Long Days, Fun Nights and Tough Mornings!

Leaving Missoula we knew our route back to the ocean but for the first few nights we had no plans on where to stay.  We were just going to rock up in to towns and ask the locals and hoped that they would know some good places to camp.  This was a bit scary because we were definitely in bear country so we'd have to make sure we followed all the rules for camping in the backcountry with bears.  Don't eat where you sleep and hang the food and other smelly stuff up a tree.  We had the know how so we were hoping to try out our skills along the way.  The first stop was a book shop in Alberton to get me a new book. Greg at the Adventure Cycling Association had told us about the shop, it was on the way so thought we should check it out. We found the Montana Valley Book Store so I headed inside to check out the books.  The woman in the store pointed me to the right section and I dove into the massive selection; meanwhile the shop owner went outside to talk to Sophie.  Keren, the shop owner, had cycled around the UK and Europe and had visited the Netherlands where her father had been shot down during the war and captured by the Germans.  She then met the man that was part of the Resistance who had tried to find him but had only found his Mae West life jacket.  Keren then went on to give me the book I was looking at and some food for the road.

We carried on bouncing between the Interstate and frontage roads heading North West towards Idaho.  At one point we ended up in the forest up a dirt track and after not much climbing I started to feel really faint.  I ended up needing to get off the bike and lie down in the dirt for a few minutes to sort myself out.  At this point we decided we should find a place to camp.  We looked around for a wild campsite but the trees were really thick and there were loads of beer cans and we were nervous about bears so we headed on down to St. Regis to ask if they knew a better place to camp.  Our first port of call was the visitor's centre but it was already closed for the night.  We next headed to the gas station and they told us about a free campground in the forest.  When asked about the bear they replied with "Yeh there are bears, best to take a gun."  Without a gun, but with our bear spray we headed into the forest to find a place to sleep.  The campground was deserted so we picked a place to camp and went to a separate area to cook and eat.  We found a place to hang all the potential bear bait and were set for the night.  As twilight was setting in we decided to make one last trip to the restroom.  On getting out of the tent, without my glasses, I looked up to see a big black shape with, what looked like, a lighter muzzle.  Without bear spray, whistle or glasses I calmly asked Sophie for my glasses.  As the fuzziness cleared I was staring straight at a log.  After a laugh and a giggle about the scary, bear shaped log we got ready for bed.

In the morning we were aiming to get on to the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes; it's a 72 mile old railway line that is completely paved.  We hoped to hop on that, follow it until we got tired and camp by the side of it.  We found one end of the trail in Mullan and had a look at the information boards about the trail.  Unfortunately, we found that although the rail trail was open for public use we were not allowed off the track because all along it was private land.  There were campsites a little off the route but the only one that was on it was at Harrison.  Harrison was pretty far so we decided to just head off and see what would happen.  After a good morning we decided to push on to Harrison.  We loaded up on supplies, found out the General Election results and headed off down to Harrison.  The Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes was an absolutely amazing  experience.  The scenery was amazing, we saw our first moose and the trail was in great condition for riding.  With all this and the wind at our backs we had a fantastic ride down to Harrison.  After setting up the tent and cooking some food we decided to head to the local bar, The Gateway Grill, for a drink to celebrate.  It'd been a great day so we felt like we deserved it; it is only one drink what is the worst that could happen.

Curled up in the fetal position with my head out the tent vomiting on the floor, I started to wonder where it all went wrong.  I remember going into the bar and ordering a drink.  We were introduced to the owner, Rex and the bar lady, Darcy.  Rex had just bought the bar and this was the start of the season, he was in high spirits and bought the bar a round of shots.  I don't think it was the first shot that was the downfall but it was the other free beers and shots that was the trouble.  We met some of the locals and had country dance lessons.  I think there was some tap dancing involved but then things go fuzzy.  All I know is that we had a great time in the bar with Rex, Darcy and the locals but the next day it hurt.  I struggled all morning but we only had a short trip to Coeur d'Alene so we set off just after lunch on a beautiful day to follow the lake up to the city.

