here and there and some small piles of goat/cow poop, but it was a comfy place over all. It reminded us a lot of how we used to camp on our first two bike tours- just outside of a town hidden in the woods. On this tour, we've changed our ways a bit. Now that we have our camp stove, that really opens doors on the places we can camp. We've learned to love camping right in a town. There is usually nice grass or flat cement to camp on instead of bumpy rocky areas. It's also nice to not have to push our bikes through the weeds or the woods, too. But either way, we found our home for the night. We were tired and excited for tomorrow, so we went to bed early. The ride from Jenner to where we camped in Olema was 49.52 miles.
It was foggy when we woke up this morning. There was quite a bit of condensation along the walls of the tent, it was almost like it rained, but I'm pretty sure it didn't. There was so much fog that we couldn't see the water or the rock with the arch this morning. After we got packed up and had some oatmeal and a muffin, the fog was starting to clear and the sun was coming out. The view of the rock in the water was just beautiful. As we rode out of town, I saw the really cute little restaurant/pub that the boys went to last night and we also found out there was another church in town (probably where the other guy on the bike went looking for us, and obviously didn't find us). Not too far into the ride, we had a really steep "c" hill with some short switchbacks. It was a doozy, that's for sure. Luckily I was able to ride up it ok and didn't have to walk (which is what I was worried about when I first saw it). The ride along the ocean continued. It was just another amazing ride- can't be beat. Just like yesterday, the road was curvy and had lots of "c" hills that made it a lot of fun. About 15 miles into the ride, we came to the town of Manchester. We saw the sign for the KOA, which is where Fred probably stayed last night. Across the street was the state park. Just as we were getting there, the couple (from Oregon) we had seen yesterday very briefly, were just getting ready to start the day's ride. I think I forgot to mention this couple yesterday, but the cool thing is that they are touring with their dog Rex. He runs/walks when they go uphill or slow and they have a trailer for him for when they are riding fast. I thought it was the coolest thing- they looked like they were having a lot of fun- and Rex did too! The girl (I don't remember names unfortunately) asked us how that really steep hill was for us. She said that yesterday when she did it, she couldn't unclip and ended up falling over (been there before!). I don't know if her chain derailed or if she was just in a bad gear, but in the end she said that she ended up walking up. It was a tough one, so I don't blame her! For a little bit, the road wasn't right next to the ocean anymore. Instead, we were riding through a bunch of farm fields. There were quite a few free range cows in the one area, too. A couple of those cows decided it was a good idea to stand in the road. When they saw us coming however, they decided it wasn't such a good idea anymore and began to slowly run away. It was pretty amazing to see so much farm land right along the coast. Also- so many itty bitty little towns. For some reason, I pictured the entire coast to just be packed with houses, kind of like in Florida. But it's quite the opposite, which is actually pretty nice. We passed through a few tiny towns before we decided to stop for lunch. We stopped in a town called Gualala and found a nice picnic table next to a pizza shop. The people who worked inside didn't seem to mind that we were using one of their tables. We were pretty hungry for some reason today so we had a double serving of Mac and Cheese. All 3 of us are starting to get excited because San Francisco is getting so close. The hills continued this afternoon. We rode about 30 miles before lunch and around 10 miles after lunch we saw a sign that said Jenner was still 30 miles away. We were all pretty bummed, but still wanted that to be our goal. As the ride went on, I became pretty tired again, but was still plugging along. Loic was feeling it too by the end of the ride because he usually stays within 50-60 miles each day. Just when we were saying we only had 10 miles left to go, the ride went from a little hard to pretty challenging! The road went right along a cliff with the ocean below. We went up and up and up. It was a little scary in some places because there was no guardrail-you look down and there were just the crashing waves below, yikes! After climbing for a while, we had a little descent. I took that very slow. If one was going too fast, in a bike or vehicle, around some of the turns, they would go flying off over the guardrail down the the ocean below. I didn't want to take any chances, and plus, the view was too spectacular to go too fast and miss it. We had another section of climbing after that. It was so beautiful, and by far one of the coolest sections of roads we've ridden on. Both Loic and I were constantly stopping to take pictures.. it was pretty funny. At one point Loic said "poor Joey" since he had to