Rest day and we all stayed in yurts! Yippee . . . even stayed warm during the night.

The usual breakfast routine before we headed off to Redwoods State Park. Rich and Jenny compare routes on the map over coffee.

For those of us who never ventured past downtown over the rest day, we finally see the marina in Brookings as we head out of town.

We are crossing into California today and literally right on the state line is the last change to by weed in Oregon!!!

Welcome to California . . .

. . . and across the street is the welcome to Oregon sign, much nicer than the OR landing of the ferry we took from WA across the Columbia into OR. On the OR side there was only a pile of trash and an outhouse!!!

And gas was notably more expensive in CA. Gene, a local in Fort Dix, riding a bicycle, told me it is the ‘special CA blend additives’ that make the price so high . . .

. . . and here was the nicely named ‘Pelican Lake’ correctional facility, the only one like it in the state, where the baddest of the bad go. Sounds like our ‘Super Max’ back in Boscobel, WI. For the second time we have seen a prison with no name or reference to what it is. Easy to tell though from the guard towers and multiple fences.

On a nicer note was this local artist who was VERY skilled in using horseshoes welded together to make creations . . .

. . . and he had quite a display!!!

Oregonian’s are just as anxious to get their coffee in the morning as Washingtonian’s seemed to be. Here was the result of someone not getting enough milk in their double latte. They mowed the place down with their car!!!

Per every other crossing I’ve made into California there was the ever present vegetable inspection station . . . they just waved us though!!!

Our first view of the California, not surprisingly it looked a lot like the Oregon coast!!

Several of us saw this sign and questioned if the ‘local fine’ was for turning left or taking the bike lane!!! How do they collect?????

As we passed through Crescent City there was a scenic lighthouse right along the pier. Very Nice!!

Most of the signs along the beach are old and faded, but they all had the newer ‘No Solicitation’ sign added. I’ve been amazed at the size of the homeless population we have seen along the way in WA, OR and now in CA. It’s appears to be epidemic proportions!! People sleeping everywhere!!!

Crescent City’s version of the Queen Mary . . . tours provided, too.

Great views along the way as the sun rose higher in the sky.

A big downhill from the top of this bluff down and across the bridge.

Soon we entered the joint National/State sections of the redwoods, an ecotype we would be following, on and off, for the next three days.

. . . however this was sort to of disconcerting. In many cases there ended up being NO shoulder, and uphill!!!

Oh yeah . . . those redwoods are BIG!!!

Mile after mile of tall giants that have stood for hundreds of years . . . a camera can really not capture the size and grandeur of these trees.

Hey wait a minute! At the ‘Trees of Mystery’ there was Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox. I thought they were from Bemidji, MN!!!!

The trees keep getting bigger. Connie liked brushing up against something almost as old as her!!

Very little traffic along the way made for a GREAT ride . . .

Oh and sometimes the behemoths are right out into the road. One needs to pay attention whether in a car or on a bike . . .

We finally landed in Redwood State Park our home for the night . . .

Great burgers cooked up by Anne and Pam. Mike and I are the only veggies on the trip and the group has been VERY accommodating. Here Mike gets his veggie burger, served from the pan on the left.

Four kinds of salad to accompany the burgers . . . really hit the spot after a long day!

Dave and Joe discussing the next options for cabins or yurts . . . it was going to get cold tonight and four of the gang had secured a cabin.

A quick map meeting before the sun went down and everyone was in their tents IMMEDIATELY. The low tonight would be 25 degrees. Water bottles froze and there was frozen condensation on the tent fly’s!!!

The power went off at 2:30am and the 300 foot walk to the unlit toilet/shower building was a challenge to say the least. Hey . . . who is that breaking into one of our test at 7:15am??? Just Jenny returning to her tent wearing just about everything she had brought along, just like the rest of us, because the overnight low temp was 25 degrees!!!

It was a cold camp along with a thick fog that just started to lift at 7:30am . . .

. . . my panniers were frozen !!!!!!

As we rolled through our first town of the day, Akin, there was the Palm’s Motel that had an indoor type herbarium that was probably . . . 80 degrees. If we could have only slept in there last night!!!

Trying to become a platinum bicycling city by having green painted bike lanes . . . town population 289!!!

Nice operations center for the Redwood Park Operations, maybe they should have saved some money to pay the electric bill for their parks. (there would be much more to the story to come . . . )

We have seen elk crossing signs since Oregon and I have not seen a one . . .

. . . but there might be some ahead at Elk Country  . . .

. . . can you say ‘baiting’????

. . . and sure enough a mile down the road was the resort with LOTS of No Trespassing Signs and elk (evidently the elk cannot read English) . Paying guests only. But you could see them from the road bedded down in the long grass.

