New site for blog

Just to let you know, I am writing the blog this time on a new site. Here is the address. Thanks for following. 

https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/25361

19 Days to Start

I have signed up for the Adventure Cycling Fall Southern Tier trip that will start on September 24th. Time is getting close and I am just trying to get things ready. This will be the third multi-month trip I have been on. I rode the Atlantic Coast in 2011, went from Minneapolis, MN to Portland, Maine in 2019 and have done numerous shorter trips interspersed in there. 

This trip will actually complete my “around the block goal” I have had since 2011. I had a roommate on that trip from the UK named John. He had ridden all around the world and I learned so much from him. I would say that he has been my long-distance touring guru. Anyway, he is the one who put into my head that I needed to consider riding all around the Unites States, or “around the block” as he put it. I have ridden the entire Atlantic and Pacific coasts and across the Northern Tier route in many different trips over the years and I am excited to finally see the Southern Tier.

We have started getting to know our fellow riders. It appears they are all going to be from the US. I was hoping for an international group for the trip, but it will be fun to meet them all.

I am going through the pre-trip anxiety. I just start worrying about the logistics as well as being gone for so long. When I was on the Atlantic Coast about a month in, I began feeling that I have had enough. I know that time will come, but I will do my best to stick it out.

Anyway, this post is just to make sure things can still work on the blog, so I will be back with you all in 19 days. 

Day 18 - Olema, CA to San Francisco, CA

 Miles 34, Total 778

Well we made it.  It was a great last day of riding as well. We weren’t planning on leaving all that early, but as we were getting things together, we could tell it was going to be a warmer day than we were used to, so we took off shortly after 8.  It was a good thing too.  As we were traveling through Sausalito, it was 95 degrees. For being a short riding day, we again took much of the day getting it done.

We had a good change of scenery today.  Right out of Olema, we had to climb over a hill to get back on our route.  It was a pretty decent climb. We were then on a bike trail for about 6 miles and then going through urban areas as we got closer to San Francisco and the bridge.

We ended up stopping at a doughnut place and grabbing us a few doughnuts as it got closer to lunch and never did get to the sandwiches we made this morning until we were in the RV heading to our camping spot tonight.

We then got to the bridge and just took our time going across.  I think it was back in 2016 that I rode across the bridge as I joined an adventure cycling group in going from San Francisco to the Mexico border by San Diego.  I now have ridden the Pacific Coast of the US from top to bottom.  Yay!! Tim asked me what it felt like and I said, “Not much different than it did yesterday”. 😊

It does feel good.  It has been another cycling goal of mine and I am happy that it could happen.  I will write later my thoughts on the Pacific Coast and what I can remember. 

We drove to Vallejo as there didn’t seem to be RV places close to San Francisco and as we drove inland, the temperature just kept going up.  On the road, the RV was saying it was 106 outside.  When we got to the park, the air conditioner in the RV just couldn’t keep up.  We didn’t have great eating places around us and we didn’t feel like taking everything down and driving so we walked down the street and had our celebratory dinner at Subway.  It actually tasted really good and hit the spot.  We then spent our evening watching the first Lord of the Rings as Tim and Nancy had never seen them.  It was long but fun.

Here are some pictures from today. I do have to say that many of my pictures are shared with me by Nancy.  She is a much better photographer than me, so if they are good, they are probably from her.

The golden hills of California.  Quite a difference from Washington and the Redwoods.

Our camp in Olema.

The bike trail we were on this morning.

San Francisco in the distance.

Going across the bridge.

I think the three of us are happy to be done.

That is a picture of the cable holding that bridge up.  That is a crazy big cable.

Day 17 - Bodega Bay, CA to Olema, CAr

Miles 38, Total 744

We have definitively left the lush green of the Redwoods and Washington. The mountains have the typical dry grass you see in California with brush and trees in the valleys and on hillsides.  Everywhere we have been going there are signs reminding people of the water shortage and to conserve.

We did ride inland a bit and saw some pretty dry areas.  There were dairy barns and cattle along the way and then we came back to Tomales Bay.  There seems to be a lot of oyster farming that goes on in the bay. There were shops selling raw oysters and restaurants to order from. I have been a little reluctant in my life to eat oysters and would like to try them again, but no one was interested in stopping for oysters for lunch.  That was probably wise.  

We did ride through some cool little towns and saw a lot of bicyclists out for a holiday ride (Juneteenth). There were some on a 200 km ride.  I don’t think that even sounds fun to me right now.