wait for both of us because of our pictures. I thought it was pretty funny! Exhausted, the second climb seemed to take more effort and take way longer. As we were reaching the top, we had some incredible views of the sun starting to set over the ocean. This was a ride I will never forget. Not only was the ride along the cliff amazing, the descent and then short climb over the hill to Jenner was amazing too. When we were at the top, we could see the road winding around way below and then up the small hill. There were some amazing switchbacks in a very open, treeless area. What a fun ride! We came into Jenner about 30 minutes before it got really dark. Unfortunately we didn't see any churches in town. There was however a really nice visitor center with a covered picnic table and even vault bathrooms. We knew that we weren't going to ride much further since we were all tired, so we decided to eat our dinner at the tables and then figure out where we would park our tents for the night. Joe and I made some rice for dinner and relaxed for a bit. While we were sitting there, a guy came out of the visitor center with a huge thermos dispenser for hot water. He said he had some hot water left if we needed or wanted any. It was perfect- it was getting a bit chilly and we had nice hot water to make some hot cocoa! After we ate, the boys went on a little walk to find a home for the night. Behind the gas station was a little fire hall. They scoped it out and there was a little area next to/behind it that would be out of the way and looked nice and safe. The guy who owned the gas station saw us sitting across the street at the picnic table and offered us the last of the coffee if he wanted it before he tossed it, even though it might keep us up. Although we appreciated the offer, none of us drink coffee, so we didn't have any. Later on though, Joe got talking to him and the next thing we knew he was walking back to where we with a bag full of salt water taffy! The guy who owned the gas station gave us a bunch of candy! What a treat after a pretty long day. We headed over to our little camp spot for the night and got everything all set up. All 3 of us went to bed pretty much right away since we were whooped. A tough day, but a beautiful ride. Our miles totaled 72.40 today.
We got a nice early start this morning. We were all up by around 7-7:30. Loic was doing his morning gym, lifting a pannier for his arm strength, and doing sit-ups and pull ups. I am glad that he can push himself to do that every morning. The cycling is enough for me, that's for sure. Like usual, I made some oatmeal while Joe packed up the tent. It was nice having another opportunity to ride as a group of 4. After about 2 miles, we started to climb again, this time only for about 2-3 miles. The boys were all waiting at the top again. After getting over the top, the sun came out! The downhill was pretty fast, but was really fun. We found ourselves out riding along the ocean in no time. It was breathtaking- I have really loved riding along the coast! It was flat for a few miles and then we had what I'm going to call "C" hills because we would go screaming downhill away from the water and then have a big turn at the bottom and have to climb back out towards the water. These happened ever few miles and made the ride so much fun. After a while though, they made me pretty tired because the climbs were kind of steep. I still can't get over how wonderful the scenery is; it just makes the miles fly by. The ride to Fort Bragg was pretty quick. We stopped at the bike shop there and Joey got us fixed up with a new set of brakes each and got the chains all cleaned while we were waiting for Loic's bike to be worked on. From there, we headed to Safeway to get some stuff for lunch and to re-stock since we wouldn't be seeing a "big" grocery store for a while. I of course got a box of muffins since I love them so much. Joe and I headed to the visitor center to make lunch since they had a nice table. We enjoyed some fresh Italian bread and a frozen three cheese pasta/veggie/chicken dinner. My favorite part was that we got a half gallon of ice cream too! It wasn't the hottest of days, but ice cream ALWAYS tastes good! While we were at the visitor center, we met the lady who was working inside. Turns out that she is originally from the Buffalo area, what a small world! Loic and Fred went out to a Mexican restaurant for burritos since they had been taking about them for a couple days. Unfortunately, they weren't the best and they were pretty disappointed. After our nice long lunch break, we continued down the road. We had a bunch more "c" hills as we meandered along the coast. At one point we passed by a wedding and the bride was just about to walk down the isle- such a pretty place to be married. The boys joked around saying "Don't do it!" which they all thought was pretty funny. Boys will be boys. About 40 miles into our ride, Fred decided that he was going to go ahead. Since his trip is so short, he wants to stay at a campground with a shower every night. The first campground was a little too close and the next was a little too far away. But he decided to go to the one that was far away, so