One Thousand Four Hundred Fifty-Four

A common refrain among cycle tourists is that travel by bicycle affords an opportunity to grasp the true distances between places. When the only way to move is by turning the pedals, it is impossible to get anywhere sitting limp in a seat. You feel the energy it takes to get over every single hill, the sustained exertion you need to crest a major climb. At the same time, you don’t worry about speed limits; doing 70 in a 55 zone isn’t an option. You are the engine, and the odometer counts the miles on your legs.

But when I arrived in Vancouver, I didn’t feel any of that. I looked down at my Cateye, and I saw the display reading out 1454.2. I knew that it had been 37 days since I pedaled out of a driveway in Los Gatos, California. I could run through the names of the places where I had slept each of those nights if I wished. What was impossible was to paint a coherent picture of the distance in my head, to zoom out and process the journey as a continuous whole.

Campgrounds of the Pacific Coast: Washington

Camping in Washington is a bit of a different experience than it is in California or Oregon. The average campground is more similar to California in terms of facilities, although like in Oregon, food lockers are highly unusual. But the main difference comes out of the fact that there is no single near-universal route through Washington. Virtually everyone who bikes the coasts of California and Oregon sticks to Highway 1 and US 101 outside of short deviations. But in Washington, Adventure Cycling routes you through the I-5 corridor and the Puget Sound, while many people choose to ride around the Olympic Peninsula or cut across it. Hiker/biker campgrounds are fewer and farther between as a result, and those that do exist tend to be much smaller than their equivalents in Oregon or California.

Campgrounds of the Pacific Coast: Oregon

In terms of campground quality, Oregon is generally considered to be the best of the three Pacific states (free showers!). California's are pretty basic and Washington doesn't have a really well-defined route that the majority of cyclists use, so the infrastructure isn't quite as strong. But Oregon has a single route (101), strong state backing for cycle touring, and a state legislature that is apparently able to spend money wisely (looking at you, Sacramento). That being said, you'll need to learn how to hang your food from a tree in Oregon. Food lockers are nonexistent, and raccoons are as aggressive as anywhere else - see the duct tape on my tent for evidence.

Campgrounds of the Pacific Coast: California

This post is mainly intended as a resource for other cycle tourists trying to decide where to camp. While I wouldn't necessarily recommend making routing decisions based entirely on campground quality, there are situations when you have a few to choose from. And while I can't give an opinion on every single one, I can at least share my thoughts on the places where I stayed (plus a few that I didn't but have something to say about anyway).

After the jump: reviews.

Day 37 - Blaine, WA to Vancouver, BC

Day Total - 46.3 miles
Trip Total - 1,454.2 miles
Vancouver. The End.

On the final day of the trip, the weather certainly didn't disappoint. It was raining pretty heavily when I woke up, and though it stopped and started a few times, it didn't look like it was going to stop for good anytime soon. I delayed as long as I could, did a little bit of bike work, and finally I rode off into the drizzle a bit after 10 AM. I chose to deviate from the ACA route and cross the border at the Peace Arch, where I-5 goes into Canada. Of course, I couldn't get on the interstate directly - I had to go through Peace Arch State Park to access the pedestrian/bicycle crossing.

As usual, I got a lot of hassle from the Canadian authorities. The initial border guard had me go inside the customs building to talk to another guard. She didn't give a reason, but the man I spoke with inside seemed very concerned that I was going to try to get a job in Canada despite my assurances otherwise. Somewhat surprisingly, they didn't seem too experienced with cycle tourists at this crossing, perhaps because the ACA sends riders to the truck crossing a few miles to the east.

Day 36 - Oak Harbor, WA to Blaine, WA

Day Total - 73.4 miles
Trip Total - 1,407.9 miles
Spending the night in the last town before the border. Also, Washington dogs didn't let me down in their last hurrah: I had to fend off a pack of 5 late in the day.

This morning Kevin and I parted ways. We would be following the same route to Bellingham, but I had a lot farther to go than he did. I was trying to get as close to the border as possible, which meant at least 25 miles past Bellingham, so I needed to get an early start. Therefore, at 9 AM, we said our goodbyes and I pedaled north on Highway 20.

Almost immediately, I encountered trouble. Just two miles in, I came to the Deception Pass Bridge. It was built in two sections, with a rocky islet in the middle, and it's also exceptionally narrow with no shoulder. I decided to walk my bike, but as I tried to go across the northern section, I hit a snag. The barriers separating the sidewalk from the road were so close to the railing on the side of the bridge that I couldn't fit my bike through! I had to go all the way back to the southern end of the bridge and ride across it, because the barriers prevented me from entering the road anywhere else. I waited for a break in traffic, then gunned it while taking the middle of the right lane (it would be a lot more dangerous if I stuck to the far right and a car tried to pass). Fortunately, the bridge was only about 3/4 of a mile long, but it was harrowing nonetheless.

