Portland to San Francisco Bike Trip - Day 10

Day 10 Stats - August 28, 2006

• Eureka to Garberville
• 74.05 miles, 2963 ft. elevation gain, 575.66 miles total (24,658 elev)
• Ride time 5h 48m, trip time 8h 02m, start time 08:38am
• Average speed 12.7 mph, max 36.0
• Cities visited: Eureka, Loleta, Fernbridge, Scotia, Pepperwood, Myers Flat, Miranda, Phillipsville, Garberville
• Total flats to date: Aimee:1, Pam:0, Preston:1

Brutal day, although cycling through the Avenue of the Giants was excellent.

Started off early, overcast skies per usual. Ate breakfast in hotel and then rode to Fernbridge along Hwy 101. Took a couple of side trips, one past the College of the Redwoods (today was the first day of classes) and another along the Eel River.

My mom and dad swapped places for about 10 miles near Fernbridge so that my dad could take a break from his SAG duties and experience a bit of the bike trip. They had picked a nice flat spot so he wouldn't have to contend with any hills, but unfortunately we encountered one almost right away! He did great on the hill anyway and it was fun biking with him.

At Fernbridge, we had a difference of opinion. Aimee wanted to just blast out the miles on Hwy 101, whereas I wanted to take the scenic route (which unfortunately added almost 11 miles). We compromised and did an abbreviated route that took us through some very interesting farm country. The roads were rough, however, and in retrospect, we should have just stuck on Hwy 101.

We passed through Scotia in late morning and really wanted to take a free tour that a local saw mill offers of their factory, but sadly we couldn't spare the time. We continued on to the best part of the day, the ride down the Avenue of the Giants, a 30-mile road that parallels Hwy 101 and goes directly through a huge grove of Redwood trees. The traffic was very low, the presence of the colossal arboreals awe-inspiring, and overall one of the best segments of the trip.

Near Pepperwood, we stopped for a picnic-style lunch sitting on the ground again (how come we can never find picnic tables when we need them?!). It was good to rest and enjoy the solitude of the Redwoods, but we knew that we had many miles to go before we slept.

We continued on to Myers Flat where we each paid $1.50 to do the obligatory drive-your-vehicle-through-the-Redwood. At this point, it was getting pretty hot and the Redwoods were starting to thin out, which translated into blazing temperatures for us. We wilted in the heat a bit and the final 20 miles of the day were a bit of a chore.

Saw the first day of school letting out in Miranda and had to dodge several school buses, moms picking up kids in minivans, and high school kids hotrodding in their cars. Stopped for an emergency cool-off break at Phillipsville (about 9 miles from our final destination), and then churned our way up the biggest hill of the day, located just 1 mile from our hotel. The presence of a moderate head wind working against us all afternoon was the final straw in making today our hardest day yet.

Stayed at the Sherwood Forest Motel. A little shaggy but a great value for the money and they had a pool and hot tub which we put to good use. After cooling down and changing, we enjoyed walking the hippy streets of Garberville (apparently Humboldt County is famous for marijuana growing and use, and it definitely shows in the people and stores we encountered).

Nice dinner at a Chinese restaurant in town and then turned in early in preparation for yet another long day tomorrow.