Current Location: Honolulu, Hawaii
This ‘not a blog’ has no profundity, it’s simply been a journal of some of the people I’ve met and places I’ve seen over the last several years. It won’t become a book, it’s time I lock the doors but I’ll leave on the lights in case people should stumble upon the words. If anyone has questions about cycle touring, wwoofing, travelling on a shoestring drop me a line. As karma goes I’m far in debt, were there a bank of karma I would be deep on the debits side of the ledger and light on the credits. Fortunately I don’t think one can go bankrupt on karma, I look forward to paying off that debt. It goes without saying thank you to everyone thats been a refuge for me, given me food, water, conversation or a smile; it wouldn’t have been the adventure it was without you.
I remember sitting on the same beach 2 years ago, each time a day before the end of the pacific coast. The big difference probably being one was the beginning and now it’s the end. It’s a little strange but wonderous to be able to say I’ve travelled around the world, it shrinks the perspective of the world. Theres lots left out there to explore, a popular question so far has been where to next. I wish I knew the answer to that question along with the answer to lots of other questions.
Having passed Leggett hill under my own power this time felt good, as everyone who has done it will tell you it’s a lot easier than it’s built up to be. Leggett is the start of Hwy 1 which is what I associate with the beginning of ‘Sunny California’ it’s where the route starts hugging the coast and it is officially southern California. To my disappointment I descended the hill into a thick fog that stuck with me for the next few days, there went my sunny. After I passed Leggett I had to turn up the tempo in order to make it to Los Angeles in time for a Summercamp project. Running centuries from Leggett on down to LA meant that I was doing in one day that took me three days on the previous tour. The byproduct of doing it this quickly is that none of the regular tourers will manage to keep up that kind of pace. Were I to give one piece of advice to anyone doing the Pacific Coast it would be to take your time and enjoy the ride. I had to break one of my cardinal rules of not riding at night a couple of times in order to get to particular spots, not fun again.
Strangest roadkill I’ve seen on the raod? A lobster in Maine, I literally had to do a double take in order to identify what it was I almost ran over. I just imagine that the lobster thought he was making his grand escape, only to flop onto the highway where he cooked on the blacktop.
A few pictures added.
Sunset against a bridge
Looking for the same experience as the last ride is perhaps the wrong attitude to have taken this time around but it proved to be no less magical a second time around.
I did manage to ride with a fellow from Canada for a few days starting from Humbug mountain on through the redwood forests. Patrick was a guy who in many ways seemed to be mirroring my first ride down with constant bike problems and not having the right gear for the time of year. Luckily for him I had a spare set of long johns and other warm clothes to help him get through the colder nights. According to rangers I spoke to on the way through Oregon the number of cyclists had certainly started to dwindle in the week before I got there, which I wasn’t very surprised at.
Much of Oregon is as I remembered it, except the hills got a lot easier a second time through. It is just as beautiful as I thought, which is a good thing since I encourage just about everyone I meet that they should do the Pacific Coast on a bike and especially Oregon. I thought I might have been more prepared for the attack of raccoons this time around always securing my bags at night before going to sleep. This didn’t deter them very much getting a few of my bagels one night and some of my granola bars. I hate raccoons. Another night they put some small holes into my panniers, which was probably one of my worst fears. Which means that one of my waterproof panniers is no longer water proof. I can see people laughing at me on this one, and on the whole I can see why. I just wish that Oregon put in bear boxes on their campgrounds like California does, it would make life so much easier and less frustrating.
I have to thank Mr. Ed from Oregon for dinner and all the smoked salmon he shared. I met Mr. Ed as he was cycling into the park and we got to talking about travels and he invited me to dinner which was really great. He had just landed a 48lbs salmon a few days previously and had been busy smoking it. He talked a lot about Spain as he’d had 14 trips there so far and I got to share a lot about other countries. He loaded me up with some salmon steaks and a heap of smoked salmon which I shared with some other campers when I got back to camp.