he had to pick up the pace a little. We bid our farewells, with hope that we would run into him again before he got to San Francisco. I was getting pretty tired by the end of the day after trying to keep up with the guys all day. It is so nice that they didn't seem to mind too much that they had to wait for me at the top of the hills. Joe, Loic and I decided we would call it a day in the town of Elk. Almost right away, there was a church in the tiny little town. The best part- there were a couple cars there. I went in to ask if it would be possible to set up our tent there for the night and was relieved to find out they didn't mind at all. The people there were pretty interested in our travels, especially in Loic's since he had been to some really exciting places! When they showed us where we could set up, I was blown away- we had a 5 star camp spot. The view was incredible- right on the ocean with view of a giant rock with an arch in it! There was even a gazebo with chairs and a water spigot. It was perfect! Loic had never camped at a church before and seemed pretty excited that we had found such a great spot. We got the tents all set up and then enjoyed some dinner in the gazebo. Later on, Joey and Loic went for a walk to the local restaurant/pub for something to do. I stayed back and worked on trying to make another bicycle out of wire-which was much more of a challenge in the dark. When the boys came back, I found out that Joey, after having a beer, invited some guy that was riding bike, but was a little weird and drunk apparently, to camp with us at the church. The guy never showed up, so I guess it was good. After an awesome day of riding, our miles totaled 54.82.
We slept in a little today after 2 long days in a row. We had oatmeal and the bagel that I toasted at the hotel yesterday along with some yogurt left over from the hotel too. We didn't get on the road until 8:30 or 9. As we were coming down the hill from the church, we found 2 touring cyclists riding along the road. They had stayed at the campground we passed last night. We stopped to fill up on H20 and talked with them for a minute or two. They continued on while we were still getting ready to go. A short while later, we passed them since they stopped for some groceries at a little grocery store. We rode through a few more areas with redwoods all around us this morning. It is just so magical riding through those areas! They eventually caught up to us and we had a nice group to ride with. The one guy, Fred is from Quebec, and is riding from Portland to San Francisco and the other guy, Loic, is from France and is currently on a world tour. Loic rode from France to Japan and then flew into Vancouver and is now heading south to Ushuaia, Argentina before heading to Northern Africa. It is amazing that he gets to have so much time off of work (3yrs) and will have a job waiting for him when he gets back. Just a short while after we started to ride with them, we went through a construction area where the 2 lanes of traffic going our direction were knocked down to one- and there was no more shoulder. There was a cop nearby and he came over the loudspeaker and told us to go ahead and he will follow us- with his lights on even. We had our own personal escort- that's never happened before. It was great to be able to ride through without having to worry about an impatient person in a car trying to squeeze past us. When we were through, the police officer came over the loud speaker again and said "have a good ride" and waved. He was so nice. The weather today was pretty cloudy, no sunshine. We had a pretty long hill before we reached Gaberville. All three of the guys were waiting at the top for me... sometimes I wish I wasn't so slow, but then again they are all just really fast. We all stopped in town to pick up some groceries and Loic and Fred had their lunch break there since they already had 12 more miles than we did. We continued on pretty sure that we would end up seeing them again since we were all going the same way. As we were riding, the sun came out; just in time to do quite a bit more climbing! We met a kid who had just graduated high school and was on a bike tour for a couple months and was now heading north along the coast. After talking with him, we passed a few neat things: a house made from a single log, "the legacy of bigfoot," and the neatest tree house ever- made inside one of the giant redwoods. Even though we didn't go inside, it looked pretty neat. On one of the smaller steeper hills, my chain derailed for the first time in a long time. Luckily I was able to unclip so I didn't fall over. Since Gaberville, we rode for about 20 miles before stopping in Leggett for lunch. The last 15 miles seemed to take forever, and the last 10 were a real challenge for some reason because I was getting really hungry and starting to get "shakey" like I do when I don't eat enough. I felt like I just had no energy to go, but somehow I made it, just like I always do. We enjoyed some pasta with tomato sauce and Italian bread that we bought when we stopped for groceries. It was a nice change of pace from ride or mac and cheese. As we were sitting there eating our lunch, a