Day 35 - Poulsbo, WA to Oak Harbor, WA

Day Total - 59.7 miles
Trip Total - 1,334.5 miles
We saw Canada for the first time today.
In related news, Kevin isn't going to Vancouver. He has decided to end his tour in Bellingham tomorrow, so I'll be going solo north from there.

We started the day at about 10:00 on the very busy Highway 3, which we followed a few miles to the Hood Canal Bridge. The crossing was gorgeous. heading west from the Kitsap to the Olympic Peninsula (and Jefferson County), we could see the snowy Olympic peaks against the clear, blue sky. The weather was the best we have had in Washington so far, and that was good, because we had some 60 miles to ride to our destination for the day.

Day 34 - Belfair, WA to Poulsbo, WA

Day Total - 40.1 miles
Trip Total - 1,274.8 miles

We got a relatively late start this morning, since today was slated to be a relatively short one by our new, high-mileage Washington standards. Partly because the terrain is much flatter and partly because we haven't had any serious headwinds, our speed in Washington has been much quicker than in Oregon and California. Thus, while a 40 mile day was about average there, it's on the low end for Washington (weather notwithstanding).

We backtracked three miles to the city of Belfair with ambulances and sheriffs speeding by in the other direction. We guessed that it had something to do with the race track down the road, but we never found out for sure. Once we got back to town, we turned onto the Old Belfair Highway, the alternate route to busy Highway 3. This was a really good road, particularly once traffic died down a few miles out of town. It was climbing gradually up the Union River Valley, but not at a steep enough grade to really slow us down. Soon enough, we crossed into Kitsap County, where we would be spending the rest of the day.

Day 33 - Elma, WA to Belfair, WA

Day Total - 56.4 miles
Trip Total - 1,234.7 miles
Dear Washington dog owners:
When your dog stands in the road barking at us and then charges me, I will pepper spray it. It is not my fault that the dog attacked me. Perhaps you should keep your animals under control - California and Oregon seem to have it figured out, why can't you?

We had to leave the hostel by 9:30 this morning, so we got up at 7:30 to make breakfast in the kitchen. It's the first and likely last time we'll be using an actual kitchen during the trip, and having a real stove was much quicker than the usual camp stove ordeal. We left just after 9:00, but instead of backtracking almost 2 miles to the Adventure Cycling route, we followed the suggestion of the hostel owner and cut off some distance by simply getting on the road north at a different place.

Day 32 - Centralia, WA to Elma, WA

Day Total - 36.7 miles
Trip Total - 1,178.3 miles

It was raining again when we woke up this morning. We waited it out as usual, which was fine, because we had another short day. We were basically going to finish what we would have done the day before had it not been for the weather. In addition, a quick check of the Google maps topo revealed a very flat route. We were folliwng the broad Chehalis River Valley down to the town of Elma, about 35 miles to the northwest.

We walked over to Jack in the Box for breakfast, at which point the rain started again, so we waited in the room until the last possible moment before leaving. At the noon checkout time, we left down the busy main road out of Centralia. Google didn't lie - it was very flat, not to mention we had a tailwind early on.

Day 31 - Toledo, WA to Centralia, WA

Day Total - 24.8 miles
Trip Total - 1,141.6 miles
Rain-shortened day. No dog chases though.

When we woke up this morning, it was raining. Hard. That's pretty much what the forecast said would happen, and it was immediately clear that we weren't going to be able to do the 60 miles we had planned. So I got back in my tent (Kevin had never left his) and read my book until around 9:30. By then, the rain had become less severe, although it hadn't stopped. I figured that it was a good time to get packed up so that we could leave once the rain stopped. Kevin had other ideas though. He, as usual, wouldn't get out of his sleeping bag, which rendered my plans pointless (in fairness, they weren't necessary either).

The rain finally stopped at about 10:30, at which point I just needed to take my tent down to be ready to go. Kevin, in the meantime, got up at 11. By the time he was ready, another band of precipitation was hitting us, so we didn't end up leaving until 1:15 in the afternoon. We were only going as far as Centralia, a little over 20 miles away though, so time wasn't really a serious issue.

Day 30 - Cathlamet, WA to Toledo, WA

Day Total - 48.7 miles
Trip Total - 1,116.8 miles

Today started easily enough, as we pulled out of camp around 10:00 onto a very flat Highway 4. We made great time upriver for the first 10 miles, despite Kevin's bike continuing to cause him problems. It worked well enough to survive the lumber trucks rushing by us though, and not much more than 45 minutes after starting, we turned onto Coal Creek Road into the hills.

This too seemed to be easy until we got to the village of Coal Creek. The problem here wasn't the road or traffic or weather though. It was dogs. All through town, dogs were barking aggressively at us, until on our way out, one got free. It ran into the road after me, of course as I hit a fairly steep section of hill. I was ready though. I had my pepper spray out, and with a flick of the safety and a quick mist, that angry dog was stopped in its tracks. I quickly left the scene as Fido went to go rub his head in the grass for a couple hours. Scoreboard: Cyclists 1, Dogs 0.

