NorCal

Pretty quickly after entering into California I came upon my first Redwoods and holy shit are they huge! I obviously new they were massive trees but just being among them is a whole different thing. When I made it to the Redwoods State and National Parks I was greeted with a decently long 6% grade but the down hill was so worth it. The road was smooth and winding which made me feel like Leia riding a Speeder on Endor!

I was told by many people to go check out the Lost Coast, that it was just so gorgeous and I would love it. What people didn’t tell me was that I could expect a climb reminiscent of the Dalton in length, steepness, and quality of the road. Yay……. Shit. I spent the morning pushing my bike up an 8% – 15% grade and struggling to even continue moving forward at times. This went on seemingly forever and by the time I reached the top I was greeted with winds gusting upwards of 30 km/h making riding even more of a challenge. Then comes the downhill and the easy part, one would think. But oh no, not here. Here you have to ride the brakes for fear of tacoing a wheel or not making the turn around one of the steep switchbacks. I had to stop multiple times to give my hands a rest from squeezing the brakes. Then you finally make it to the bottom and for about 8 km you have flat ground along the Lost Coast and I was less than impressed. For the amount of work I had to do to get there and what I was told to expect I was expecting something spectacular, instead I saw more of the same coastline that I have seen for a couple hundred of kilometers. I do know there is a wonderful backpacking hike that takes you to other places but that’s not what I was able to see from my bike. Beginning my ride uphill away from the coast I see spray painted on the pavement “????? is a punk n***** and is gay!!” (minus the *’s) I am pretty sure it had said Obama but someone covered up that part a little bit.

That did not make me feel too totally welcome in that area. I stopped in the next town over to get some food and water and chatted with a nice gentleman who was tending his yard and he offered me a beer and some advice. He said on the big hill past the town of Honeydew don’t stop until the top it’s not safe. Every once in a while in our conversation he would repeat “don’t stop on that hill” and apparently there are some maybe not legal grow operations and they don’t take too kindly to people near their plants. Thankfully I made it up the hill without incident and the downhill into Humboldt Redwoods State Park was a nice change of pace. The road was smoother than the ride to the coast, but not so smooth as to let loose and enjoy the speed. I thought on the way down that this would be really fun without gear, with suspension, and disc brakes. I had none of those things.

Not long after that park I left the 101 and hit up the 1. The 1 would continue along the coast going up and down huge hills continuously while being incredibly gorgeous. See, I didn’t need the Lost Coast for nice shoreline views! Shortly before making it to San Francisco the 1 is closed for repairs and I had to detour up the Panoramic Highway. That proved to be another lovely climb up a mountain but this downhill I was able to go all out and not ride the brakes the whole way down. Partway down I met a new Colombian cyclist friend and we exchanged info and I hope to see him in town before I leave. I had planned on camping at the campground right near the bridge but once I got there I found it was closed for the season. Well onwards and upwards to the other one! Thankfully there was a wide bike lane which allowed me to go faster than all of the tourists in their cars. But one tourist not paying attention driving a minivan swerved very slowly and hit my rear left pannier. No damage was done. I finally got to the other campground and found that there was not water there. That would have been good information to know! To the hostel! Luckily there is a hostel in the National Monument and I stayed there for the night before making my way across the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco proper and the Green Tortoise Hostel for some well needed rest days.