couple of touring cyclists (there were a few in the area because they all stayed at the same campground last night) stopped at the campground across the street for the night. We saw Loic and Fred pull in too, but we were pretty sure they had planned on riding further today. After lunch I was feeling up to speed again and ready to tackle the big climb I knew we had ahead of us. After making our turn off the 101 onto the 1, the traffic instantly dropped off and less than a mile in, the climb started. Four miles up at a 7% grade. It was such an amazing climb- nice and winding, with virtually no cars (a great improvement from the 101!). We climbed for about and hour and 15 minutes or so before reaching the top (Joe waited for me a few times on the way up). For some reason, it kind of reminded me of a couple of the climbs we did in western SD. We were just surrounded by trees as we rode the switchbacks and curvy rodes along the side of the mountain. It was so enjoyable- especially since my knees were feeling better than earlier in the day. It was a pretty long, chilly descent- especially as it was drawing closer to being dark. We flew down the windy, switchback filled road and it eventually flattened out a little. Even after we reached the "bottom" we still had a slight downhill for a while. The sun was going down right as we were drawing close to our planned stopping point miles wise. At one point we came across a little picnic area where we saw a little campfire. It was Fred and Loic- we knew we'd see them again! Even though we were a couple miles short of our goal for the day, we wanted to camp with them, so we stopped there for the night (near the little "town" of Rockport). Since they were having a campfire- we told them about how we got a ticket for having one just to warn them in case there was a fire ban that we didn't know about. Luckily everything worked out fine and no one came by for the rest of the night. Since Joey and I had such a late lunch, we were still pretty full. Instead of making dinner, we decided to just snack on the rest of our bread. I also ate the last 2 of my Fuggie'O cookies that I had from Canada. Oh how I am going to miss those- it's such a shame they don't sell them in the US! We enjoyed sitting by the warm fire for a while and chatting. It was a pretty chilly night, so we all went to bed pretty early since the warmest place to be was in our sleeping bags. Joe and I rode 54.40 miles today.
For some reason, Joe couldn't sleep at all last night. He woke me up at 1am to tell me so and then decided to watch movies all night since there was no sense for him to just sit there wide awake. At least he got to enjoy relaxing in a comfy bed and he utilized the TV while we had one to watch. He also woke me up at 5am to tell me he was going to walk down to breakfast-but that he would go down with me later when I was ready. I of course went back to sleep! Today marked the 7 month mark of the trip. Waking up in a hotel with a continental breakfast- what a great way to get to 'celebrate!' We got to enjoy cinnamon rolls, bagels, bacon, eggs, pancakes, pastries, fruit, yogurt, hot cocoa, juice- pretty much everything! After filling ourselves to the brim, we grabbed a few extra apples and bananas, and a bagel for later. We really took our time getting ready today since we wanted to enjoy the hotel as long as we could- it was just so nice. I took another hot shower and was refreshed and ready for the day. It was a cold, cloudy day again. We continued riding along the 101. After abut 5 miles or so we passed a few more hotels, but it wouldn't have been a very safe ride last night in the dark, but the Holiday Inn was so great so I guess it was ok that we couldn't make it any further. The flatish ride continued and we had a beautiful tailwind to push us right along. It was great- the miles were just flying by. We made it into the city of Eureka and it was pretty big (but not as big as we anticipated)it did have a Target though! We made a quick stop there to check to see if they had any cords that would be compatible, but they didn't. We saw a pretty neat mansion in the 'old historic district' and stopped at the visitor center on the way out of town. The flat ride continued for most of the day- just a few hills here and there. Unfortunately, we never saw the sun. We had a short lunch break in Fortuna around 35 miles in. We just snacked on a couple cinnamon rolls and fruit from the hotel since we were still pretty stuffed from breakfast. There were a few more hills after lunch. We were happy to find ourselves back in the redwoods as we rode along the Avenue of Giants (Scenic Byway) that was much better than riding on the 101. It paralleled the 101 pretty closely which was nice, but there was almost no traffic. It was just an incredible ride. On a bicycle you really feel small as they tower over you- as we were riding along we would look straight up and they just go on forever. They really are giants, its almost unexplainable. We planned to make it to a town called Myers Flats. It was getting dark pretty quick, but it was a prefect ride for night riding since there was virtually no cars. We stopped quick at a campground on the