[Bike]
The Bike Touring Pages of
Chris X. Edwards

Summer 1997 - Yukon to California
Journals - 19 August 1997

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Day 40

19 August 1997 (foggy; slight rain in PM; mileage = 38.3; Ft. Bragg) -- X - We woke up on the beach with a semi-wet tent. We didn't use the outer tent, but we don't think it rained since we tracked the full moon all night. We had a quick take down and breakfast and lugged our bikes out of the sand. Then the climb out of Usal Beach -- wow! It was quite a climb. There was fog near the top with shafts of sunlight streaking through. We had to brake break on the drop, but we finally popped out on Highway 1. What a treat that was -- smooth, flat road. It was like flying. We got to the last big climb out to the coast and it seemed easy to me. I cranked up it at 7 mph (much faster than yesterday's average speed!). When we got to the coast, the scenery was obscured by fog, but it was still nice. It was slightly hilly, but at least with lots of effort, you could get some progress, unlike yesterday. We passed the campground that Dennis and I stayed at. The road lost its shoulder and the traffic was very annoying. We passed some unloaded riders on expensive-looking bikes (always fun). We were both getting tired when we pulled into McKerricher State Park at about noon. I washed the dust off of the bikes and lubed the chains. We cooked some rice for lunch. A cyclist (Randy from Monterrey) came in and we talked to him for a long time. He had nice! 48-spoke wheels and T.N.F. tent. We left at about 4:30 and took the Old Coast Road (now a bike path -- cool!) into town. We found a bike shop and I bought new tubes (whew!). We called V.M. and then our Ft. Bragg contact (Carolann W.). She wasn't home, but we got the semi-green light from her daughter-in-law. We ate at a mediocre Mexican restaurant and then went to the house. She still wasn't home, but we checked the place out and wow! Was the guest house nice! We rounded up our laundry and walked to the nearby laundromat. We had frozen fruit snacks and chocolate milk from the corner store. We're back at the house now, and our hostess is still not home. We are in the garage hanging out. It's very nice. (*-Picture -- guest house)
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Chris X. Edwards ~ October 2000