A late post due to lack of wifi at the motel in Jenner
The day began at Denny’s –
breakfast at 7:00 am. Maps on the table,
plates of waffles, bacon and eggs, coffee, juice. And no where
to stay at the end of the day.
So, here’s the plan. Kathi, you
are sweep and support for the riders and Patty, you drive forward down the
coast. At about 60 miles or so, start
looking for a place to stay that’s clean and resaonable.
After a quick stop for gas
and Starbuck’s, we head south to the starting point about 18 miles south of
Fort Brag. Cyclists on the road, Kathi
hanging back and I’m heading south.
Again, what a beautiful drive today.
Clear and sunny. We were hoping
to find something around the town of Jenner.
Added the town to the GPS in my car and she (Toots) said it was about 60
miles. At about 2.5 miles before the
intended destination, I found a great little motel, Ocean Cove Lodge – Bar
& Grill. The views amazing, hot tub
and reasonable rates (read cheap!)
Booked rooms and headed back to share the good news that we weren’t
going to have to sleep in the car afterall.
Notes from Tom:
The day we left
Garberville, we had a major climb early in the ride, and descent was fun. Today we got paid back because the major
climb was at the end of the ride—actually the last 8-10 miles. The climb was really OK, and the views were
spectacular, but the road was hung on side of a cliff about 600 feet above the
Pacific, with virtually no shoulder and NO guardrails. The road surface wasn’t great so we couldn’t
really even enjoy the downhill like we did the day before.
So stats for the day. 82 miles, 5 hours 52 minutes, 5400 feet of
climbing, and an average speed of 14.0.
Full Disclosure:
So - driving from the motel down to Jenner to pick up Jerry & Tom, I developed white knuckle syndrome. Whew - I breathed, tried not to look at the non-rail shoulder on my right that provided about 13 inches of shoulder then plunged down at least a billion feet to the ocean - Argh. Corners, curves, steep up, steep down and at times, the road appeared to go straight off the cliff. I made Tom drive back down to Jenner on Friday morning.
Sincerely,
White knuckle Patty
Notes from Jerry:
Patty's white knuckle event was even worse for us. Caltrans is rather cavalier about their use of guardrails. I finally figured out that they don't use a guardrail if you can fall 500 ft and land on dirt, but if you fall 500 ft and land in the ocean a guardrail is warranted. It is bad enough to be cycling on the last 1 ft of road before weeds start and then a cliff, but when you are looking down at the road and in your line of sight is a direct view straight to the ocean on your right, that is a little disconcerting. Worse yet when Patty was due to pick us up and somehow I had gotten through the flagman ahead of Tom and was way out in front, I couldn't find a place to pull off and wait for Tom. I had to keep going up and up, then down and down. No wonder we did 82 miles!
Notes from Jerry:
Patty's white knuckle event was even worse for us. Caltrans is rather cavalier about their use of guardrails. I finally figured out that they don't use a guardrail if you can fall 500 ft and land on dirt, but if you fall 500 ft and land in the ocean a guardrail is warranted. It is bad enough to be cycling on the last 1 ft of road before weeds start and then a cliff, but when you are looking down at the road and in your line of sight is a direct view straight to the ocean on your right, that is a little disconcerting. Worse yet when Patty was due to pick us up and somehow I had gotten through the flagman ahead of Tom and was way out in front, I couldn't find a place to pull off and wait for Tom. I had to keep going up and up, then down and down. No wonder we did 82 miles!
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