Day 15- Tank is on Empty (Christi)

 

The aviators make their first appearance

September 23rd, 2020

    Our morning didn’t start as early as planned, but Flo shared a cup of jo with me in the morning (thanks again) so I was ready to conquer the day. It started by me walking up the gravel path to the main road, cause I was not confident I would stay upright on the bike 😂. Once we got rolling, the caffeine boost in the morning really pushed me up the hills and Brandon was wishing he would have had some. It was a short 10 miles into Fort Bragg. I will be adding this to my list of future towns to visit in a car. It was a bustling town for being 0930; we saw more cyclist in the next 10 mile stretch than we had seen this whole trip combined. Sadly none of them were going in our direction or packing gear for a cycle tour. But we had a great time waving hello as they went past. 

    I can’t say enough about the views on this stretch of highway 1; they were gorgeous! If I were to give someone else advice on doing this trip, split this section into shorter mileage days. Not only is the elevation insane, but there are so many beach stops that would have be enjoyable to stop for a dip in the water. 

Really wanted to jump in here!

    There was a lack of wide shoulder on this stretch of the trip again, luckily 98% of the driver’s were extremely courteous, pulling into the other lane or slowing down to 10-15 MPH as they passed by us. By early afternoon the temperatures had started to climb and there were no clouds in sight. I quickly changed into my tank top riding shirt, but by 2pm I realized I had only peed twice so far today and was drenched in sweat. Dehydration had definitely set in and I was lacking in electrolytes. We stopped for a snack break and I pounded some water infused with Nuun tablets. I finally had the urge to pee around 3pm and we stopped again. This was in the middle of the real death hill Brandon described in his blog post. It was awful; the grades had to be 10%+ and gravel trucks were going in both directions with limited shoulder. Luckily they weren’t traveling much faster than us up the hill so we had plenty of time to get out of their way. I chose to walk my bike up most of it, which wasn’t much easier with all the weight in the panniers. By the top I was hot, hangry, and ready to call it for the day; the last 30 miles was not going to go well with little to no shade and the sun beating down on us. With no cell reception it was hard to find a place to stop and all the towns we had gone through so far were dry, boarded up, or not open yet for the day. After a few more miles, Brandon finally got cell reception and he worked on finding a hotel instead of the campground we had planned for the night. Sometimes you just have to listen to your body and know when it’s time to quit. We knew we had a shorter day with less elevation the next day so it was easy to talk ourselves into stopping earlier. 

    Two miles from town there was a cut-off for a lighthouse, which would have added 4 miles to the total mileage for the day. We definitely were gassed and didn’t have the energy for that, so I opted for a picture from afar.

It’s amongst the trees, I swear

  

    Point Arena didn’t have much going on, but they had one hotel open with available reservations. We stayed at Wildflower Boutique Motel and WOW! It exceeded all expectations. Beds were comfortable, they had a grill outside that we cooked up some sausage links on, the decor was cozy, and the bathroom was very modern and stylish. Would 100% recommend dropping into this place if you were driving through. The hosts were also incredibly helpful and gave us some food ideas since there weren’t many food options within walking distance. Five stars!

Sweet gem in a quiet town

I just wanted a parfait, and this hit the spot!

    I stayed up as late as I could to write yesterday’s blog and proof read Brandon’s, then I was out like a light. Looking forward to the shorter day.

Road stats: 62 miles and 3,900 feet elevation gain; Max speed 37 MPH

Road kill: 4 snakes, 1 raccoon, and I may have added a lizard/salamander with my front tire, not sure

Weird things in the shoulder: paintbrush, hub cap, 4 masks, 12 CO2 canisters