way since I had to pee. It was full of tired cyclists that were staying there because of the hiker biker rate. None of them were too social though- I think everyone was just exhausted and since it was dark, there wasn't anything to do. We thought about staying, but since not much was going on, we decided to continue on. It was probably the neatest night ride I've ever been on (not that I've been on many). It was just SO dark when we were surrounded by the redwoods- even if the sky wasn't totally dark yet. The trees are just so massive that they don't let any light in. As we were riding, our lights would hit the trunks of these ridiculously huge trees; I think the darkness made them seem even more gignormous. At one point we covered both of our lights for a second-all we could say was "Woooa"- it was almost scary how dark it was. Less than 5 miles after the campground, we made it to the town of Myers Flats. There was hardly anything there at all. We stopped to ask what the next town was like and found out they had a high school and a church! So, we decided to continue on. We were reluctant to go on because of how slow the miles felt like they were going in the dark. But with the possibility of having a church to go to, we figured it would be the best plan. For some reason, there was more a bit more traffic during those last 6 miles, but still not anywhere near the amount as on the 101 last night. After what felt like forever, we made it to the next town, Miranda. We saw a sign for a church that was about a half mile up a somewhat steep hill. The church was perfect! There was a nice little grassy area right behind the church and even a security light so that we didn't have to set up and cook in the dark- much better than if we had stayed at the dark campground! It wasn't as fun as the hotel, but it was a premier camping spot that's for sure. We made some mac and cheese and then went to bed by 9:30. We rode 76.43miles today.
We woke up nice and early as planned. Gerry made us some oatmeal for breakfast, which helped a lot because it saved us a lot of time. It was a pretty chilly morning and very cloudy. We made it about 3 miles before stopping to fix a flat on Joey's rear wheel. After pulling the nail out of his tire and putting a new tube in, we headed off back into Crescent City. There was a Safeway, which we knew was there from our ride around town yesterday. We stopped to re-stock on mac and cheese and get some more muffins. From there we headed out of town, knowing we faced a pretty big hill ahead of us (Gerry forewarned us.) Just before the climb, we saw an elk standing next to the road; it just stood there and stood there, and was still in the same spot after we left- the good news is we were able to get a good picture! It ended up being about a 3-4 mile climb initially. About half way up we saw what we've been waiting for-our first redwood trees! They were so incredible. I've heard about how big they are and have seen photos, but they are just so much bigger than I ever would have imagined. From the top, we ran into quite a few construction zones with 1 way traffic. That was really helpful because it slowed the traffic down a bit. We didn't go down for too long before we were climbing again. At one point we saw a huge redwood that had been burned out in the middle, but the outside was still in tact. Its amazing because so many of the really old trees have survived forest fires. We were able to walk right into the middle of the tree- it was so big inside we would have been able to set our tent up in there. A while later we came down a pretty long descent- flying through a forest of humongous redwoods. Suddenly, we popped out of the giant trees and were flying along the cliffs along the ocean-and back to "normal" trees for the rest of the day. By around the 20 mile mark, we came to a small town called Klamath. We decided we would take our lunch break there since we were already hungry after all the climbing we had already done. We came across a nice little restaurant/convenience store and were happy to see that they had some little picnic tables outside. Joe pulled into the parking lot and before he could even get his bike parked, a man came out of the store to talk to him. The man said "Are you Joe, and is your wife Emmy?" Surprised that the guy knew our names, Joey replied with a yes. It turns out that Crazy Louie and Carolynn (who we met back near Mt. St. Helens) have been tracking us since they met us. The guy at the store said that Crazy Louie had called the restaurant several times that morning saying that we would be passing through shortly (he was hoping we would stop at the store, which we did of course). Crazy Louie and Carolynn wanted to buy us lunch!! It was the most amazing surprise ever- totally unexpected and out of the blue. The restaurant was one that they go to once in a while (they live not to far away in Reading, CA). He would have loved to come meet up with us on his motorcycle, but someone in his family is in the hospital. We had a chance to talk to Crazy Louie just before enjoying our wonderful lunch. Joey had a cheeseburger and fries and I had Fish and fries. It was just such a good treat-we were