We took an undeveloped road for a ways that ran right on the cliffs over the ocean. We have been seeing lots of this Pompous Grass along the way. Not sure if it native to CA. Also lots of surfers along the way . . .

. . . mmmmm don’t think I will stop at this place to fill my water bottle.

Cal Fire Rural fire station. Tried to talk to some of the boys but they were all in a meeting.

Lots of trails along the beach and lots of people put walking their dogs. Beautiful setting!!

Here was an example of a well repaired area where the road had slid away. Instead of just patching it, the bed was replaced and reinforced and plant, trees and forbes planted to hold the soil. Expensive to do right!!!

A surfers paradise!!!

. . . and for seals looking for chow, too . . .

Here they are in the shallow water . . . looked like they were having fun!!

Denise and I were supposed to cook tonight. But Joe had trouble getting the ingredients for the Corn Chowder, with chicken or tofu, Texas toast and green salad we were going to make. The local utility for northern California, Pacific Gas and Electric, had turned off the power the night before at 2:30pm because of high winds, The shutting down of power affected over 500,000 people, including many of the people in line ahead of Joe at the grocery stores buying whatever they could, The power company said the electricity might be off for 5 days!!! Joe was able to get us spaghetti, sauce, cheese and bread. We had four cans of Clam Chowder Soup. So soup, spaghetti with ragu, salad and grilled cheese were the emergency rations we were able to rassle up for the night. The power came back on at 2;30am after the winds had subsided. Whew!!!

Everybody left the table with a full tummy!!!

This great pair of guides were soon to be history on this trip. Ryan was being ‘airlifted out’ by another ACA guide who was driving up from Reno to pick him up and get him to the airport in Reno. Tom, an ACA guide who lives in WA was being ‘parachuted in’ to fill in as the second guide for the rest of the trip.

One final photo of our august group. Goodbye Ryan and hopefully no surgery is needed!!! It had been quite a 48 hour period. An ADVENTURE to be sure!!!

Thirty six degrees at 7:55am and some of us were ready to roll . . . if for no other reason than to warm up!!!

We needed to drive through Eureka, CA and it was rush hour . . . including this chap who had LOTS of cans loaded on his bike heading to recycling!!! Am I back in Thailand??????

Busy road but beautiful eucalyptus trees along the shoulder . . . .

. . . on the way out of Eureka was this wildlife refuge . . . funny species to be protecting!!!

Soon we passed one of the PG&E power plants that were back on line, its turbines whirring away at full speed . . .

. . .  and this redwood lumber mill was back in operation since it had electricity now to power the saws, Hundreds of thousand of board feed of raw product AND lumber ready for shipping.

. . . another river with hardly any water. Not sure if CA didn’t have a good snow year or if this amount of flow is ‘normal’ for this time of year.

For the next several days we would ride through the ‘Avenue of the Giants’, huge preserves of the giant redwoods . . .

. . . which are REALLY hard to capture with a camera . . . TOO BIG!!!

. . . big tree . . . big rider

Jenny stopped to buy some organic eggs at a stand in Pepperwood, sort of an enclave of folks holding firm to the 70’s. A variety of egg colors!!!!

We were ahead of the group so stopped at Shotz and had lunch and an iced coffee. It was actually in the 70’s!!!!

I left Connie across the street at the hitchin’post . . .

. . . cute puppy, reminding me of our pooch. Locals were walking by and giving her cookies!!!

Back onto the ‘Avenue’ where the temps promptly dropped about 20 degrees!!! Nice riding because most of the cars are on adjacent Hwy 101, but VERY shady.

If you don’t see this reflector and get to close . . . good luck at the hospital. That tree is not moving!!!

Got to remember to look up every once in a while . . . stunning!!!

As we rolled into camp, I had a nice chat with our camp host, Kip. He was rebuilding the carburetor of his 1991 Dodge motor home. Looked like he knew what he was doing!!!

We waited an hour and a half for Tom to arrive with the van and trailer. He had to wait for stores to restock their meat departments’ after the ‘run on meat’ during the power shutdown yesterday. We had a nice chat with Brad and Stella who were walking their pup Joey around the campground. They live in Pismo Beach and we will ride right by their home!!!

PUPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Big day today as we make the largest climb of the trip, Legget Mt. You can see it above on the Map #3 profile, the BIG spike in the middle. A long, gradual uphill with a ten mile run out on the  other side. SWEET!!!

Cold again this morning. The Nutella becomes unspreadable in low temps so Joe heats it in a hot water bath each morning, NICE!!! (red light is from my headlamp).