After riding for 15 miles Sophie and I needed to sleep for two hours.  When we woke up on the benches next to the lake Sophie was feeling better but I was worse.  There was no way I would be able to make it the next 30 miles to the city.  With no other options we phoned the Warm Showers host we had planned on staying with to apologise and Sophie explained the situation.  Rachel said no problems, do we want her to come and get us?  Yes please, that would be AMAZING!!!! After getting to the rendezvous I collapsed in a heap and waited for our savior to arrive. When Rachel turned up we loaded up the truck and I focused on breathing while Sophie and Rachel chatted back to the house.  When we arrived I needed to crash for a while and disappeared into the spare room to sleep it off.  When I awoke Donnie, Rachel's boyfriend, had arrived home and I was feeling much better.

Donnie and Rachel were amazing in so many ways.  They had rented bikes for a day, had enjoyed riding around so decided to buy bikes and do the Pacific Coast Bike Route from Canada to Mexico. We couldn't believe it.  We had spent years researching and planning and they had just bought bikes and went.  Donnie then decided to do a triathlon so went and got himself swimming lessons.  The guy couldn't swim and thought he'd do a triathlon - awesome!! Donnie was now training to do a 50 miles Ultra Marathon.  These guys were brilliant!  Sophie and I had a really good evening with them and then they invited us to stay another day.  Not feeling 100% we decided to have a rest day and check out the city.

Coeur d'Alene is an amazing city.  It has a cool downtown and is right by the lake side.  When we were there the sun was blazing and the lake was buzzing with people.  We had wraps and watched the world go by along the lake front.  It was an unscheduled stop in our journey but I am so glad we met Rex and Darcy in the bar and because of that we got to spend more time with Rachel and Donnie, and check out the city and the lake.  It's fun how things work out.

Glad we put Detour in the Title

If you have been checking the map page recently you may have noticed that the little blue bike has not been following the proposed route lines.  This is because while in Santa Cruz talking to a Beau (a guy we met through Wyatt) we decided to change our route.  Beau had cycled, with his girlfriend Wendy, from Seattle through the Olympic Peninsula and down the Western States along the coast.  So the opposite direction than we were travelling after hitting the coast again after Sacramento. Beau said that this route is beautiful, iconic and great ride, but if he could do anywhere (like we could) and were heading inland to the Grand Canyon anyway, then why not head up towards Canada following the National Forests and National Parks in Arizona, Utah and Wyoming. Along this route we'd see Zion, be able to camp almost anywhere in Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land and National Forest. Then we could head to Grand Teton's and Yellowstone.

This route up through all the amazing scenery sounded amazing but Sophie really wanted to see Yosemite and Death Valley and we both loved the idea of going to Portland. So for a couple of days we stuck to the original plan. However, we started looking at Yosemite and found out that the Tioga Pass (the road that we'd need to take to get to Yosemite Village) is closed until May. Just to be certain we contacted Yosemite to confirm via Twitter and received the response below:

@Eldo36 No, the Tioga Road is closed to bicycles due to major construction (on one half) and snow (on the other half).
— Yosemite National Pk (@YosemiteNPS) April 10, 2015

So our route had to change, so our plan now is head through Utah and Wyoming to Yellowstone and other beautiful sites. Then we can either go West to Portland and up to Seattle and Vancouver, or head North in Montana and Glacier National Park.  We are happy with either and only time and more detouring will be able to answer the question.

Vegas Baby!!!!

As part of the blog we have been asking people to suggest places to see or visit.  One such suggestion was a casino just off The Strip in Las Vegas called Ellis Island that had it's own micro-brewery and a much less full on feel compared to some of the massive casinos.  So after a few days rest from the sprint through the desert Sophie, Mary, Dan and I headed off into Las Vegas proper to make our millions and live the high life!!!

First stop was downtown Las Vegas close to Fremont Street for a refreshing Gin and Tonic in the sun, gathering ourselves for the craziness that is gambling and debauched antics that was about ensue. Fueled on gin we headed out to the Downtown Container Park which housed a number of small businesses and bars, and had a nice outdoor play area for kids.  We headed into the toy shop to look at some fun little pieces and trinkets, however since our bikes are already pretty heavy we decided not to carry a couple of toys or masks for the next 20,000 miles or so, just because they were funny.

