(Written from Bad Ass Coffee, Santa Cruz, CA)
Miles biked: 70.1 (1,163.7 overall)
Time on bike: 5 hours, 46 minutes, 37 seconds
Maximum speed: 34.1 mph
Roads taken: SR-1 South.
Places stopped: Mendocino Bakery (the best bakery I've ever been to, where I got a lox bagel plate AND a blueberry danish for breakfast), Manchester market (for bread, peanut butter and ice cream bar), Point Arena library (to blog), Gualala county park (for the night), in Gualala: Roadside restaurant (for dinner and to watch Cavs-Magic Game 2 -- LeBron's game-winner).
To be as vague as possible, I wanted to get out of my campsite about as early as possible on Friday morning.
So despite the heavy dew that soaked my rain cover, I got up a little after 6 and packed everything -- including the soaking-wet stuff -- as quickly as I could in clumsy, tired fashion.
And I was on the road before 7, eager to get more than 10 miles done before I even thought about stopping (if you want more specifics, please ask me via e-mail or a phone call).
Anyway, there was the perfect stopping spot about 15 miles down 1 in Mendocino. Thanks to my friend Toad -- whom I'd meet twice farther South -- I knew about the Mendocino Bakery, for which he had great praise.
So that's where I stopped, around 8, to get some food in me and take a quick breather before continuing my journey south.
And, man, was Toad right.
The bakery in the town of not more than 1,000 was easily the best I've ever been to -- yes, Ann Arbor folk, better than Zingerman's (and much cheaper). I helped myself to a lox bagel plate, which included a toasted bagel, lox, cream cheese, raw and cooked onions and a tomato.
Not only that, I also got a blueberry danish, which actually accomplished a rare feat for a danish -- not only was it delicious, but I didn't feel like I was eating pure junk. It actually tasted, in a way, organic.
Yeah. Best. Bakery. Ever.
Well-satiated, I continued down route 1 toward Point Arena, where I knew I'd make it to a library. This was key considering the lack of libraries on the northern California coast.
(It must be said that in a competition of libraries -- in terms of quantity and how nice they are in giving out Internet time -- Oregon takes California in a blowout.)
Anyway, I knew I needed to do some serious blogging in Point Arena, because it'd be the last one I'd taste until San Francisco.
The riding, all morning, was peaceful and not too difficult. There were a few switchbacks, but nothing extreme -- except for one RIDICULOUSLY STEEP HILL, which deserves a mention.
When I reached the bottom of the switchback, I knew I needed to switch into my lowest gear. This isn't always the case with hills. I climb many of them by simply switching into the lowest or second-lowest gear of the second ring -- my 10th or 11th out of 27.
But that would have been suicide on said hill.
Even on my lowest gear, I had doubts as I ground my way up the first section and made a sharp left turn only to see an equally steep second section. That's when a lady in an SUV passed by and laughed.
Thanks, lady. How's that gas mileage?
(Sorry for the negativity; she actually looked very nice.)
Anyway, to finish the story, I only made it to the top of the hill by reciting the NBA's scoring champions (let's not forget that Bob McAdoo won three scoring titles from 1974-76).
And when I reached the top, I had a nice conversation with a man in a Penn State sweatshirt (random fact of the blogpost).
From there, the going was relatively easy.
My only real difficulty was staying comfortable. For most of the trip until that point, my bike shorts had done their job and kept me comfortable for hundreds of miles. But beginning on this day, I started to feel a bit uncomfortable as I neared 50 miles completed.
Then I stopped at the library for a good 3 hours, hoping that I'd feel better after the long respite.
But that wasn't the case. Because of this, I decided that I wouldn't try to go another 36 miles to the Salt Point State Park campsite. Instead, even though it was just after 3, I'd do just another 13 miles or so to the Gualala county park.
I felt uncomfortable the entire ride, which was unfortunate considering how much of a breeze it was. The wind was with me, the weather was perfect and pretty girls lined both sides of the road (OK, I made that last one up).
Oh, well. I made it to Gualala and instantly felt better. It was an actual town with restaurants. I'd be able to get my basketball fix that evening, with the Cavs and Magic playing Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
After a final steep hill, I found the campsite. It was my first county site, and I discovered they're not quite the deal that California state parks are. They're $5 a night instead of $3, and this one was a bit buggy, but still a decent bargain.
In the evening I biked back into town to the Roadside restaurant, got a cool drink and a sandwich and watched, in wonder, as LeBron sank a long 3 at the buzzer for the Cavs. I enjoyed the end of the game with a cool, surfer-dude bartender and a few young surfing cats, one of whom bought me a local brew.
It would have been nice to hang out for another hour or two, but it was getting dark and I had a mile of biking to do.
Upon returning to my campsite, biking through the dark and finally using my lights for the first time on the trip, I met a pair of bikers, one of whom was also going to San Diego.
I left early the next morning before Matt and Jordan were up, but I still have hopes of meeting up, once again, with at least one of them and having a riding partner for a day or two.
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