I had a good chat last night with two of the tour cyclists. They were both from Los Angles and were not climbing the big hill as one of them had parents who lived further down 101 and they were going to take a couple of days off there and then rejoin the coast a little further along. I hope to see them down south somewhere.
We were on the road by 8:00 and starting our climb on Highway 1. Either we are getting better at this 'hill climbing thing' or it was not that bad. It had some steep sections of course but after 7 kilometers it was conquered. Then came the downhill. It was a 16 kilometer plunge. It was unfortunate that we had gear, the road was 'slick', and there was too much traffic. We were hard on our brakes to say the least. It was actually difficult to control the speed to get around the 'hairpin' curves. But what a pleasure after the climb.
The second climb was more difficult. Maybe the % grade was greater, maybe the legs were a little tired, but it 'taxed' our abilities...but no walking was necessary!
After riding up in the trees for days we popped out onto the coast...actually we climbed back up to the coast. We were again greeted by a magnificent view...where I promptly ran into the back of Sue's bike snapping off her back light. I knew she was stopping but I was taking in the view and not paying attention...I did not fall!!! So now Fort Bragg Cyclery hopefully has a new tail light. Otherwise I will be 'rigging' something up with the old one.
We had made it up the big hills but what we did not anticipate was just how much climbing was going to take place between Westport and Fort Bragg. The scenery was great but those climbs out of the ravines were a lot more than we expected and there were a lot of them. By the time we arrived at MacKerricher State Park we were tired. We did, however, enjoy the ranch land that we rode through getting here. We are set up in their Hiker/Biker Site with Chris, a British cyclist that we met a few days ago outside of Eureka. The forecast is for rain. We hope not.
Trip Distance = 75.73 km. Ride Time = 5 hours 34 minutes. Average Speed = 13.59 km. Maximum Speed = 61.22 km (I guess I was not on the brakes all the time). Wildlife Sightings = Black Tailed Deer, Red Tailed Hawk, Great Egrets, Great Blue Herons, California Quail.
Out On The Coast Again
Up, Down And Around...Along The Coast
Up, Down And Around Part 2...Parched Land
A Unique Bicycle Ridden By a Fellow From Germany
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