Today’s ride was dominated by the climb over the mountains on California Highway 1, which starts at Leggett. Riding up US 101 I was starting to worry about traffic. US 101 was busy, had lots of truck traffic, and often had inadequate shoulders. I knew from the map that the climb past Leggett was really curvy, and it seemed likely it was going to be a really stressful ride.
But before the start of that climb, I made a small detour to the famous Chandelier Tree that you can drive through. I can’t get to them now, but my Susan’s parents have a picture of them driving through this tree on their honeymoon, and Susan and I have a picture of us driving through this tree on our honeymoon, so I decided I had to stop.
I didn’t want another sad picture of my riderless bicycle in the hole, so I asked some tourists if I could take their picture, and in return they could take mine. Overcoming a minor language barrier (they are Chinese) we figured it out. Peter Jia and Fan Wei are on their way to Seattle, and we both have our pictures!
Now, on to the climb on Highway 1, I needn’t have worried, because there was very little traffic in my direction. I started counting cars, to pass the time on the long climb, but eventually forgot my count (this always happens!). I think fewer than 20 passed me on the climb, and only one was a big truck.
I saw several big dump trucks heading in the opposite direction and eventually learned why: they had dropped off their loads of giant rocks at a couple landslide recovery areas, including one I passed north of Westport, and another one I will pass tomorrow.
One of these trucks bearing huge boulders passed me near the summit, but we were going the same speed downhill, so I just followed him. I was really happy he was there, because I didn’t have to worry about impatient sports car drivers, since they can bully me off the road, but they’re not going to mess with a dump truck carrying boulders! I was hoping I would see the driver pull off somewhere so I could tell him how much I appreciated following him, but he lost me when the road flattened out.
There was one more big climb, with no shoulders, but it was uneventful. Soon I rolled around a corner and there was the ocean! I was really happy to be back on the coast, even though it is chilly, foggy – and now it is raining.
I am staying in Westport, and went to the little grocery for lunch. They have a really cute 4-month-old puppy, a Shih Tzu and Border Collie mix, named Sawyer, and I pet him for a few minutes while we talked about the challenges of living in a tourist town.
I also met a crazy chihuahua who is aptly named after the TV character Dexter, and a really sweet 115 pound Pyrenees named Tank and his little sister Shasta. I didn’t have a chance to get pictures of Tank and Shasta, but trust me when I tell you they left lots of white dog hair on me. 😍
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