Tuff Stuff

Aug 4th, Monday

Hidden Springs - Standish Hickey St. Park
38 miles, 4 hrs, 11 mph

My legs felt pretty good today as I left the Avenue of the Giants. Stopped to talk to some Canadian bikers, then left shortly after 4 guys from Virginia passed us. Going up a steep hill, I decided to be a tough guy, especially since everyone was going slow. I passed the Canadians in the middle of the hill and the Virginians near the top. I asked them how they slept as I passed them on the crest. It was a sinister comment in sheeps clothing, but I don't think they got it, as I was the one in a wierd competitive mode.

Shortly after this sprint I pulled into Gerberville, a cool summer town that had all the amenities. I got some laundry going , ate lunch at a burger joint, realized I had lost my wallet, then found it at the laundromat. It started to get hot out (I was inland), I had a burger, and that last sprint was taxing. Sometimes I wonder why I do what I do.

I started to hit some real heat as I got back on the road, going up some hills that were fairly steep. The heat kicked my butt more than anything and I realized that I wasn't going to make my 60 mile goal for the day. I pooped out at 38 miles, stopping at Standish Hickey State Park. I camped with the Virginians and a guy from Eugene (Steve?). They thought I was long gone after my cocky show earlier in the day. Funny, while I was passing them all I could think about was "slow and easy wins the race".

Met a guy named John who worked at Amazon, he was touring from Eugene to San Fran and was pretty pooped. We talked baseball and careers, etc. He mentioned that he had a room reserved at the Point Arena Lighthouse, 83 miles away. If I made it, I could have it for free. I told him it was unlikely that I would be up for it, especially considering that the first 5 miles of the day were to be up Leggett Hill. Little did I know...

Sign of the day: "Skip, Hop, and a Jump"

Mingo Bianchi, Baseball Player

3rd of August

Eureka - Hidden Springs State Park

55 miles, 4 hrs, 13.33 avg

I stole the covers - from the bottom of the bed! They made great padding for the floor. The breakfast at the Red Lion was awesome. All this luxury seems to have made me soft, though, as I didn't really feel like riding my bike. I just wanted to suit up and go to the park.

Those of you who might object to me hitch-hiking and bumming rides for twenty miles can just sit down, as I rode a twenty mile section for the second time. "Hey, I peed there, hey there's that litter again, hey, there's that dead raccoon again, hey last time I could see the beach from here, what's with the fog?".

Having nothing new to look at was boring. I noticed my fingernails were really long. In fact, it hurts to scratch myself. Having nothing to rejoice over, discover, or think about, I started acting funny. That was just what I needed - going nuts beats boredom.

I stopped for lunch in tiny Rio Del, at this place called Mingo's. Mingo Bianchi was a ballplayer way back when. I asked the bartender about the pictures and story goes that Joe Dimaggio played with him some, at a park in nearby Scotia. There's a picture of the park and a tree Joltin' Joe hit a ball over.

I took the cutoff to the Avenue of the Giants. This is a 30 mile stretch with huge Redwoods, making the shade and scenery really nice. I stopped in a town to get groceries... it was getting late and I was in a hurry to set up camp when a guy talked to me about touring... for a 1/2 hour. I told myself I wanted to hit him, which is very odd - maybe I really am going crazy. He told me what to do in San Francisco, three times over, and I was aggravated because he of all people should know that it's near-dark and I'm not at camp yet. Small town, I guess.

So I strolled into Hidden Springs and told the ranger (who'd just heard a ridiculous complaint from a perma-camper, about another campground) that I wouldn't reveal my own stressful, bickering, no-good-for-nothing story. I wouldn't stoop, and I wouldn't make her day any worse. She insisted, I obliged.

Sign: Stories for Food

Have You Seen My Baseball?

Eureka - Arcata?!
20 miles

I woke up a quarter to 8, the sun was shining on the little spit of Samoa Beach. I guess I hadn't zipped my back pack, Raccoons got into my loaf of bread. There was sand and bread crumbs all over my bike. Lesson learned I guess.

Kendall took us all to the Samoa Cookhouse, in operation since 1893. It used to be a big cafeteria for the loggers that worked in Eureka. They had some crazy pictures of Redwood stumps that dozens of people could sit on. Just like the old logging days, you just sat down and ate whatever they cooked for the day, which was cool. A hot breakfast is a cyclist's best friend. I decided to bike south, though I kind of wanted an off day and thought of going to the hippie festival with all the guys. They were a fun group from Red Bluff, CA.

