PDF to SFO or Bust

  September 26th, 2020     The day has finally come! We were making it to San Francisco today, but it was going to require the “official” longest ride of the trip (since we stopped earlier than originally planned on day 15). We’ve both biked 106 miles in one day before, so that wouldn’t be a problem, but it was likely going to be another hot day and we wanted to make it to the Golden Gate Bridge before the sun went down. So we were up at 5am, packing up camp in the dark using our head lamps, and hit the road around 0630.      We rode back around Bodega Bay to head southeast onto country roads again. Of course on the last day of riding I would have issues with my bike chain. I probably adjusted my chain about 10 times after attempting to go up hills. This bike has gotten me this far, but I think for future bike tours I will get a new bike to avoid the headache 😂.     It was on the country roads that we witnessed magic! As we were riding past a cow...

Fort Ross State Historic Park- windmill September 25th, 2020     We woke up to another short day of riding. Today’s adventures would take us about 28 miles into Bodega Bay. Our journey prior to Jenner, CA consisted mostly of crazy hills along the coast that had shear drop offs to one side without a guard rail to prevent you from launching off the side and into the ocean. This was the first time on the trip that I didn’t just let the bike take me down a hill, attempting to go as fast as possible, typically 30+ MPH. It was terrifying and my brakes got a workout! There was also a fair amount of construction work happening on this road so it wasn’t a smooth ride either. The cars were mostly respectful during this section. Contemplating how far he can launch himself (parachute is in the back) 😂; also the rare guardrail is present     One of the first places we came across was Fort Ross. We didn’t explore much at this park, eager to get to the next place, but we had to se...

September 24th, 2020     We moseyed around the motel in the morning, taking our time packing up and getting ready for the day. This resulted in a 1030 start time for our 36 mile day. We were excited to have a short day finally, and crossed our fingers there wouldn’t be too many hills. This section of Highway 1 continues to have great views, but the first 10 miles or so had construction. This resulted in uneven road waiting for a fresh layer of asphalt; what a bumpy ride! A few vehicles got a little too close for comfort and didn’t bother slowing down. I cursed them under my breath and continued on.      We hit our lunch break in Gualala around noon and were excited to find an open restaurant! It had been about four days since we had an actual lunch with real food, not typical camping garb you cook over a Jetboil. It had also been since Trinidad, CA that we have sat at a restaurant in outdoor seating; everything we have found has been takeout only. We met a nice ...

  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 ad...

 ` Mandatory 1,800 elevation gain beer break on a RV cushion left on the side of the road September 22nd, 2020     We managed to get a 0730 start out of Garberville this morning. As we entered the freeway the first sign we passed showed 199 miles to San Francisco! Not the exact mileage, since we will be leaving highway 101 for highway 1 once we get to Leggett, CA. Within an hour and a half we had gained 1,000 ft and our legs were feeling it. The dread set in for the climb we knew was coming in a few hours (aka Big Bertha, more to come on that topic later).      We found a cute grill across from one of the original campsite stops (we were unable to book this one because it was closed for coronavirus) about 15-20 miles in. The Peg House grill was closed, but we were able to fill up our water bottles, consume a Snickers, and drink some Gatorade. I also found this super cute gnome on the back patio garden area. Water comes out of his mouth 😂    ...

No caption needed 😂 September 21st, 2020      Rise and shine! It was hard leaving behind the cozy cabin and showers, not knowing if we were going to have showers at the next stop. But we did have 25 miles of Avenue of the Giants left to bike, and that makes for a good day in the redwoods. Sadly it would be our last day in the redwoods, but we were excited for a change in scenery moving forward. We rolled out around 9AM and every small town we came across looked abandoned. Some buildings were boarded up and others had “closed” signs on the door collecting dust. We were happy to see that the “drive through” tree had a money box outside the entrance to put your fee into. Hoping others follow the same honor system.  Looking up inside the “drive through” tree     The coffee shop Brandon talked about was super cute and had a lot of crafty items inside to purchase. One thing I was impressed by was the world map on the wall that people had placed a pin needle on t...

  September 18th, 2020 After being abruptly woken up to rain sprinkles on our faces (no rain fly on the tent), we packed up and the tires hit the pavement at 8AM. Since arriving at Elk Prairie Campground, we had been jonesing for an elk sighting, and we weren’t disappointed! As we rounded the corner out of camp we spotted a small herd of elk, consisting of a few doe and younglings; no large bucks in this bunch. They were very skittish, and pranced across the meadow as our bikes clicked by.  The miles rolled on without much picture taking, until Brandon got his third flat tire. Had to document that! We have developed a method for changing out his tires and have gotten relatively fast at it; we’ve had lots of practice 😂. Great view of the Big Lagoon after Brandon’s flat The ride to Trinidad, our lunch stop, was relatively uneventful after this, until we found Patrick Point Road. It was a climb to get to the top and consisted of rolling hills and washed out pavement in places, b...

  September 17th, 2020     The climb out of camp was just as bad as we thought it was going to be. 9 AM was too early to be sweating like that, but we made it to the top! The highway was sketchy at this point, with limited shoulder and multiple semi-trucks passing by, it was unnerving. We were happy to see the shoulder widen as we got into Klamath. One thing I’ve quickly learned on this trip is that the passing lane sign usually means excitement when in a car, but when on a bike it means that you are about to start climbing up a hill. Oh how I loathe those signs and we will see more on this trip.     Our first stop this morning was at Trees of Mystery. Despite coronavirus, there were still people milling about at this attraction, and I can see why! For $20 you can do a walk through tour of the redwoods, many of them growing in odd directions. They also had a cool canopy in the trees you could walk on if you aren’t scared of heights. The sky tram was also a sweet...

  September 15th, 2020      After having a starry night to gaze at, we were in for a real treat the next morning. We got up around 0630 to take some time to explore the beach at Humbug Mountain State Park. The beach was very quiet, besides one other person with his dog, and it made for some amazing pictures. Dipping our toes in the water lasted a few minutes before it was back to business; time to get back into the saddle. Today’s ride would bring us to Harris Beach State Park, which would be the last camp before we crossed the California border, and would be about 50 miles.       The first person we met today was Jeff from Grand Rapids, Michigan. He rode up on us as we were coming up to a view point of the ocean. Jeff was also on a bike tour, but was traveling much farther than us. This particular ride he was biking solo all the way to San Diego and then crossing over to Florida. His ultimate goal is to ride around the perimeter of the Unites Sta...