Redwoods and the Pacific coast

The past couple days took me through Redwood national park. My
literary abilities are insufficient to describe the grandeur of this
natural setting. Cloumns of unimaginable size rising like the walls of
a canyon on the side of the rode led me to ride almost the entire day
with a smile on my face. Ecologically, the redwoods require the
temperate slopes of the coast range and the sea mists that frequent
this area. It also seems that the redwoods require hills. Many, many
hills. When I wasn't smiling, I was panting for breath as route 101
follows the eel river valley, uncomfortably hot after the cool shade
along avenue of the giants.

Out of the redwoods, the temperature rose 20 degrees and the sun
blazed down, reflecting off of the now barren slopes. Frequent water
breaks and candy replenishment were a necessity. Then, at mile 106, it
came. Leggett hill. At 2000 feet this marks the high point of the
pacific coast bike route, and it certainly makes you earn all 4.5
miles of the climb. The descent and the view provided ample reward.

Then there's pacifc route 1. While arguably the most scenic section of
the route, it is also the most inconsistent. The road constantly
dipping into coves and over bluffs must make for amazing driving, but
it makes cycling a challenge. I write this is fort Bragg, having
delayed my travels in favour of the football and out of fear for the
next section of the route, which the book describes as having the
steepest mile on the pacific coast

Redwoods

Newport, OR to California

Helping winds and favourable grades made the 230 miles to California
some of the best yet. With terrain ranging from high dunes to forests
and towering capes, the landscape was both challenging and
spectacular. The past two days were also a learning experience.

1. Always keep plenty of snacks on the bike - running out of energy in
a tunnel is no fun.

2. The worst words in the English language: "Passing lane ahead".
Translation: massive hill ahead

3. Stay well clear of anybody driving an RV, they're worse than
floridians.

4. Mike and ikes can get you through anything

Redwoods tomorrow, very excited though I doubt I'll have any trouble
sleeping.

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Netarts bay to Newport

Soaring cliffs and some spectacular climbs took us the 80 miles from
netarts bay to Newport, OR. Highway 101 winds its way along the
coastline, giving rise to some perilous situations as a head turning
vista appears during a descent. One of the most memorable sections
ocurred when the bike route led highway 101 and wound its way through
an untouched old growth forest. Soaring cliffs gave way to massive
trees, the likes of which we will likely no see again until the
redwoods in humboldt. Hopefully there will be fewer RVs down south.

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Thank you, Oswald West

View north to Cannon beach

Cannon Beach, OR

Ruby beach, Wa

Maybe Oregon will be warmer?

Last summer we were searching for gas stations and motels to escape the heat, this year we are buying extra layers and drinking hot chocolate by the gallon. The pacific northwest has thus far proven itself to be a beautiful but cold and wet land. No surprises there I guess. After our epic 113 miler into Hoquiam (only it's neighbour, Aberdeen, was less attractive) we have spent the last two rainy days climbing through rainforest (that is not a typo), skirting the Columbia river, and scaling the Astoria bridge, which was an ode to some of the bridges of last year, built tall to allow supertankers to pass beneath it. Tonight we sleep in an rv park in Seaside, Oregon; not a patter of a raindrop to be heard, for now.

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Columbia River

Maybe Oregon will be warmer?

Last summer we were searching for gas stations and motels to escape
the heat, this year we are buying extra layers and drinking hot
chocolate by the gallon. The pacific northwest has thus far proven
itself to be a beautiful but cold and wet land. No surprises there I
guess. After our epic 113 miler into Hoquiam (only it's neighbour,
Aberdeen, was less attractive) we have spent the last two rainy days
climbing through rainforest (that is not a typo), skirting the
Columbia river, and scaling the Astoria bridge, which was an ode to
some of the bridges of last year, built tall to allow supertankers to
pass beneath it. Tonight we sleep in an rv park in Seaside, Oregon;
not a patter of a raindrop to be heard, for now.

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It's all pretty much like this

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Day 6 - Racqioa something I don't flipping know

111 miles today. Now it's raining.
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Toward Olympic Park

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Days 4/5 - Victoria/Olympic Park/Forks

We re-entered and then re-exited Canada via Vancouver Island. Ed continues to answer questions from border patrol literally:

Q: are you bringing any food into the country?
A: yes, skittles.
Q: any weapons?
A: well, just a leatherman.

It's a good thing we're done with international travel.