Day 29 - Astoria, OR to Cathlamet, WA

Day Total - 42.1 miles
Trip Total - 1,068.1 miles
We're camping less than 10 yards from the Columbia River.

We got out of the motel on the late side, around 10:30 in the morning. The weather looked good though, with scattered non-threatening clouds and a nice westerly wind for our eastward jaunt up the Columbia River. Getting out of Astoria was not as pleasant, however. Narrow streets with lots of traffic made the first couple miles a white-knuckle affair. Everyone was driving slowly though, so we got through without any serious scares. On our way out of town, we stopped at Safeway for groceries, which took a good half hour. With that out of the way, we pedaled east on US Route 30.

It wasn't long before we stopped again. Kevin was getting serious play in his cranks, so he stopped to try to fix the problem. At first, he thought he had a loose cassette, so he removed the rear wheel and tried to tighten it. That turned out not to be the problem though, so he tried tightening his pedals. It seemed to work, or at least lessen the problem, so we were on our way after a 45 minute stop.

Update from the River

Day 28 - Rest Day, Astoria, OR

We took the day off in view of the weather forecast - heavy rain all day. We got up at 9 and got breakfast in the hotel lobby. Kevin went to the hot tub while I just rested in the room, taking full advantage of the rare opportunity to lay in an actual bed. In the afternoon, we did a much-needed load of laundry. But all through this time, it didn't rain. We don't know what the weather was up the Columbia River, but we easily could have ridden today if the weather was anything like it was in Astoria.

That being said, having two nights in a motel is really what we need at this point. As much as I'm enjoying the tour, it is very nice to spend time in an actual bed, watching television, doing normal things. Plus, as we approach the end of the tour, I have to begin thinking about what I'm going to do afterward.

Day 27 - Manzanita, OR to Astoria, OR

Day Total - 47.7 miles
Trip Total - 1,026.0 miles
One thousand miles.

We tried to get an early start this morning to beat the rain that was (as usual) expected to start late in the day, as well as to avoid the Sunday RV traffic. Because we had some bike maintenance to do, however, we didn't get out of camp until close to 10:00. We pedaled back to 101, where we immediately started a steep climb up the cliffs we had seen at the north end of Nehalem Bay the day before. At the top, we stopped and looked back south. We could still see the Three Arch Rocks, which first became visible to us from Cape Lookout two days earlier. We also had an excellent view to the south over Nehalem Bay.

From the viewpoint, we dropped back down into Oswald West State Park, where we were slightly inland under dense forest cover. There was no rest for us, however. As much as I would have loved to stop and hike around a bit, it wasn't in the cards today and we started up another climb almost identical to the first. By this point in the trip though, we both had little trouble sustaining a comfortable pace over long climbs. We reached the top with no trouble, then, after entering Clatsop County, started the steep descent down to the Arch Cape Tunnel. It was a good thing traffic was still light when we went through, because there was absolutely no way that a car could safely pass a bike inside, and that wouldn't have stopped drivers from trying.

Day 26 - Netarts, OR to Manzanita, OR

Day Total - 49.9 miles
Trip Total - 978.3 miles

When I first woke up at 6, it was raining. I went back to sleep, awoke an hour later, and it was still raining. Same thing at 8. Finally, around 9:30, the sky began to clear, and we got ready to get on our way. Of course, while I had been packing everything I could in my tent, Kevin had decided it was too cold to get out of his sleeping bag, so he wasn't ready until noon. At least the sun had come out by then.

It cleared up a little bit overnight

The day's route would be rather circuitous. We wouldn't be going all that far as the crow flies, a little over 20 miles, but the riding distance was close to 50. The reason was that we would first be taking the long way to Tillamook on the Three Capes Route, then we had to go around Tillamook and Nehalem Bays. We could have cut out about eight miles by taking the highway directly from Netarts, the first town of the day, to Tillamook instead of the Cape Meares road, but where's the fun in that?

Day 25 - Lincoln City, OR to Netarts, OR

Day Total - 45.3 miles
Trip Total - 928.4 miles
Good: tailwind
Bad: rain
Ugly: fog

We go up early this morning to try to beat the rain that was forecast to move in by the afternoon. When I looked up the weather on my phone though, the situation got more complicated. The timing of the rain had been moved up, so that we would be lucky to stay out of it even if we did bike as fast as possible. That being said, neither one of us wanted to stay in Lincoln City another night, so we made the decision to go for it.

The sky was overcast when we left, but it was a relatively warm morning again. As a result, we were both quite comfortable during the early part of the ride. We backtracked a mile or so from camp to pick up the Adventure Cycling route around the east side of Devil's Lake. That enabled us to avoid the remainder of Lincoln City and its heavy traffic. East Devil's Lake Road was nice for riding too, pleasantly rolling and quiet, as opposed to the busy strip malls on 101.

