Humbolt State Park to Fort Bragg, California: 90 miles
I felt pretty good today. The morning ride was great. We started out on the Avenue of the Giants, which follows the Eel River and headed toward Garberville. Once we reached Garberville, we started a steady climb that would be the biggest climb of the entire trip. About 2,000 feet of climbing over around 20 miles. Most of the climbing, however, seemed to be in latter 10 miles from Leggett to the pass. It was our toughest riding day yet. By 11 am the temperature reached around 100 degrees, remember, we are several miles inland from the coast and blocked by a coastal mountain range. Also, the smoke from the forest fires though not really thick, seemed to add to the heat affect. The toughest part of the ride prior to lunch, however, was dealing with trucks, construction and no shoulders. between Garberville and Leggett, 101 transitions from 4 lanes to 2 lanes and 60 mph to 35 mph with winding roads. We are now competing for road space with trucks and RV's. By the time we reached our lunch spot in Leggett, Jordan was frazzled. Fortunately at Leggett, highway 101 heads down to the Sacramento Valley and Hwy 1 starts. All the trucks head down to 101.
Before we tackled Hwy 1, we finished off a pizza and lots of root beer in a nice air conditioned pizza joint. I'm glad I was feeling good today because the climb ahead was brutal. I took it easy and let Jordan race on by me. There were so many switch backs that I eventually lost sight of him. When I reached the summit, I did not see him. I had hoped to rest a bit. Fortunately he had the same idea and was resting under the shade of a big oak tree. Jordan had beaten me up to the summit by about 3 minutes.
The downhill ride was long and glorious. Lots of turns. I actually had to use my breaks. The temperature change was amazing. Soon after heading downhill, the temperature changed from 100 degrees to probably 60 degrees with the wind chill. It felt like the sensation you get when you open a commercial freezer door with that rush of cold air hitting you. It was good to see the coast again but the head winds made the going tough.
We reached our Fort Bragg hotel before Soo and Martin. We earned those 90 miles. I'm really proud of Jordan.
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