The ride of 7-2-09. So we did ride the entire segment into California - all 69 miles of it! We left Brookings, OR around 9:00AM. We were soon in California.
The first 30 miles were very nice and scenic. We were mostly off Hwy 101 riding through hill side communities, lily and dairy farms. The terrain was rolling and did require some "granny gear" riding. This was Doug's first day riding with us. He probably thought that if the whole trip was like this, he had it made. We met Jan for lunch at the port in Crescent City. We like this sag wagon stuff!
As soon as we left Crescent City we started climbing the first of two major climbs of the day. The first had three summits. We gained about 1200'. It was tough. We took lots of breaks. Sometimes there was a shoulder to ride on, and sometimes there wasn't. One of the pictures below shows Doug and I trying to get our breath back. We made it and had a sweet and fast descent to the bottom. Oh, but we were not done climbing. The next climb was "only" 900' and not quite as steep. We were toast after that climb, but as our mentors Bob and Linda say "you just keep peddling!"
We had one more small climb to make. It was short and also intense. Doug was a trooper. This was his first day and we were trying to kill him. Ev and I had been riding for 4 days by this point.
The last 5 miles were glorious! Mostly down hill, hardly any traffic, riding though redwood groves. The campground was nice. We barbecued salmon burgers on the open fire. Even though the ride was very tough, Ev and I both thought this was the best day yet.
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