Day 43: August 23, 2010 (Route: Eureka, CA to Humboldt Redwoods)

Day 43: August 23, 2010 (Route: Eureka, CA to Humboldt Redwoods)

Technical Data:

Distance, miles 55.25
Ride Time 3:43:20
Work, kJ: 2203
Average Power, watts: 162
Normalized Power, watts: 186
Average Speed, mph: 14.6

Rolling over in the tent this morning I was wishing I was rolling over in a nice soft bed! O' how I have missed my bed on this journey of mine, the therma-rest I have been using is one from 2003 that has a slow leak, I still haven't been able to locate the leak as everytime I'm around a bathtub I don't think of it! So every two hours I have to air it back up. One would think that I would have this figured out by day 43, however I don't have the spare funds to buy a new one so I'll just have to deal with it. It's not that bad to be honest, however some nights the leak isn't slow and I'm sleeping on the ground the entire night, just becuase I'm too tired to air it back up. Some long days the last couple of days so my bed or even a bed in a spare bedroom somewhere would be great! The blanket EJ bought me is great I do have to admit! Thanks again EJ and I think I'll mail it back when this journey is up, well I'll think about it!

The tent was soaked this morning, I heard that Eureka was like the Oregon coast, always trapped in this fog. I must have lucked out though, as the night was calm and the moon was so bright. The clerks at the KOA mention last night was the first night they have seen the moon in months. The next morning was gorgous! The sun was bright and warm, I have been thinking about that California sunshine and finally its here! Not motivated to get on the bike I head to grab a bite to eat and charge up my pc and phone. You can find electrons everywhere in this country! Hotels, campground bathrooms, coffee shops, et cetera. I have scene a lot of cyclist with solar panels which is nice to have I'm sure, however I planned a whole two days and only planned on taking what I currenly had or could borrow.

I took the morning and wrote, filled out another postcard and sat thinking how tired I am! 280 miles in the last two days is a new record for me and trust me it hurt, I'm feeling it this morning!!! The tent was soaked on the inside and out so I wanted to wait for it to dry before pushing off this morning, which I didn't mind because when I climbed the ramp at the KOA I didn't like what I felt! The quads are trashed!!! I pack up BoB for what I could while I wanted on the glorious sunshine to dry the small beads of water up from my tent and towel, its been a couple of days since I've had a dry towel and this sun should do the trick. I head back and sit with my things inside the little gameroom at the KOA. They had a Mrs. Pac Man game here, but I was extremely disappointed as it was the slow version and I can't stand the slow version. They also had a Whirlwind pin ball game I used to play at the FastTrip next to the house in Parsons I grew up in. Again it had problems though so I didn't waste my time. I wrote and checked emails and did a little research on employment opportunities. I have to start thinking about this as my journey is nearing and end, which means I'll need to get back to work. Which I feel I'm ready for!

Thoughts were all over the place this morning! Thinking about what the legs are going to feel like once on the road. Will it be a head wind like yesterday or will I have that nice tail wind they have talked about on the coast? Will it take me long to find employment when I am have finished up this trip? What will I do? Will I go back to school? Will someone have helped me find work while I'm on the road? Will I go back to Oregon in pursuit of EJ? Will she want me too? Will I take a job in a foreign country? Truly the thoughts are all over the place this morning? I was supposed to race Ironman Kentucky in eight days from now, however I tore my shoulder so I'm not going to be able to. Would I have qualified for Kona this time around? Will I ever race Ironman again? The change that is taking place within me is liberating and I'm embracing it the best I know how, even though it can be tough! Maturing and learning so much about myself and life in general along with all the Amerian people!

Sitting in the game room I watch a few young boys play with the board games in the room. You could tell they were swimming a little while ago, running around bare foot with wet hair, I remember those days! Days when I would go to the swimming pool and just hang out all day, then walk home through the park and up four blocks to the house on Broadway in little Parsons, Kansas. Small towns are great and I miss that atmosphere, crazy how it was only 5-6 weeks ago and I was in Kansas riding through these little towns and bringing back memories of my childhood! Precious moments that will never be forgotten. I remember how I was adventurous as much then as I am now! I would ride my bike all over that little town.

i check the tent a few times throughout the morning, grab a shower and pack up the rest of BoB's contents and hit the road, I get out of there really late. Close to 11 AM and I'm supposed to ride 100 or so depending on how the body feels after the last couple of days. Still no word from EJ about hanging out in San Fran so I'll try and pedal as much as I can before I shut it down, maybe I'll make it before she leaves, maybe I won't. In all reality I put out a suggestion and I'm not sure she'll even want to hang out or have the time. I do hope she would like to, however I'm not sure how she feels. I know how i feel but I wonder what she thought of me...