I rode 20 miles to Fortuna and stopped for more breakfast. My legs were feeling good about the next 30 miles. That was disrupted when I read the paper - some of my buddies were playing a double-header at the baseball field I'd seen, back in Arcata. I decided to follow the spirit of adventure and of Vonnegut's Bokononism, which states: "Peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God". So I backtracked, taking a bus this time.

Watching batting practice, I yelled out some advice to my buddy Kyle Kuenzi. All the George Fox guys (Taylor, Mitch, Dan) said, "Nate? How the heck did you get here?" It was a fun surprise. I sat with Kyle's parents and told everyone about my biking adventures. Just recruiting more blog readers. Watching summer baseball really made me miss the game, and the atmosphere in Arcata was awesome. 1,000 fans showed up to the game, including a brass band that got larger and drunker as the game went on. The umpire tried to throw them out of the game after they played "three blind mice" (referring to a bad call). Better yet, there was some animosity between the teams as players were spiking during double plays and hitting batsmen in retaliation. I almost witnessed a small town brawl, and would've joined it if it weren't for the fact that the other team was full of huge D1 guys and an honorary guest linebacker from USC.

It was a rough night, as the Kuenzi's and the club manager gave me the hospitality of a good dinner and a floor at the Red Lion Hotel in Eureka.

Mom Mom I Made New Friends!

Friday 1st
Elk Prairie - Samoa County Park (Eureka)
60.4, 4:35, 13.16

I bought Thoreau's book "Walden: Life in the Woods" at the campground, and stuck it in between my sleeping pad and pannier. I immediately passed two older Canadians, when I talked with them they mentioned that their wives were bringing them lunch. Still, I think they envied my homelessness.

I passed between a herd of Elk and a herd of tourists - the Elk were sitting on the side of the road, maybe 15 of them. At mile 27 I rolled into Trinidad and had a mondo burger. The bay there is awesome and the town is pretty up key, if that's a term.

I got a blackberry cobbler at a restaraunt there, shortly after performing my first stand-still fall in the parking lot. This is when you ride into an awquard situation, have no where to pedal, and forget to unclip your cleats. It makes for an awquard, stiltsy fall. Luckily I caught a car with my hand, so there was no physical pain to go with my embarassment.

I rode into Eureka, maybe the biggest town I've been through. Just before it I stopped at Humboldt State University in Arcata and tried to witness to a commuter-cyclist-student about the joys of touring. I also passed a baseball field full of guys my age and wondered who they played.

Anyways, Eureka was dirty and I found out that my campsite wasn't a campsite. The locals pointed me towards the beach, and I got that empty homeless feeling I haf in Tillamook. Plus it was cold out.

I saw a sign for the Samoa County Park, and when I came to it a camper waved at me. I came to his campsite and got some fortunate hospitality. It was an older guy named Kendall and his 4 nephews - Jr, Kolby, Travis, and Anthony. I had barbecued steak and and told some stories. Kendall complimented me on my trip and lent some wisdom to us all. They were great guys, I finally had a family haha. Kendall even let me sleep in his truck.

Todays sign: Do it for Anne

Can Wait

I started out and got breakfast goods from the freddies in Brookings. Crossing into California, I realized I hadn't been there since I was 8. Coming to a construction stop and seeing two signer ladies wearing Moon Boots, I realized I was in California.

I passed the Aussie and taled with him for a bit. I don't thin he knew how entertaing and disturbing he was. He vered off to get his noon pint shortly after I left him, as he struggled up a gentle slope ("my bike doesn't do hills").

I came through Crescent City and picked up some bread. I also went to the Redwoods Headquarters, which was helpful. I passed a hitch-hiker I'd seen before and congratulated him on his progress. And of course, I stopped at a coffee stand for water.

At the base of the legendary hill, I stopped to let my food digest further. I'd heard stories about this one and it's ascent bore an ominous (?) feeling in my gut. The horror tales turned out to be true, as it was completely shaded, without a shoulder, and graded at 6% without ever letting up. My lower back was screaming. Near the top I said, "that's a big honkin' tree"! I had my first look at the giant Redwoods and their Twizzler bark.

The descent was especially frightening, and I knew it would be. I almost caught gravel at one point, but I made it out by the tread of my rubber.

I rode through Klamath and other towns. I started into river country, with lots of bridges and different landscapes. The side route to Elk Prairie State Park had another huge climb, but the descent was a lot of fun, through the shade of the Redwods. I stopped 50 yards in front of a 3 point Elk, who looked me over and trotted off.

