We shared a site with them again and had plenty of time to do real laundry here at the campground. There was also a hot tub that we decided we couldn't pass up. To top off a relatively luxurious evening, we got a pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream at the KOA store and had that for dessert.
We took a short hike on the trail around the Founder's Grove saw how resilient the redwoods are. There were several trees that had their bases burned away by fire, yet the trees were still vibrant and stood hundreds of feet tall.
Near the campground we stopped for a treat of ice cream sandwiched by 2 large chocolate chip cookies. When we got to the campground we found that Larry and Debbie had already gotten a tent site for us to share. It was quite a deal because the ranger only charged us the usual $3 per person that we normally paid for hiker/biker sites.
While we were preparing dinner, the smell of barbecueing chicken from the adjacent campsite was permeating the air around us. Debbie jokingly asked if they had brought enough for everybody. Barbecued chicken sure seemed like a luxury to us after a couple of weeks of mostly pasta and rice. During our meal, the couple from the adjacent campsite brought us over a plate of BBQed chicken! They said they had cooked way too much and that we looked like we would enjoy it. They were right! It was delicious. We went over later and got the name of the BBQ sauce they had used.
Later in the day we started a long climb up to Standish-Hickey. It was pretty warm out, but it felt good to be sweating in short sleeves as we made the ascent. We made it to Standish-Hickey nearly an hour before our Canadian friends. They didn't enjoy the heat as much as we did and preferred the cooler weather along the coast.
We stopped at the store across the street from the campground for an ice cold Coke. It felt great to relax in the shade and the Coke really hit the spot. While looking for groceries in the store we noticed that their deli sandwiches looked pretty tasty so we decided to come back later to get sandwiches for dinner.
The hiker/biker site was actually two regular campsites that sat on the hill high above the river below, the South Fork of the Eel River. We changed into our swimsuits and hiked down a steep trail to a swimming hole below the campground. What a treat this was! The water was cool and refreshing. This was certainly a highlight of the trip. What a great place to come to on a hot day.
After swimming we went back to the store to pick up sandwiches for dinner. While at the store, Jim noticed that he had another broken spoke on his rear wheel. So before we ate, Jim fixed his 2nd broken spoke of the trip.
The descent was a blast! It was about 10 miles curvy roads. As we got closer to the coast though, it got very cold and we put on warmer clothes to keep from freezing.
We had one more climb to get over to the coast, Rockport Hill. First, we stopped by the side of the road for what would be our last shot at wild blackberries. They turned out to be some of the biggest and juiciest of the trip!
Although not as long, Rockport Hill seemed harder than Leggett Hill because of the steepness. Halfway up, Jim's right pedal came off it's axle. He had taken the pedal off several times before during the trip to try and quiet a squeek and had apparently stripped a lock nut. Fortunately, he had brought some spare parts and had an identical lock nut to replace the stripped one with. Very lucky!
We eventually made it to the Mendicino coast where we started to get very cold. The riding on this part of the coast was some of the hardest of the trip. There didn't seem to be any flat sections, just lots of up and downs with tight switchbacks that always led to a steep uphill.
We had originally planned to stay at MacKerricher Beach State Park, but decided to go a little farther to Russian Gulch in order to even out the mileage of the next 3 days. The camp was down at the bottom of a very steep hill.
We rode into the town of Mendicino that night for dinner and had a difficult time going up the hill even without all of our gear. We had a good dinner in town, but were disappointed at the lack of interesting, imaginative restaurants. For some reason, we had thought there would be a better selection.
Gualala was right next to a golf course in Sea Ranch and we thought that would interest Peter and Alex who were also staying here. We had fun saying Gualala over and over. It's hard to say the word without smiling. We imagined Paul Rieser of Mad About You making jokes about the sound of Gualala. Gua-LA-la, Gua-la-LA!
We were excited today because we'd be meeting Jim's parents in Bodega Bay. They were putting us up in a Holiday Inn there where Linda could take a long sought after bath. We had some mixed feelings about staying at the inn. It kind of seemed like cheating and we wondered which cyclists would turn up in camp.
We had a delicious dinner at the Lucas Wharf restaurant with Jim's parents. Local salmon was in season and the salmon we had there was the best we've ever had. They also had all-you-can-eat sourdough bread which we took good advantage of. We even had most of a loaf left over for the next day.
We were disappointed to learn that Jim's parents wouldn't be able to stay over that night. As always, it seemed that their stay was too short.
Fortunately today was a relatively short and easy ride because Linda was fighting off a cold. The ride around Tomales Bay was very fast and scenic. Peter and Alex passed us for the last time shortly before Pt. Reyes Station. We didn't realize at the time that that would be last we'd see of them. The bike path we took to get into the campground was beautiful - yet another ride through a forest of redwood trees.
We had carried a bottle of Clos du Val Chardonnay with us all day that Jim's parents had brought with them. This would be our last night camping with Larry and Debbie so we wanted to have a good bottle of wine for our celebration dinner. We shared a great campsite again with them. This one was right on the bank above a creek that ran through the park. It was well isolated from the other sites under the canopy of the redwoods. Larry even got a fire going with some leftover wood and newspaper we found at the site.