Day 24 - Newport, OR to Lincoln City, OR

Day Total - 31.9 miles
Trip Total - 883.1 miles

We only had a short day of riding today, dictated by the locations of campgrounds along the coast. Because of that, we didn't have any real reason to get on the road until early afternoon. I went into town at about 10:00 to hang out at the bike shop while Kevin slept in a bit. I met the Starving Cyclist there. He was working on building a new wheel to replace one that was severely cracked. We talked for awhile before I headed inside to use the internet. Kevin, meanwhile, went to the library. He was supposed to meet me at noon, but he got lost in town before a stop at Subway. Because of that, we didn't end up leaving Newport until about 1:00.

We followed side roads along the beach until we were finally forced to rejoin 101 just inside the northern limits of Newport. Traffic was heavy, but good shoulders made it bearable, and the weather was great for riding. It was partly cloudy and in the mid-60s, not to mention dry, which made it better than the average day.

Day 23 - Rest Day, Newport, OR

Having learned our lesson at the last campground, we found a suitable tree from which to hang our food, so we avoided raccoon problems for at least one night. We had decided a couple days back to make this a rest day, so I slept in until about 9:00. I made a quick breakfast before getting on my bike and heading across the Yaquina Bay Bridge into Newport. The bridge has warning lights so drivers are (hopefully) aware that bikes are on the bridge, but even so, I can guarantee that I won't be riding over it again. The combination of Highway 101 and being in a decent sized town makes the lack of a shoulder rather terrifying.

Day 22 - Searose Beach, OR to Newport, OR

Day Total - 35.1 miles
Trip Total - 851.2 miles

I woke up early this morning. Very early, in fact, at about 1:30 AM to the sound of rustling plastic bags. My first thought was that a mouse had gotten into my tent, so I tried to flush it out by moving the bags around. Nothing was there though, so I tried to get back to sleep. Then it started again, but I still didn't see anything.

Then, finally, after a third time, I saw it - a raccoon had torn a hold in the side of my tent and was reaching into my food bag, which I had stupidly left out of a pannier and right against the side of the tent. Fortunately, the raccoon hadn't actually gotten anything more than an arm into the tent, but it had ripped open a packet of ramen. I immediately went to Kevin's tent to get duct tape and patch up the hole. I also put my food back inside a pannier, squarely in the middle of the tent, which seemed to be as effective a deterrent as I could muster. The raccoon didn't cause any more trouble for me after that, although I did find out the next morning that he had also gotten into the food of the couple camping next to us.

Day 21 - Winchester Bay, OR to Searose Beach, OR

Day Total - 43.2 miles
Trip Total - 816.1 miles
Lesson of the day: repairs are best left to those who know what they're doing.

Kevin really didn't want to get up this morning. We had agreed the night before to stay in bed if it was raining, which is was very early in the morning. But, because we were under a canopy of pine trees, water continued to drip on our tents long after the rain stopped. I got up at 8:30 and tried to get Kevin out of bed so that we could leave by 11. But he insisted it was still raining! Now, he and I have the same tent, and you can't see outside of them. Even so, he continued to claim that he could tell it was raining, even though I was standing outside with nothing falling on me when I wasn't under a tree. Finally, after a little more grumbling, he got up (once I had breakfast ready, of course).

Unsurprisingly, I was ready to leave well before Kevin. I decided to try my hand at fixing my front brake, which was failing to rebound enough and thus sometimes rubbing against the rim. I knew I just needed to increase the spring tension, but the bolt that seemed to adjust it wouldn't bring it high enough. Then, suddenly, the bolt popped out when I was tightening it. I had stripped the thread on the adjuster, which meant there was now no tension at all and the brake was permanently pressed against the rim.

Day 20 - Bandon, OR to Winchester Bay, OR

Day Total - 48.3 miles
Trip Total - 772.9 miles
Cruising speed with a tailwind: 17 mph.

We were, unusually, the first bikers out of camp this morning at about 9:15. The forecast said there was a 30% chance of rain, so we wanted to have time to make camp nearly 50 miles away in case we had to take shelter. We left the very busy campground on 101, but just a few miles down the highway, we turned onto Seven Devils Road, the apparently more scenic route recommended by both the ACA and the official state route.

The scenery, though, mostly consisted of logging land, including several clear cut sections. It was definitely an up close and personal reminder of where our lumber and paper comes from, with almost every inch of the roadside showing some evidence of logging activity. At least the road itself was excellent for the most part. There was very little traffic, and much of the road was newly paved. Even the long but shallow climb at the start was pleasant in the shade of the pines (except where those pines had been stripped away, of course).

