Day 12: Fortuna to Leggett, CA

August 11, Fortuna to Leggett, CA

76 miles, 13.3 mph

At Eureka, US101 heads inland and never makes it back to the coast (OK, maybe near LA). To return to the coast, you have to follow US101 up to the town of Leggett, where it intersects US1 which heads back to the coast and takes you to Ft Bragg and Mendocino. The downside of this trip is that Leggett is in the mountains at about 1100 ft. The trip up to the mountains--as you might expect--is full of that phenomenon you'd call rolling hills--that is, if the hills weren't so high.

The day was both physically and mentally demanding. Physically, because there were so many steep hills. Mentally, because the traffic along 101 was fierce and also because some of the steep descents on the shoulder of 101 with strong gusts of wind over 100 ft bridges were somewhat disconcerting. After the first hour or so, the fog burned off and we had sun. The Hawaiians (everyone but me) enjoyed the heat. I like the sun. But, the heat coming off the highway was intense at time.

We crossed various branches of the Eel river at least a dozen times on our climb. In Fortuna, there was almost no water visible in the river. By the midpoint of our journey the river seemed to recover and had a healthy flow. We saw swimmers and picnicers on the sides of its banks, enjoying the day. We pulled off the highway near Weott and took our only sightseeing break to bike along a 6 mile stretch of "Avenue of the Giants"--a gorgeous trek thru a beautiful, shaded set of redwood groves. This led us to Miranda where we had a great lunch at the small town's only cafe.

At this point, we had about 30 miles to go to reach Leggett--most of it uphill. The good new was that, while Mark had worked everyone into a frenzy of concern about the final 850 ft climb to reach Leggett, the final ascent wasn't really so bad. The bad news was that there seemed to be 3 or 4, 300+ ft climbs in between. We took those slow--except Amy. While the old men of team Palooza were getting slower and slower as the days took their toll, Amy seemed to get faster and faster every day. She seemed rather unphased by the day's workout and had far surpassed me in her hill climbing abilities a day or two earlier. Clearly, she was some kind of energy vampire, stealing energy and stamina from the men.

Our lodging was about 3 miles away from the US101/US1 split. The Stonegate Villas were a charming group of rooms set back in a forested area of Leggett, on a road that had previously been US101, before they laid the new highway. The proprietor, Mike, was a really nice guy who drove us to dinner at Pegg's Grill, took us to the market and drove us to the "drive-thru" redwood--kind of the signature sight in Leggett. Today was my birthday (I had never expected to have to work so hard on my birthday) and my wife, Jenny, had arranged for brownies with candles to be served after dinner at Peggs. It was sunny, 75 degrees. We were eating outside on picnic tables. It was a nice way to cap off a challenging day.

Day 11: Klamath to Fortuna, CA

August 10, Klamath to Fortuna, CA

82 miles, 14 mph

Like many days, this one started foggy and hilly. Unlike other days, within a mile of starting, it began to rain. I recall earlier in the trip telling people that, "once we reach California, we don't have to worry about it raining." This, clearly, was punishment for making such a definitive prediction. Gets you every time.

To add injury to insult, we started the day with two 500 foot climbs. One of these climbs I was basically expecting--an ascent up US101. The second, I wasn't. Earlier in the summer, I had driven from San Francisco to Seattle and hiked in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. The route I drove was through the scenic alternate to 101 (Drury Scenic Parkway)--the road we were biking that morning. I swear I didn't remember a high climb (or descent). But, there it was. Seems like it's easy to miss these "subtleties" in a car.  But, the (mostly) gradual descent from the top of the climb was well worth the pain. It was through the heart of the redwood forest and the scenery was magnificent. The giant redwoods simply dwarfed us. By this time the rain had abated (although it was still foggy) and we made numerous stops along the way to take pics and to simply appreciate this incredible park. Drury Parkway rejoined US101 shortly after Elk Grove where, unfortunately, no elk were grazing. But, we did see elk later on, outside of Orick.

Leaving Prairie Creek Redwoods, we rejoined the coast--made a brief coffee stop in Orick and cruised on towards Eureka and Fortuna--our ultimate destination. The beaches and landscapes had a distinctly California feel to them. We saw wide, sandy beaches, eucalyptus trees and US101 became a less-friendly 4-lane highway. Before today, when US101 entered a town, it more-or-less became main street. Here, there were exits and entrances to these towns off the highway. This meant that we had to be very careful about dodging fast-moving traffic that was transitioning on and off the highway.