After dinner, the raccoons came out and stole a bag of marshmallows from the campsite next to us. After going to bed, we were awakened by the loudest animal noises of the trip. Hissing and howling and growling - we were scared stiff. Then we heard the growling on both sides of our tent. They had us surrounded! We were about ready to start yelling for help. We didn't get much sleep that night at all!
Because of the extraordinary number of turns and intersections today, and because it was the last day we'd be riding with Debbie and Larry, we all decided to ride together through Marin, over the Golden Gate Bridge, and through San Francisco. Jim had about 3 pages of notes taped to his handlebar stem to negotiate all the intersections just to get to the Golden Gate. Our directions were good and we didn't have any problems getting there.
Nearing the bridge, we rounded a turn in a military installation and got our first view of the Golden Gate. Spectacular!
It seemed like such an important milestone to get this far. What a welcome sight! After climbing a very steep hill up to the bridge, we had to roll our bikes down a flight of stairs and then back up another flight on the opposite side of the bridge. A 6-8 inch flat board was provided on the side of the stairs for the purpose of rolling the bikes. It took 2 people to get each bike up and down because of the bikes weight. We were just awestruck by the views and took the obligatory photos. The bike lane across the bridge was very wide so it wasn't scary riding across at all. In fact, we were so excited we probably had a smile on our faces the entire way across the bridge.
The route through San Francisco took us through the Presidio and Lincoln Park, along the Ocean Beach Promenade, around the zoo, by Harding Park and Lake Merced, and through the Ocean Course at the Olympic Club. We had gone nearly 40 miles on adrenaline an excitement without getting anything to eat, but now it was catching up to us and we needed to find some food fast. We saw a Subway Sandwiches shop in San Mateo and stopped there for our farewell meal with Larry and Debbie. It was a bit of a letdown for us after we parted ways. We were entering a new phase of the trip and in some ways it was like starting over.
Entering Pacifica, Jim's bike started making thumping noises that sent shock vibrations throughout the frame. We stopped, unpacked everything, checked out the bike, but couldn't find any obvious problem. We didn't know if it would make it up the Devil's Slide area, but somehow it held up into Half Moon Bay.
Unfortunately, Linda couldn't say the same about her bike. Three miles before Half Moon Bay, she got the first flat of the trip. Fortunately, it was easy to get to a bike shop in HMB.
Upon first analysis, they made it sound as if every part on the bike needed replacing. After a little questioning, we narrowed the problem down to the rear hub as the most likely suspect. It was cheaper to get an entirely new wheel than to get a new hub and have the wheel rebuilt. Faster too. After getting a Cafe Latte to relax, the wheel was ready and the problem was gone.
The camp was on the ocean, but just a big, wide open, grassy field. There were signs there warning about a recent rash of bike thefts. We had heard that from the bike shop too. We met an Englishman in the camp and 2 older men from San Diego. They were probably both in their 60's and said they didn't do any days less than 60 miles. One had an MTB and the other a road bike. Seems like they would have much different workloads to be able to ride together. That's the last we'd see of them.
We took a wrong turn and ended up taking a longer way to Watsonville. It ended up being an 80+ mile day. We were very surprised to learn that they lived on a 7 acre farm that grew flowers, fruits, and vegetables.
There were some of the steepest hills of the trip going up to the Monterey campsite. It didn't look like much and several Germans we talked to later hated it and didn't feel safe there. Too bad because it's such a great area otherwise.
We went into the village of Carmel so we wouldn't have to ride back into town the next day. We went to a bakery and had delicious, award-winning blueberry scones and unlimited French Roast coffee. Well, tea for Linda.
Carmel Rest Day:
We had a great time doing nothing! We walked the private beach in Jim's aunt and uncle's neighborhood and saw some sea otters close to shore. Jim's aunt cooked us a great dinner in celebration of our wedding anniversary (1 week early).
The hiker/biker site was right on the cliffs, but very small. It might have been a spectacular setting, but we don't know since it was so foggy. We met a couple of women there who had taken 7 days to get there from Monterey. Quite a relaxing pace!
In Pismo Beach, we saw the sun for the first time in days. We liked the hiker/biker site because it was sunny and we felt like a part of the campground for a change. We were the only bikers again.
While we were eating, we saw 3 other cyclists go by. We wondered where they had come from. Later when we stopped for lunch and groceries in Lompoc, we saw them again leaving the shopping center we had just gotten to. As far as we know, we never saw them again.
We had debated whether to take a longer alternate route that went through Solvang, but decided against it, partly because we didn't want to do 70 miles this day. Leaving Lompoc, we started a very gradual 13.5 mile climb that only gained 950 feet of elevation. On the steep 2 mile descent following, Linda got a flat doing 35 mph and had a minor crash. Fortunately she only came away with a bruise because she jumped from the bike as she was starting to lose control of it. Naturally Jim was at the bottom before he realized there was a problem and had to ride back up the hill. After fixing the flat, it was all downhill to Gaviota State Beach, our planned destination.