Next came our first interaction with the casinos.  We hit the El Cortez Hotel & Casino to put a $4 bet for a friend back home on Roulette splitting our chances with 22/23; which didn't land so there goes his money.  Just for the record Sophie and I have little to no experience of gambling so we lost the remaining $6 (it was $10 minimum buy in table with $0.50 chips and minimum $2.00 inside and outside; that's what I remembered anyway and it still doesn't make any sense) pretty much straight away.  However, we met a guy who was doing much better on the table that lives not that far from ... you guessed it Moose Jaw.  So we exchanged details and headed off to find a cab to The Strip.

So when I say The Strip we headed up to The Bellagio to watch the dancing fountains and experience the glass ceiling (literal not metaphorical) and all the flowers growing in there.  It is the most amazing foyer we have ever experienced, if you ever find yourself in Las Vegas it is well worth a trip.  We then headed back out to watch the fountains again and headed down to the main attraction - Ellis Island! It didn't have the glitz and glamour of big casinos but I liked the feel of the place.  We had a good pizza, a $2 beer and played on the penny slot machines tipping the cocktail waitresses $1 for every drink they brought us.

All in all it was probably not "THE" Vegas experience most people imagine or hope for but we really enjoyed it.  We lost the money we were expecting to lose, we saw the sights and had a few drinks to celebrate.  We nursed our hangovers for the day got ready to leave and had Mary's brother, Mark, and his wife, Lisa, over for dinner.  Mark works at Hoover Dam and offered to ride there with us which we gladly accepted.  As there is little to no shoulder down the I-93 Mark & Lisa offered to drive us, with all our gear to Kingman.  They like the restaurant Cracker Barrel and made a family trip of it, treating us to lunch before sending us on our way East on Route 66.

Random Meetings and Catching Some Waves

We left San Simeon early and headed off to our Warm Showers hosts in Nipomo.  We knew we had a long day ahead of us but we were feeling confident, especially after the charge through Big Sur the day before. We were starting to get into the rhythm we had found while we did our shakedown in East Anglia and the earlier frustrations from short days was melting away.  The morning ride to San Luis Obispo was mainly on highway and we managed to grind out those miles quite quickly but when we arrived we were starting to have a food low and needed fuel and a chill out.  This also gave us a chance to confirm the arrangements with our hosts before the final push to Nipomo.  After a map reading issue we arrived safe and sound, but a wee bit late to Don and Mary's.

So, you may or may not know but I have Danish roots. This might seem like an odd statement but stay with me. Our hosts Don and Mary were fantastic and on our rest day they took us on a tour around the area.  We went to a mission near Lompoc and learnt about the Spanish Missions in the area and then headed to Solvang. Solvang is a Danish City within California and was on our list of 'like to do' but it was a bit off our route, but since this is about detouring we were going to make the effort, especially because of my Danish heritage.  However Don and Mary drove us there to have a look and pick up some pastries and headed back to figure out our change of route with Don, who has cycled in every one of the 50 states of the US.

All rested and refreshed we moved off down the coast to El Capitan State Beach.  On route we bumped into Andrew again and cycled with him for about 20 miles before our routes split.  It was great to ride with another cycle tourist and gave us the energy to get to the camp site early.  We had time to pop into the ocean and try our hands at body surfing.  We rose early the next day and headed off to Santa Barbara where we knew there was an REI to buy camping gas.  REI also has free WiFi so we got online to double check some stuff and found out some friends from back home were working around Santa Barbara and were available for a meet up.

The hook up with Bert and Neil was brilliant, we chilled out in Santa Barbara, did some long boarding and just had a brilliant time in the city on Paddy's Day. It was a short day on the bikes and meant we were pushing it to get to our next stop in Thousand Oaks, but the route looked pretty flat and we knew where we were headed so we said goodbye to the Pacific Ocean until Vancouver and headed inland.  Further map reading issues meant the day was longer than we were expecting but the main issue of the day was the crazy steep climb to get to Sue and Cal's house right at the top of the hill. After 40 minutes of pushing our bikes we arrived safe and sound, if a little sweaty to our friend's Auntie's house.

