Erich’s Journal -- Leg 05 – California – Klammath,
California, USA, to Yuma, Arizona, USA – August 12 to September 8, 2001 – 28
Days.
Today we entered
Along the way, we passed by a spot that had a cliff overlooking a river with a deep part. Brian had thoughts of jumping off this cliff that was probably 40 to 50 feet above the water. After a half-hour or so of building up the courage, he jumped. (See photos 0419, 0420, 0421 and 0422).
There are some interesting things about Redwoods. They are the tallest trees in the world, reaching up to 367 feet. They live up to 2000 years. Their bark can get up to 12 inches thick; their base up to 22 feet in diameter. The hardest part to believe is that 96% of them have been harvested. The next few days should bring us in to the heart of the remaining trees. (See pics 0423, 0424, 0425, 0426, 0427, 0428 and 0429)
Today was the most “Urban” day of riding that we’ve come across. Also it was one where we’ve been pushing to get through. The 101 highway has become like an interstate making the ride much less enjoyable. In fact I’d have to say it is nerve racking.
The morning didn’t start out that way because we had
detoured off on the “
Yesterday we left Jeremiah in Arcata. He had been biking with us since
We had stayed in a RV park that was nice because it had a hot tub. We took advantage of it.
Today, Rob joined us after a huge breakfast at Dennys. Now normally you might ask… “What’s with this obsession with food?” Well when cycling, one can never take in enough calories. When you combine that with the cost of eating out, it is not an easy task. Well we each ordered 2 - $2.99 Grand Slam Breakfasts (consisting of 4 pancakes, 4 eggs, 4 sausages, 4 strips of bacon, and 4 pieces of toast per person). Best deal of the trip. When the waitress brought the food (on at least 9 plates), we could do nothing but laugh.
After about 15 miles along the 101, we rode on a parallel route called Avenue of the Giants. It was quieter, less traffic and smaller towns to go through. And again, we were riding through some huge redwoods. (See photos 0439, 0440, 0441, 0442, 0443, 0444, 0445, 0446, 0447, 0448, 0449, 0450, 0451 and 0452)
Now for the first time, we are camping in the Redwood, away from the coast, without rain or fog. We have a clear sky. It feels kid of good being in a relatively dry climate.
I realize today that we are soon ready for a break. The bike needs some work but we are trying to
work things out with some days off with my family down south in
Marc also plans to cycle up to
meet with us from
It was scenic day again today. We traveled along the South fork of the
We stopped for a while is
After buying some groceries, we cycled to
It has been a beautiful ride. (See photos 0467, 0468, 0469, 0470 and 0474)
We feel as though we have a fan club. Word seems to be getting out about our
trip. After a great coastal ride with
the first tail wind we’ve seen in over a week, we rode into
Tomorrow we cycle through
Rob and Jeremiah have been cycling with us for a few days now. Rob since Fortuna, Jeremiah since Humbug. It is great to have these two riding companions to give variety to our cycling days. Meeting new people enriches ones life in more ways that you can imagine.
Today we entered
We rode though approximately 20 miles of city before we hit
the bridge—through communities such as
Riding across the bride was not a unique experience. There were hundreds of cyclists (and pedestrians) on the Bridge. We were on the Ocean side of the bridge. On certain days of the week we would have been on the bay side. Most of the other cyclists were tourists who had rented bikes for the day. (See pics 0479, 0480, 0481, 0482, 0483, 0484, 0485, 0486, 0487, 0488, 0489 and 0490)
After we cycled across which took a while due to our frequent
photo opportunities, we cycled through parts of
Tomorrow we head for
A break is definitely needed. Tempers are short, the miles seem long, and thee terrain seem dull and boring today. The first half of today, we traveled against a strong headwind into a rural, yet highly congested area. A huge power plant could be seen from miles away. Pollution combined with storm clouds dominated the skyline. Litter along the highways was strung along for miles. There was plenty farmland with migrant workers. The traffic was thick. (see photos 0497 and 0498)
We became lost as we traveled though
The only god part of today was after we passed
The hiker/biker campsites in
We finally got word from Dell about our laptop. Basically the word is “Adios” Perhaps I should elaborate. In Pemberton, B.C. nearly 4 weeks ago, a liter bottle of open coke was knocked over the keyboard f the laptop by the moving handlebars of a bike that shifted. It was unnoticed for about 30 seconds. We wiped off it the best we could. Long story short. It did not turn on. According to my friend Dave in Aniak: It had been “Kuballized!” We shipped it to Dell to get it fixed. They wanted roughly $1700 for the job – A bit steep but acceptable considering our need. But at the same time, we sought out some sponsorship. The repair center at Dell assured us verbally that they would sit still with computer until they heard the outcome of the sponsorship request. Then we were to give them our decision in whether we were going to get it fixed.
Well not only did they not wish to sponsor us, they shipped the broken computer back to us at our expense. They would not fix it, even though we were willing to pay for it. What a pain to deal with when we are on the road. And now we sit for 4 weeks still without a computer. All I can say is “Kids—don’t try this at home! Leave the pop in the kitchen”
Brian now has been experiencing problems with his bearings
on his trailer wheel as I was about 1 month ago. Rob, who knows some things about bearings,
took it apart on the side of the highway.
