{"id":1426,"date":"2019-10-27T14:44:44","date_gmt":"2019-10-27T18:44:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cathmandu.com\/catproject\/?p=1426"},"modified":"2019-10-27T14:44:44","modified_gmt":"2019-10-27T18:44:44","slug":"riding-with-the-giants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cathmandu.com\/catproject\/riding-with-the-giants\/","title":{"rendered":"Riding with the Giants"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here I am in California now, likely my last State before Mexico, unless I detour again…<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Finally in California!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The first part was pretty amazing.\u00a0 I had seen the Redwood forest before, but just like the ocean, it is hard to get tired of seeing these massive trees. So from Brookings, I went to Hiouchi to visit the Jedediah Smith Park and then back to the coast where I stayed in yet another church, thanks to a lovely woman named Katie, who has been welcoming cyclists for a long time.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Katie, a real angel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The church also welcomes homeless people once a week, to let them shower and have a meal. That was happening the next day, and I was thinking of staying an extra day to help out, but the nice weather made me feel like riding south, especially after so many days of stormy weather in Oregon.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
All made with horseshoes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Riding with the giants<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Jedediah Smith Park<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Peaceful road when there is no traffic<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Hard to see the colours on a picture, but it was amazing<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Another nice stretch of road<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Most of the next few days were spent in and out of the Redwood forest, and even if I tried to describe the feeling of riding with the giants, it probably wouldn\u2019t come close to what it is.\u00a0 Especially in the morning, when there is little traffic and the light is just amazing.\u00a0 Afternoon light is also pretty dramatic. With the fall colours it is like the forest is glowing. Or burning. Which is apparently the case not far from where I am now\u2026<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
A giant<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
They are so big that a picture can’t really show their size. So I took a few close-up pictures!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Morning light on lichen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Their bark is like artwork<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
More bark, more art<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Sometimes the bark looks like elephant skin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Ancient trees<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Isn’t that pretty?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
The heart of a giant<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

State campgrounds in California are nice, at $5 for hikers and bikers. It is also a good way to meet other cyclists, when we don\u2019t just run (or ride!) into each other on the road.\u00a0 It\u2019s funny how we hear about this guy or that guy and often we end up meeting a few days later.\u00a0 Or we bump into people we thought were long gone, but we all take breaks or take detours and somehow meet again.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Back on the coast!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Pretty beach<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Sunny and hot<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Arcata was a lovely town with the most amazing food coop.\u00a0 You can find just about anything in bulk bins there, make your own peanut butter with different types or nuts and flavoured peanuts, etc. They even had maple syrup dispenser.\u00a0 A cyclist\u2019s dream. I spent a lot of money there, making my food pannier very heavy.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
What to choose?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Olive oil, balsamic vinegar, molasses, you name it!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Arcata Plaza<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After meeting very friendly people in town, I spent a great evening with my Warmshowers hosts Jay and Ellie. They cooked amazing food and shared some really good info. The next morning I rode through Eureka, and was surprised by the lovely architecture.\u00a0 I had been told that Eureka wasn\u2019t very nice, but the old part certainly was.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
With Jay and Ellie<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Not sure what kind of trees those were but they also had beautiful bark<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Houses in Eureka<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Old Town<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Pretty architecture<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Art on the street<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
I liked this one too<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
I passed the 7,000 km mark without even realizing it. Getting pretty complacent…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From there, I passed a lot of small towns, some nicer than others. I really liked Ferndale, where I ended up meeting Nick again, who I stayed with in Coos Bay several days ago. He had been taking a few days off since his mother flew to visit him. He introduced me to Marcus, a guy who builds kayaks and travels to the Aleutians to teach the locals. I was tempted to stay in Ferndale for the night, to see more of the town and chat more with Marcus, but finally I kept going to reach the Avenue of the Giants.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Lovely Ferndale<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Downtown!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
One of Marcus’ kayaks<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Marcus’ shop<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Maybe this is too much information, but that toilet seat just made me laughed. Had to share.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What an amazing road, with little traffic, and fabulous trees. I met two more cyclists on the road, including Robert who told me about the incredible flood that happened on the Eel River in 1964. Impressive.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The Eel River<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I eventually reached another State Park for the night. This is where I ran into Lina and Lise, two Quebecers that I had met in a gift shop in Florence over a week ago.\u00a0 They are travelling in a Road Trek van, and as soon as I said hi, they invited me to join them for supper.\u00a0 We spent the evening talking \u201cQuebecois\u201d by a lovely campfire. It was a really enjoyable night.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Laf looking very small next to a Giant<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At the next State Park, I met Wil, a 64 year old cyclist from New Orleans.\u00a0 We had a long chat and I was amazed by how he could express so nicely what it is to be a tour cyclist.\u00a0 I loved the expression \u201cenjoyment effervescence\u201d that he used to describe both how we feel about bike touring and how non-cyclists we meet feel about our journeys. He also mentioned how difficult it is to remember everything, and the need to stop once in a while to process it.\u00a0 I feel exactly that way, like my memory is getting overloaded. Often I can\u2019t remember where I rode the day before, how the hills were, what I saw, who I met\u2026<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
With Will<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

However, I do remember that last night I fell asleep in my hammock, watching the stars I could see between the trees, listening to music. A blissful moment, except that my stomach was so full from overeating again that I could not stay in \u201chammock position\u201d and eventually had to retreat to my tent. It\u2019s crazy how much I eat, but my stomach just can\u2019t process all the food I need to eat, so I often feel nauseated at night. And somehow I wake up hungry again in the morning!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Tourist shops really try hard to attract people!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Now I am staying with another cyclist in a Warmshowers house. I won\u2019t overeat tonight, Michael\u2019s dog ate most of the food I had left\u2026\u00a0 Oh well, I should have known that a dog on a bike trip would not resist digging into my panniers.<\/p>\n

The last 3 days were really big days. California is beautiful but it comes at a price! Sometimes I feel strong, other times I even wonder if I have a flat tire because I don\u2019t seem to move. My knees were doing surprisingly good, but at the end of the day today, they let me know that it\u2019s time for an easier day! Well, the forest fire situation in California might also dictate a few days off.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Pretty vegetation along the road<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
More Californian beaches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Rocks and waves<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Coastal scenery<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And the final words…<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here I am in California now, likely my last State before Mexico, unless I detour again… The first part was pretty amazing.\u00a0 I had seen the Redwood forest before, but just like the ocean, it is hard to get tired of seeing these massive trees. So from Brookings, I went to Hiouchi to visit the Jedediah Smith Park and then back to the coast where I stayed in yet another church, thanks to a lovely woman named Katie, who has…<\/p>\n

Read More Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1371,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,18,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-california","category-north-america","category-united-states"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cathmandu.com\/catproject\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cathmandu.com\/catproject\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cathmandu.com\/catproject\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cathmandu.com\/catproject\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cathmandu.com\/catproject\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1426"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/cathmandu.com\/catproject\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1426\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1438,"href":"https:\/\/cathmandu.com\/catproject\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1426\/revisions\/1438"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cathmandu.com\/catproject\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cathmandu.com\/catproject\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cathmandu.com\/catproject\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cathmandu.com\/catproject\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}