We are in a little town of Olema. There is nothing here except the campground. We picked up vegetables and stuff to make breakfast for dinner tonight.  The Wi-Fi is terrible once again and Brandon is trying to upload his work he did today.  It is going slow, but it is going is it just doesn’t bomb out along the way.

I thought this dairy bank was interesting.  Now a surf shop.

The Bay of Bodega

In the distance is the oyster farming beds.

A nice river running into Tomales Bay

The famous oyster company (I’ve never heard of it)

The Tomales Bay.  On the other side is a National Seashore.  Never know we had such a thing.

Some of those oysters and clams to be sold.

Day 16 - Manchester, CA to Bodega Bay, CA

 Miles 70, Total 706

The day was just as expected.  It really was a beautiful day to ride and the Pacific was just gorgeous all the way and the road climbed and defended many times.  According to my app, there was 5,800 feet of climbing.  It seemed like it.  We would get way above the ocean and the road would plummet to sea level and then you would climb again.

Not too much to report other than that.  I did try and listen to church as I rode.  Our ward is still broadcasting with Zoom, but the audio isn’t that great and much of it I couldn’t understand.

I ended up getting ahead of Tim and Nancy and pretty much rode alone all day.  Ended up eating my lunch in Fort Ross and took a pretty good break there.

We ended up in Bodega Bay and really didn’t have the groceries to cook dinner in the RV nor did we have the energy to cook.  There was a Mexican restaurant close by so we decided to go there.  It was really good.  I had a combination fajita meal which had shrimp, chicken and beef.  It was really good and everyone ate everything on their plate.  I guess we were famished.

Pretty typical view of the day.  This is a picture from one of the high points.

Then you would drop to a scene such as this.

Did see a lot of cattle grazing close to the ocean.

Day 15 - Fort Bragg, CA to Manchester, CA

 Miles 39, Total 636

Not too much to write about today.  We only had 39 miles or so to travel, so we’re looking at the day as a day off of sorts. We were thinking that it would be a short riding day, but it pretty much took us all day to do it. We got away kind of late at 9:45 and 8 miles down the road stopped in the artsy town of Mendocino and had a second breakfast. We just took our time all day and arrived into camp at about 2:30.

It was pretty much the same thing all day.  We would see some beautiful piece of the ocean where a river or stream enters the ocean and then we would ride across a bluff, down the hill to another river and climb back up to a beautiful view. It was up and down all day. We had about 4,300 ft of climbing today.  I think I would just like to get the climbing done, but that is what the Pacific coast is.  

We have had some great tailwinds the last few days. The wind in the afternoon is blowing about 15 mph and it really helps.  It’s supposed to continue, so that is good.

We are in a KOA tonight and there is a lot going on.  Lots of campers.  I could only get the spot for one night so we have to move on tomorrow.  There wasn’t anything available for 69 miles from here, so tomorrow is going to be a big day of ups and downs.

The view many times today. 😊

All of us at the top of a hill.

The sun going down tonight.

Brandon walking the Manchester Beach

The waves were just roaring on Manchester Beach.

Day 14 - Benbow, CA to Fort Bragg, CA

 Miles 70, Total 597

This was a tough day.  We knew we had some climbing to do today and we sure did.  As near as I can calculate, we climbed about 5,000 feet today. My adventure cycling app says 8,000' but I don’t think that is right.

It was some beautiful riding.  We rode through a few more State Redwood parks and then over a mountain pass to get back to the Pacific Ocean.  There was a little bit of everything today. We left Highway 101 and started traveling on Highway 1.  The traffic was very good and patient all the way to Fort Bragg, but as we got closer to the city, people were in a bit more of a hurry.

We climbed to an elevation of about 1,800 feet and coming down from that was the best downhill I have ever had on a bike. The turns were spaced just right that I didn’t have to brake too much and the turns were just the right size that I could just lean into them on the bike.  It really felt like I was on the motorcycle.  It was a lot of fun.  I wish I had the energy to climb again just to come down.

It was nice to see the ocean again.  With the clear skies here, the ocean looks so blue.  It’s totally different than in Oregon.

Went out for dinner tonight. Everyone was too tired to cook.  Went to a pizza place close by and had pizza and a salad.  It really hit the spot.

The ocean as we cam back to it today.

This was the tiniest post office I think I have ever seen.  Not manned by anyone.

Pretty rock.

This was the bike path that led us the last few miles into Fort Bragg.

See the road that we traveled.  This doesn’t show it too well, but the coast is just a constant up and down.  You are constantly shifting gears.

The order of my pictures is a little messed up.  This is inside that post office.