Day 11

Here is our progress as of  8-30-10

Meyers Flat to Fort Bragg CA

Wanted an easier day today after the past 3 days of centuries. But it was not to be, today we ascended the biggest climb of the whole trip through awesome forest and followed that by one of the best and longest descents Ive ever ridden. The pavement was perfect once we hit the CA h.way 1 and not much traffic. After going up and then down all day we finally hit the coast again for the first time in a few days. It was a welcome sight but didn't bring us any flat ground. You can tell we are moving sth now, the foliage is getting more diverse and the land is becoming dryer.
Total mileage today: 86 miles.

taking a break after hitting the coast again.

Day 10

3rd day over 100 miles in a row!!
Excellent start around coastal roads then we headed inland up into the mountains and into the red woods again, a short time riding on dirt roads which was not too good on the tires and then cow manure farm roads.
Started to feel the pain today, too many hours in the legs but finished strong. We got to the Trailer after a 8 hours of riding and checked out the drive thru tree with mum and dad then broke open a bottle of Moet Champagne to celebrate passing the half way mark for the whole ride. Total distance: 109 miles.

Trinidad Lighthouse

it was a tight fit! the tree is 5000 yrs old.

Camp.

Day 9

Massive day again, this will be our 2nd day of 100 miles. Finally hit the California Boarder!!
Today we headed to the Red woods. Its started out really nice along the CA coast and cliffs, but the pavement deteriorated to about the worst road and cycling conditions we've had so far. We had to ride on part of the 101 highway which was not fun. As we go nearer to our destination we got off the highway and the cycling was awesome along the famous 'Avenue of the Giants'. Through the red wood Forest, massive giants towering above the road for miles and miles.
Arrived at the camp, nice spot in state park. Total distance: 98 miles.

Day 8

Anne writes...
Foggy Oregon weather finally gave way to sun! We went from Umpqua Lighthouse State Park to Nesika Bay, for a solid 98 mile ride. Our ride began promptly at 8am this morning, and we immediately ascended a hill out of the campground, which took us to another hill, followed by some rolling hills. Luckily, we made 10 sandwiches for the day, including a new flavor – peanut butter-marshmallows-marmite (much to mum’s horror!)
We had lunch on the boardwalk at Bandon, and spent the afternoon riding the coastal hills a couple hundred feet above the ocean. We met a couple on a tandem that were 3 weeks into a year-long circumnavigation of the continental U.S. Wow! Most of the other cyclists we’ve come across are bogged down with multiple panniers worth of gear for their trip; in any case, Jeremy puts the hammer down on all of them.
We did meet one older rancher in the afternoon, while having a snack break in his driveway, who was very nice but didn’t hesitate to share his opinion of all these touring cyclists he comes across: Apparently he finds a lot of male cyclists riding from Vancouver to San Francisco, who talk “all nice and everything”, and whom he expects might be gay, not that there’s anything wrong with that. I didn’t really feel that I could counter his statement, given that Dave’s spandex outfit was topped off with a very cheery bright red jersey and Jeremy was down to his bibs and an open flouro vest, so I just agreed that Dave was heading straight to San Francisco and was quite excited to see it.
At mile 69, mum and dad drove past and restocked our dwindling food supply (I guess we need more than 10 sandwiches), and we were happy to see both them and the additional snacks! We finished up with about a 20+ mile per hour tail and/or side wind, and after having some huge raw oysters, made a big cook-up on the fire for dinner, followed by dark chocolate and giant marshmallow smores. An excellent Friday night.

Bandon OR

bad short cut

Here is a map of our progress, updated daily.

Day -6-


Cape Lookout State Park to Carl Washburn State Park OR.
Early start in the fog, thick fog!! Like the kind you see in horror movies. We cleared it fast as we climbed straight out of the campground up the first of many hills to come.

The first part of the route today took us slightly inland through low land swamps and lakes, ascents up endless peaks, climbs easily 3 miles long or more. At the summit the road would wind around cliff faces cut into the rock giving us expansive views of the ocean and white sandy beaches to the south.

