April 22, 2012
Fort Bragg to Leggett
It is often said that the early bird catches the worm. I took it upon myself to wake up those birds this morning, and set my alarm for 0530, and was up, packed away, breakfasted and on the road within an hour. Being a Sunday, I was slightly concerned about the amount of afternoon traffic there might be, so wanted to get the riding done early.
The first 20 miles or so were as I had been riding the last few days, close to the coast with great views and constant ups and downs. The real fun started as the road turned inland from the coast, and started to climb through the redwoods. The first hill, the 690 foot Rockport Hill was good climbing, and excellent descending, with traffic free fast sweeping and often tight bends which left me giggling with joy. The second hill, Leggett Hill, just short of 2,000 feet, again from almost sea level, was similar to climb - just select the right gear, get in the groove, and enjoy. This hill is said to be the highest along the pacific coast route, but had a kind gradient and certainly wasn't the steepest of the trip so far. There were many grey squirrels to be seen on the way up, and I startled a deer probably as much as he startled me on a stretch of downhill.
After helping another Tim just below the disappointing summit with no views, whose front tyre was way too flat, it was a quick and short descent to Leggett, crossing over the S. Fork Eel River which looked very inviting. Coming out of the shelter of the trees and being away from the coast, the temperature was much higher than i'd experienced so far, so I called it a day at the Standish-Hickey State Recreation Area Campground, got set up in the hiker / biker area, went for a swim in the river and did some washing. The campground is quite close to the Route 101, so there is a fair amount of traffic noise, but other than that it is a great spot to spend the night.
Today's ride: 44 miles (71 km)
Total: 539 miles (867 km)
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