Day 19 - Port Orford, OR to Bandon, OR

Day Total - 43.2 miles
Trip Total - 724.6 miles

Getting on the move this morning was tough. It was even wetter than usual, not to mention our hard day into the wind yesterday. We still made it out of camp by 10:15 though, and with only about 40 miles to the next campsite, we had plenty of time.

It was cool and cloudy as we pedaled the six miles to Port Orford, the first town of the day. We made a short side trip to the harbor. Port Orford is a fishing town without any natural protection from the open ocean, so two large cranes lift every boat into and out of the water every day. From there, we continued north out of town, but not before Kevin's coffee stop at a Circle K (weirdly, just a store, not a gas station). While he was inside, I talked to a woman outside and horrified her with the sunburn on my legs.

Day 18 - Brookings, OR to Port Orford, OR

Day Total - 54.6 miles
Trip Total - 681.4 miles
Reason #286 not to go north: Southbounders going faster up the hill than you're going down it.

The air was chilly and the skies ominous when we woke up this morning. The forecast called for strong headwinds, but we weren't feeling much in the campground. As we ate breakfast though, the trees began to move just a bit. Then more and more. By the time we left around 9:30, we knew we were in for a tough day.

The root of the problem wasn't so much the wind as campsite location. The next hiker/biker camp was 53 miles to the north at Humbug Mountain State Park, so that was, barring a stop at a motel or an RV park, our only real option. As we got on the road, traffic was fairly heavy, but it dropped off quickly as we got away from Brookings. Most of the first 15 miles was through Samuel Boardman State Park, where there are frequent scenic viewpoints along the coast. I stopped at a couple, much to Kevin's consternation. The wind wasn't getting any lighter, and the clouds to the north looked worse by the minute.

Day 17 - Rest Day, Brookings, OR

We didn't go anywhere today.

I woke up at 7:30 with the predicted rain falling on my tent. Then I went back to sleep, since it was a rest day, and I didn't get up until 9:30. We had breakfast not long after, then walked down to the beach. We left quickly though, as it was cold and had started to rain again. It was definitely a good day to be off the bikes.

In the early afternoon, we decided to do laundry at the.campground laundromat. The Starving Cyclist had just put his clothes into the washing machine, and he offered to let us use some of his detergent. After that, I took another walk around the park, then returned to camp and cooked a can of ravioli for dinner. It was raining yet again by that point, so I went into the tent and got to work on blog updates. Overall, it was a slow, boring rest day, and that was exactly what we needed.

Day 16 - Crescent City, CA to Brookings, OR

Day Total - 44.1 miles
Trip Total - 626.9 miles

The morning was, unusually, quite warm. Kevin was very slow to get going though, and it took a full three hours to get out of camp. We began the day by climbing back up to the highway, which, at 500 feet above camp, definitely gave us a good warmup. Once we got to 101 though, we had a huge descent in front of us. It was 1200 feet down into Crescent City at an 8% grade. We covered the remaining 7 miles to town in a little over 20 minutes, even with a headwind slowing us down.

In Crescent City, Kevin again wanted fast food, and again, the place he wanted to go, Jack in the Box, was closed. We settled for Burger King, and after a nice calorie stop, we were on our way around noon. We cut west back to the ACA route along the coastline and away from 101. We would mostly avoid the highway for the rest of the day. The coastline at Crescent City looked a lot like Oregon's, by now less than 30 miles away, and we had gorgeous views of waves crashing against massive rocks before we turned back inland.

Update From The Road

Day 15 - Orick, CA to Crescent City, CA

Day Total - 36.8 miles
Trip Total - 582.7 miles

We're actually about 8 miles short of Crescent City, but towns are getting few and far between.

Getting out of bed today was difficult, not because it was cold or because we were especially tired, but because we were getting out of actual here. A little after 8, I finally got up and took a nice, hot shower before running across the street to the Orick Market to grab breakfast. Outside, it was still damp, but at least it wasn't raining.

Morning in Orick

Shortly after we got back to the room, I noticed someone grabbing things from right outside our window. Kevin had left his sleeping pad and a few other items out the night before, and he went out to see if the man was taking them. They were about to pull away when Kevin went up to them to get his stuff back - they apparently thought another group had left it there.

Day 14 - Arcata, CA to Orick, CA

Day Total - 40.6 miles
Trip Total - 545.9 miles

The forecast for the day called for rain, but with a tailwind also in the forecast, we hoped to be able to make the 45 miles to Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. The weather was actually quite pleasant when we left, and we initially just rode around.town running a few errands. After grocery and bike shop stops, we got on the road toward McKinleyville. The back roads took us through dairy country again, with the same strong west winds we had the day before.

Once into town, we got onto the Hammond Trail, a local coastal bike path. We followed it for about 4 miles before briefly rejoining 101. After a hill climb, we exited onto Scenic Dr., a rough, narrow road on the shoreline bluffs. The views were spectacular though, and we wound along the cliffs into Trinidad. By now, a light drizzle was coming down. It wasn't affecting riding conditions, however, so we continued on toward Patrick's Point State Park.