The roads narrowed and the traffic relented toward the last half of the day, the hills became rolling through scenic artsie towns. cafes, surf shops, art galleries and bus loads of tourists.

Breaking out of the tourist trap the road became more wild, rugged, weird prehistoric Forest and hundreds of bridges crossing streams and rivers. At this point we were counting on the food supply lasting the distance of the ride but as the donkey (the carrier of everything) I could tell my load was light. We ran out of food with about 20 miles to go and it all went down hill. Dave fell off the back and I had half a peanut butter sandwich which got me another 1 mile. Anne was the only one who kept it together, but she can do 100 miles on a spoon of oat meal.

Amongst the last of out gear I managed to fine one last GU which gave me the power to pull through to the campground.

We camped in the bush tonight across from the beach. To top if off Anne and I did a 3 mile hike with visiting friends and groupies, Brad and Caroline.
Total mileage today: 106

view from the road, long way down...

Anne and Dave riding over one of the many arch bridges.

starting the day, fogged in!!

Day -7-

REST DAY!!!!!
Kind of... We ended up riding south 45 miles. Carl Washburn State Park OR to Umpqua Lighthouse State Park.

The day started with some serious bike maintenance and about 4 cups of coffee. We decided we had a few miles we had to make up so we took an easy spin down to the next camp. Stopped along the way to look at a 100 and something old lighthouse, through a tunnel and around winding cliff roads.

We arrived at the camp, awesome spot near the river and just over the sand dunes from the surf. Brad rented a 4 person dune buggy and we took that for a burn but got it stuck twice!!

So far the day time temps have been really good for riding although the evenings are freezing and the mornings are cold especially in the fog, beats Vegas anyway!!

sand dunes were spilling onto the road!

Coffee shack, cos we needed it.

Haseta Lighthouse

Day -1-
Vancouver Canada to Anacourtes Washington USA.

Today we left Vancouver Canada and headed south towards the US boarder. Most of the ride was through fruit farms and farmland. After the boarder we followed the Puget Sound south along the coast of Washington state. Awesome views, nice weather and a total of just under 100 miles.

Day -2-

Anacourtes WA to Bremerton WA.

HILLY!!!!! the hills never stopped, we were going up and down all day into a head wind. The riding was fun with some cool descents thrown in, sweeping turns through native Washington bush and around coastline. Spent the night at another state park camping area. Total distance of 88 miles.

Day -3-
Bremerton WA to Montesano WA.

Woke up to rain which relented to drizzle, then fog, then perfect sunshine. The riding was awesome despite the huge headwind again!! Started in the forest and wound our way through small historic towns before hitting the flats, where we picked up the pace. Really scenic route through various fruit farms and rolling hills along rivers.

Arrived later that day to the camp beside the river in Lake Sylvia. Total miles: 79.

Day -4-
Montesano WA to Astoria OR

The most significant day so far. Today we crossed from Washington into Oregon, we also hit the 101 highway which is the main US Pacific coast rd. We crossed in to OR on a 4.1 mile bridge over the Columbia river. We had a tail wind almost the whole day so we put in a really good time. We arrived in Astoria to find the town was booked out because the salmon were running.

Dad and I raided the trash that evening and had a feed of fresh salmon scraps from one of the fisherman. Total miles: 87.

Day -5-
Astoria OR to Cape lookout State Park OR.

Today was our first full day on the 101 highway. Today we are all feeling the aches and pains of the past 4 days, it was hot and hilly too!! We were a little disappointed the the amount of traffic on the 101 and the condition of the shoulder. The bridges are narrow and the logging trucks and old men driving huge RV's frequent. We are hoping that as we move south it will ease up.

As for the scenery, that was everything we expected, awesome views of the white sandy beaches and small fishing towns on the mouth of the rivers selling fresh oysters and fish.

We made a few stops along the way to check out the beaches and fish stands before arriving at Cape Lookout for the night, right on the beach.
Total mileage: 79.