definitely in heaven a little. While we were there, we met another cyclist, Mitch from MN. We had fun talking with him for a while too. As if we weren't blown away already by the amazing lunch surprise, when I talked with Crazy Louie on the phone, he also said that they would love to pay for us to say in a motel for a night so we could have a shower and sleep inside in a bed. We didn't know what to say, we just couldn't believe it. We were just so appreciative- and excited about the thought of going to a motel! After our wonderful lunch, we continued on, with a bit more "skip in our step" or should I say "spin in our pedal". The climbing continued. Shortly after our lunch break, we had another long climb, this one was longer than the one we rode up this morning, but wasn't quite as steep. The climb this morning took us to just over 1,070 feet and the one this afternoon was at an elevation of 1,485ft. We rode through a misty rain/ fog for the remainder of the afternoon. That descent was definitely a chilly one, not the coldest, but a chill that stayed with you for a while. We had a muffin break around the 40 mile mark, even though we were still pretty full from lunch. For me, it is always nice to keep the sugar up, especially on tough riding days like this. After all the climbing we had done today, my knees were really feeling it and were pretty sore. They were definitely protesting any extra climbing, which we ended up having a lot more of before the day was done. Our hope was to make it to Eureka today, but we kept seeing the sings for how far away it was (and we knew it would be a long day) but I just didn't think I was going to make it there. For almost the entire rest of the day, we had a lot of little steep hills as the road zigzagged around. After what seemed like forever, we got to where we could somehow go pretty fast- it flattened out a little and we had a bit of a tailwind. That was a very welcome changed for my sore knees. As it was getting close to dark, we made a new goal- McKinleyville, which was about 14 miles north of Eureka. Unfortunately, we still had to ride for about 5 miles in the dark, but it wasn't too bad since the 101 was a 2 lane road at that point and the majority of people gave us the full lane for space. We got off the 101 the first place we could since it wasn't as safe to ride in the dark, and we were exhausted from such a challenging, long day of riding. The only place we saw to stay was the Holiday Inn, which wasn't the motel that we were looking for. We were really worried it would be way too expensive, but that was all there was. We gave Crazy Louie a call and he was more than happy to have us stay at the Holiday Inn. He even looked up the number for the hotel and called for us to get everything all set up while we were making our way there. We had a chance to talk to him on the hotel phone again after everything was all set up. He was very excited (and we were too!!!) about all the things that the hotel offered- from a pool to continental breakfast, wifi, 24hr hot cocoa, etc. When we were handed our room key, the girl at the desk told us that Crazy Louie didn't just get us any hotel room- he got us a Jacuzzi suite with a balcony! It was unbelieveable-we've never stayed in a hotel room like that before! When we opened the door to our room, we were just so excited! It was huge- there was a little kitchenette with a microwave, lounge chairs and a big tv, a huge comfy bed, the balcony of course, and the best thing of all- THE JACUZZI !!!! We were speechless for a little bit because we just couldn't believe it- we are so blessed to have people looking out for us while we are on this adventure. The Juccuzi felt incredible on my sore knees after all the climbing today- it really did wonders. Since we were also starving again since it was already after 7, we decided to make some dinner. The balcony came in SO handy because we were able to just put our little stove right out there to cook our mac and cheese- something that would have been much more time involved if we had to go outside of the hotel had we had been in a regular room. It was just so perfect. Joe went down to the lobby and brought back some hot cocoa. We relaxed, ate dinner, sipped on hot cocoa and enjoyed a good movie on the big tv. They even had bath robes in the room, which I took full advantage of. It was just so relaxing and comfy. Before bed, we went down to the lobby to use the internet for a few minutes. Despite an exhausting day, we ended up staying up pretty late because we were just enjoying all the hotel had to offer. Even still, I was excited to go to bed because it was such a big comfy bed with so many pillows! We had an absolutely incredible day today- the best of both worlds- a super tough day of riding mixed with pure bliss of staying in a hotel and getting to enjoy a lunch out. It wasn't the hardest day of riding we've had, but it definitely makes it on the top 5 list. Today is a day we will never forget; we got possibly the best, most unexpected surprise on the trip-Thanks again Crazy Louie and Carolynn!! After 75.00 miles, we got to live in luxury for the night!
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