6-4-08

Hi Everyone...

Back with some more updates. Now that you've seen the new pictures - the new, out-of-order pictures - it's time to put some words with them-thar pictures. Right now, I'm sitting in the lovely kitchen of our dear friend, Mary Seastrand, in Oakland, CA. We arrived into San Francisco yesterday evening at around 7pm. We crossed the Golden Gate Bridge, well, actually, we were blown across the bridge and met up with Alec Seastrand and his pickup truck near the Oakland Bay Bridge - rescued is the more appropriate term.

Now, after an afternoon in S.F., Zo and I have decided to spend another day, resting and enjoying the fantastic bay area...let's sit back with some hot chocolate and recall some more of last week's adventures...

5-29-08
After our short stop in Ferndale, CA and our surprise reunion with Dick, we ate a couple delicious truffles and aimed our wheels for the Avenue of the Giants. Thanks to their giant size, this made the temperature drop several degrees and required warmer gear. We stopped for a snack, I found a lost flipflop, which was sad and creepy at the same time, used the restrooms, and once again, met up with Dick. It's been such a pleasure meeting up with him unexpectedly as he is such a kind and considerate gentleman. The three of us pretty much rode into the Burlington State Park Campground just outside of Weott, CA, where Kathy K. won her very first high school track meet. The campsite was nice - dark thanks to the redwoods, but clean and cozy. We played cards with Dick and had a huge meal - yes, pasta.

5-30-08
The day began at 9:30am as we jumped back onto the Avenue of the Giants towards Leggett, CA, the town just before Highway 1. The day ended up being 50 miles and the night's stay was the Standish-Hickey State Park. Nothing too exciting about this campsite, except for the large family in the site nearby. One word, loud. Between their blaring country music, foul mouths, and disregard for the time, we slowly became more tolerant of the swarming mosquitos rather than our neighbors. Dick, who made it ahead of us and was camped nearby, finally asked them to please be quiet...at 1am. The highlight of this day was the Peg House market/grocery nearby the camp, and its owner, Gary. Such a nice guy who let us use his computer to take care of some business as the nearest computer access was going to be a day or two away. Not only does Gary run the store and the U-haul franchise in Leggett, but he also helps coordinate the music festival that takes place in nearby Benbow, CA as well as bring in bands to play on his sweet stage all summer long! He shared his few cycling adventures with us and served us up some delicious brownies! I had to change a tube as the tire came unseated from the rim - I think this was from a funky gauge used earlier. Problem easily fixed and happy that we were approaching 900 miles at this point with zero flats! Very, very cool. Specialized Armadillos truly do live up to their creative name. Speaking of good stuff, our Pearl Izumi shorts have taken a licking, yet comfort-wise, keep on ticking! Another good product to keep in mind - Pearl shorts and bibs.

Anyhow, after meeting up with Dick in Garberville at Ray's Food Place, we had lunch. Some wandering "nomads" made us feel a little uncomfortable, so we cut our rest short and hit the road - only to stop later for a dip in the Eel River outside of Benbow. The hills were big (one was called "Confusion Hill" cuz of its narrow, twisty-ness) and the beer at the Peg House was a just reward. Made some calls and wrote a couple postcards. The campsite came sooner than expected.

5-31-08
We left Standish-Hickey and hit Hwy 1 just west of Leggett. So far, this has been my most favorite road on the journey - a true mountain road - curvy, twisting, winding, banking assents with roller-coaster-like descents. Very exhilarating, even still as we kept our speeds down due to the trailers. Two huge climbs tried to beat us down, but the trees and distant ocean breeze prevented us from overheating. The ocean was a welcoming sight under the huge, blue sky. Finally, the California we were looking forward to for so long! The color of the water was a bright blueish green. We soon discovered a new characteristic of Hwy 1 that we didn't find in Hwy 101 - instead of bridges to take across the many gulches, the road simply wound back into the gulch and then had use climb back out and onto the shore. After several of these gulches, the day's ride began to wear us down. We had a nice, long lunch in Westport and then stopped for a spell in Ft. Bragg. Our average was an impressive 45 miles in 5 hours - it was clear at this point, that all our miles were making us stronger. Our campsite was at Russian Gulch State Park, under a massive, arching concrete bridge - one of the very few that relieved us of the in and out climbs. The hiker/biker site was just outside of the bathrooms, but we did meet a very interesting dude from S.F. named Brian, who shared some very delicious chai tea with us and told us to be sure to have lunch at Queenies in Elk, CA. He was headed north to the CA/OR border. 50+ miles.