Day 13 - Weott, CA to Arcata, CA

Day Total - 66.0 miles
Trip Total - 505.3 miles
500 miles! Also, solar eclipse!



We began the day on the Avenue of the Giants. It was still cool in the shade of the redwoods, but once we got a bit further north, the trees thinned out and the jackets came off. the road was extremely flat, even slightly downhill, and after about 15 quick miles, we reached the northern terminus of the Avenue of the Giants.

After a brief snack stop, we rejoined 101 for a few miles. On the long freeway straights, we battled a stiff headwind, but at least we had a wide shoulder. A few miles later, in the timber mill town of Scotia, we exited 101 for side roads. After crossing the Eel River into Rio Dell, we turned onto a back road. Though short, the climbs on this road were exceptionally steep. Combined with the extremely poor conditon of the roads, it was slow going through this section.

Day 12 - Leggett, CA to Weott, CA

Day Total - 50.8 miles
Trip Total - 439.2 miles
Tonight, we sleep among the giants.



With the Leggett Hill out of the way, we were rewarded with a two-day downhill with only minor climbs. And while the hill had tested how far we have come in climbing ability, today would be the test of putting distance behind us. It is about 50 miles between our starting point just north of Leggett and our target just south of Weott along the Avenue of the Giants.

Today's inland route (in fact, the first and likely only day of the trip where we did not see the ocean at all) meant a much warmer morning than we would have had on the coast. We made breakfast and packed up, and we were on our way out soon after 9:30. It was a bit of a nervous start for Kevin - he had ripped one of his rear pannier hooks off trying to get into the campground the night before, and the first few miles would test how his duct tape-repaired system would work.

Day 11 - Westport, CA to Leggett, CA

Day Total - 31.8 miles
Trip Total - 388.4 miles

We woke up to a very cold morning, in the low 40s at most. We had a bit of bike maintenance to do before leaving, so after cleaning and living our chains and making another attempt to secure my front rack, we were on our way at about 10:30.

A couple miles out of camp, we discovered that we were wrong about Westport State Beach being closed. The first campground we came to was, but a little further down the road, the main campground was very much open. It still wasn't sheltered at all though, so everything probably worked out for the best.

Meanwhile, the clear skies allowed the temperature to rise to a comfortable 55-60 degrees as we rode along the coast. The views northward toward the extremely rugged Lost Coast were spectacular, but they didn't last long. About 7 miles into the ride, we left the shoreline and climbed 600 feet through forest. That climb was just an appetizer though, as it would be followed by the main course for the day - 1600 feet up Leggett Hill.

Goodbye Ocean.

Day 10 - Mendocino, CA to Westport, CA

Day Total - 31.7 miles
Trip Total - 356.6 miles

Tomorrow is the biggest climb of the trip and the end of Highway 1.

We pulled out of camp at 9:30, fortunately without having to pull any more banana slugs out of our food locker, and were once again on our way northward. Today wasn't going to be strenuous though - after the first 8 miles into Fort Bragg, we stopped for a few hours to do laundry. While there, Kevin called his friends Dylan and Katie, who happened to be in town. They drove down to the laundromat, and once our clothes were dry, they had lunch with us at the Mexican restaurant next door. Kevin and I both had massive and delicious burritos before we left to do a bit of shopping.

After grabbing food at Safeway and more stove fuel at The Outdoor Store, we turned off Highway 1 at the north end of town. The ACA route put us on a bike path called the Ten Mile Beach Trail, which turned out to be the worst bike path I've ever seen. We got tossed around by potholes within potholes for 3 miles, and I had to stop a couple of times to keep my front rack from falling off the bike. I can't imagine that dealing with the much-diminished traffic on Highway 1 would have been worse. The path ended at an unsigned drop back onto the road. We only figured it out because the next bridge was demolished.

Day 9 - Rest Day, Mendocino, CA

Day Total - 5.8 miles
Trip Total - 324.9 miles

And on the ninth day, we rested.

We slept in very late, by our standards anyway, made breakfast, and instead of loading up the bikes, we just relaxed. Kevin read his book, I walked around Russian Gulch State Park, where we were camped, and we just stayed away from the bikes.

At around 1:00, we biked into town to use the internet at one of the cafes and grab some groceries. We got coffee and sat down outside, where I tried to update my blog. Of course, it being Mendo, there was a crazy old guy there with us (actually two,but only one was notable). He told us about how he travelled the world for 8 years,how you can get a $10 pint of whiskey at Safeway, how he travelled the world for 8 years, how he eats only peanut butter and hot sauce, and how you can get a $10 pint of whiskey at Safeway. Also, don't ever tell anyone where your tree is.

