2010 Pacific Coast Phase 3 - Northern California

 Getting Ready to Go

We both got new touring bikes this year. Yep, more bikes. Doug's is a Long Haul Trucker frame that he accidently found on E-Bay while looking for a bike for a friend of ours. He just HAD to put a bid on it and ended up winning it. Swapping parts around from his Bianchi and buying some new parts kept him pretty busy and happy for weeks.

Then he decided that I needed a better bike too and here it is. We ordered a Co-Motion custom frame and fork. This is the bike about 5 weeks before we plan to leave on this coast trip.

The test run........does the sign apply to Long Haul Truckers too????

A couple of gonzo cyclists stopped to take this picture of our test ride. The 2 of them were doing 600 km in 3 days. That is Foster Lake in the background.........about 5 miles from home.

Yes, it will all fit on the bike though at this stage we are always amazed that it does.

Now Donna's really ready......new bike, new fender, same stickers.

Getting Started

Sweet Home, Oregon to Crescent City, CA 

Saturday  - September 4
We rented this Nissan Xterra at the Eugene Airport Friday night. Definitely easier to load than the Toyota Camry we had to use last year! We were on the road by 10:00 on a bright, sunny day. We stopped in Sutherlin to water the plants at the house that has occupied so much of our time this past year. What a difference! We had lunch at Cave Junction and arrived in Crescent City about 3:00 after a lovely drive along the Smith River.

We secured our motel room then returned the rental car to the Crescent City Airport. Now that we are without a 4 wheeled vehicle, we really feel like the bike trip has started. It would have started a little sooner but Doug forgot his bike shoes at the motel and had to go back for them.

There was a 15 mph wind from the northwest.........read tailwind......leaving the airport. We didn't have to pedal a stroke for well over a mile!

What a joy to be back here on a gorgeous day so similar to the one when we had to abort our trip a year ago.

It was low tide so we decided to see if the path to the Battery Point Lighthouse was accessible since we couldn't get there last year.

Just took a little bit of rock-hopping to get there.

This lighthouse was one of the first built on the California coast. In 1855, Congress appropriated $15,000 for the construction of the light station, which was completed in 1856. Theophilis Macgruder was the station’s first keeper. Wayne Piland was its last before automation in 1953. (from historical marker)

Looking back at Crescent City from the island.

The tide came in a little while Donna was on the island but not enough to cause wet feet so our timing was perfect.... just like the whole day had been. We watched a couple holes of a disc golf game on our way back to the motel. We ate dinner at The Tea Garden Cafe and then spent the rest of the evening watching Mel Gibson, James Gardner and Jodi Foster having fun in the movie "Maverick".
Total bike miles = 5.8