We took the straight route up 101 and then cut over on 116 through Guerneville, Monte Rio, Duncan's Mills, and to the coast at Jenner. My legs starting getting tired as we hit all of the rollers and curves on Highway 1. We were headed to Fort Ross for a picnic lunch. A few miles south of Fort Ross, Highway 1 was closed and we were routed UP A LONG HILL towards Sea View (remember at RRR, when we took that STEEP road from Highway 1 up to a ridge, and then followed the ridge, with a few rollers, then an AWESOME descent to connect back to Highway 1???...well that's the road we were detoured up). After reaching the top of the hill and going along the ridge for a mile or two, we turned left and went DOWN the infamous Fort Ross Road (of Terrible Two fame). Going down this hill makes me wonder why I ever went UP this hill. Needless to say, we were the ONLY folks on this road today! It dropped us right at Fort Ross and we enjoyed a totally solo picnic and tour there....NO ONE was there!!! From there, we headed north and reached Mendocino about 3:30pm. Summary for the day: headwinds the entire day, no flats or equipment problems, I pulled the ENTIRE way to Mendocino, only had a few cramps in my left leg (hmmmm......).
Stats for the day: 200 miles Elapsed Time: 6:15 Average speed: 48.5 (yeehaw!) Day one Dust!OK, OK, so I was in a car and not a bike. But hey...it was fun to dream! I was thinking about everyone at GWBR all weekend...gee, what stretch of 25 are they on now? What goodies are they buying at the Expo? Bet that wine and cheese tastes good! Are they eating breakfast at Cambria yet? Are they chowing down on sticky buns in Morro Bay now? Did they do Santa Rosa Creek Rd?
But back to the CAR trip: The stretch of road just south of Fort Ross is closed (and has been closed ALL winter). According to the locals, it's considered 'low priority' so it might not be fixed for quite some time. Keep that in mind for Russian River Rally! The only option once you're at Fort Ross is one of the mega-steep climbs up from the coast!
On our way from Mendocino to Eureka we took several detours. We took Highway 1 to Fort Bragg and beyond and eventually hooked up with 101. Quite the climbing on that stretch of road. Saw a couple of solo cyclists laden down with full self-supported gear. From that point on, I made it a point to honk at everyone I saw...figured they would need the encouragement (I know I would on that stretch of road!). From 101, we hopped on Avenue of the Giants and stayed on that until Myers Flat. Just out of Myers Flat, we got on Matolle Rd. Is this the road from Tour of the Unknown Coast, Brian??? This road was RUGGED!!!!! Big climbs, many switchbacks, many many miles! This would be a 28-tooth ride for me...in either direction! After you go through Honey Dew and Petrolia, you eventually find your way to the coast. This provides you with a short flat section before you climb back up and over the range and then down into Eureka. Matolle Road is absolutely the most beautiful stretch of road I've ever been on. It goes on for miles and miles and miles...and the beauty never ends. Bring your low gears though! (Mom wrote down the mileage statistics for me so if anyone is interested...)
Eureka was pretty boring. We got in late on Saturday and were totally wiped out from the drive (Matolle Road tired us out even though we were in a car!). Woke up to rain Sunday morning so didn't get to really 'tour' Eureka (like go out onto one of the islands). That was fine by me 'cause I was anxious to get to Mt. Shasta!!! It rained on us the entire drive from Eureka to Mt. Shasta. We took Route 299 over the Redding and then headed north on I-5 to Shasta. Again, 299 was a spectacular drive...even with all the rain (it rained the ENTIRE day on Sunday!). We arrived in Shasta around 4pm and everything was socked in. We stopped in an art gallery and found a nice book with photos of Shasta. 'Hey Mom, come check out what it SUPPOSEDLY looming above us!' We drove up Everett Memorial Highway, as the rain continued, in hopes of catching a glimpse of Shasta. We passed a cyclist heading up the road!!!!! We made it all the way to Bunny Flat (where the plowing ends) and it was snowing there! Got out to take a couple of quick photos up against the massive snow banks. Yes, there appeared to still be 10 feet of snow on the road up ahead. We headed back down the mountain and passed that poor cyclist again. A quater mile later I pulled over at what appeared to be a rest stop. Sure enough...they held the Shasta Summit Century that day! The guys said that 4 brave souls had made it that far thus far (they would have been at around the 90-mile mark). Wow! We pulled back onto the road and once again passed the lonely cyclist. I asked him he wanted a lift but he said no. At that point, he had suffered through the worst of it and was probably determined to finish it under his own power. Incredible!! That night, we were planning to eat at Lalo's (found it!). However, at a 2nd local art gallery, I asked rhetorically if Lalo's was the best Mexican restaurant in town. The gal said 'Go to Casa Ramos 'cause it's way better than Lalo's' So off we went to give it a try. It had just opened 3 weeks ago, and it was a hopping place. Packed with people but we only had a 10 minute wait at 7:45pm. The service was pretty good (a little slow but they're probably still getting things ironed out) and the prices were very reasonable. Can't really say much about the food 'cause we were very BORING eaters that night and each of us had just taco salads. I WILL say, though, that the chips and salsa were great! Warm chips!
I went to sleep Sunday night with the full expectation of continued rain throughout the night. The locals had said that it was supposed to keep raining so I disregarded Karl's info about a possible clearing. We both figured that the locals knew what they were talking about...NOT! We awoke to bright sunny skies, with some rather large clouds looming everywhere. BUT we could still get good views of Shasta from time to time. I went running at 7am and it was COLD. Probably in the low 30s and I was only prepared with a pair of shorts and 3 layers of t-shirts! I froze! (Not to mention my wheezing from the altitude) As I ran, though, my eyes stayed peeled on Shasta. It was somewhat silhouetted against the early morning eastern sky. Clouds were hovering along its east side and also in the far western skies. After a quick breakfast (I hurried Mom & Dad along as quickly as I could...HURRY, the clouds are going to thicken!), we headed up EMH. This time we had beautiful views of Mt. Shasta City, the western mountains, Black Butte, and Shasta (from time to time). We reached Bunny Flat before there were too many other people up there. This time we were able to walk around in the hard packed snow, take photos, watch a lonely hiker mid-way up the mountain (I knew those binoculars would come in handy!), chat with a couple of ranger guys heading out on snowshoes to check the mountain (for lost hikers??), etc. After a little while, the snowmobilers arrived. Where are my earplugs?!? By the time we left the mountain, there must have been 6-8 snowmobilers heading out, disturbing the serenity of the mountain. Oh well, at least we enjoyed it in peace for little while.
Down off the mountain and it was a straight shot onto I-5 and back to civilization!
My only thoughts as we sped down I-5:
Now I want to climb this mountain!
...and hike in Castle Crags
...and ride my bike up Everett Memorial Highway
...and fish in Shasta Lake
...and...and...and...