Northern California

The three amigos cross the border together

Cycling through the Californian redwood forests ranks right up there with cycling through the gorges of Morocco, in terms of spectacular days on the bike. I rode and camped within the Redwoods National Forest for 3-4 days, one day cycling 40 miles on a road called the Avenue of the Giants. The roads were all freshly tarmac'ed - if that is a verb. And the traffic was quiet. It's off season.

Roads so quiet I could leave the bike sitting in
the middle of the road.

Making coffee for breakfast

Trees so big I can fit my bike inside

12 hardboiled eggs in one pot was a record

After cycling for almost a week together both Rob and Mike sped off into the horizon. I was probably no more than half a day alone on the road when Hilary from Vancouver with her green panniers popped out of somewhere... and we rode and camped together for a few days. She calls herself a 'bike activist' so we had great chats about social inclusion via the bicycle. 

She volunteers each year in New Orleans where there are some long term post hurricane Caitriona project still ongoing. She talked of trying to promote a bicycle culture among black communities where a bike is seen as a poor mans mode of transport. I found her really interesting. She gave me a high viz band to wear on the narrow roads ahead. Thanks Hilary.

This is Hilary. She too had bright green Ortlieb panniers.

Whereas Washington State and Oregon are both just jammers with trees, northern California has farmland. But it's farmland of cows and sheep on rugged dry terrain, as opposed to grazing on green pastures. I passed many pumpkin patches - Americans seem very keen to dress up their houses well in time for Halloween. I have also seen a herd of wild elk, smelled a few dead skunks on the roads and bumped into way too many racoons. They have been hovering around the food boxes at night at the campsites. They have no shame. 

A herd of elk

Two racoons hanging out near my food box

God dam racoons stole my oats from inside the food box and ripped it open with their claws.

California started out being nice and sunny and I was so glad that the wet soggy camping days of Oregon were over. But little did I know what lay waiting. While a hurricane was blowing off the East coast of the US near Florida we were just getting lashed on in northern California. Saturday October 16th 2016 will be remembered for being one of those days which belongs to Connemara in February and not on the Californian coast in October. 

The thing is.. if you were in Connemara in February and had planned on going cycling, you would just give up, have a long hot shower and go to the pub to watch some rugby and have a pint or two of Guinness. One of those days where the headwind is so strong you have to pedal downhill... and where the crosswind is so strong coming in from the shore that you have to have the brakes fully on when going downhill or else you will be blown over. 

I got all excited taking out the solar panels.

A great day to do a bit of washing.

After these first few days of solar panels and redwood trees came the rain. When I look at the map ahead of me I see words like Santa Barbara, Long Beach and Monterrey. Surely it will be sunny and warm in Southern California??

How on earth should I pack this soggy mess?

The salty fog coming in off the ocean tastes of salt

One of many cook-ups in the bathrooms of the State Park campsites

I have to say that this was a first. Having cooked up my usual lentil,
spud and  carrot stew, I made myself a hot chocolate. The only place
to sit in the campsite bathroom was obviously the toilet

But even though you are wet and tired, the same grime has been under your fingernails for a week, you haven't showered in three days and your bags weigh a few kgs more simply because everything inside them is soaking... the road still throws you up some laughs. Len is from LA and is cycling border to border - like so many. 

We met at a campsite and travelled together for two days. His family is Mexican so he even put chili on the apples that we picked off the trees at the side of the road. He was unable to pass a bakery without purchasing a cinnamon roll or bread and butter pudding and blueberry slice (yum) or chocolate chip cookie. And he insisted on sharing EVERYTHING with me. 

 

Chili on apples, why not!

The first bakery Len couldn't pass.

My first ever oyster. Len is a fine diner and bought us both oysters for lunch.

Highlight:

1. Riding through Redwoods Forest Nat Park

2. Getting out the solar panels

3. Finding out there are also $5 hiker biker sections to the campsites

Lowlight:

1. Washed clothes sitting inside your panniers wet, because it's not dry enough to take them out.

2. The smell of dead roadkill skunk and vultures hovering around to eat the remains of the carcass.

Enjoyed listening to:

RTE documentary on One – Roger Casement and his travels in the Congo.

Some stats for this week:

Have cycled – 1202 miles (2000kms)

Punctures – 2

Camping at campsites – 16 nights

Wild camping - 2 nights

Warm Showers host houses – 7 nights

Swims in the sea – still only 4

Average daily spend on the trip so far – €13.21