Miles biked: 41 (852.3 overall)
Time on bike: 3 hours, 13 minutes, 56 seconds
Maximum speed: 36 mph
Roads taken: 101 South, a couple roads that I don't remember in rural California, 101, Washington Boulevard, Pebble Beach Drive, Front Street, 101, Enderts Beach Road.
Places stopped: Blue Water Cafe (for my final meal in Oregon; great blueberry pancakes), library in Crescent City (to do this), Chinese restaurant (for late lunch), Safeway (to buy bagels and cream cheese and a salad for dinner), Nickel Creek campground (for the night).
On Friday, I finally said adios to the great coast of Oregon and began my long trek through California -- a state that I'm calling my third, fourth and fifth states of the trip.
The ride into the state was about as mundane as possible, however. In a "Silly Jake" moment, as soon as I crossed the border I discovered that my Oregon-to-Crescent City map was gone. I had found a way to lose it. Thankfully, I didn't really need it.
I used the 101 and a few back roads to pedal my way toward Crescent City. The roads were pretty flat and uninteresting, although I noticed that the trees were getting thicker. Yep, I was entering Redwood Country.
Perhaps the most interesting -- and man-making -- part of the ride occurred as I was just outside of the city on 101. All of a sudden, the highway became a four-lane interstate with actual exits on each side.
I'm biking on a real, legit, big-time highway, I thought.
Um, cool?
Well, not really. But it gave the ego a minor boost before I exited, got myself a basket of cherries from a fruit stand and made my way toward the city.
Crescent City's waterfront is, no surprise, quite beautiful. Just like in Oregon, there are jagged rock islands sitting in the water that add some spice to the already-spectacular Pacific Ocean.
The city's downtown, however, is pretty nonexistent. This may be a result of the 1964 Alaskan earthquake that caused a tsunami to hit the city, destroying several properties and killing 11 people. Near the water, like by the library where I'm writing this, there are marks on poles indicating heights the saltwater reached on that devastating day.
Just like the 1967 Detroit riots, but to a smaller extent, I don't think Crescent City has recovered from the natural disaster.
But I spent Friday afternoon in the city, using this library and then getting a Chinese meal and some other food for a campsite dinner.
Then I headed just to the south to the Nickel Creek campsite, by Enderts beach, to spend the night. The next day I would head about 10 miles south on the 101 to spend a few nights at the Redwood Hostel -- something I was looking forward to very much.
But I had to live in the moment Friday night, because I was surrounded by natural beauty. After figuring out that I had to leave my bike locked up at the parking lot above the campsite, I gathered my necessities and tramped about half a mile to my place for the night.
After setting up camp at the primitive site -- there was no running water; just two toilets -- I took the short trail to the beach and marveled at yet another beautiful site. The Pacific stretched out to my left while the city's lights were directly across the bay in front of my eyes.
Then I met some people. First, I walked up to a guy collecting wood, Corby, who said he was camping at the site right beside me.
When I walked back to camp, after snapping several amazing pictures, I met Shane -- an older man who was using the camp as a temporary home. A few minutes later, a pair of brothers from Philly, Joey and Anthony, strolled into camp after a walk to town.
The four of them became my companions for the night, and we all shared stories while enjoying the sunset and then sitting around a campfire that didn't want to show much life.
Corby talked about driving all over the West, exploring its most beautiful places -- such as Yosemite, Death Valley, the Sequoias and the Grand Canyon. Joey and Anthony talked about taking several buses from Philly to reach the coast and exploring different cities and hiking spots. And Shane provided the comical stories, always managing to incite laughter.
I just enjoyed the company -- and a couple hot dogs we managed to grill on the fire.
It was a great night of camaraderie. The first time on the trip, while camping, that I didn't feel at all alone.
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