My memory fails me. I will try to do my best to remember the details.
Again, a highlight of my first day on my own, was definitely Czars Bike Shop :)
2 FREE NEW bottle holders, a HUGE, FREE, JUICY burger, and best of all, met some super awesome bicycle folk!
I left Santa Rosa and kept on with my long, quiet, thoughtful, pedaling. Alone.
Everything went smoothly. Except the boredom.
I was about 5 miles away from Cloverdale, where I planned on crashing for the night.
I took a shortcut. Turned out to not to be much of a short cut, at all.
I turned off of the service road of the 101, onto a nice, downhill, back road. Soon, it changed pace. At the end of this lovely paved road, lay a valley of gravel. I pushed my bike through the gravel to some cement barriers I squeezed my bike through and over. (see pictures below...) The valley of gravel turned into a sea of large, smooth rocks. I started to push my bike toward the bridge so I could cross the river and ride to town. Oh, I am silly to think it would be so simple. Turns out bridge was out of commission! Tired, confused, and hopeless, I started to think about my options. I could go back where I came from or I could cross the river. Four young teenage girls happened to appear on the other side of the river moments later. I asked them if there was a bridge further down the river. With no surprise, they said no. As I started to take my bags and camping gear off my bike, one of the girls, Angela, asked if I wanted some help. So for the next 30-45 minutes, Angela and I walked each bag across the brisk river. It was actually amusing, and the water felt good. I needed to shower anyway. The water was just low enough to keep everything from getting wet. So it all worked out. After everything was across, she was kind enough to offer me a cigarette. What a trip.
My plan was to ride 3 miles down the road to some cottage rooms that overlooked a vineyard, just up on a hill, also overlooking the town. I was a little late to speak to the owner to see if I could even just set up a tent somewhere. I road down the hill to town. I went to plug my phone in at an empty restaurant after three attempts for a donated room at hotels/motels. No luck...it was Cinco De Mayo weekend and Vinyards all around were preparing for wine tasting season. I planned on sleeping on a bench just across the street beside an outdoor stage. It also turned out to be right next to the police station, so that option was out. I resorted to the police station to see if they might have any ideas. They tried calling two hotels that might be able to house me, but they didn't pick up or return the call. So, they offered me a place on the floor in the lobby. At this point it was 10 and I said why not...Two hours past when I couldn't handle the bright lights and emergency calls coming in any longer. I decided to leave after listening to a call that came in from an officer who found a few bundles of marijuana in a field. Something about "I think we found who it belongs to" and another something about "yeah, the truck is on fire"... hm...I had to pee. I repacked my sleeping bag and bike. I went to the gas station down the road around 12. I road back up toward the restaurant and down 2nd street to a park I had found on my phone. It was just a few blocks down that I saw a fenced in, sprinkler happy, sketchy, park...I road back down to the restaurant. I passed a beautiful church that had a nice grassy area with trees and benches on my way to the gas station. So I went back there. I unpacked my sleeping bag again. I fell asleep.
The next morning I headed back South a few miles to the Mcdonalds to meet Ashley. Rex, a friendly fellow we met just north of San Francisco picked up Ashley from the Emergency Care and allowed her to stay at his house for the evening. Her poison oak was spreading, so it was in her best interest to get some medicine, get her clothes through the wash again, and get a good long shower in as well. Looking back, i felt like the tension was pretty high these couple of days. I didn't want to feel rushed in the end of my experience on the trip... others needed to make it by the deadline. We all gave some and we all took some. We all did what we needed to do in order to protect ourselves, so we would be able to finish, together. Anyway, that day, Ashley and I had a very eventful ride! Leaving Cloverdale we started out West, taking 128. We did some grocery shopping, and got some Micky-D's for breakfast. We pedaled through town. A feeling of excitement and curiosity for what the next few hours had in store. In the first few miles, Ashley's bike was having some trouble. Her tires seemed to be out of line and rubbing on her frame, the brakes, or both...(our bikes were in pretty rough shape). It was time to drop some weight of her bike. Her back rack was wobbling around pretty bad as well. We got rid of some of her clothes, some first aid supplies, and the awkwardly shaped sleep cushion. It wasn't much of a difference, but it was something! (I was so proud to see her toss some clothes ;)) We were on our way again. It was already about 11 or 12 in the afternoon, but early in the ride, and facing some steep cliffs. We were chugging along up and up, when we notice one car doesn't seem to want to pass..they honk and slowly start around...waving as they pass, and pull off just a little ways ahead of us. *Would you look at that* (as Eli would say). Out pops Nico and Candice! The couple from Oakland that hosted us for a couple nights earlier in the week! Turns out they were making their way up to a beer fest in a town about 25 miles North called Boonsville. This was one of those towns that is deserted pretty much year round, with this festival being the exception. So we got pretty lucky in our timing. We were thrilled to run into them on the road. It was a nice reminder on how small the world is. Nico was kind enough to even take a look at Ashley's front tire that was rubbing. They invited us to hang out at the festival for a while and even extended and invitation to camp out with them for a third time now at their buddies bar in Boonsville. We parted ways, as they continued on to their lovely day of music and beer and us to our pedals and water bottles. The land went from climb to roll. The views were never short of divine. Not ten minutes later another car pulls over. Cody, the fellow we stayed with in San Francisco rolls his window down to say hello! (What is happening we are thinking)! haha. The world continued to shrink. Turns out, him and his buddies were also on their way to the beer festival. We agreed to let them know when we pedaled into town, as well. Seeing these two was super encouraging and made the day much more exciting. After 3 hours of some breathtaking view and hills, ;) haha, we made it into Boonsville just in time to hear some good music and rest for an hour. Unfortunately, didn't get to get into the fest, but it was no big deal. We still got to say hello and goodbye to our buddies from Oakland once more.
Four PB&J's later we were back on the road toward the ocean. Please, please, please! Go ride your bicycle through the Dimmick Memorial Grove State Park toward. It was definitely one of the best stretches of road on the entire trip. Just enough forest, just enough (flat!) road, just enough sun. Then you pop out into the open air with a large creek on your left that runs to the deep blue sea in front of you. You have some good hills to climb up into Mendocino. Every moment of struggle is more than worth the experience, so don't worry!
Ashley and I were at the end of our 70 mile day as we road into Mendocino. We were so tired and fatigued. It was finally time to find a place to sleep. This part of the day was always an entertaining task. We road up to a community center and got some information from a friendly local of places we could try to camp on the beach. He also mentioned a place just down the road that would be closing in the next few minutes. We quickly road down the street to see if we could get a cheap room for the night. There was one room for $80 left. So we took it! This room was by far the most therapeutic I have experienced as a hotel room, ever...haha! On the far end was and open air, outdoor shower, and hot tub! in the middle was a hot sauna and small bathroom, and then the "bed" which was really just another covered hot tub if I am not mistaken. It was such a blessing. I missed everyone though.
