Day 9-Humboldt County Farmlands Tour

Orick, CA to Rio Dell, CA

75 miles, 2,782 feet elevation gain, 12.5 mph average

For the first time, we started the day under sunny skies. A hearty breakfast at the Palms Cafe in Orick, then on to the road. The first part of the ride was along the coast and the Humboldt Lagoons, and as we rode south, the fog began to roll in. The ride was uneventful, although one section of road construction was particularly harrowing. The freeway was reduced to only one lane, with a traffic signal at each end. We got the green light, and took off as fast as we could-up the 8% grade. While we still in the one-lane zone, northbound traffic got their green light. Traffic was approaching head on. We think that most of the car drivers appreciated our plight, and gave us plenty of room-including the driver of the big semi-truck that was passing through. We made it okay, and went on for a coffee break in Trinidad.

Trinidad looks like a new-age hippy place with tourists. The organic coffee house had some hippy folk singer playing guitar and singing for the Sunday morning customers. We met some cyclists from Eureka who set us up with local info for a better route around Arcata and to bypass most of Eureka. On the road these guys caught up with us and we rode together for a while, then they took off at a speed that we couldn't match. Even so, they kept an eye out for us and when they saw that we took a wrong turn, they turned around and came back to put us back on track. We really appreciated their advice and help. Their route took us through farmlands and past organic dairy farms.

Some strong tailwinds pushed us into Eureka, and we stopped at the Lost Coast Brewery and Cafe for lunch, then had several miles of riding on the freeway, before finding a backroad route. We rode past the College of the Redwoods, famous for its woodworking program-and again enjoyed tailwinds that really kept our speed up. Near the town of Loleta, some really friendly locals roared past us in their big pickup truck, yelling what must be some kind of local greeting-it sounded something like "Get the F#@% off the road!" We were impressed with their enthusiasm and vocabulary.

Alan had a flat tire today, and I had two flats. Because of the time delay these imposed, we found a shortcut through more farmland-dairy cattle and goats seemed to be barnyard animals of choice. This shortcut, along with the one given to us by the Eureka guys, shaved about 10 miles from today's ride. We were expecting about an 85 mile day, but it turned out to be only 75, and we were able cut out some elevation gain. This made us happy.

Tomorrow we head into the Giant Redwoods, and anticipate about 65 hilly miles. We may not have access to the internets, so we may not be able to blog for a couple of days. Try to hang on...we will blog again as soon as we can.

And for all you that have expressed concern about how my rear end is holding up on the bicycle saddle-it is doing great, and I really apppreciate the interest-something that I haven't experienced since Debbie Shepard said I had a cute butt in junior high school.

We read all comments posted-we look forward to them all day. So please, comment away!