Somewhere up there is the top of the climb . . .

. . . and we switch from Hwy 101 to Hwy 1 which we will basically follow to Dan Diego. ‘Team Peckish’ (Denise, Jenny and me) are short a rider because Denise’s bike is in on the top of the van until we get to Ft. Bragg and it’s bike shop. She has a noisey rear hub and is worrying about it seizing up like mine did!!

We couldn’t start the climb until be stopped to see the ‘Drive Through Redwood’ . . .

. . . which was unfortunately closed for the season or just not open yet at 8:00am . . .

. . . either way we didn’t feel like trespassing so had to settle for this dramatic painting!!!

First switchbacks of the trip . . . .

. . . and up we go . . .

Words of encouragement . . .

. . . and the traffic that there was, was quite courteous!!!

Finally at the top, yippee the big downhill. On the way down I had a flat and eventually everyone passed me. Hugh stopped to help and soon Joe showed up too. He was riding sweep today. A half mile down the road my rear tire flatted again (need a new tire). After stopping to help again, it was Hugh first down the rest of the hill, then me and then Joe about a mile behind.

. . . at this point, on sort of a flat area, my bike started handling very weird. Hard to describe but if you ride a lot you know when something is wrong. I stopped at a Call Box pullout and checked the tire again to see if it was flatting. Nope, so on I continued. I knew we did not have cell service here because Joe, Hugh and I had tried to call Denise who should have been at the bike shop now to buy me a new tire.

I continued on and the bike felt VERY unresponsive. I would need to be hauled in by van, so looking ahead and seeing a car far in the distant,  I made a u-turn to go back to the Call Box and call Tom for a lift with the van.

I made it across the road and onto the shoulder when the tube on Connie’ s fork snapped and down I went.

When I came to, the folks who had been approaching were stopped and getting bandages out to stop my finger from bleeding. I wish I could remember their names but can’t. They were on their way for a two week mountain bike adventure. I assured them I was OK (although my vision was ‘wavy’) and asked them to tell Joe what had happened when they met him ahead as he descended the mountain.

By the time Joe arrived I was pretty much’ back to normal’ and he now had a cell phone signal. He called Tom who was just leaving the bike shop with Denise and he responded to pick us up. In the hour we waited for him to arrive, we began calling bike shops in an effort to find a replacement fork. Looks like the closest replacement  might be in San Francisco. Going to be a few days in the van for me and Connie!!! Blood on my water bottle from wherever I snagged my finger in the fall.

I had landed on my left shoulder and the left side of my helmet had a crack in it. I put Connie’s pieces together and from here she doesn’t look to bad because the fork stub is inserted in the steerer tube, although you can see the fork has sort of a ‘rakish’ angle . . .

. . . as I tired to move her across the road, into the sun, this is what happened, again. (white medical tape my good Samaritan’s left me to fasten my bandages, hanging from the handlebars).

. . . catastrophic failure. Once in camp, Tom took me to the hospital for ex-rays of my noggin, and things were fine. The ‘spacy’ head feeling would be gone by morning and my ‘wavy vision’ had cleared. The ER doc was from Green Bay and went to medical school in Madison. FUN!!!!

Joe’s driving today and Tom is sweeping. Once the kitchen crew finishes with the breakfast and lunch prep, and have put things away  . . .

. . .  we are about ready to go. Make sure all the luggage is loaded,

. . . make sure all the rest of the gear is in the trailer . . .

. . . and with one more review of today’s route, Joe and Tom, Jenny, Joe and I were on the road. Jenny has a cold coming on and decided not not ride today. She slept in the van while Joe and I shopped for groceries at Safeway in Ft Bragg and then hung out for an hour or two at Starbucks, while he did his daily paperwork. Including a report of my ‘incident’!!!

. . . and I got a new Specialized flashy colored helmet to replace my cracked Bell (which I bought in Ireland to replace the one I cracked there last year when I crashed)!!!  mmmmmmmmmmmmmm . . . is there a pattern developing here?????

KOA tonight and everyone who wanted to pay extra was able to get a cabin . . . five of us boys slept in tents!!!

Hugh and Pam cooked up some yummy viddles inside a great outdoor kitchen compete with three stoves, a microwave and three  sinks with HOT water!!!

BBQ chicken thighs, pesto  pasta salad, green salad with all the fixin’s and pumpkin or blueberry pie for dessert with REAL whipped cream!! Big day tomorrow for the riders.  74 miles and 4,600 feet of climbing!!!

In the van again today, with Tom. We stopped right away at a café in Manchester so he could catch up on his expense reports. Tom and Joe need to keep very detailed records of our daily expenditures to insure we stay in budget. The reporting needs to be done live, online, so when we have no connectivity they can easily get several days behind.