Four miles north of Eureka I toll out onto the highway, the sun is shining bright, sky is o' so blue and the cool breeze blowing in from the ocean feels great. I'm still going to rock a jacket today, I get cold way to easy and on downhills the chill can cut right through me so better be safe than sorry. Rolling into Eureka I take the alternate route along the ports and just take in the sights. About half way through Eureka I notice the trailer is really shifting more than usual so I stop and check the skewer I purchased as the original needed replaced. The skewer had worked itself loose enough to cause the rear wheel to come loose. I tightened it and when putting the trailer back on a guy walking by asked if I needed a third hand, I greatly accepted as I find it difficult to mount the trailer when BoB is loaded. The load I am running is significanly lighter now all the food is gone and the nutrition product i have been carrying is dwindling.

I decide to check my phone while stopped and there has been a flood of emails regarding the Tulsa Triathlon changes, I stopped and read them all just to get a feel of what's going on with the small community I used to live in. Then I see that EJ has emailed, and the verdict was not what I was hoping for. No time available when in San Fransisco, this kinda bummed me out for a little bit, then I thought if I was working the odds are I wouldn't have time either so no worries. Not to mention the odds of me getting to San Fran by Wednesday night are pretty slim, however I do think I have a chance but its more than likely I'll land there on Thursday when she would be departing. Hopefully I can see here again someday, it was a short email, however short email is better than no email in my mind. Back to the road and no need to hammer it to San Fran now, I did leave an option there though just in case she did have time. So my motivation to push on today has kinda been lost in the moment. I put it back into cruise mode.

Everything happens for a reason I'm sure of it, and to be honest if I would have pushed to get to San Fran by Wednesday I would have been toast. So since I'm coaching myself I stopped and looked at the scenario of my riding over the last two days and took an assessment on my thoughts. It's so easy to listen to a coach when training on when to rest, its really hard to self coach as you always think you can do it all when in reality you can't! I needed to rest today, more than I wanted to so I decided to ride until I found a campground that looked good and shut it down for the day. The game plan was then to sleep, and sleep, and sleep some more!

Rolling out of Eureka I climb, then descend, and climb some more. These climbs are not huge just a lot of rolling terrain! I know I have about 40 miles until I drop into the "Avenue of the Giants" the Humbolt Redwood Forest that is supposed to be gorgous! The ride to the Avenue was fast, I wasn't really pushing it, my legs just felt better than I thought I guess. I did have a nice tail wind though!

Thoughts were still all over the place at this point in the ride. Then I check my phone while stopped in Del Rio (I think that was the name of the small town) and see a couple emails about my friend Jane has relapsed... A flood of emotions hit me when I read this, thoughts of quitting and getting back home to visit her. I was away on my first solo vacation when I lost Carla and I dind't want to be away if Jane should pass. Jane has been a wonderful friend of mine since I moved to Tulsa since 2006 and she is such an inspiration of "fight"! She's a fighter and won't give up on life, loves to travel and just enjoys life so much! I'm a bit of a cryer, this was the first time on the trip I cried, I don't want to loose another friend to cancer! To be honest I don't want to loose any more friends to anything to be honest! Jane if your reading this "Hang in there! You can beat this!!!" I miss you and will see you soon...

I think cancer, lime disease, heart disease, MS, and all the other diseases that have affected the ones I love need to go! I'm a pretty emotional person when it comes to my friends! I've fought for my friends on the ball field and rarely think about fighting when it comes to people insulting me or even tempting me, however when it comes to my friends and the people I love forget about it. I'll do about anything for the people I love!!! I know this may sound odd, as I really don't consider myself a fighter but when it comes to protecting those I care about I can have a quick temper! I'm sure others are like this too when it comes to people that mean so much to you...