Finally into camp, I was attacked by Mosquitoes and the metal tubing I bought for my tent pole broke. It still worked, just didn't look very good. I would've A-framed my tarp if I wasn't in bear country.

I came up with a name for my Lemond bike: "Can Wait", as in "LeMonday Can Wait".

Todays sign: Fornia I Warnya
Todays quote: Dickens refers to faucets as "water butts"

USA!

Wednesday 30th
Humbug Mountan (Port Orford) - Harris beach (Brookings)
Mileage?

Setting up camp, a Canadian talked to me about a blues night at some bar in Arcata and about joining him and his Russian friend. I tried to rush out of there because I wanted to beat them both and make my country proud. A couple miles down the road I realized that my gloves dropped off the back of my bike, but I figured they would see them. I wasn't giving up my lead.

This is when I started my Snickers bar craze. I eat 2-3 a day and they work wonders when my tank goes empty. All the while I'm noticing a change in the landscape, trees, and what not.

I stopped in Gold Beach for a burger and went to the book store. They have an ancient book there selling for $15,000, and a baseball signed by 13 hall of famers ($950). I finally called some people, as I've been in the woods as of late.

I hit 38 miles going down a hill, I think that's my fastest yet. I realized that my computer had been set to kilometers and figured the metric bikers must have played a part. Well they're going to have to slash my tires if they want to beat me!

I got into beautiful Harris Beach and had a french bread, olive oil, avocado and beef jerky dinner. My neighbor was a short Australian with a big beer gut. Takes all kinds, I guess.

Todays sign: Sponsor: Preperation H
Todays quote: You can't build a reputation on what you're going to do - Henry Ford

Just Another Adventure

Tuesday 29th
mileage?
Sunset Bay (Coos Bay) - HumBug Mountain

I got lost again today, trying to get out of the campsite. Good thing though, what do you know I ran into Kelli Roots from George Fox. She was camping with her family and we were both pretty surprised to run into each other. So I recruited some more blog readers.

I had to sprint up the same hill from the night before, but it only got longer and bigger this time. I was going at a slow pace and hating life. I was in the middle of a quiet back road when I got my first "F'n biker!" shoutout.

As it always does, the ascent turned into descent, and it made my eyes tear up. Sometimes a fast descent makes me slobber, but I've bee good so far.

20-some miles into it, I finally got into Bandon, a nice little tourist town. My buddy Warren told me about his hometown, which was cool.

So I went to the laundromat.

Getting back to it, I rode through Langlois, then Port Orford, which had the coolest haystacks yet. I stopped to talk with hitch hikers and told them of the upcoming camp site, which I regreted because they were shifty.

It was later at night and I finally got into Humbug Mountain state park, where I met some friendly bikers who were going north (against the NW wind). My computer was wacky all day but I think I rode around 50 miles.

Todays sign: 101 for Fun!
Todays quote: Its peanut butter jelly time! (becoming an end of the day exultation)

Trailer Nailer

Monday 28th
Washburne - Sunset Bay
75 miles, 5 hr 41 m, 13.3 avg

I left the camp about 10 30, shortly after the other guys. Meeting up in the next town (Florence?), we decided to have lunch in dunes city. I was setting a good pace, and it was nice to go on my own. I didn't see any places in Dunes City so I kept rockin. I haven't seen those guys since then, which is a bummer 'cuz they were cool.

A ways into my ride I slowed to about 14 mph, sometime around then I felt a truck whiz by awful close and their was a loud WACK on my left elbow. Something from the side of a trailer camper (siding?) hit me solid, but it didn't bruise and it didn't make me nudge, just left a white line on my elbow. I was elated, yelling "I got hit by a trailer!" for a while, I thought it was amazing.

It didn't take long for some fear to sink in as I started to realize how fast those cars are really going. It's good to have a little paranoia, and I'm lucky I didn't go over the guardrail to get it. I read in Krakeur's book that young men have some sort of hormone that overpowers the 'fear' hormone. So it looks like I don't have nerves of steel, just a brain of straw.

A couple miles from Sunset Bay State Park, I got a milkshake from DQ. My stomach has been working so fast lately that I wasn't worried about it. Shortly thereafter, I took a wrong turn and had to sprint up a huge hill because of construction. I felt like an idiot but my stomach made it somehow.

Sunset Bay (SW of Coos Bay) was beautiful. I had the hiker biker site all to myself and got pretty excited about making a fire. For dinner I had squished PBJ.

Back of the bike: "Homeless"
Quote: If I don't shower, but no one smells me, do I still stink?