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

Sept. 5 - In the words of Willy Nelson.......On the road again!

Crescent City to Elk Prairie Campground in Prairie Creek State Park

Sunday - September 5
What a beautiful morning. Made it easy to get up early (unlike the very rainy 1st day mornings the last 2 years) so we were on the road by 8:30 after a McDonald's breakfast, hopefully our last fast food restaurant on this trip.



The road was flat, the winds calm and there was very little traffic as we left town.

The Crescent City hills will start soon enough so we lingered abit taking in the ocean and listening to the fog horn.

We are starting to climb with great visibility at the viewpoints AKA rest stops.

The good thing about going slowly uphill (3.5.mph) is it was easy to gawk at the big redwoods.

This is summit number 1 of 3.

Doug is wondering if the truck speed limit applies to his Long Haul Trucker (Summit #3)

Just really enjoying the sunshine and the views and knowing that we had done OK on the first big hill of the ride. We had NOT been able to do as many training rides as last year and the first day traveling fully loaded is always different besides.

It was a fine ride back down to sea level.



This bike "cheesecake" picture taken just so we could send it to the folks at CoMotion and let them know their bike was having a good time.

We arrived at the Trees of Mystery just before lunch time. In fact we had to wait a few minutes for the lunch menu to be available at the restaurant across the street. We met a young man there that lives very close to Highway 20 in New York. He has ridden his Long Haul Trucker from there and is planning to ride down the foothills of the Sierras then on to San Diego. And his bike shoes were flip flops!

We visited Paul Bunyan while letting our lunch settle. He was quite entertaining. The "voice" could obviously see everything going on at the base of the statue. It was great fun watching the kids when he talked directly to them then commented on their reactions.

Our schedule had us staying in Klamath but it was still early in the day so we picked up some food for dinner there and continued south. This is at the Hotel Ravenwood in Klamath.

The Klamath River

Just another 900 foot climb between us and the Elk Prairie Campground.



Over the top and down the other side. Doug saw a bear cross the road near here. We also met 4 young men who asked if we had seen their friend. We had seen him........blasting downhill as we were coming up......well beyond where he was supposed to meet them! We wished them well and continued moseying towards the campground........



.........and gawking at the big trees.

Another advantage to bike touring is campsite availability on Labor Day weekend. The campground was totally full when we arrived at about 4:00 except for the hiker/biker sites. We were the first ones there so we nabbed the sunny spot.



After setting up our tent we headed back to the trailhead for the Big Tree that we had passed about a half mile before the campground entrance.



This tree is 287 feet tall, 23.7 feet in diameter with a 68 foot circumference and is approximately 1,500 years old.

This one was just a baby in comparison!

What a day! Lots of beauty along with our roadside sightings which included a dog bowl, towel, RV window screen, 3 hubcaps, and a bunch of telephone wire. Doug saw a bear cross the road. Our sound of the day was the pigeons flapping around our tent all evening.
Miles = 38.4
Total miles = 44.2 

Sept. 6 - Redwoods, Elk and New Friends

Elk Prairie Campground to Eureka KOA Campground

Monday  - September 6
We woke early to a cold, clear morning with just a little fog over the prairie.

It warmed up a bit when the sun finally hit our tent site. We indulged in hot drinks and a Clif Bar for breakfast #1 and visited with our bear box mate Brian hoping for more warmth. 



Brian is between jobs and not sure what is next but he is definitely hoping that the wind dies down today. He is moving back to Portland from Orange County. His parents met him in San Francisco to drive his car north while he rides to Portland. This last couple of days have been challenging with the stiff headwind (our delightful tailwind!)

The elk for which the campground is named - it reminded us of Yellowstone as there were so many cars stopped along the road to take pictures. It was an impressively healthy looking herd - 4 big bulls and 20 cows and calves.

Steve, Dick, Bob, and Artie are from Vancouver, WA on a bike club trip also headed to San Francisco. We met them last night and they invited us to have Breakfast #2 with them at the Palm Cafe in Orick. Erica joined us there. She is from Newark, NJ and it headed to SFO for a meeting.......this is just a "little" side trip. The conversation was lively and the food was really good and we didn't get going again until 11:00!

We stopped at a little market on the way out of town to pick up lunch stuff. We had a nice little tailwind, very little traffic, and beatiful scenery so the miles just melted away.

We were pretty sure this sign wasn't really for us. We would fall over if we went too much slower!

We decided not to take the Patrick Point road but stay on Highway 101. The shoulder was wide and smooth and the traffic was reasonable, especially considering that it was Labor Day. We pulled into a rest area just norh of Trinidad to have lunch. While getting a picture of an artistic trash can by the bathroom, Donna noticed this model train. She decided to ask about it and it turned out to be a delightful encounter. This is John Felt, brother of Jim Felt of Felt Bicycles! He is a machinist by trade and built the whole thing himself at 1/8" scale.

The engine is a work of art and strength as it can pull cars carrying up to 20 adults! It is only 24" high and about 5 feet long.

This is where John sits when playing engineer.

More of the ubiquitous pampas grass that we've seen on the roadside.

At KcKinleyville, we left 101 for a bicycle detour that led us to a rails to trails conversion. The route wandered through a very rural agricultural area before connecting back to 101 in Arcata.

We crossed this river on an old railroad trestle that is part of the trail.

In Arcata we stopped at an RV park store to get some ice cream. It was a good stop as they had a local map with roads that allowed us to avoid a couple more miles of 101. Just before we reached the next interchange, Chris caught up with us and offered to be our guide to the KOA on a route that eliminated even more freeway time. We gladly took him up on the deal. He came to Eureka 30 years age to go to Humbolt State and never left. Just after we parted company at the KOA exit, Bob and Artie showed up at our side so we all zoomed across the 4 lanes of highway together.

The hiker/biker section of the KOA was totally separate from the rest of the campground and right next to the store, laundry room, restrooms and showers....a veritable bike tourist paradise........

....though it is was a bit shady early in the evening. We cooked dinner in the microwave in the Kamp Store then joined the 4 guys for dinner and more interesting conversation. A great day except that Donna discovered that she had left her toiletries bag in the bathroom at the campground this morning. Unfortunately it has her ring and favorite earrings in it. She left a message on the Park's voicemail in hopes someone turned it into the campground host.

Wildlife sighting today (besides the elk) was a bald eagle in one of the lagoons.The sound of the day was a cow elk's bleating call.
Today's miles = 46.9
Total miles - 91.1