I’m on the Highway 1!

Boy do I have a lot to catch you up on. Lots of stories, more adventures, and more excitement. It’s been a heck of a past few days, with plenty of miles put on, plenty of people met, and even more adventures to share.

It all started with my warmshowers host back in Arcata, California. We were unwinding from a day of biking and work respectively at the Redwood Curtain, a great local brewery that made some splendid brews. He introduced me to his friend and neighbor JJ who flies helicopter for the Coast Guard. I was intrigued, captivated, and enthralled by his stories. From drug busts, to rescues he had them all. He lived an adventurous lifestyle. I casually mentioned how it was on my bucket list to fly in a helicopter. He proceeded to invite me on his private airplane for the following morning for a flight along the coast. Are you kidding me? Is that a question. Count me in. I like to think I’m the adventurous type. I mean I am biking 11,000 miles zigzagging across the country. You know I’m down for any sort of adventure.

We awoke early in the morning, headed to the airport, prepped the plane, and were ready for flight. We headed towards the Lost Coast, a part of the coast that is only accessible by foot. In fact, my older brother Dan, had previously backpacked that stretch only a few weeks ago. I thought it would be easier to fly over than to hike. So I opted for the flight.

Boy was I impressed. JJ even let me fly the plane. Yes, yours truly has earned his captain stripes. Expect me to be flying your commercial jet on your next flight. Ehhh. I’ll stick to biking. I was mostly just glad I didn’t hit a duck or something midair. We did a number of different flight visits, including flying over the Church of Scientology headquarters or hideout or dungeon. I don’t know what they want me to call it. But it was super weird. Basically, it’s extremely remote, nobody can get access, and it’s really odd. They’ve even got these mounds built into the ground.

After the rest of the flight, which took us to a few different areas, we parked the plane back in the hanger, and dropped JJ off at work, where he proceeded to show me the Coast Guard helicopters. They’re huge! Quite impressive specimens, that are able to assist in a variety of different situations.

 

I got on the road later than I would have liked, but it was totally worth it for that experience. The ride was about 54 miles along Highway 101 and would take me to Avenue of the Giants an infamous scenic drive through Humboldt Redwoods State Park where I’d spend the night. The ride was unexciting. No big climbs. No hawks jumping out like they had previously. Nothing of the sort. However, riding amongst the Redwoods is spectacular. Pictures simply cannot do it justice. Which makes the ride even more special. There’s a prehistoric feeling, an unnatural feeling as you pedal amongst these giants. It’s you. You’re bike. The Redwoods. You feel tiny. Incomparable. Yet cannot help but gaze upon the towering tree tops, and imagine what these trees have lived through. Atomic bombs. The Civil War. So much history has occurred while these trees grew. They survived. That in itself makes it special.

My campsite was right amongst the Redwoods. It was filled with license plates from around the country. For my enjoyment, my campsite neighbor grew up in Wisconsin near the small town of Lomira. On top of that, he also graduated from UW! Hi5 for being a Badger!

Ever since I got into Northern California, I’ve begun seeing countless amounts of bicycle tourers. I met a few more at my campsite last night, as well as crossed paths with a few more today. A couple I spoke with were making their way from San Francisco to Maine. Quite the journey. But they were doing it on a tandem bike. Impressive. “Hey honey! Are you SURE you’re pedaling back there??” It’ll be quite a journey, and they too, just like myself had just begun, yet were excited to meet fellow cyclists. Go check out their adventure at www.livinlifelite.com.

Today’s ride was by far the toughest of the trip thus far. Lots of miles. Lots of hills. Plus it was hot. Those combined together made it for a tough ride. In total I climbed 9,000 feet. 9,000 feet! I was impressed by my previous high of 5,600. So much for that. Seriously, check out the route on the website and see how tough it was. It was not easy. Rarely was I traveling amongst flat ground. If at all. Slowly, but surely, I made it to my host’s place along Highway 1 in Fort Bragg, California.

Jim and Babbie have a lovely home that’s over 100 years old. They took me into Fort Bragg and showed me where the glass beach was. Which, unfortunately, formed from years of dumping into the ocean. The practice has long since been stopped, but the glass from the dumps was beaten smooth by waves, and now exists as pebbles upon the beach. A very unique beach. They also treated me to a lovely dinner on the harbor of Fort Bragg where I was more distracted by the seals swimming around than anything else. I may have to carry a seal the rest of the trip because they were so incredibly cute. I mean who wouldn’t want one as a pet?

Tomorrow, because of my long miles today, is only a 15 mile day. Yes! Talk about an easy rest day. I’ll definitely take it. Only three more days until San Francisco and then the game on the 21st. I’m quite excited to watch some more baseball! It’s tough to really keep track of all the games with all this riding. I’ll check the standings here, or the scores there, but I’m usually far too busy to actually sit down and watch a game. Hopefully that changes as the season progresses.

I’ll talk to you all tomorrow. Bike safe.

Day 11: 85 miles

Total Mileage: 771 miles