Saturday, October 12, 2012 60 miles 4320 ft of climb Fort Bragg to Gualala, CA 60 miles

After yesterday's climb (5,200 ft), today's climb was only 4320 ft, and it was not as constant as yesterday.  At least we could usually see the top of the hills today!  There were some fun rollers at the end, too.  (Rollers are when we can ride as fast as possible down the hill and keep going up the next hill with mostly momentum to get us to the top.)

We followed SH 1 the entire way today.  We wound inland slightly at times.  We had fields with cows on the left, and the ocean on the right.  Amazing!  Otherwise, we followed the coast.  The temps started at 52 but quickly warmed up to a sunny 75.  It is the first day we were able to shed our warm clothes.  Sure is great to have a sag to carry them for us.

The roads were much better, too...almost no chip seal.  Along the way there was the smell of licorice plant, ocean, and eucalyptus trees.  Oh yes, and some cow smells occasionally.

We are staying at a beautiful place today, 'The Breaker Inn.'  Many of us have our own room tonight (a treat!).  Each of the rooms have a theme of a country or US state...I have Ireland!  The room decorations look like a B&B in Ireland.

Tomorrow is a shorter day into Bodega Bay, CA. (49  miles), with an estimated 3,078 ft of climb.

Friday, October 12, 2012 68 miles 5,200 ft of climb

What can I say?  Today was a very challenging ride!  Below is the elevation graph:

The total climb today was 5,200 feet, and boy do I feel it!  There were a lot of people who chose to skip part or all of today's ride, and maybe they were the smart ones!  I suppose there is some kind of satisfaction is doing it all, but tomorrow is a series of long hills next to the coast.  Pretty good 'interval' training, right?  Hope I can do it!

There are not that many photos today because it seemed that we were either going up or down hills, and it was all I could do to keep it under 25 mph on the downhills with wet and very curvy roads.  Going up, we get over heated from the exertion, getting all hot and sweaty.  Going down, we get cold!  It was also 51 degrees from 500 ft and up, so that made it 42 degrees as I went down.  I was under dressed for that kind of cold, too.  Like Chris says, keeping comfortable is a delicate balance.

The day was overcast for the first 50 miles, and when the route finally moved us next to the coast, the sun was finally out.  That lifted our spirits, and at the next little town we stopped at a store with a porch and enjoyed some coffee/drink and a cookie.  It felt great to be off the bike for a short while, and to warm in the sun!

Dinner was wonderful, thanks to Michelle and the sous chef, Vicki.  Lin sang one of her songs about the ride, too.  She is always a hit!