Stage 3: Larkspur CA to Portland OR August 5th:
Today we started riding just before noon and started off with a 10 mile scenic forest road ride to the California coast. After eating some wild blackberries for lunch, we rode another 50sh miles by the water over rolling hills into a pretty strong headwind. At one point we talked to a biking company to try and hitchhike to no avail, so we biked the last 8 miles or so into Bodega Bay. Along the way Andrew rode into a ditch. But, once we made it to Bodega, we tried to get a room at the cheapest motel, which ran $95 a night. But, there was no vacancy, so instead the man behind the counter did an under the table deal for us for only $100. We got to stay at another property... which was a 3 bedroom vacation home with a hot tub and the works that usually ran $350 a night. We were pretty spent, so we made a pasta dinner, read, and hit the hay.














August 6th:

Today was a 53 mile day, and we left around 9:30, after fixing Andrew's flat tire (two busted tubes, I think). Today the headwinds were really rough and we encountered another horrible mountain that shot up for an entire mile. But, at one of the corners there was a really stunning lookout over the ocean, which was just covered by fog to the coast. We rode to Fort Ross and ate some food, and eventually made it to Gualala. We stayed at the Gualala Hotel for only $60 because they were renovating, and the hotel had just changed hands a few days before we arrived. Here, we feasted on yogurt and chips, and Andrew and myself had an intense game of chess that eventually ended in a draw. We figured out a cheap bus to take to Fort Bragg and came up with a ridiculous plan to get three bikes on the bus, because only two were allowed: we took the wheels off my bike and wrapped up my frame in two garbage bags and a sheet, and we wrote "To Tommy, From Steve." We rented Amistad, got some food for breakfast, watched the movie, and went to sleep.


August 7th:
We woke up at 6:30am today to catch the 7:45 bus, packed up my bike so it looked like a present, and got on the bus without any trouble. After 65 miles we got to Fort Bragg after going through hilly terrain, reassembled my bike, and went to the library. After searching for about an hour, ultimately, we discovered that the ride north was extraordinarily dangerous and that the cheapest way to get anywhere was to rent a car (which also checks off another mode of transportation we used for the trip). On the way out, I spotted a day camp and a librarian passing out cookies, and after introducing myself, I got some cookies. They were delicious. Immediately after leaving the library, we went to a tiny storethat rented cars for Hertz, and they had one lone Xterra left. We packed up the stuff into the car and started heading to Eugene. This was maybe one of the smartest things we've done the entire trip. The road from Fort Bragg through the Redwood forests were windy, mountainous, had NO shoulder for bikes, and was so foggy at certain points you couldn't see more than 10 feet ahead of the car. We stopped along the way and saw Paul Bunyan and Babe, and on the outskirts of Crescent City, our rental car died. More specifically, after getting out of the redwood forests when I stepped on the gas pedal, nothing happened. Second try: nothing. The car shut off immediately and we glided onto the shoulder. Apparently, the gas gauge did not work (we should have known something was going to go wrong). So, me and Andrew biked to get gas a mile down the road, and after about an hour we were back on our way. We drove into the night, and stopped at McDonald's a few times to get some coffee, finally arriving to Eugene at 11:30pm. After meeting Donna, our host, we headed out to find a Wendy's because I had been craving their #6 for about 200 miles. We got to Wendy's at 12:08. They closed at 12. I swore off all Wendy's in Eugene. Instead, we stopped at Safeway on the way back, and we got a pizza and wings and made them at around 1am and went to bed around 2am.

August 8th: We woke up at 8 and went to drop off the rental car at the airport at 9. We rode back from the airport about 10 miles (I had to ride barefoot), and while Mike and Andrew napped, I went for a run lasting far longer than I expected: two hours / 15 or 16 miles around Eugene. It was a nice run in Tracktown around their river paths all except for when i got mixed around and ran on a trail that led to railroad tracks, which again was fine, until a train came. We went to the library when I got back, went to the store, and made fajitas for dinner. We hung out with a friend of a friend, Boo, and we came back and went to bed.