Carmel

Another ride is in the books. The ride was very enjoyable. We traveled about 960 miles over 14 days of riding. My totals were 612 miles during the trip, somewhat more than I had anticipated riding. We are quite tired today. Attention to the road was absolutely required today. It took us 10 miles plus to leave Santa Cruz and we probably had to stop at 20 traffic lights on the way out of town. We were headed into the rising sun as well, so had to be on the wary side for holes in the road. When we approached Monterey and rode to Pacific Grove, many other cyclists and pedestrians shared the bike path. We weaved our way through it slowly. Traffic on the 17 mile drive was heavy and again our full attention was required for vehicles pulling in and out for the scenery. One driver almost clipped me thinking he could squeeze in before I got there. Or his attention span was short and he forgot already that I was there.

Thanks for following along on another edition of "Life in the slow lane." At this time, there are no plans for another chapter any time soon. My body definitely needs a rest with two trips this year and approximately 6,300 cycling miles for the year. Once again, thanks to Robin for allowing me to express my passion and for driving the SAG vehicle for the past two years. I am glad that she got to witness it for a couple of days.

Thanks to my fellow riders Doc, Jim H., Ron, and Tracy. I really enjoyed your company on and off the bicycle. You helped make it a successful trip. This is my third time down the West Coast and I am grateful that we shared it together. You helped me see things in a different way. May we log many more miles together over the upcoming years!

Today's riders: Dana, Doc, Tom, Tracy, Paula, Ron, Jim H. Dana and Paula joined us on the ride from the hotel to the first SAG. A club ride of perhaps 40 cyclists passed us on the route like we were all standing still, although I am sure that Dana could have stayed with them.

An ocean view from 17 mile drive. Lots of traffic on the road, but there is a bike lane for most of the drive. One could spend several hours along this road, especially on the nice day that we had today.

The Lone Cypress tree. It is approximately 250 years old and is the official symbol of the Pebble Beach Company. It is one of the most famous trees in the world.

Getting some food at the end of the trip.

Cruising to Santa Cruz

Robin and I on Twin Peaks overlooking San Francisco.

A view from Pigeon Point.

Paula and her husband Dana met us on route today. They joined us for dinner and will ride out of Santa Cruz with us. Paula did the XC in 2008, staffed it this year, and has done a lot of work for CrossRoads since then.

Dedicated to all surfers--a bronze monument in Santa Cruz.

Just a few notes as it is getting late. We had a nice day in San Francisco. Robin and I and Doc and his wife Sandy went on a city tour via bus. A quick way to see the highlights. Robin and I then had lunch with our daughter Lauri's boyfriend Jeremy who is studying for his masters in fine arts in SF. We had a great dinner at Absinthe. We spent $225 on restaurant meals on Thursday.

The ride out of San Francisco was uneventful. There are some tough hills. The climbing was over 2000 feet by mile 28, with some real gear busters and heart-stopping descents. Tracy rode the entire day today--86 miles. Yeah, Tracy! Robin drove the SAG vehicle today and got the flavor for what I have been up to for the past six years on all my tours. We finish on Saturday in Carmel.

San Francisco

There is not much to report today. Our ride was 50 miles from Petaluma to San Francisco. We had a great deal of climbing out of Petaluma to the initial suburbs of San Francisco. Most of it was on roads that once were likely quiet roads in the country but are now moderately busy thoroughfares though still in the country.

Traffic was heavy thereafter and made us quite attentive. When I arrived in San Francisco on a coast bike trip in 1974, I could not tolerate the big city. I made a decision to move from the Los Angeles area. It is a decision that I have never regretted. Yes, Denver is big 36 years later, but nowhere the size of San Francisco or Los Angeles.

Doc said "I cheated death once again" on his arrival at the hotel. We are staying at a Holiday Inn just a couple of blocks from Fisherman's Wharf. The city's hotels are completely booked as an Oracle convention is in town.

We have a day off here tomorrow before resuming our last two days of riding to Carmel, CA. Robin is flying here tonight to celebrate my big 6-0 birthday on Thursday. It is great to be healthy and still feel young. Thanks be to God! Our group will go to dinner tomorrow night. Robin will accompany us for the last two days of riding and get a primer in SAG driving.

Sorry, no pictures for today.

Pedaling to Petaluma

Today was another day of contrasts. We started off in wine country, entered another redwood forest, and spent the last 18 miles going through dairy country. It is amazing that such variety can be seen in just a relatively short distance. The land for the vineyards and forest looks so fertile while the dairy pastures look so brown that you wonder how the cows survive.

This was the first day that I was on the bike for the full day. It has been since early June that I last rode 72 miles. I handled it great, though. We had a couple of good climbs. The first was on the way up to Occidental, while the other was short but on a 14 percent grade for much of the hill. I think that Tracy will find another route around the latter hill as the road was in terrible condition. I talked to a local cyclist before we turned this road. He does not ride it because the hill gives his knees trouble. He continued straight and we met him on the other side. He traveled an additional mile or so, but was on a better road surface than we were.