Other than that, there wasn't much notable about the day. I took a shower in the morning, increasing my lead over Kevin in that category, but when that counts as exciting, you know it's a nice lazy day.

Pictures after the jump.

Day 8 - Manchester, CA to Mendocino, CA

Day Total - 33.2 miles
Trip Total - 319.1 miles

Kevin wanted to take our rest day a day early, but I mixed that idea in view of the exposed campsite, meager facilities, wind, and gophers. We only had about 30 miles to go to the town if Mendocino, which, as a tourist destination, would have quite a bit more for us than sleepy Manchester.

We started the cold, foggy day into a headwind, and perhaps as a result of the temperature, my legs seemed to take forever to warm up. It took 7 or 8 miles of riding to get comfortable. We dropped down a switchbacking grade not long afterward - fortunately, there were none of the lumber trucks that would be passing us all day. The uphill was long, but I have gotten much better at gear selection, so it wasn't much of a problem to get up in one go.

I told you it was foggy.

Day 7 - Fort Ross, CA to Manchester, CA

Day Total - 41.5 miles
Trip Total - 285.9 miles

Today, we had a decision to make - we were desperately in need of a rest day, but we wanted to take it near a town, in this case Mendocino or Fort Bragg. However, they were still over 70 miles away. We could either do two 20 mile days and a 30 miler or cover the first 40 in a single day. The potential extra stop was just south of the town of Gualala, on the Sonoma-Mendocino County line. We agreed that making the decision on the road made sense, and with that we set off from Salt Point at about 10:30.

The first bit of the ride was easy - gently rolling terrain and calm wind meant that we averaged about 12 mph, a speed we would keep up for most of the day. The weather, which had started off cool and foggy, turned very clear by about 11:00, making the ocean on our left a brilliant, shimmering blue.
After passing through the gas station that is Stewarts Point and the 10 mile stretch of vacation homes in The Sea Ranch, we arrived in Gualala at noon. This was our decision point, and though we had kept an extremely fast pace, Kevin and I both agreed that we should go to Manchester. We stopped for about 45 minutes to get food at the largest grocery store we had seen since the Marin suburbs, then continued north.

Now this is a nice road

Day 6 - Bodega Bay, CA to Fort Ross, CA

Day Total - 30.6 miles
Trip Total - 244.4 miles

Even though I had taken a shower at the last campground, the showers at Bodega Dunes were free, so I began the morning with another. This one wasn't quite as warm though - I'm glad I didn't pay for it.
The fog was still sitting over us in the morning, and it was very chilly outside our sleeping bags. Fortunately for us, we could start late, because we had a relatively short 30 mile day in front of us with a stop to watch the first stage of the Tour of California, a professional stage race, as the name suggests, around the state. 

We didn't end up leaving until around 11:30. Once we got on the road, we were passed by packs of cyclists heading south. I guess they were riding the Tour route ahead of the race. The road was back to rolling, but the coast was much different than in Marin County. The coastline itself was mostly low cliffs with rocks jutting out of the water. There also weren't as many trees. Everything appeared windswept, although the air was calm when we passed through.

Day 5 - Lagunitas, CA to Bodega Bay, CA

Day Total - 44.0 miles
Trip Total - 213.7 miles

We were definitely sluggish in waking up due to the darkness among the towering redwoods of Taylor State Park. The kids weren't though, and a few began their day by racing their bikes down the hill right past our campsite.

We began our day on a bike path, the Cross Marin Trail, that as far as I can tell doesn't extend outside of the park yet. From there, we took back roads toward Point Reyes Station, which was just barely south of our route. We had been passing and been passed by cyclists the whole morning, but Point Reyes Station was entirely taken over by cyclists. It seemed like every bike owner in Marin County decided to come through for a Saturday ride. We only stopped to look for stove fuel, which no one in town had, but it was an amazing sight to see.

Day 4 - Angel Island, CA to Lagunitas, CA

Day Total - 29.3 miles
Trip Total - 169.7 miles

We got up fairly late in the morning, since we couldn't get off the island until 10:30 anyway. After enjoying the view onevlast time over breakfast, we rode back to the ferry dock. On the boat with us were a group of middle schoolers in what appeared to be Civil War garb returning from a camping trip.

We disembarked in Tiburon around 11 (it took awhile until we could get on the ferry because there were so many passengers getting off from San Francisco) and immediately made for the In-N-Out Burger we had passed the previous day. With only minor navigational difficulties, we found it and scarfed down some delicious calories. That's one nice thing about cycle touring - we could eat fast food all the time and still be in good shape.

Day 3 - Half Moon Bay, CA to Angel Island, CA

Day Total - 48.5 miles
Trip Total - 140.4 miles

We had to catch the Angel Island Ferry in Tiburon at 3 PM. That decided everything else for the day.

