Biking Dude Blog

Camping at Carl Washburn park was great. I could hear the gentle roar of continual waves crashing against the shore as I feel asleep at night and woke up in the morning, while gazing at the broken canopy of pine trees. Headed out a little after 7am before the others woke up. They were all just starting their adventures, and I think are taking a more leisurely approach, especially in they first week or two. Arrived in Reedsport a little before 10. Stopped at farmers market and bought small lemon poppy seed loaf (a nice mid morning snack) while I waited for the library to open. Heading at least to port orford today. If I get a good wind boost, I may push on to Brookings. We'll see what happens.

I traveled about 124.1 miles today.
Camping at humburg mountain state park tonight, a few miles south of port orford. Had a great day, saw some amazing sights along the coast. Heading to crescent city tomorrow, possibly farther. Met a few people today: biked a little with Evan from Boston who knows some Olin people. We ended up camping in the same place. He bought a bottle of beer in town, and shared it with me and Pavall, another biker Evan had met earlier. We're also joined by Steven, who arrived at camp just as the sun was setting. Very funny guy, lifts the spirits of everyone he's around. I don't want to wear myself down too much, but it feels good making so much progress these past two days. Also talked with Russ, the camp host, when I arrived. Cool guy, very outgoing and interested in other people's stories.

Yesterday, there were a bunch of messages in chalk along seven devils road. They were really funny, and kind of made my day. Saw a big group of bikers ride out of camp this morning a little before I left. Caught up with them within a few miles, they weren't moving very fast, I guess. Turns out, they were the ones who had written those notes. Cool guys, maybe they'll catch up with me if I take a break in crescent city.

I traveled about 113.4 miles today.
I don't know if there is a cycling version of a hat trick, but three century days in a row seems like it should count for something. Saw the rest of the Oregon coast, really great stuff. Entered California, stopped for a bit in crescent city to charge the phone and switch my tires, front to rear. Decided to push on another thirty miles to prairie creek campground. Had an incredible ride through some redwood forest, there are really big trees here. Met Frank and Mika, then David, on my way to camp. They all made it too, which was good. Lots of people here, too many to meet them all. Funny coincidence, David, Frank, and Mika are all from Boston. Need to stop by Eureka tomorrow, get some food, new batteries for the spot. I'll probably continue on to a campground further along afterwards. If I can keep this up, I should be able to get to SF a day earlier than I had planned. I'm super motivated by finishing this trip at this point. It's not that I want it to be over because I'm not enjoying it. It's that extra bit you give when you can see the finish line up ahead. That, and I'm daydreaming about crossing the golden gate bridge and finally dipping my wheels in the Pacific. I'm just really excited for that to happen.

I traveled about 98.7 miles today.
Had a decision point in Eureka today, after biking the fifty miles there from camp. Would I push on to the campground eighty miles away and do two more big century days to get to SF a day earlier, or would I reign myself in and start doing eighty/ninety mile days? I decided that I didn't want to push myself to hard, so I headed to the campground that was 'only' another 45 miles from Eureka. First, I planned out places to stay the next few days, and called up the state parks where I was planning to stay, to confirm that they have hiker biker sites. I also stopped at subway for lunch, and possibly my new favorite grocery store, Winco. They have pretty darn good prices, and bulk food (like banana chips and trail mix) that you can get however much or little as you want. The last fifteen miles to camp were along the avenue of the giants, a scenic alternate to 101 that winds through redwood forests. My campground in right in the middle of the forest, it's pretty incredible. Met up with Stewart and Alison at camp, also Mike and Katie who I had passed on the road. Teresa came into camp a while later. Glenn, a camper in a nearby site, brought over some beer for all the bikers. He owns a bike shop in Santa Rosa. What a guy! I've started seeing signs for San Francisco. They went from over three hundred miles to under today. Things are coming to a close very soon, but I still have many miles to travel. The redwoods are fantastic, really happy to be camping here tonight.

I completely forgot to mention this last night, but yesterday morning, just as I was leaving the elk prairie campground, I came across some bikers (the other kind) watching two elks having a kind of standoff/fight. Really cool to see. We eventually rode past. The motorbikes kind of made the elks back off a little, and I able to use a passing car for some cover, but it was still a little nerve wracking passing by. All is well, though. I don't think they were worried about us infringing on their territory.

I traveled about 103.7 miles today.
Changed my plans again today (it's kind of great to have that kind if flexibility, thanks to the relative abundance of state parks with hiker biker sites). When I arrived at MacKerricher state park, my original destination, the rangers were able to confirm that Van Damme state park (about 18 miles further) also has showers and hiker biker camping. They also have me recommendations for restaurants in fort Bragg. Onwards I went, stopping at Jenny's giant burger for dinner (the perfect burger for a hungry cyclist, they loaded on the veggies) and a quick stop at a grocery store for some trail mix. Made it to the park with plenty of time to shower and eat before night fell. Pressing onwards means that it will be much easier to hit my stretch goal of Sonoma coast the next day, which means I have the option of reaching SF on Wednesday night instead of Thursday morning, assuming that I can convince a friend to pick me up. I met three cyclists (Pierre, Adrian, and Ludvic) from Montreal in westport, who started in Vancouver. Gave them my email, they should reach SF in time for us to grab a beer before I leave. Met Sam and Nate at camp, a father son team biking down the coast. Also meet Ramsey, who has been traveling from new York in a horse shoe path around the south of the US. He will have been going for a year on Tuesday. Crazy. His plan is to end at crater lake. Really interesting guy, fashioned panniers out of tidy cat bins. Rode about 17 more miles down ave of giants this morning. Big hill climbs and descents right after Leggett once I got on 1. Really fun ride, if you like climbs and sharp turns (I enjoyed it). The temperature really dropped as I approached the coast, and the on again off again coastal fog returned. Strange to think I'll be done so soon. It will be especially strange to stop after going so hard the last several days.

I traveled about 94.5 miles today.
This was the sign about eight miles from camp. One more day and I'm in San Francisco! Today seemed to take a long time. Likely a combination of fatigue, a very hilly road, and the warmth sapping fog along the coast. Just 75 miles tomorrow, and I'm in San Francisco. The coast was beautiful today, and the abundant eucalyptus tree had a wonderful smell when I biked by. As I approach the end of this journey, I am very thankful for all of the people, most of then strangers, who helped me along my way. It's been an incredible and in many ways indescribable adventure (and still will be, for another day). I am, however, ready to be done, and very excited to see my friends in SF. Went to a Mexican restaurant a quarter mile from camp for dinner. Got a burrito, but they accidentally brought me a vegetarian one, so I got that one for free in addition to the one I actually ordered. Yes! Sufficed to say, I was absolutely stuffed by the time I finished eating, but I put both burritos away without too much trouble. That's all for now, time to rest up for the home stretch.

I finished biking for today. You can check out my current location on the map and I'll post about my day when I am in coverage.
 
 
 

I traveled about 76 miles today.
0 I finally made it. After biking nearly five thousand miles in two and a half months (and 760 of that in the last week) I crossed the golden gate bridge, rode to the beach, and at 4:18 pm (Pacific time) ended my trip when I dipped my wheels in the Pacific ocean. I'll update more later, but that's it, I'm done. Thanks again to everyone who helped me along the way.