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Day 31 – Wednesday,
July 18, 2001 Fort Bragg, CA – Bodega
Bay, CA 113.26 Miles This is Jake, once
again. There is nothing like riding 100 miles in a day. In bike talk it’s called “doing a century.” When your bike is loaded with 40 to 50 pounds
of gear, a century requires you to start early, end late, and stop
as little as possible during the day.
It also requires large amounts of food.
The food part was ever so generously covered by Brandon’s
mom, Leanne. She owns a store in Fort Bragg and before we
left that mourning she had us loaded with sandwiches, drinks, and
everything else our little hearts desired.
(By the way if you are ever in or near Fort Bragg, Leann’s
store is called Hoppers, it sits on the far south end of
town, and you will not find a better tasting sandwich west of the
Mississippi River) You can
tell from our stats that an early start was not in the cards, but
our excuse is that we were watching the Tour on TV. Once again Lance killed in the mountain stages
and team EBTrek was thoroughly inspired. The ride to Bodega
Bay is along some of the most dramatic and inspirational coastline
we have yet seen. Highway
One winds and twists directly parallel to the shoreline, with ascents
and descents that can only be described as frequent and steep.
One cool thing about both the California and the Oregon coasts
are the small ocean side communities through which one is constantly
passing. Westport, Manzanita, Elk, and Oceanview just
to name a few. They always
have one little mom and pop gas station, a bed and breakfast, a
post office, and maybe a grocery store.
They always sit on a beautiful beach or nestled on a high
rocky cliff. These towns not only make our journey possible (via the snacks and
Gatorade one can buy there) but they always add an interesting twist
to our often LONG riding days. There was one part
of the ride definitely worth mentioning.
At about mile 80 we hit an incredible climb up over a couple
of mountains and then dropped down into the town of Jenner before
we finished off our last ten miles. The road for this twenty-mile stretch literally
hugs the side of the mountain.
There were points where it was a direct 400 to 500 foot drop
down into the ocean, and there we rode right on the shoulder, mere
inches from what would have been a spectacular demise.
Of course with five guys the talk turned to “if you had a
Porsche and drove off this section of the road you could probably
make it to the ocean.” “No
way, it would hit the embankment and get stuck on those rocks.” “I give you my “personal guarantee” that you
could hit the water from here.”
And on went the talk about what would happen if you drove
a $100,000 dollar car off a cliff.
The day ended in Bodega Bay at about 9 pm. We had to shell out the cash for a hotel room, because Bodega Bay lacks your average Motel 6. We ate at the grocery store, hit the spa, and then hit the sack after 113 miles.
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| day 32 | ||||