We left Half Moon Bay at 7:30 AM, when it was still quite chilly to say the least. The first 10 miles were surprisingly quick - the northerly wind hqd died down and we made good time on the fairly flat road. But then we hit Devil's Slide. Caltrans is building a tunnel to bypass this section, and it's pretty terrifying in a car. On my bike, I got to the point where I no longer felt safe riding, with heavy traffic, a steep grade, and no shoulder. I got off and pushed, keeping the bike between the traffic and me. Finally, I reached the summit, and Kevin and I blasted down the hill into Pacifica at 40 mph. We made a much-needed grocery stop in town and continued on our way.

Just before the road got dangerous

Day 2 - Soquel, CA to Half Moon Bay, CA

Day Total - 62.4 miles
Trip Total - 91.9 miles
Headwind all day.  Averaged less than 9 mph.  Physically hardest day of my life.  Held back tears when I saw the "Entering Half Moon Bay" sign.

If yesterday was a relatively easy start to the tour, today showed us just how hard touring can be. The day started with almost 10 miles through the streets of Soquel and Santa Cruz. They weren't much of a challenge apart from the traffic. The ACA route does a good job of sending riders along bike-friendly roads, so we mostly had a bike lane, except on side streets without much traffic anyway.

Farmland north of Santa Cruz

Then, as we left Santa Cruz, it began. The wind blew furiously out of the north. At first we thought it was just a gusty section at the northern end of Monterey Bay, but by the small town of Davenport, it was clear that it wasn't going away. The situation wasn't helped by the terrain - constant rolling hills through Santa Cruz County, with steep climbs of a few hundred feet each coming one after the other. Add to that equation almost no trees and beach traffic and you get miserable riding up to the San Mateo County line.

Day 1 - Los Gatos, CA to Soquel, CA

Day Total - 29.5 miles
Trip Total - 29.5 miles

We have arrived at the Pacific Ocean.

The goal for the day was to get up and over the Santa Cruz Mountains from the San Jose area to the Pacific Coast at Soquel. We rode through downtown Los Gatos to the Los Gatos Creek Trail, which we followed up to Lexington Reservoir. As a first loaded climb, it turned out quite well, particularly considering that my bike doesn't get much traction on unpaved surfaces.

Once we reached the top of the dam, we took a rather hot ride around the reservoir - the temperature had risen to 90 degrees. The road was in good shape with little traffic though, and we finally got into the shade on the Old Santa Cruz Highway within a few miles of turning off the lake.

Last Minute Prep

Tomorrow's the day.

Huh?

To answer all of your questions (and to put something, anything, on this blog), here's a quick summary of what this thing is going to be about.

What are you doing?
I'm bicycling up the Pacific Coast from Santa Cruz, CA (actually Los Gatos/San Jose initially) to Vancouver, BC.  And maybe further, I don't really know at this point.

That's really far!  How long will that take?
It's somewhere around 1300 miles, which at a pace of around 50 miles a day (very doable on a bike) should take three weeks to a month.

What route are you taking?
It's not completely finalized at this point, but I'll primarily be on California Highway 1 most of the way from Santa Cruz until it ends in northern Mendocino County, and then mostly US 101 from there until Astoria, OR.  After that, I can either go around the Olympic Peninsula in Washington or cut inland for a bit and bike through the islands of Puget Sound.  From there, I'll be heading to Vancouver either directly or via Victoria, BC and Vancouver Island (and a few ferry rides).

Where are you staying?
My tent, most nights.  There might be occasional hostel/motel stops, but those will probably be few and far between.

How are you carrying everything?
My bike has both front and rear racks mounted to it, from which I'll be hanging panniers (that's cyclist for "bags") and strapping down larger items that don't really fit.  I'll get a picture of my bike up here soon that will make that seem a lot less weird than it sounds.

What kind of bike are you riding?
I have a Novara Randonee touring bike, which is basically a steel road bike.  I've pretty much kept the stock configuration (more for reasons of cost than anything else) other than adding fenders and a front rack.  Without getting into too much technical talk, it's a 30 speed bike with 700C wheels and 32mm tires.  It has a longer wheelbase than your average road bike to accommodate the extra weight - the bike itself weighs around 30 pounds, and fully loaded there will be another 40 pounds or so on top of that.  The steel frame makes the bike heavier, but it's much more stable under load than an aluminum bike would be, and plus it absorbs shock better, which is important because the bike has no suspension (racks and suspension don't go together).

Who are you going with?
I'm going with a friend of mine from Kirkwood, Kevin Cage.  He's the cycling mind - I frequently have no idea what I'm doing when I'm working on my bike, while he's been able to solve pretty much all of the issues I've had with my bike so far.

Day 1 of the tour is Tuesday, May 8.  That will be a relatively short ~24 mile ride over the Coast Range to Santa Cruz.  From there, we'll ride about 100 miles over the next two days to get through San Francisco and into Marin County.  We'll hit Point Reyes by the weekend, and then it's up into Sonoma and Mendocino Counties from there.