We made a strategic blunder in that we waited until hitting Eureka before having lunch. Eureka was at about the 62 mile mark which was pretty far beyond the 45 - 50 miles we usually wait before dining. We were pretty ragged by the time we hit town, and the wind, fog and heavy traffic on 101 had worn us down. We dined at a pretty decent Vietnamese Pho place. I had 3 Advil for dessert.

The remaining 20 miles or so to Fortuna was a bit better. With food in our bellies and a flat road (at least for a while) we felt a little more human. Here, the road hugs the sheltered South Bay for a distance before turning east and heading uphill to the town of Fortuna. As we gained altitude, the fog cleared and the temperature warmed. By the time we arrived at our destination (another Best Western--yay!), it was at least 75 degrees and sunny. We dined at a local brew-pub, near the hotel.

Day 10: Gold Beach, OR to Klamath, CA

August 8: Gold Beach, OR to Klamath, CA

75 miles, 13.3 mph

Did I mention that I'm sick of the GD fog? Oregon's tag line should probably be, "the fog state." We woke--after our tribulations of the previous day--early and kind-of slow-moving. The ever-present fog was still ever present, and we took it really easy for our first 25 miles. There were a number of so-called scenic overlooks that were actually not scenic at all because you couldn't see anything through the fog. In particular, we crossed over the highest bridge in Oregon (350 ft) shortly after leaving Gold Beach, and couldn't see anything but fog from the top. Some of our descents were nerve-wracking because the visibility was so limited.

The first 25 miles or so had a variety of climbs, rolling hills and straight segments. We grabbed coffee from Starbucks at the Fred Meyer in Brookings--the last Oregon city before the California border. We'd enjoyed coffee at several Fred Meyer's thru the course of the trip and it was kind of nice relaxing in what had become a familiar, comfortable setting. It was still cold and foggy as we started out for our lunch destination--Crescent City.

We spoke to a couple of locals at the Starbucks and they advised us--as did Google maps--to leave US101 for Ocean View Drive, shortly after crossing into California. We took their advice and climbed and descended a set of unwelcome, unexpected and surprisely steep rolling hills on country roads--all within the view of 101 which was flat and smooth. From that point on, we stuck to 101 which eventually guided us to Crescent City.

I had stopped at Crescent City earlier in the summer, spending a forgettable night at the EconoLodge as I drove from San Francisco to Seattle. At the time, the best dining establishment I found was Denny's. We were fortunate enough to find a Subway where we dined and fretted about the rest of the day's ride. Mark had informed us (numerous times) that before reaching Klamath, we would face a hellacious 3-peak climb of roughly 1200 ft before we descended at a 7% grade to the road below.

It was a hell-of-a climb, basically straight up for 4 miles or so, and then a steep nail-biting descent. But, on the other side, the sun came out, it warmed up and we had a relatively flat cruise into Klamath. It felt like a California experience. On the way we stopped at "Trees of Mystery" where we got our pictures taken next to Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox, and where Amy took the tour (on a gondola) into the redwood forest.

Day 9: Coos Bay to Gold Beach, OR

August 8: Coos Bay to Gold Beach, OR

80 miles, yy mph

We had been worried that we'd hit rain leaving Coos Bay, but the force was with us. It was foggy, as usual, but there was a lightness in the sky that suggested we might actually see the sun. The route suggested by "the book" (the West Coast biking book, which we have been loosely following as a guide) actually routed us an additional 8 miles taking us off of US101 and directing us along some local streets so that we could admire the fog off the shore, before rejoining the highway. That would have made the ride 88 miles instead of 80. At this point, we were pretty well past choosing the scenic route over the direct route, so we opted for 101 out of the city.

We cruised through the first 25 miles or so before breaking for coffee at the little town of Bandon. We normally stop at the first coffee shop we see as we enter a city--which is what we did, here. But, as we left Bandon we noticed that the town actually had a lot of personality. It had an old town section that looked pretty interesting.

The cool thing about our ride on this day was that we had sun, flat roads or gently rolling hills, and it finally started to feel like what I imagined summer on the Oregon coast was actually supposed to look like. We were cruising for our first 50 miles, averaging 16.3 mph and only pushing a little bit to hit that speed. We lunched in the town of Port Orford at a no-name cafe (it's not that I didn't remember the name, the restaurant didn't have one posted) and got an excellent BLT.

