Ride the West Sep 09--Day 8 Gold Coast to Eureka

Back in the saddle again friends and family!

With three new riders joining us and one rider leaving as planned, we left the hotel at 0730 and had our biggest climbing day (4000+ vertical feet) to 83 miles. The first climb started about a mile out and lasted about 30 minutes as we headed down Highway 101 south. I called today "Zipper Day" (keep your minds out of the gutter, please) because I used the zipper on my new America By Bicycle long sleeve cycling jersey about a hundred times. As I pushed up the first climb, down the zipper came to my mid-chest as I started drowning in my own sweat. By the time I reached the summit of the hill, my goggles are completely fogged and I've had to pull them down on my face just to see ahead. As I build up speed heading down, I pull the zipper back up as I am rapidly cooling down as I approach 40 mph on the damp, unsure road and the sweat is now freezing my entire upper body.

Despite the warm temperatures going up the hills and cold temperatures going down the road, I absolutely loved riding amid the regal, stately redwoods that reach to the heavens. Winding through their kingdom I felt honored and thankful for those that painstakingly built the roads that allow so many access to this beauty without disturbing the vast majority of the real permanent residents. The God that put these amazing life forms in our midst is indeed a great and powerful God.

Of course there Bunyan(40 feet tall) and his Blue Ox Babe at the Trees of Mystery display, purportedly a classic tourist trap. And about an hour later, I viewed 20-30 Roosevelt Elk, enjoying breakfast with their entire extended family in a grove just feet off the road I was traveling. It appeared to me that the elk were far more accustomed to seeing humans than humans were accustomed to seeing elk.

After lots of hills and classic vistas of the Pacific Ocean, the ride wound down with a pleasant jaunt along a bike path that was kind of over the river and through the woods. I navigated smartly along all the twists and turns until I got within about 3/4 of a mile of the hotel and I finally had to ask a local for its whereabouts. And as always, that Best Western sign looked mighty nice after 7 hours on the rode and 83 miles.

Our three new riders completed their first journey with our group and that is saying a lot. One of the ladies is an experienced cyclist and she is 75 years young. Hua!

After our bags arrived, I hit the hot tub and had some fun in a warm outdoor pool, shooting some jump shots in the water basketball goal. Kids will be kids. We ended the evening with a great dinner at Porters Barbecue, just down the street from the hotel. Lots of beef and pork barbecue and a quiet confidence in the group that they'd just completed one of the toughest legs on this tour and were ready for whatever might come next.