6-1-08
Left Russian Gulch to Gualala for a 53 mile day. We had a nice breakfast at a cafe in Mendocino and wandered around the town for a bit before running into Dick! Mendocino's a very hip town - full of artists, musicians, and other like-minded folks who have such a creative perspective on things. We wanted to stay for the film festival, but S.F. was calling us from afar. Lunch in Elk was delicious, and the cook was an interesting, yet gifted cook. Let's just say that she literally had a black moustache. Another bright, sunny day with a strong tailwind. I called cousin Stacey to congratulate her on her wedding yesterday. So sorry that we couldn't be there to celebrate with the family. We later found Dick hanging out alongside the road, waiting for us. He had changed he mind on campsites and decided to ride into Gualala with us. The Gualala campsite was another dark one - this time with a raccoon. Slept with our food.

6-2-08
50 miles to Bodega Bay Dunes State Park. Found Dick already camped out and enjoyed some champagne with him in celebration of our arrival into S.F. tomorrow. Very cool of him! We will for sure miss him on our next leg into L.A. We had lunch at Ft. Ross, CA at the grocery - warm and plenty of food. Hommus sandwiches! We also visited the Ft. Ross itself! Fascinating history - Russians moved down to escape the harsh climate of Alaska and settled in Ft. Ross. From 1812 to 184something, they lived on this fort - with cannons and everything! The road was curvy and twisty as usual but this time, we enjoyed riding up on high bluffs overlooking the ocean.

Chas's birthday! Happy 21st, dude! Hope it was an exceptionally special day for you?

6-3-08
Today is my brother, Elie's birthday! Happy birthday to you, E-E! I hope you had a blessed one? Bodega Bay to S.F.! I thought the day was going to be about 60+ miles, but it actually ended up being 78 miles! And because we were rolling into a big city with suburb after suburb and thickening traffic, it took even longer. But let me tell you, having the Golden Gate Bridge in our sights was motivation enough. Along the way we ran into Dick again, and share a lunch(in Marshall, CA - oyster fishing community) and then said our final goodbyes. He was going to camp one more night before meeting his wife in S.F. We took a few side roads and road along the Marin Trail, which took us off of the busy roads and gave our minds a rest from the traffic. We came into the city from the north, going through the pleasant suburbs like Fairfax, where I thought I saw Robin Williams on a bike and later found out at the Breaking Away bike shop in Ross that he indeed sighted on his bike in Fairfax! Hmmm...interesting. The dudes at Breaking Away were great - very kind to offer us grub and stuff to drink. They also gave us a flavor of the cycling community in S.F. Sounded pretty cool - a lot of clubs and a LOT of people just on bikes all of the time! Doubly-cool. We had one more ridiculous hill to climb before the bridge - up and around Mt. Tam. It was very cool to see all the commuters and recreational cyclists out on the road.

Alec met us along the Embarcadero, just east of Fisherman's Wharf. We were cold, hungry, and spent, so again, it was more of a rescue than a pickup. We arrived to Mary's house and was greeted with a huge hug and an absolutely fantastic meal! Wow! Needless to say, the extra miles were well worth it and it was so good to see Mary and Alec again.

Ok, so, I will retire for the night - tomorrow, more of San Francisco and I'll get you up to speed about today's happenings.

Miss you all and thank you so much for reading...
Check y'a later,
Mark + Zo