Ride the West Sep 09--Day 6 Gold Coast, OR to Crescent City, CA

Yea Ha! Another wonderful ride full of classic views, lots of fog, a few good hills and seals for as far as the eye could see. Out of the hotel this morning the fog was very thick and the hills came quick, as we climbed about 1000 feet in the first 5 miles. The hill was not exceedingly steep, but it was a long slow climb with "turn out" after "turn out" (places to pull over and enjoy the view) provided, but all were filled with fog, providing about 50 feet of visibility. I was all prepared for a 20 mile eyeful of beauty but instead my goggles stayed wet and smudged from my heavy perspiration and liquid sunshine. Consequently, I just enjoyed the quiet of the climb, the wind/airflow helping me up the hill and the joy of riding for riding's sake. I really didn't see anyone along the way, although I did spot Dave's bike parked at one of the turnouts that I tried to view. No signs of Dave until he made it up to the SAG (Support and Gear) stop in the town of Brookings.

Since I was cold and wet, I bought myself a hot french vanilla coffee and then I hung up everything except my shorts to dry before I continued. I relaxed and talked with Barb again about her daughter acquiring her PhD in Gerontology--really cool. Since I'd finished the first half of the ride in about 1+30, I decided to enjoy the sun as it broke from the clouds enjoy the moment. After almost an hour of shooting the bull and warming up, I headed down the road to catch my friend Bill Bergen.

Bill had a great, strong ride today after having sore knees and a few pains in the vicinity of his seat (occupational hazard!). Bill and I rolled along for the next 20 miles, taking lots of stops along the way. Please note the above photos as we crossed the Oregon and California state lines. First, we crossed the road and took the "Welcome to Oregon" sign and then we started looking for the "Welcome to California" sign. I guess the poor, impoverished state of California can no longer afford a welcome sign, but Bill and I are pretty sure we located the post that once upon a time held up the sign. Rumor has it that the sign is now being used as a ramp to help aging Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger up the ramp to his office. Smiling, Bill and I proceeded down the road, in and out of the fog. This area of California is extremely rural, with many lily farms, dairy farms and California's version of "the big house," Pelican Bay State Prison. If you watch any A&E television, you'll recognize this place as one of the high visibility, maximum security prisons for some of the toughest criminals in America. Very sobering to see this place.

On a lighter note, I saw three things that made me laugh out loud: 1) sign on the side of the road--Westbrook Dairy: Come smell our Dairy Air (say it out loud); 2) A giant, 120 pound black newfoundland near the lily farms who had obviously seen lots of bikes before because he didn't even blink at us!; 3) As I pedaled down Lake Earl Drive, I sat up on my bike, rode with no hands for a few hundred yards and stretched, feeling really proud of myself until I sighted a young man pedaling his mountain bike toward me in the opposite lane with a sheet of 6 ft x 10 ft plywood balanced in one arm!

The next grand sight of the day occurred along Pebble Beach, just outside our destination of Crescent City. This 2 mile stretch along the Pacific is unbelievably gorgeous with waves breaking, huge rock out cropings, some small islands, birds, sea lions, seals and even hearty surfers working the waves. As Bill and I made our way down this stretch the fog rolled in, rolled out and rolled in again. Since tomorrow is a "rest day," I'm sure I will go back there and enjoy that view one more time.

After Bill and I pulled into the hotel, we headed for Subway to re-energize and wait for our rooms to be ready. We had a great dinner together at the Pedaler Inn, and my pork chops definitely filled me up. After dinner, we swapped T-Shirts using the old Christmas gift swap game. Everyone told the story of their T-Shirt and what real or contrived meaning it had to them. Most of the shirts looked ready for the bicycle rag pile, but he game was entertaining nevertheless. When the game ended, Michelle, our French Canadian rider from Quebec, led a game where we all had to ask and respond to a question in French. While we all acted as good sports, most of us do not have a future in languages.

Hope you are enjoying the ride so far and are excited about the next 6 days of riding to San Francisco. Take care all!