Want wine? These signs pointed the way to many vineyards. We saw another one like this along the road.

These grapes look nearly ready to be crushed.

Having lunch at the Bohemian Market in Occidental. If you saw some of the people hanging around here, you would understand why it is called Bohemian (with apologies to my fellow Bohemian brothers at church).

Cloverdale

One of many vineyards in the Anderson Valley. Note the large building over the crest of the hill where the vineyard's operations take place.

View of a Mendocino coast headland. I love these and could look at them all day. It really creates a sense of peace.

Jim H. cresting another hill on the coast. He said that people would wonder why he is the always the last one to the top. He must have had Wheaties for breakfast this morning as he was the first one to the top of the first hill.

Ron on a descent in the oak-covered hills.

Cloverdale was named the second coolest small town in America for 2010. Robin and I were here on a Friday night in June. There was a town gathering at the central plaza. It seemed as if half the town was there and everyone knew each other. Food and vendor booths were set up and there was wine tasting. They do this each Friday night of the summer. Many people were walking through the town. It was nice to observe this going on.

As alive as the town may be on Friday nights, it was dead on this Monday night. We went to three restaurants that were closed before finding one that was open. In defense of its cool town image however, the proprietor of one closed restaurant invited us in for dinner anyway. I do not think that would happen in Denver. We wanted them to enjoy their day off so we respectfully declined the gracious offer.

Today was a day of great contrasts. We rode along the coastline for 18 miles, marveling at the spectacular headlands of the Mendocino coast. We turned inland and went through a redwood forest for 15 miles. As soon as we left the forest, we came into miles of vineyards. After this, it was up and down oak-covered hillsides for the final 26 miles of the day.

Another day of rain

While we were able to escape the rain for the most part on the past two days, we were not so lucky today. We had rain and mist until we got a couple of miles outside of Fort Bragg. Doc took a bump a few miles down the road and started his ride from there. Ron, Jim H., and I started from the hotel. Jim was ready to call it a day after about ten miles. I echoed his sentiments at about 20 miles. Our SAG was at 23 miles. The rain/mist seemed to have stopped for a minute or two. We had climbed 1600 feet by then and averaged only 12.4 mph. I had intended to do the Leggett Hill climb, adding another 1100 feet by mile 29. I have had problems shifting into the granny ring while under pressure and I would have needed it on grades that got up to 16 percent. Maybe I could have toughed it out in the middle chain ring, but the rain took out any desire to do it.

After the summit, Ron and Doc had a nice 9 mile descent. This descent has over 100 turns to the bottom. They had to hold back because of the wet road and pine needles on the road. It seems to rain harder when you descend, but it is just the speed that makes it seem so. They get another chance at a great descent tomorrow going into Cloverdale. The second SAG was on the ocean. I was tempted for awhile to get back on the road but know that I would have regretted it within a couple of miles as I would have been quite chilled. We could finally see blue sky as we entered Fort Bragg and the skies cleared quite nicely within one hour of our arrival.

Thanks to Rosy and Jordan, Ira, and Bob for your comments.

Ron and Doc at the second SAG. Notice the sign "Sunny days ahead". We hope that the rest of the trip is sunny!

Cypress (?) tree with misty ocean background.

We traveled 77 miles from Eureka to Garberville today. The initial 5 miles were on Highway 101 before we got off onto side roads that took us through lots of dairy country. Or, as Doc said "That is a lot of milk out there."

We went through the nice town of Ferndale at 18 miles. It had many fine Victorian homes and businesses. My wife Robin really liked the town when we traveled through it in June. After leaving Ferndale, we were back out into dairy country. You could tell where the cows are moved from pasture to pasture across the road by the amount of deposits they make on the road. We had several climbs and descents from mile 26 through 29. On one wicked descent, the carcass of a animal was spread across the road. I should have said several body parts. My concentration was on the road, but I did see a fresh rib cage in front of me and several other remnants in my peripheral vision. It did not give me a lot of immediate confidence for the upcoming sharp bend near the bottom. Jim H. reminded me later that the animal was killed crossing the road, not descending it. I managed to negotiate it safely as well as two more steep but short descents.

We then went through the lumber towns of Rio Dell and Scotia. Four miles later we entered the Avenue of the Giants, a 32 mile stretch that travels through the coastal redwood forest. The road surface was nice. Perhaps as many cyclists were on the road as cars. At times the tree canopy arched over the road while tall redwoods stood as sentinels to the side. Magnificent!

After leaving the Avenue of the Giants, the road was gradually uphill to the hotel, adding insult to injury. At least it was on the cool side.

Nice view of the Eel River and surrounding dairy pasture. We were near the top of a 14 percent grade and the steep descent mentioned above.

Clowning around in a tree.

Some of the big trees on the Avenue of the Giants. Actually, these are small ones by comparison.