Using grease from our bicycle chains, we managed to put it back together
again. I think wit well last until we
get to a bike shop or the B.O.B. trailer factory in
We had a positive today – one that really made us feel good about the trip and what we were doing. Today we visited the BOB factory. (See photos 0505 and 0506) This is the place where our trailers were made. There we met one of the owners – Roger, who had us bring our trailers in to be fixed up. Brian had been keeping in contact with him via email for some sponsorship since before the trip. Roger tore apart our bearings and replaced them. He also replaced the pins that hold the BOB trailer to the frame. He also gave us some spare bearings & tubes to carry with us for the remainder of the journey. The last treat were some free t-shirts with their company logo. Check them out at www.bobgear.com
Finally after dealing with dell & REI, we finally got to
work with a company who seemed genuinely concerned with their product and a
company who was genuinely concerned with our trip. One of the things I didn’t mention before was
that were testing a prototype waterproof bag for them. One of the reasons we went through
Our day took us along the coast some in the morning we had
nice breakfast in Cabria. After 20 miles
we cycled in to
He had apparently been dealing drugs, as there was some sort
of financial transaction taking place between him and another young man in a
car. Some cash and a sleeping bag were
exchanged. Rob, who I’ve found to be
quite direct at times, go in to a discussion with him later. We discovered that the three transients
basically live at the State Park. For
food they raid people’s coolers at night.
Needless to say, that night we slept with our food and gear in our
tents. Our bikes were also secure. A bizarre night we had at
We had a leisurely ride today along highway 1 though the interior as we passed though farm country with many migrant workers. It was a very warm day with two 1000-foot climbs.
One of the towns we passed though was Guadalupe. The town, although run down, was a town that
looked like it probably did 50 years ago.
It did not fit the expensive southern
An interesting thing we discovered about this sleepy little diner was that President George Bush had stopped there to eat during his campaigning last year.
Later that day we met Marc at
Unfortunately it was not a nice campground due to the winds that constantly rip through the valley it was located in. It may have been worse than usual as well, as the gusts were up to 50 mph and the sand on the beach would blow.
I called her and suggested she get a motel. We stayed for the night, since it had already been starting to get dark.
It was a miserable night as it was impossible to keep the sand and grit out of the tent. My poles were bent in the morning. Brian and Marc chose to sleep up against the restroom walls to keep out of thee wind. (See photos 0508, 0509, 0510, 0511 and 0512)
The next morning the winds had calmed a little but were still unpleasant. My sister and her family met us. We loaded our trailers and gear up in her vehicle so that we could travel light for a few days.
As we were getting ready to leave, a campground host named “Jim” approached and proceeded to yell at us. Apparently we had not camped in the hiker / biker site. My sister, who had been there temporarily to load our gear, had been parked illegally. Jim definitely let us know that we were not supposed to be where we were and threatened us with fines, definitely giving us the perceptions that we were not good enough to be in the regular campgrounds. All I can say is we went where we were directed the night before. We had not been treated this rudely in our 70 days on the road.
This was definitely our worst camping experience.
The past few days have been light and fast as we biked through some of the most populated areas of the West Coast. Thanks to my sister’s vehicle, Rob, Brian and I traveled light.
After we left Goviata, Marc, Rob, Brian and I proceeded to
For Lunch we met at Sambos, a restaurant along the coast in the main part of town. Our group was rather large – quite the fun. (See photos 0513 and 0514)
Later we biked down to
That night we camped just north of
The next morning, Brian and I set across to tackle the long
voyage across
We biked 94 miles on Friday and 105 miles on Saturday. Fairy, her husband Dan, Jeremy and Jessica, met us a few miles away from our destination. Jeremy rode the last few miles with us on his bike. (See photos 0524, 0525 and 0526)
We were welcomed with banners, balloons and a cake at my
sister’s home. Brian’s parents also
joined us later that evening. They were
flying in from
Today was our first day back on the road after taking 10 days off. It was a little hard to get going. The knees especially hurt.
We traveled the coast through the town of
Our bikes seem like new since most everything was replaced. The handlebars, peddles, derailleur, frame, and one tire are pretty much the same. All else is new. But like most new bikes, we need to work out the bugs. I am already noticing my chain needs adjusting.
Brian’s Aunt Peri and her husband Dale welcomed us. They have two daughters, Tyler and
Tomorrow we will do one of our first presentations. We are to speak at the local elementary
schools here in Bonita (suburb of
Our presentation went well.
We spoke at the
The ride today took us along a local road (
We quit a little early today primarily because we wanted some down time and really didn’t get any yesterday. Also we want to get up at the crack of dawn tomorrow to beat the heat.
Tomorrow we climb another 1500 feet or so before dropping to well below sea level.
Another change in our routine has occurred. We have definitely left the cool and misty
coastline of
Our first event was to cross over a mountain range that
separated the coast from the desert. We
woke up in Potrero very cold. In fact it
was colder than all of our mornings since
We left at
The last 30 miles that day to
An old Hispanic man served us some cokes and water. Shortly after, his waitress came on shift and he left. She was very pleasant to talk to and very helpful. She did not charge us for the water as the old man was going to. In fact, she filled our camelbacks and water bottle with ice. Let me tell you. It was the best gift we could have had. We had been feeling the signs of heat exhaustion. It felt like a dream – walking into a dusty cantina out in the Mexican desert.
We made it about 7 miles more to
This morning we tried the same strategy. We were on the road by
We traveled just a few miles above the Mexican border and we watched many border patrol agents work. Some were parked and watched. Others were pulling people over. Some were raking the sand so they could be checked later for footprints. Times have changed since I’ve lived on the border. (See photos 0565, 0566, 0567, 0568 and 0569)
We spent the afternoon in a Mexican food restaurant, then in the library checking the Internet. We met a teacher out front that was very interested in what we were doing. He was so much so interested that he called the local television station (channel 11) and they came down and interviewed us while we were at the library. (See photos 0570, 0571 and 0572)
That afternoon we bike a few miles east of
I would like to say that we have experienced so many positive people today. More people have said so many positive things to us and helped us out more than any other day that I remember. I guess it is that desert hospitality.