. . . Joe is riding sweep today and he and Hugh stopped by for a quick Ginger/Pear muffin snack, and catching up on all the news fit to print,  before heading on down the road.

The half way point, Stewart’s  Point, had a great mercantile where we tied up with most of the group. The sunny sky had turned to fog!!!!

. . . all the more reason to have a nice sandwich and beer which Glen promptly did!!!

. . . these two guys out in the parking lot were looking for some chow ,too.

. . . and who knew Bigfoot was such a patriot!!!!!

We are camping at Bodega Bay State Park located about two miles out of town on a sand spit. If there is a tsunami tonight . . . we will be some of the first to know. Elevation, about three feet above sea level!!!!

Tomorrow we reached San Francisco and I’m hoping Connie will be transformed from a unicycle to a bicycle again . . .

. . .  interestingly, the wrench at the last bike shop mentioned the two colors of the broken fork post indicated the shaft had been cracked before this incident. He asked me if I had ever hit anything before and sure enough, the incident about eight years ago when three ‘punks’ pushed a shopping cart in front of me immediately came to mind. The bike went one way, and I was launched the other way. The post was probably cracked then. The area circled in red is the cracked area that turned darker through the years as the metal anodized. The metal to the left that is whiter is the the part that finally failed on this trip. I’m very lucky the failure didn’t happen on the way down from Legget Mt when I was going 25-30 miles per hour. The good Lord was looking over my shoulder!!!!

Four are moteling it tonight and because of the long day all the riders had on the coast, we are eating dinner out in Bodega Bay. NICE!!!!

Great dinner in town last night and good sleeping weather . . . warm all night. Only downside . . . a fog horn that blew EXACTLY every 8 seconds, ALL NIGHT!!! The riders were so tired it was not a problem for them!!! I had been wondering what was behind this elaborate stone wall and walked over to check it out . . . on the backside was a SERIOUS sized  BBQ for group use.

Joe, Mike and I were in the van as we headed for San Francisco . . . soon we came upon Gina, Jenny, Denise and Anne.

We went directly to The Re-Cyclery, located in San Rafael, where they were holding a front fork for me that might fit Connie. Here is  a better view of the anodized cracked  part of the shaft that was exposed to air for eight years as a result of the ‘punk’s eight years ago pushing the shopping cart in front of me. An accident waiting to happen . . . that happened on this trip!!!

Brian, the store manager, was just opening at 11:00am when we arrived. He had to rummage around a bit to find a race, cup and bearing that would fit Connie but finally put together a set of the three pieces that fit. That, and the fact that the used fork fit, was a perfect Cinderella story!!! They usually do not do bike repairs but I think he knew I was in a pickle and decided to do it all. A LOT easier than taking the parts around town to another shop . . .

. . . the lower cup being stall in Connie’s fork tube . . .

. . . re-adjusting the spacers . . . installing the light, truing the wheel which had been knock out of whack by the crash, transferring the fender and brakes to the new fork all took less than an hour . . .

. . . and soon I was out the door!!! Ready to roll.

Thanks again to Brian, who besides giving instructions to the the five volunteers of what they would do for the day and dealing with walk in customers, also managed to work on my bike in the main reception area because the three bike stands were already in use. REALLY went the extra mile to help me out. And I quickly loaded Connie, front and center here, in the van when Joe arrived to prevent someone from making an offer for her!!!! Read all about the Re-Cyclery’s mission to help kids here: Trips for Kids- Marin

Soon the clouds had gone away and we were crossing the Golden Gate Bridge . . .

. . . our lucky riders today who were able to cross the bridge using the pedestrian lane of the bridge.

We are staying for two nights on our layover day at the Hostel International located very near Fisherman’s Wharf . . .

. . . exotic reception area decorated for Halloween . . .

. . . and here was the submarine that was to be the boys hangout . . . the girls room looked the same.

. . . the hostels always have LARGE kitchens . . . breakfast is included in your stay . . .

. . . and they have large well equipped kitchens available if you want to bring in your own food and cook . . .

. . . with handy cubbies to store your extras.

Hostels always have a free breakfast, although it is minimal. Coffee, juice, bread, peanut butter, plain yogurt and granola. Enough to get you going for the day. Most of us slept in and were in the dining room by 7:15am. I had not test ridden Connie yet since her surgery and thought I needed to ride today so off I went to the Golden Gate bridge. Lots of b-bikes available around town. Use them and leave them wherever you want . . .

. . . and scooters, too!!!

