Fast Forward to Day 4: 5/28/08

I've learned a lot of things these past few days, many of the lessons gleaned were done so the hard way. A lot of stupid little mistakes, and miscalculations as to my fitness level coming into this ride, and the sheer force of the chilly northern headwinds had me feeling pretty nervous after the second and third days. I was fearful that my calculations had been seriously misplaced and that we, (or I more specifically), wouldn't come close to making it to Seattle, much less to New England and beyond. Today, those fears were somewhat allayed. PeterB and I just came off the road after 70+ miles off rolling terrain, and none the worse for wear. He's still making me look foolish overall, but the time margins separating us have been greatly diminished. More importantly, I'm getting into shape fairly quickly. My legs feel much stronger and my endurance on climbs has greatly increased.

Anyhow, another thing I miscalculated was how sparse WI-FI connectivity would be along the way. In a way, it's not so surprising considering there's not a city along the west coast for San Fran to Seattle; it's basically sleepy hamlets and defunct fishing villages.

We have, however been lucky to have some nice weather the past few days. Yesterday was absolutely spectacular. We left camp in Bodega Bay to sunny skies and serious ocean vistas to our left.

It was pretty much cow county up through there, which is kind of nuts. The cows run free on these cliff sides with incredible views, but they're too dumb to appreciate it.

I guess it's better and parceling the land and developing the entire coast.

Today was overcast the entire day, but it helped to keep us cool on the climbs throughout the day.

The rate at which one cools off when one stops after riding is marked and quick, so we kept the stops brief.


Overall the sheer number of hills and the steepness of some of them are pretty surprising to me. I always had assumed the coast was relatively flat. Obviously, I was wrong. In two days we're tackling the biggest climb so far. I think it will go much better than the major climb on the first day, but still....


By the way, I'm writing this in Mendicino,CA. Don't come here unless you want spend money. EVERYTHING is expensive here....