Once we arrived in Port Angeles, WA, we traveled along the top of the state, through Olympic Park. The park was stunning and, at least this time of year, sparsely populated. Forests, snow-capped mountains and lakes abound.

We camped along Lake Sutherland and continued along the lake this morning. A few miles in, the road gave way to a mountain bike trail that hugged the lake about twenty feet above. The road was muddy and at one point, on a turn, my tire slid and I fell off the side, tumbling downward. My head french-kissed a tree and then I landed, with all my gear, in Lake Sunderland. While I was splayed about, three tween-age girls ran by on the trail above. One looked down and yelled: "are you good?"

At biking? Apparently not.

It took me about a half-hour to drag my bike and water-logged saddle-bags back up to the trail. At the same time, Ed, who was waiting for me at a scenic bridge, was apparently jesting to a couple that I'd probably fallen into the lake.

Back on the bike through the park and down into a little town called Forks, claim to fame: the setting for Twilight. OMG!
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Mt. Constitution

> Having spent another night shivvering in the tent, we decided to
> head for warmer climes on Orcas Island, just north of Lopez island
> where we spent the night. I'd heard of a climb on the island and
> decided that gaining some altitude should afford some spectacular
> views of the surrounding straits. Leaving Charles behind at the
> hotel with his "allergies", which meant that he could barely open
> his eyes (I think he was just squinting a lot) I left for the
> mountain. Orcas is a horseshoe shaped island and the fittingly named
> horsehoe highway transported me and my bike the 16 hilly miles to
> the base of Mt. Constitution. The climb begins at sea level next to
> a sheltered cove, and then proceeds to switchback 6 miles up the
> side of the hill with an average grade of 8.5%. The Internet has
> since assured me that the maximum is only 12%, but I would swear
> that some hack came up with that number, which in truth should be
> somewhere around 20%. Either way, switchback after switchback it was
> determined that my constitution is not in fact the gentle, soft-
> spoken soul that you all know me as, but instead some crazed lunatic
> with a penchant for four letter words and hurling insults at
> inanimate objects. After a "photography" break I encountered the
> summit (which they made you work extra hard for) and was greeted by
> a spectacular 360degree panorama of the San Juan islands, Olympic
> peninsula, and Vancouver island. My pictures do not do it justice,
> but if you find yourself in the area, it's well worth a look. Better
> yet, take a bike and actually earn it. Having spent too long eating
> mike and ikes and clif bars on the summit, I promptly erased an hour
> of climbing with a 12 minute descent. A tired ride back to the hotel
> earned me Charles, in his boxer shorts.
>
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Mt. Constitution

Stanley park, Vancouver

Day 1 - Birch Bay

Firstly, a heartfelt thank you to Joe Kilkeary, who took us to Newark Airport at 4AM yesterday. Joe that was insanely nice of you.

Day 1 took us out of Canada. I for one had to be coaxed away. If there are stinky parts of Canada, they are no where near Vancouver. Is there something I'm missing? Why doesn't everyone live here?

Fun fact you may not have known about Canada: they have their own omnipresent coffe shop to rival Starbucks, called Blendz. ('S' has been replaced with 'z' to ratchet up the cool factor, ratchet it up BIG TIME).

We are camping in Birch Bay, which faces the San Juan Islands. Northern tip of Washington. It's pretty darn nice around here, too, I must say.

As well as hilly. The hills suck the life out of you pretty quickly. I even encountered a hill today that I literally couldn't get up. Had to walk it. Ed made it up, though. Of course he did. Ed eats hills for breakfast.
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Much like the enterprising hipsters that came out to greet us, Vancouver is a colourful and varied city. Nestled on a spit of land, it affords enticing views of the coastal ranges of British Columbia. To compliment the natural beauty of the city, each storefront seems to hail from a different continent, and exotic restaurants line every street.

The bikes have been tuned and the gear is all set for a early departure in the morning, aiming to duel with homeland security and arrive within spitting distance of Anacortes and a ferry to the San Juan islands.

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Vancouver

Having arrived to brilliant sunshine in Vancouver, we decided not to
waste anytime in this beautiful city and settled down to watch England
v. USA in the world cup. Countless squandered opportunities later, we
left the confines of the hotel and were greeted by a large crowd of
people seizing the opportunity to ride their bicycles naked through
the streets. Jealous that this bright idea had not ocurred to us
first, all we could do was stand by and watch, wishing we'd not left
our bikes at home.

Who's not getting burned this year?