Since I'm writing this after my ride. I really should pray for all of those people I know are battling for there lives. I'm going to take a moment of silence for the following:

Matt H., Jane E., Marilyn A., David B., Bryce (just met Bryce in Florence), and all the others I can't think of right now as I'm sure I'm missing someone! I pray for my family and friends as well during this moment of silence, those that have passed and their families (you truly are missed!)

I hope that everyone does this daily to make sure you are praying over those that have passed and those that are battling something. I struggle with doing this every day but I'm doing the best I know how! I battle with so many things, as well as others but I will never forget to try...

After readign the email I really want to go home, not sure where home is, but I want to get back to where I feel comfortable, to go see Jane and let he know that I'm thinking of her! To be strong, to know that she will run again soon, when the strength comes back! Keep fighting Jane, I love you!!!

The ride was tough after this to be honest, I rolled into the Avenue of Giants and didn't really care about riding or sightseeing anymore. I hate this feeling to be honest! Am I just tired, has the time come when I feel I'm ready to call it quits? Will I have the energy to make to remainder of the trip? Is my body telling me something? Should I be back in Tulsa? Should I be back at my brothers in Missouri? Where should I be? I think about this for some time, I'm sitting in a mental toilet it feels like it. My friends are back in the Midwest, some battling for their lives and I'm out here seeing the country? What shold I do, should I catch a bus back?

All these thoughts going through my head, so many friends lost and I don't want to lose another! I think this is why when I meet someone I want to get close to I really want to get to know them, because life is so short! I roll into Burlington Campground, right in the middle of the Redwoods and all I can think about are things I cannot control right now. The best thing for me to do when I'm like this is to sleep as something is off when I am letting my thoughts control my every being. I set up camp and jump right into my tent and laydown, its not 3-5 minutes and I'm passed out. I have this crazy ability to sleep through about anything when I'm tired/fatigued like I am now! I sleep for a solid hour and a half before waking up and make some dinner. Naps are great, I used to hate them as I found them unproductive, however I was so wrong about that one! I can take power naps for ten minutes now and be revived for the rest of the day!

The nap did help me mentally as I was able to surpress the thoughts I was having, even though I am still pretty sad about the situation in Tulsa and the fact that I am still missing EJ. I can't do anything about them right now so I'll have to wait. Contacting a few people today was nice as I haven't talked to really anyone from back home for at least five days or so. The time spent with EJ was the first time I spent just hanging out with someone I wanted to hangout with since Colorado Springs I think and that was around day eight or so. Wow, I think I have been out here for that long? Time has flown by as I have been really living in the moments that have presented themselves, I need to continue doing this for the remaining of the trip as its a must! I cannot allow things to get to me, control nothing! I do desire to be back in Oregon, and this I will pray for!

After downing some pasta I started craving some chocolate as I often do on days like the past 40! I notice a care heading out, a camper heading to the store I think! I approach them and asked them if they were heading to the store, they said nope, I was pretty disappointed and then mention I was just going to see if could bum a ride into town to get some food as I have been craving something sweet. They know that I have been biking all day as they saw me in the hiker/biker section with my rig, they gave me some cookies and some vitamin water from the cooler though! I thought how thoughtful, I didn't ask for it I just mentioned I would like to bum a ride in if they were going.

Back to the tent I go, to sit and eat some cookies and type! I jump into the tent as the mosquitoes here are really bad! Their not big, just a lot! I turn the computer off to rest and hear another biker entering the sight, I figure I'll let them get things set up before I get up and say "Hello". I was going to need to get some water and use the restroom before I fell a sleep for good and I'm glad I did!

I got to meet Carl, a 24 year old from LA that works in the television industry on set for sitcoms. We talk about all kinds of things, from the LA lifestyle to training and all kinds of things! We stay up talking till close to midnight, it was good to sit down and have a great conversation on this trip. I might have talked about training alot with Carl, however he had a million questions and I had a rough day so teaching/sharing about what I love was good for me! I hope I was able to articluate the answers too! Carl gave me some great insights to the amount of money that is in LA, which intrigues me a little just because I'm curious about true differences in lifestyles from Florida to California!

Then I crashed - overall the day was okay! Very emotional day though...