PC_Day19

Day 19

Thursday, 17 June 2004
Garberville, CA to Fort Bragg, CA
71.3 miles, 6h16m, 11.4 mph
Elapsed Time: 8h35m, Max speed: 40.7mph
Total Climbing: 4876ft, Max elevation: 1911ft
Total mileage: 1081.2

The word for today was "arduous." Adventure Cycling warns of the difficulty of the 28-mile section of the route from Leggett to Westport and describes it as "arduous." They did not affix any such label to the section from Westport to Fort Bragg, or to the section from Garberville to Leggett, but they weren't easy either. Taken as a whole, I would describe the day as "arduous." By the way, note that the profile for today goes up to 2000 feet while most of the others only reach 1000 feet. The greater scale tends to smooth out the little bumps that really wear you out...like those little bumps at the end of the day.

We started right out of Garberville with a nice climb. We jumped on and off US101 as side roads became available. The last eight miles into Leggett were all on 101 with some tough climbs and very little shoulder. We caught up with an older guy riding a touring bike fitted with a motor to assist him in climbing. But his battery had run down and now he had to carry that extra 30 lbs up the hill in traffic. He planned to stop in Leggett to recharge the battery.

The road to Leggett
(is not pictured here)

At the top of the hill we stopped at a store for a snack. We did not stop at "Confusion Hill" with its "Gravity House." This appears to be some kind of Mystery Spot-type location. There was also a "Grandfather Tree" somewhere in this area. Yes, there's schlock in the forest.

We ate lunch in Leggett and met another pair of riders headed south. These were two young guys who were riding from Arcata to Oakland, where one of them lives. They had spent last night under a bridge, living like hobos. They were also headed for Fort Bragg today, and we saw them several other times. We also saw the older guy with his bike plugged in to an outlet at the Leggett store.

There is a drive-through tree in Leggett, and it looks much more impressive than the sorry looking tree at Myers Flat, but we really needed to be moving along so we didn't stop.

There is a 5-mile climb that starts almost as soon as you leave Leggett. It was long and hot, but the road was in great shape and there was little traffic. Somewhere along the way we passed "The Legend of Bigfoot Museum" and the "One-Log House." Sadly, we did not stop at either.

The descent was screaming and highly technical--meaning we needed to use the brakes. At the bottom there was a construction zone and the two younger guys caught up with us. When we were allowed through they took off. We took it easy. Then there was another 2-mile climb. This one was steeper and the road was in lousy shape. Then we descended and were back on the coast.

We stopped at Westport for a snack and then rode the 15 miles to Fort Bragg. By this time we were tapped and the constant up and down through the beautiful Mendocino County coast was slowing us down. Very few of today's miles were easy. Even the final couple of miles on a coastal bike path were rough and uncomfortable.

You can see the road ahead.

Mendocino County

The Ten-Mile Path

Our motel turned out to be too far from town to walk to dinner, so we ordered spaghetti and pizza and had it delivered.

This is probably the last report that will be posted for a week or so because Linda is coming out to see us tomorrow. She will meet us sometime on Saturday and take our bags from us. Woo-hoo!

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