Day 18 | nothing but fun
Distance
60 miles
Elevation Climbed
4,016 ft
Landscape
Steep cliffs above bright blue-green coves; farmland, fields and small towns
Weather
Overcast to sunny, 55-60 F
Lars’ Notes:
I didn’t really sleep all that well last night, thinking that the ride would be a rough one. It looked like it would be cold, there were 10 climbs and I was concerned that 60 miles of ups and downs would be exhausting. As I woke, I looked out the window of the Inn in Fort Bragg and, alas, it looked like dense fog. I got up to get a drink of water; it turned out it was just foggy windows! The skies were cloudy but visibility was fine and no rain. After a nice breakfast of eggs and half a bagel, we headed out. The temperature was warmer that expected and the terrain was gently rolling to start. Later, the skies cleared and we had a nice breeze at our backs. The ups and downs that I was concerned about turned out to be really fun. We would typically climb to around 250-300 feet and stay at that altitude and pedaled gently over the rolling hills with a landscape of beautiful coastal pastures,; we would then have a really fast descent as we traversed a cove or inlet. These declines had the wonderful effect of having me tap into my inner child. We could speed down the declines (very little traffic made this safe); I experienced such exhilaration and fun as I leaned into the hairpin turns at 20-25 mph! The concerns I had yesterday with my brake pads getting worn down rapidly was avoided today by simply not applying the brakes, or at least very infrequently. Kirsten and I had a blast and the miles slipped by quickly, we made great time.
The sun came out about halfway through the ride which highlighted the vibrant ocean colors of shades of green and blue. We stopped for lunch twice, as normal (we split our lunch in half and eat twice), the first at a really nice spot about 200 feet above the beach with many arched rock outcrops aithin a few hundred feet from the coast. The second was more of an open coastal meadow with a view of miles of coastline.
We were stopped at Point Arena at about 1:00 as a fourth of July Parade had halted traffic along Route 1.We missed the parade, but were able to catch the Grand Finale as two, more than middle aged, men had a street luge race down the center of Main Street. With only 10 or so miles left for the day, we cruised in to Gualala, our destination for the day. We are 60 miles closer to Mexico than yesterday. We also hit a major milestone for the ride today, surpassing 1000 miles since we started.
Kirsten’s Notes:
What a fun day. We left right from the inn we were staying at instead of driving to our starting location and had a nice meal and chat with a lady from the Philippines in the communal kitchen who had some mutual connections with Mom. All of the circumstances I have come to find most ideal were met: the overcast morning that was warmer than yesterday turned sunny a few hours in, the wind was unnoticeable, the roads were well paved for the most part and the shoulder was wide enough where we needed it to be. On top of that, the consistent hills we encountered barely caused us to break stride since our gear changes are second nature now and our legs have encountered way worse. Even the lengthy switchback that was so steep we couldn’t do sitting down and that I thought I would tip over on was fun. There have been so many times I’ve watched cyclists go up hills like this from a car and question why they do that for fun but…I get it now that I can feel the sense of accomplishment at the top and can anticipate what downhills are coming. Feeling the adrenaline from zipping and winding down these hills can’t be beat. I imagine that’s exactly what the 2 road luge racers we saw at a local parade would say after their race. Lastly, the blue skies brought brilliant color to the Pacific and coves and riding along the coast is a lot more fun when we have this.