Nice ride on the Marina Blvd bike trail which kept me off the busy road . . . and nice views of the bridge . . .

. . . once on the bridge there were LOTS of pedestrians and bike rentals. You REALLY need to look out for those renting bikes. Dangerous riders taking videos and selfies while riding (of course I was taking photos too but am used to doing it). Many of these riders looked like they had not been on a bike since they were a kid!!!

At the other end of the bridge I turned around and was headed for Fisherman’s Wharf, Pier 39 and High Trails Cyclery . . .

Nice VERY expensive homes along Marina Dr . . .

. . . some with exotic yard art. The seated woman was creepy because whatever angle you looked at her she appeared to be staring at you!!!

I just drove by Fisherman’s Wharf and Pier 39 but did not stop. Nothing I needed there!!!

LOTS of bike rentals, including this place called Blazing Saddles and Maria who was out calling over potential customers!!!!

After some climbing, I ended up on Russian Hills at the High Trails Cyclery shop . . .  once you get out of the tourist areas of SF, the city is VERY bikeable and lovely.

. . . Connie had been performing wonderfully but needed a new rear tire . . .

. . . this hole in the tire has caused three flats, even after being booted . . . SO no Continental Gatorskins in  32mm size, instead I got a Specialized Armadillo!!!

Lots of row houses in this residential area . . . reminds me of the TV series ‘Streets of San Francisco’ and Karl Malden.

The famous Coit Tower that was featured in one of the Dirty Hairy movies . . .

I was now on my way to Lombard Street, the ‘crookedest’ road in the USA, maybe the world, but had to stop for streetcars!!!

Lombard Street looking south . . .

. . . and the start of Lombard Street looking north . . .

. . . which of course Connie and I had to descend. Had the reins on her hauled in the whole way down!!!

. . . more tourists at the bottom, some clapped as we finished the decent!!!

More of an aerial view . . .

Dinner at Fisherman’s Wharf tonight!!!

Vacation is over, time to punch in this morning and get back to work, riding the road! First order of business at the hostel is to pack out all the linens and bedding they provided . . .

Joe was wearing his Lady of Guadalupe biking hat today as a good omen to help get us through the busy areas of San Francisco and into the countryside . . .

Some of us biked out of town together on the Marina Dr trail to the south end of the Golden Gate bridge . . . why not stop for a group shot!!!

. . . from the bridge we rode through Golden Gate Park and past this windmill . . . not sure of it’s significance . . .

. . .  and by this rushing waterfall, which I have a hunch may have been treated water from their sewer treatment plant!!!!

Soon we were back at the ocean. Very windy this morning as we headed south . . .

. . . and on this part of the highway the ‘merge to one lane’ markings were almost obliterated by the sand. Must be a never ending battle with Mother Nature!!!

Back on Hwy 1 we went, the road with the variable shoulder . . . there was not much in this stretch as we rode through morning rush hour traffic . . . sure hope Joe still has his hat on!!!!

. . . as we started to climb the views got better . . . more homes along the coast here than in WA or OR.

Around Daly City we got off Hwy 1 for a bit and got a good look at what I think was an early experiment with building ‘suburbia’ !!

Californian’s must REALLY like Halloween because we’ve been seeing decorations for about a week now, including this pair having an ‘eternal’ good time in someone’s front yard!!!!

. . . same house, different color . . . and steep roads!!!!

Leaving Daly City, we climbed higher and higher . . .

. . . thinking of my father as I biked by this golf course . . .

. . . he was quite the golfer and would have LOVED this course, right on the ocean!!!! Miss you dad . . .

Soon we came to the one mile long Tom Lantos (???) tunnel . . . .

. . . really a beautiful new creation (if tunnels can be a thing of beauty). Wide shoulder, good lighting, big ventilation fans, not a bit of sand, dirt or oil and nobody ‘coal rolled’ us!!!!

. . . the exit . . .

. . . where if you turned around 180 degrees you saw what we believe is a relic from WWII . . .

. . . an old bunker used to protect the coast, now nicely decorated!!!

. . . and it was in quite a strategic location!!!

Nearing Half Moon Bay we noted their Pumpkin Festival is this weekend which is evidently known world wide . . . too bad we missed this event!!!

. . . tonight we are staying right on the ocean in these two campsite in Half Moon Bay Sea Beach area. Things are a lot browner here as the annual grass is all dead. Nice breeze off the ocean and hoping for nice sleeping weather. When we started from SF (don’t call it Frisco, the locals hate that!!!) this morning it was 56 degrees!!! Denise is cooking with Dave tonight and making the Corn Chowder she and I were supposed to make a week ago when we had the big P G&E blackout.