They say all good deeds must be punished, and I'm sure there's an analog for bike rides that you really enjoy. Our post-lunch ride was bruising. Shortly after leaving Port Orford, we noticed a sign that stated, "High winds next 27 miles when flashing." We were relieved to see that the lights on the sign were not flashing. My guess is that they were out. And... hmmm our destination was just over 27 miles away.

As easy and pleasant as our morning seemed, our afternoon was at least 2x as unpleasant. Before hitting Port Orford, US101 was located inland, a mile or two from the Pacific. At Port Orford the highway rejoins the ocean follows it closely before shifting inland at Humbug Mountain. The wind was brutal and we started to lose our sun, as well. Mike Green, who likes bombing down the hills noted that he could only hit about 10 mph descending the road around Humbug Mountain because of the intensity of the wind.

After the ascents and descents around Humbug Mountain, the road rejoined the ocean and the wind--which at times had abated around parts of the mountain--became relentless. The afternoon wind along the Pacific coast is supposed to run north-to-south. Apparently this wind hadn't read the same books we had. We finally crossed the bridge at the Rogue River and entered Gold Beach. We were beat.

While we did have to haul our bikes to second floor rooms at the Gold Beach Inn, that sacrifice was totally worthwhile, as the Inn had an excellent set of hot tubs. I think we made it to about 8:15 PM before collapsing and falling asleep.

Day 5: Astoria to Netarts, OR

Astoria to Netarts

73 miles, 13.8 mph

While the distance we covered on Day 5 was not particularly long, this was--in some ways--our hardest day, thus far. It started out pretty favorably. The day started--of course--foggy. US101 crosses over another bridge over a bay/inlet from the ocean. A lower and shorter bridge, it was still a beautiful way to begin the day. Here, US101 runs parallel to the coast for a ways, passing the town of seaside before turning inland and climbing. We made incredible time on the first 18 miles or so, averaging well over 16 mph. That pace was not to last.

Climbing and descending a 7 mile hill out of Seaside, we took a short side trip into the town of Cannon Beach, famous for Haystack Rock, its beaches, coffee shops, quaintness, etc. It was still foggy as heck, but there were lots of people out and about, making pedestrian dodging the sport of the hour. It reminded me of Carmel, CA--a little bit of a playground for the well-off.

We continued for a good ways, paralleling the coast, climbing and descending a series of rolling hills that took us from the top of high, forested hills down to nearly beach level. It was pretty country, but somewhat tiring on our fifth day.
Here we passed lots of parks and beaches--Arcadia Beach, Hug Point, before turning inland and climbing thru Oswald West State park. The descent took us back to civilization and the towns of Manzanita and Nehalem. We stopped for lunch at the Bunk House Restaurant in Nehalem. It had a funky fountain out front, and made a killer BLT. At this point the sun had come out and we were all enjoying the day. This was at the 40 mile point of our trip--the distance at which we normally tried to lunch.

We stayed close to the coast and passed a series of beach towns--Manhattan Beach, Rockaway Beach, Garibaldi, Bay City. At Bay City, US101 headed eastward and slightly away from the ocean--towards the city of Tillamook, most famous for the Tillamook Cheese factory. At this point, the fog had mostly returned. We took a break at the Safeway before taking on the last 7 or 8 miles to our stopping point in Netarts. Those last miles were pretty hilly and everyone was ready for the day to end at that point. When Mark asked whether anyone wanted to take a side, sightseeing trip of 3 miles or so before stopping for the day--he had no takers.

Our hotel for the evening--The Terimore could probably be rated no better than half a star. But the bed didn't break, the shower (mostly) worked and rest, at that point, was what counted most. We had a good meal at the Schooner and went into Tillamook to finish the evening with an ice cream at the Cheese factory. It was delish.

Day 6: Netarts to Yachats, OR

August 5:  Netarts to Yachats

96.4 miles, 14.8 mph

Originally, our day 6 was planned at 91 miles--a fairly intimidating distance--given our earlier days. It turned out to be even longer--due to a strategic error on the part of Mark and myself. Given the distance, however, team palooza did really well. I think everyone felt afterwards they were now confident they could master our 80 mile day average.

Did I mention that some members of team palooza like to obsess over how many and how large the hills we have to climb are? Well, this day we had 3 big climbs with the most intimidating happening first--early in the morning. We bid adieu to the Terimore on a (you guessed it) foggy morning.  Not being a breakfast kind of place, we had grabbed some chocolate croissants and bananas from the Tillamook Safeway (breakfast of champions) and scarfed them before starting out.

