August 20, 2017
Day 48 Richardson Grove to Standish Hickey: Getting set to see the eclipse (well, the part we can!)
We were up at 6:30 and on our way by 7:30 trying to beat the traffic on 101 through this narrow winding bit. On the way we saw yet another potential tiny house – a log house. I mean, the whole house was built from one log! Hmm….
Thankfully, about a mile into the morning we were able to get off 101 and take Highway 217, a lovely quiet country road that paralleled 101 for several miles. We enjoyed the quietness and the ability to ride side by side for a while. Mornings like this are bliss. The air is cool, riding along a river, chatting about whatever we see – it is what we envisioned when we started this journey together. Too bad it couldn’t have lasted longer, but we will take what we can get!
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All too soon we were back on 101. The shoulders were not too bad now, which made it more comfortable for us. We had seen signs for Confusion Hill and knew it was coming up soon. It is supposedly a hill that has strange magnetic forces, but what confused us was feeling like we were peddling uphill in our lowest gears and yet it looked flat! Confusing indeed!
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A mile or so down the road, we were expecting to find a little café to have morning coffee, only to find it was closed – bummer! The road along here was back to winding and narrow shoulders, so we had to stay sharp. Finally, close to our destination for the day, we pulled over to have a quick fruit break and prepare for the big hill we needed to climb. I am not minding hills so much anymore, but what I really dislike is trying to ride up with traffic and no shoulder – now THAT is uncomfortable! Thankfully, the hill was short and drivers were thoughtful and we made it to the top with no issues.
It was still early in the day and we were at our destination. We have been breaking the days into shorter bits when we see there are substantial hills involved so that we don’t wear ourselves out and sometimes this results in a very short day like this one. Oh well, as we keep telling other riders – we’re built for comfort not speed! I think we should change the name of our journal to “Slow Riders”!
Getting in early meant we got to go and have coffee at the little deli across the street from the campsite. We grabbed a couple of bagels with our coffee and enjoyed our coffee in the sunshine. We are more inland now, so the temperatures have been rising – another reason for keeping the day short.
After checking in at the hiker/biker site, where there were only a couple of others in residence, we cleaned up and grabbed the computer and ipad, thinking that we would use the wifi up at the deli to get some work done – honestly, we really did! Only problem was 1) the wifi was really really weak, so we couldn’t work and 2) there was a live band playing and they had a sort of beer garden thing happening under a very cool parachute. Well, come on! Who’s going to try and work when all that’s going on? We did the only reasonable thing and bought some burgers and beer and whiled away the afternoon grooving to the tunes. They were not a bad group (I think they were called Jammie's by 9) and played music that we grew up with (probably because they were all our age or a little older). All in all, it was a great afternoon off and much appreciated.
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Back at our tent it was the usual cards and then bed. Tomorrow is the eclipse, so we are staying put so we can watch what we can of it and avoid drivers who may watch too much (or enjoy watching it too much)! After that it’s the dreaded Leggett Hill – we’ll see if we are up for it!
Today's ride: 24 km (15 miles)
Total: 1,716 km (1,066 miles)
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