Day 44: August 24th, 2010 (Route: Humbolt Redwoods, CA to Russian Gulch State Park, CA)

Day 44: August 24th, 2010 (Route: Humbolt Redwoods, CA to Russian Gulch State Park, CA)

Technical Data:

Distance, miles: 102.07
Ride Time 7:45:18
Work, kJ: 4900
Average Power, watts: 174
Normalized Power, watts: 211
Average Speed, mph: 13.03

Up early after talking with Carl from LA late last night, I pack quick and got off to ride. I wanted to try and cover some mileage today after yesterday. I was four miles away from the neartest place to grab some food, I roll into this small little town to grab something for breakfast and nothing. The store was closed so I rolled 10 miles down to the next little town and see a little cafe and think what the heck. Yesterday I was smashed from the two previous days along with the short day so I head into the cafe thinking I can score some pancakes or something.

Enter the cafe in cycling gear and the looks come as they always do! I have a seat and notice a nice family in the corner waiting for their food. Talk with them for a little while, from Seattle heading back up the coast. Father, Wife and son and I could tell they were a great little family. I wish I could remember names, however after riding for 100 miles or so you can't really remember all the details. I can remember he was in the Internet Biz, she was a massage therapist, Conner the son was 15 and enjoyed baseball and was about to start lacrosse this year. I enjoyed talking with them and shared my blog and contact information. Hope they'll keep in touch as I have met so many great people on this trip! They head out and I still have a large plate of buckwheat pancakes to down. I finish them up and sit there waiting on the check but nothing, I thought what's going on? This is usually the waitress favorite thing, chance to empty a table and collect a tip. I decide to just get up and go to the register and she say's that nice family picked up your breakfast. I thought "What", I had no idea, I left a tip and headed outside and just began to fill with emotions of being blessed, I'll have to admit I'm a bit of a cryer, I sat there for about 5-10 minutes just sitting in my emotions, thinking of how blessed I am as when I'm in need of something God has provided it. I hope I can repay this family someday soon as they were extremely kind with a lot of vibrant! I could also tell there was little competitive nature in this family too which is always great to see, makes things interesting!

Rolling out of the cafe I see the last of the Redwoods and think about how old they are, along with their beauty! I remember leaving Missouri and a guy said, You have to see the Redwoods, they've been around since Jesus was walking the earth. They sure do have this unexplainable beauty to them! When it comes to a higher power I like to use the word unexplainable I have noticed lately, however when things just happen like they have been happening it truly is unexplainable. Feeling pretty good now that I have a belly full of a ham n' cheese oamlet, potatoes, toast, and three giant buckwheat pancakes I dial in the mental training! I kept thinking along this section just pace it, your feeling pretty good, don't light anything up that you're going to pay for later. I know from looking at a topo map a couple weeks back that I'm going to have about a 2,500 foot climb and it's potentially right in the middle of the ride so I really want to be dialed in mentally today, and I was! The rest yesterday did help the mental side of things and allowed the legs to get a little rested. The XS drink the guy gave me at the store helped too, I wonder how much caffeine is in those things, as the lactate wasn't burning, thinking the intensity was low, however it wasn't. Maybe there is something to the amount of B12 that's in those drinks.

Lately I have noticed my diet as been a "See All and Eat All" diet, meaning anything that has to do deal with a calorie, its fair game! From donuts, to cookies, to chips, to anything really! How I'm eating the American Diet on this trip and it has finally caught up to me, I feel like shit to be honest. I don't think I have cused in this blog, however that's how I feel. I feel gross, my skin doens't look its best and my stomach has been churning and I just feel like I'm stuck in this fog mentally. Another reason why I decided to stick with the breakfast this morning of real food! I need to eat better I keep thinking and I'm planning on making the switch today for sure! The roads are great on this section of the 101 and I'm really enjoying the ride! Short power climbs, mixed with sustained longer climbs at a lower percent grade!