Getting to the Drury Parkway in Northern California is probably the best stretch to cycle down, for those that have gone down this particular stretch they probably remember it well. It’s one of the first tastes of the redwood forests and probably the most magical. There is very little traffic on this road and you coast downhill for almost 10 minutes in the quiet hush of the redwoods. I don’t think I would ever get tired of this road as the magic there is only interrupted occasionally by a passing car. I almost get annoyed by being intruded upon but their sight and sound is quickly swallowed by the forest and again your alone in the forest of Endor.
One more update for the rest of the way down the coast and some pictures.
Current Location: Los Angeles, California
Quick note to say that I’ve arrived at the end safely. I’ll post my thoughts in the next few days, the short daylight and long rides left me little time to post while riding so hopefully I can catch up soon. Things may be crazy in LA for a while so bear with me.
Current Location:Waldport, Oregon
Thanks goes to Angie, Matthew, and Sam for hosting me in Seattle. I see again why I could live there, it just has a good energy and having friends there helps. The beer, food, and company was good. Two weeks went by far too quickly and it was time to hit the road once again. Of course I was already worried that I would be behind the cold as it’s already over a week after I had left last time.
Riding the pacific coast a second time I won’t lie and say I’m not looking for a similar experience to what I had the last time through riding with 4 great people. I almost found a piece of it starting the trail north of Seattle I ran into a British couple who treated me to dinner at the Public House in celebration of finishing the Northern Tier (or my version of it.) Unfortunately the next day I was heading into Seattle while they continued on south.
Speaking of looking for a similar experince of last ride I did get a chance to catch up with Jay who met me at Lincoln City and shared a pizza while he recounted to me his exploits of the last couple of years and I talked about riding around the world. Great to catch up with one of the gang from the last ride.
I found the hills of Washington to be the hardest yet and Oregon to be pretty easy compared to last time where I started each day agonizing over the many hills I’d have to crest. I do find myself thinking about where I took breaks last time and hills I had to walk my bike up, I’ve come a way from back then. It’s weird but the weather has been strangely similar to what it was last time, riding into Astoria dripping from head to toe was exactly how I rode through last time and riding into Cape Lookout to a cloudless night is just how I remember it. If things continue this way I’ll be soaked to the bone once again riding through Crescent City.
The first day riding out of Seattle it settled on me that this was the end, quite the depressing thought and something I don’t dwell on much but it’s the truth. Time for reality very quickly.
Things seem to be going in my favor. I got approved for a New Zealand visa last week and I’ve purchased my ticket to New Zealand. It’s weird, I kept thinking they would deny me entry because I would be turning thirty 2 months after entering the country but it seems they don’t mind. Last week turned out to be a very intense week for me, Angie will be happy to hear that I have insurance (at least while i’m in New Zealand) I’ve joined up as a WWOOF’er. Much to some peoples chagrin i’ll be leaving on the 4th as planned and I still find it to be somewhat amusing.
On other notes from the rockstar house i’ve been living in the last few weeks, I got to attend a aireoke, like karaoke but only air instruments allowed. I have to say it was quite the enlightening experience for me as I seem to leave out the most important part of the philosophy of air guitar which is “If everyone picked up an air guitar they couldn’t hold a gun” It turned out to be a ton of fun, all of the performances were amazing and the group performances were transcendent. I shot a bunch of pictures and had fun with the rapid fire shooting of my camera and stitched together a few, the image clocks in at 2megs so it takes quite a while to load but it’s worth it (Janice and Elonda are in the back on drums and piano)
On a completely seperate note the fellow from London who I was cycling with, Alastair, completed his ride to the Mexico border late last week, so congratulations are completely in order.
Tomorrows the day, weird to actually say that after thinking about doing this for over a year now. Next time I write it will be as an expatriate.
Thunercats hooooooooooooooo!
