Short ride today, at only 35 miles, but it was filled with wonder.

From a landscape perspective, today was easily the most diverse ride of the trip. I woke early in my tent in an otherwise empty campground in China Camp State Park. All of China Camp’s campsites are walk in, which nixes the RV rabble. And everyone else too, apparently. Except for me, and I didn’t walk, I rode in.

Today promised to be a straight forward ride of about 60 miles. Temperatures have moderated in the inland valleys and I am heading towards San Francisco Bay, where temperatures are cooler still. Hill climbs are short—no mountains, just gentle ups and downs. Most of today’s route is on dedicated bike paths. 

Today’s blog should have been short because today was supposed to be simple. Yet here we are with me having something more to say.

Patio dining in Calistoga, with a live Spanish guitarist doing contemporary flamingo, surrounded by a well scrubbed and groomed clientele makes me not want to camp tomorrow night. I’m really in Napa County now. Is this really the same planet, much less the same state, that has Eureka?

Up and out early this morning. I didn’t see Johnson, as he said I wouldn’t. He pulls the to-midnight shift and isn’t up at dawn. Johnson is an Americanized version of his name in Chinese, which he never shared. But the Villas has very much an East-West fusion to it.

Absolutely the best day of the ride. First, the Avenue of the Giants. Second, 80 miles, hills and all! Third, Johnson and the Royal Tree Villa.

Today was a transition from the quiet forest of the Drury Scenic Parkway to the manic gotta-get-there-fast of US 101 the California Freeway. I first hit 101 in Reedsport, OR. Until just north of Trinidad, CA, 101 serves as the main street of towns it passes through. From Trinidad south, it bypasses towns. I got off the freeway at Trinidad and found a quaint little town and a fantastic lunch. Much of today’s ride, and pretty much anytime I am on 101 going south, I’ll be riding a freeway shoulder. Of course, this means cars and trucks whizzing by a high speed, but it also means a predictably wide, smooth and clean shoulder, which is much safer than the narrow and occasionally disappearing shoulders I’ve been on in recent days. 

Great night’s sleep! The sky was the same this morning as last evening: hanging fog, and the temperature dropped maybe 4 degrees through the night. I still don’t have a strict regime of what gear goes in which pannier, but it’s pretty well zoned, front and back. Packing is getting faster. First stop: 7 miles through Brookings to Mattie’s Pancake House. Monday morning and the place is packed, so obviously a local favorite. Breakfast was big enough to last me until after 3 PM before I needed to eat again. 

I sent off yesterdays post while in Port Orford, because I wasn’t sure I could get an email out from last night’s camp at Humbug Mtn. State Park. After I posted, a couple of things of note happened. I was talking with Victoria at Port Orford’s Portside Market about how genuine and kind people are here on Oregon’s South Coast.

I still have about seven miles to ride to camp at Humbug Mtn., but on the map the campground appears to be in a hollow behind the mountain. I can get this post of from here in Port Orford and not risk having a bad signal in camp

A light day today, but filled with interest. I finished yesterday’s post at a Winchester Bay pizza restaurant while enjoying excellent halibut and chips. It’s the coast, after all.

On my 5th or 6th time awake this morning, it was getting light. I got one more doze in and rose with the sun sometime before 7. Super groggy, and not enough water with me to make coffee. Everything was wet with dew and I was glad I put the rainfly over the bike. I did so for concealment. Nice that a rainfly also keeps things dry. 

As predicted, it rained hard last night, let up by mid-morning and the pavement was nicely drying by 10:00 AM. Today was goodbye to the Willamette, since I’m going to the coast instead of inland. I stopped by Fred Meyer to grab some WD40–ejecting from my pedals takes too hard of a twist—and lunch to go. I got some baked chicken on day-old discount, which chewed like rubber.

Today’s ride was a beeline almost straight south on 99W from Corvallis to Eugene. The plan was to continue SE through Eugene into the Oregon Cascades foothills and on up the course of the Willamette River tributaries, then drop onto the high Central Oregon plateau and work south to Klamath Falls. I got to Eugene, called it a day and reassessed, again. 

That’s right, Corvallis, not Lincoln City. Yesterday was my needed limp day, and I changed up the whole ride. As I’ve mentioned, Joan and I sold our house last month and have been vagabonding around for a few weeks. While I was back in Missoula last week to receive and build the Priority 600 bike I am now riding, we used the days to also consolidate all of our worldly possession from 4 smaller storage units to one big one.

Hello and welcome back from the brief intermission (of nearly two weeks). I’m back on my new bike after a few days of rafting the Deschutes River, then returning home to attend to some family business, and most importantly, TO BUILD UP MY NEW BIKE! Today, I’m riding my Priority 600 bike for the first time. 

I’m never in bed by 9 PM, but I crawled into my sleeping bag early last night. I slept fitfully. Terribly, actually. I woke at least hourly to roll over onto a side that didn’t hurt. And here’s the weird thing: yesterday, I unchained the beast.

Up and out early from the Olympic Club in Centralia. This is another of the McMenamin brothers’ restored historic buildings, now serving as quaint and interesting restaurants, hotels, and in the case of the Olympic Club, a pool hall.

Today’s ride was on familiar roads, following the Seattle to Portland (STP) ride route that I have done many times with my strong-riding brothers. This year’s STP was just a couple of weeks ago and the painted route markers are still on the road. Hard to get lost.