Mind is all over the place, to wondering off into the forest thinking I really want to see some wildlife, to wondering what' its like in the city of San Fransisco with all that hustle and bustle of the city life. Wondering what EJ is up to? Wondering if I should be back for my Uncle Bills Memorial (I plan on writing a lot about this soon so stay tuned). From what my precious four neices are doing! To how I'm always away when my Mom is moving, I guess I'm pretty lucky on this as I don't have to help move, however i do feel guilty!

Lots of climbing and I'm enjoying all of it, the legs have definitely moved into another arena of fitness and I can feel it. Power is feeling easier in the 330 range for a long time and the power (normalized power) has been significantly higher, I'm pretty sure some of that is due to me standing on a lot of these climbs, however if I want to get up them I have too! Some of the pitches I have seen won't allow me to sit with the 12/26 I'm running. Still climbing and enjoying life today, thinking about all the great blessings the Lord has provided on this trip! What a day....

I approach a sign that says Legette (sp), CA and after climbing I think this can't be all the climbing up to the city I thought had the huge climb. I've been climbing a long time but nothing with switch backs or anything that closely represents a long sustained 2,500 foot climb. Before I hit the city I take a sharp right onto California Highway 1 which I'll be on most of the route down the coast to San Diego. I notice a sign about a tree you can drive through and some grocery stores, so I think I'll swing over and see this tree and refill my bottles. No go on the tree as it was down a dirt road and a little out of the way, odds are their going to charge to drive through it anyways from the stories I have heard, so I back tracked to the pizza shop to grab some water. I talk with a few guys in there, all they had to stay was "Man is it hot out there!" Refueled and headed out.

Back on the road the climb I thought i had done was now standing right before me and what a climb it was! So much fun, I felt so strong and I pretty much stood the whole climb with a few rest, driving and driving as if I was racing, but with a sustained effort, nothing out of the ordinary! I was loving the terrain and loving the views, though mostly trees I was really enjoying the moments on this ride! I kept thinking, man what can I do on this climb without this trailer, could I climb it extremely fast or would I be average. Can't wait to see exactly see what its going to be like to climb without my companion BoB.

Once up the climb a beautiful decent and then another climb! I'm loving it and yes with my mastikistic mind I'm loving every minute of it! I keep climbing and decending until I roll out into an awesome ocean view, what a view!!! The odometers reading close to 90 miles and I'm sure to hit another 100 today as that's the goal over the next few days or riding, to just put int he miles and see where I end up!

Feeling great I roll into town (not sure of the name as I'm drawling a blank) but I'm hungry and I know there are State Park camp grounds on the other side so I stop and grab some groceries and some more post cards. Then I'm thinking I want to eat some healthy food then I make the mistake of hitting up this all you can eat buffet (Chinese) and I'm glad I did! The food was great and for the price I'm really sure I got my fair share! They had sushi, rice and unbreaded chicken, fuits and tons of vegetables. I figured what the heck today! I also took the time to plug in the phone to grab some electrons! After eating and writing a little I head to the Russin Gulch Campground where I planned on crashing for the night based on the destination I wanted to travel.

Rolling down to the Gulch I'm blessed with an amazing sunset! The sun has been shining like the Florida Sunshine for days now and I'm loving it! The word is that most of these bay towns are all fogged in most of the time! I'm one lucky cyclist I guess...

Rolling into the Gulch I take care of registration and head to this field the ranger told me about, down a steep incline I roll right into camp, set up and try and write however I'm tried and ready to go to bed! I fall asleep pretty quick which wasn't a good idea as I had to use the bathroom before going to bed! (well I should have) To sleep I fall, and with all this random food I dream like crazy tonight! Not bad crazy just a sleugh of random things, from playing baseball, to watching a movie, to watlking on the beach with a beautiful girl.

Falling asleep lately has been a breeze, however last night I couldn't sleep and actually woke up to write some more, I haven't had a day like that in a while, very strange too...