Monday, July 15, 2008 - Redwoods!

After leaving Eureka, (On the 13th) we rode all day, 32 miles of which was through the Avenue of the Giants, famous for its eternal passageways through the Redwood trees. In the morning, I rode with Kristen. She got a flat which I helped her change out just before the Ave., and by ther, Lee had rode up on us and the rest of the day was Kristen, Lee and I riding. Lee and I shared some of our goodies from Arcata while we were out in the middle of the gigantic forest. Kristen took off ahead of us and we all separated for a couple of hours to enjoy our time with the majestic trees.

By the time we got into a town, it was getting dark, and again Lee helped me buy some food. After we ate, Alan rolled into town with a great big smile--he had found a small pool of water dug into a readwood and spent an hour swimming.

It was dark when we left the town to go find the state park where we would camp. We rode down a steep hill for a few miles before we finally figured out the way we needed to go.

We got to the campground and crashed out quick. The weather was nice enough, so Alan and I didn't even bother setting up our tents. We passed around our 'goodies' and all slept soundly.

Yesterday (the 14th) was a great day, too. We all got up early to get a quick start on Legett hill, the largest climb of the entire ride. Before the climb, Lee decided he'd get his beauty sleep... on the shoulder of highway one.

I rode the climb solo, as I thought that Christian, Alan and Lee were ahead of me, but when I stopped in Westport for lunch, they came filing in from behind. After a croissant and a chat with some bike-messengers from Seattle who are also doing a tour, Christian and I knocked out the last 13 miles to our camp just outside of Fort Bragg.

Last night we all got really really messed up. Alan and I were the last men standing, having made a vow to guzzle down the rest of the wine. Alan told more of his stories and was stumbling all over out campground. I awoke in the night to a light rain, stumbled some more around the site, put my electronics in a zip-lock and drank a nalgene full of water, hoping that it would provide relief in the morning.

This morning has actually been quite nice. Christian, Lee, Kristen and I rolled into Ft. Bragg while riding along a pleasant logging road that skirts the coast. What a beautiful morning. Only 3 more 60 mile days to San Fran. How sad. I don't know where I will stay when I get there, but I guess the worst case scenerio is that I'm awake all night, like my original plan when I went into Seattle. Who knows, maybe I'll luck out again and someone will let me crash out on their couch. I also need to figure out how the hell I'm going to get from San Fran to Oceanside. I guess I still have alot of adventure left, afterall... but I feel like the trip is really over when I get to Oceanside.