After paying for the hiker/biker site, the park ranger casually said, "Oh by the way, don't drink any of the water here." Say what? We got our money back and continued on to Refugio, another 9.5 miles down the road, making it a 70+ mile day.
The hiker/biker site was nothing fancy, but overall it was a beautiful camp on a palm-lined beach. After such a long day, we deserved some ice cream so we went to the camp store just before it closed and ate dessert before setting up camp. We arrived at the camp about the same time as an Australian couple who were heading north. Actually, the female, Anna, was from Switzerland but lived Down Under. We slept great listening to the sound of crashing waves.
As we approached Santa Barbara, we stopped at several gas stations to fill the tire Linda had punctured with the proper amount of air. Two stations made the pressure lower and one didn't work at all. Finally we found a station that worked. However, when we filled the tire, it developed another flat! That made the score Linda 4, Jim 0.
We went on a search of State St. for a place to eat lunch. Chris and Anna, the couple from Australia, had told us about a Mexican place they had eaten at that had giant burritos for about $4. We must have found the same place because the burritos were huge and delicious.
We then headed off to Carpinteria and a pizza place near the campground. We had heard many bad things about the campground concerning theft, so we didn't unload our bikes until after eating dinner.
The hiker/biker site was packed when we got there with 12 Boy Scouts who had ridden from Santa Barbara, a couple of Scout leaders, 3 Germans, a possible homeless family, and several transients. After we had gone to bed, 3 more girls who were neither hikers nor bikers came in. At about 11:30 PM they started a campfire and decided to start partying. They had all kinds of beer and vodka in a large Coleman cooler, the kind serious hikers and bikers don't leave home without! They were making no effort to be quiet and eventually Linda got mad enough to tell them to quiet down and observe the camp's quiet time. That didn't seen to have any effect, but a while later they moved it to the beach and didn't wake us again until they came back at 1:30 AM. Unfortunately, it didn't get much better that night. Freight trains were going by within 40-50 yards of our site every hour and a half. They'd blow their whistle, rumble on interminably, and even shake the ground. We didn't get more than an hour of sleep that night.
About an hour into the day's ride, Jim got his first flat of the trip. As he was topping up the spare with a few last strokes of air from the pump, the tube's valve stem tore causing his 2nd flat of the trip. As we tried to put the rear wheel back on, we learned something the bike shop in Half Moon Bay hadn't told us: the spacing on the wheel's axle and the rear drouputs were different! It took two of us to put the wheel on - one to hold the wheel and the other to bend the frame dropouts wide enough to fit the wheel.
After lunch, we were treated to a free viewing of the Pt. Mugu Airshow as we rode by. One German we met in Carpinteria said one of the jets flew only about 30 meters above his head. I guess that is why they closed the road we were riding on.
A couple of miles later and only about 7-10 miles from the campground, Jim got his 3rd flat of the day! By now, an easy day had become a brutally torturous day.
We were relieved to get to the campsite eventually and to find out that it wasn't bad at all, despite an ominous comment in "The Book". We shared the site with four Germans and had a nice dinner conversation with a couple from Cologne.
As we were going through a CalTrans construction site, a car skidded out of control for no apparent reason, bounced off the curb on it's right, then crossed into the orange pylons separating the lanes right toward Linda. A worker near her jumped over the concrete barrier, away from the car, obviously fearing for his safety. Linda could do nothing but watch as the car narrowly missed her, then regained control. California drivers!
At a bathroom stop about 2 hours into the ride, we both remembered something at the same time: It was our 2nd anniversary!
We were glad to get out of Malibu and start a bike path on the beach that lasted for about 20 miles. The path was a nice way around the city. We weren't home free though. We still had some busy sections of PCH through LA and Long Beach. Those weren't exactly the best of neighborhoods!
Eventually we made it to Orange County and things became instantly cleaner and safer. Except for the kid in Huntington Beach who threw a banana at Jim from his car. But he had a lousy arm and missed wide left so it was OK. We finally got to Linda's cousin Greg's house after riding 77 miles.
We had never ridden the stretch from Huntington Beach to Dana Point before, but knew once we got to Dana Point that we could make it home from there because we had done it before. We were pleasantly surprised to realize that San Clemente was closer to Dana Point than we had remembered.
We stopped in Camp Pendleton so that Linda could stretch out her leg that was becoming numb. In Carlsbad we stopped for cookies and Gatorade. Jim was experiencing back and abdomen tightness/cramping before this stop, but the rest helped a lot. The next hour was pretty tough mentally and physically on us, but the hurting became less noticeable the last hour.
A mile from home, we picked up a bottle of champagne for the ensuing celebration. When we pulled into our driveway to complete our journey, we were met by Linda's parents about 30 seconds later. It was then that the emotion of the moment hit us. Afterwards, we all went to the Olive Garden Italian restaurant for a celebration dinner. Jim ordered their current special, the Never-ending Pasta Bowl. Did they realize how many miles we had ridden? 81 today, about 1800 for the trip. Not a bad vacation.
