Cycling from Crescent City to San Francisco, CA

My 5th cycle tour, 2nd alone.  In the end, it turned out to be ~500 miles over 8 days on the bike, ~62m/day.  Flying into Crescent City and cycling down the coast to San Francisco--via the redwood forests and the undulating coast.  

Out of interest to those who have not toured by bike, when I checked my bike and bags on the plane, they weighed 40 and 35 pounds respectively.  So when you ad water and food, the load weighs in about ~85 pounds.
I used a map from the Adventure Cycling Association, which was very helpful.

From SF to Crescent City, fog threatened to reroute the plane,

but after arriving in the 1 airplane airport of Crescent City, it turned out my bike was left behind in SF and I had to wait 24 hours to get it, losing the rest day I had built in for my trip.

And then when it did arrive, it was a bit banged up.  After assembling it, the front brakes were irreparably rubbing and even a trip to the bike shop could not fix it... So when I was finally able to set off south after waiting all day, it was with a bit more resistance than I bargained for...and first on the menu were these two good sized climbs,

As challenging as that was, it didn't take long to land deep into the redwoods of Del Norte county.  A short clip downhill through the words (turn off your volume, it's just the sound of wind)

A night in Prairie Creek Redwood State Park

and I was off for my first full day of riding, 75 miles to Ferndale, my entry to the lost coast. Along the way, it was a scenic cliff-side stretch through Trinidad,

Along this quiet bike path stretch near Arcata, a couple girls were hard at work for the summer selling your choice of lemonade with or without sugar...by donation. Truly NorCal.

Evident in Eureka was the continued presence of the logging industry in the redwood forests,

Logging trucks were a consistent, unwelcome presence during my mountain climbs and descents--noisy and dangerously large. Starting the next day on the outskirts of the Lost Coast in quaint Ferndale

I found my way to the start of Mattole road, the first punishingly steep ~2000ft, ~5 mile climb over the mountains into the Lost Coast.  (For reference, Summit ave is ~175 feet elevation gain over ~1/3 mile) 

At 90+ degrees in full sun, I was quickly reduced to just my shoes, socks, bike shorts and nothing more.  After about 1:20 of climbing, reaching the top is, for me, some of the best of what cycle touring is about: a long hard push up quiet, remote, car-less countryside roads in beautiful summer weather.   The view from the top speaks little of how wonderful it is to cycle through it.
And, of course, while one way up the mountain is pain, coasting down the other is pleasure.  Although, after riding your breaks for about 20-30mins, your hands get tired and sore.

Finally, arriving at the Lost Coast itself, a long stretch of beach with just about no one else around.

At my campground that night 

I met a younger fellow from Oregon who had been cycling the west coast for about 2 months and was intent upon going the rest of the summer (another 2 months).  Just traveling around by bike.  Very impressive. The ride out of the Lost Coast was beautiful.  Including the largest mountain pass of the trip, climbing about 2500' over 6.5 miles.  I could have ridden this area all week.

looking up the hill

passing dear

atop my largest climb, 2,500'

The gas prices reflect how remote/small this town was ($4.99/gallon). But I sure wasn't paying it!

After descending one of the longest (30mins) and fastest (20-35mph) descent I've ever done, I landed right in the the "Big Trees Area" of the Humboldt County Redwoods.  For a little while alone amongst:

High from the work of the ascent, the exhilarating descent, and popping out amidst these trees, I stopped for food (and a jolly beer) and then carried on along the great "Avenue of the Giants".  70 miles on the day...when I was only expecting 50.

After a loong descent from Leggett, about 1/2 an hour of winding roads at 25mph amidst logging trucks, I again popped out at the coast:

The beginning of the windy cliff-side coastal roads

with a small stretch of bike trail. ahh, no cars :)

I spent the night at Russian Gulch state park.  A nice spot just south of Fort Bragg.

  

 When you travel you meet folks along the way, yes even by bike.

In fact, I met about 4-5 cycling from the Canadian to the Mexican border.  And while it's usually just a campsite conversation or a brief encounter along the side of the road, sometimes you spend a day or two cycling together. 

After meeting up with my brother, Nick, about 120 miles north of SF, 

another woman cycling the entire pacific coast who I had bumped into a few times the previous couple days joined us.

Passing through Jenner, a small couple stores along the road in Sanoma county, we found a lovely little sandwich shop with live jazz on Sunday.

Note: avoid cycling along the coast in Sanoma county on a Sunday in the summer....So many cars, trailers, campers, RV's...I got pushed off the road by one approaching a hairpin turn...ugh...no fun. The next day the road opened up.  And so did the sky and the heat.
A slight "map-malfunction" brought us inland where the temperature crested 100 degrees with full sun...oh boy! ;)

In the end, it was a great trip.  For all you younger, fitter types--go for it!  The freedom of the bike on the open roads, it's great adventure!