Departing from the Terimore

Yes, we really did climb this high

Our route took us along a local road to the hill leading up to Cape Lookout

Day 4: Montesano, WA to Astoria, OR

Day 4: August 3, Montesano to Astoria, OR

77.2 miles, 15.2 mph

Granny, Jerry and Vince made us a sumptuous breakfast of oatmeal pancakes, eggs, sausage and the works (including a raspberry pancake "syrup") and we were off for the state of Oregon. The day started in a promising fashion--with the sun peeking thru the clouds and eventually coming out, albeit briefly. Riding past the Beehive, we found WA-107 which meandered for a ways next to the Chehalis River. We then "enjoyed" a series of climbs and descents next to forested hills.

This is where I got my first flat of the trip. This has been the "summer of flats" for me. I, apparently, have displeased the inner-tube gods. On on of these steep descents, a big piece of metal jumped out and hit my tire, and I was shortly off my bike getting more tire-iron practice.

Aside from that, the rest of our WA-107 segment proceeded without incident and we eventually descended into the somewhat scenic town of Raymond, where there was a parade, fair and car exhibition going on. 

The Marines from Raymond

We grabbed some Gatorades from a convenient market and rejoined 101. As we crossed the bridge leading out of town, we spoke to a local woman who directed us to a bike path that paralleled the freeway, hugging the banks of the Wilapa River from Raymond to South Bend about 3 miles away. Thus, we enjoyed a brief respite from the shoulder of 101.

This was really our first real sense of being near the ocean. The Wilapa River joins the Pacific pretty close to South Bend, and we could smell the sea (and fish) as we followed 101 towards its mouth, eventually heading south as the river met the ocean. We crossed over a series of inlets from the Pacific and caught a variety of views of the ocean before heading back inland towards the hills.



As we neared the coast, the weather got foggier and hazier. We left 101 for WA-4 as we headed inland. Climbing over some rolling hills we found a local diner--the Rocket Cafe (tag line: a blast from the past) where we enjoyed a relaxed lunch. We were within striking distance of Astoria.

"Rocket men..."

From there, we turn right onto WA-401 where we enjoyed another hill climb and descent before being able to see the Columbia river and the bridge leading to Astoria. The sun came out in full force by the time we glimpsed the Columbia, providing an incredible view of the 4.x mile bridge between Washington and Oregon. We stopped at a viewpoint about 4 miles from the bridge entrance to take some pics and assess the situation.

Need I say more?

Contemplating the crossing

My personal philosophy is to avoid learning about difficult things in advance, otherwise I just end up worrying about things I can't do anything about. Mark and Amy, however, obsessed over the Astoria bridge, as it's really long (4+ miles), has very little shoulder, has a pretty steep climb to the top of the highest section, and has been known to frequented by teenagers racing cars. Additionally, it is susceptible to high, non-bike-friendly winds.

That day, however, the sun was shining, our destination was at hand, and we all went for the crossing. It was the highlight of the trip, thus far. The view was incredible, the cars were courteous. We were moving along the flat part of the span at almost 20 mph (probably pure adrenaline). The climb to the top of the span must have been at least 150 ft and we were stopped near the top for several minutes for construction work. It was a bit peculiar for the roadway at the top of a bridge to suddenly shift to single land. In any case, it was quite a view.

What goes up must come down, and the descent off the bridge was spectacularly fast. I'm sure it was scenic as well, but my eyes were focused on the road in front of me or on the cars to my left. Our hotel--The Astoria Riverwalk--was almost directly at the bridge exit. We were there.

As a result of my flat, I wanted to pick up an extra inner tube. So Mark and I went to a local bike shop where one of the guys showed me the Schwalbe "Flatless" tire--a heavy, treaded tire with a very thick skin. In fact, an exhibit for the tire showed a section of tread with thumbtacks stuck into the outside (and none showing on the inside). I picked one up for my rear wheel. As I was to later learn, the tire's title was a bit of an overstatement.

Once in our rooms, our daily post-ride stretch commenced.  

Stretch out those glutes!

Astoria bridge from out hotel room

Drinka Restaurant

We dined that evening at a Bosnian restaurant in downtown Astoria. Mark and I had some wonderful lamb, Amy had some incredible goulash, and the owner regaled us with some interesting bits of beer lore. We made it to Oregon!

Astoria bridge at sunset