We were given a suggestion of a route to get to our next destination by Cal, and looking on the map it looked like a long, winding road through the hills and was called Grimes Canyon Road so we were expecting a tough day climbing.  After a gentle climb for a couple of hours we had a brief stop before a blind corner.  We both were expecting the corner to reveal the final steep push up to the summit; however we were wrong.  The road dropped away into a long, sweeping descent that lasted for miles and miles.  The views were amazing, the road quality was brilliant and it was such an unexpected descent it made us smile.  We arrived at Peter's house in Santa Clarita and headed out to watch the March Madness College Basketball, our team won and we headed home for an early night in celebration.

We were now on our fifth day in the saddle and were looking forward to another rest day with Ron in Quartz Hill.  The riding was fairly standard with some nice climbs and descents, with the scenery slowly changing to rocky and desert-like.  The hospitality we received once we arrived was outstanding.  Ron was a brilliant host and fantastic cook and both nights after a delicious meal we talked long into the night about almost everything.  We planned the route to Las Vegas and got ourselves ready for the long lonely riding through the Mojave Desert; watching out for heat stroke and rattlesnakes.

Aloha Santa Cruz!

It took us about 2 and a half hours to ride the 25 miles along the coast to Santa Cruz and it was a great ride.  Blazing sunshine, sparkling sea, nice wide shoulder to ride on, rolling hills that even I could cycle up!  There was another very lightweight touring cyclist who kept passing us.  The first time he stopped to talk was with Tom just outside Pigeon Point as I had ridden back to the hostel unladen as we’d forgotten our swimsuits which were hanging out to dry after the hot tub.  He was cycling from Seattle to Monterey and then back again.  We passed him while we was stopped for lunch and he came whizzing past me up a particularly tough hill shouting ‘YOU ARE SO TOUGH’ at me which was nice!  He cycled with Tom for a bit up ahead and gave us some hints about what to expect.  We passed a peloton going the other way who all whooped and cheered, waved and dinged their bells in greeting.

There was Another Bike Shop just as we entered into Santa Cruz and we stopped there to talk to them about the bike.  The nice guy on the counter said that he could see straight away that it looked like the steer tube was bent and that this wasn’t something they could fix, but pointed us to Rock Lobster just down the road where Paul has been building steel frame bikes for many years.  So we headed over there and 2 guys from the peloton that passed us were just there as we arrived.  One of which was Paul.  He agreed the steer tube was bent and said it would be a bad idea to beat it back into shape as it would leave it weakened and that you really didn’t want that bit weakened.  So we needed a new fork and since we thought that this would be covered by the Thorn warranty we needed to get hold of them and see what they could do.   Rick suggested a place we could get lunch and both Paul and Rick cycled with us to show us the way.  I asked Rick if he knew of anywhere we could get wifi in town and he suggested the library and then gave us a card with his number on saying that if we were stuck for wifi we could call him and go and use the wifi at his place.  We ordered lunch and as we wanted to get the ball rolling asap the next day and we had no idea where we would be I rang Andy my old manager to ask him to ring Thorn bikes for us in the morning.

After lunch we headed into Santa Cruz to find the library and were able to get signal whilst sat outside in a little benchy-garden area.  Tom emailed Thorn as well and I started to search for Warm Showers hosts in Santa Cruz to see if we could find somewhere to stay.  I was just composing an email to a host when a guy wandered over and asked where we were headed.  I replied ‘nowhere, Tom’s bike is bust’ and he said ‘so do you need a place to crash?’ ‘er well yeah actually’ we said.  So Wyatt gave us directions too his place and said we could pitch up in his backyard and that they were probably going away for a few days and we could house-sit.  We couldn’t believe our luck.  So we did a bit more with the wifi and headed to Wyatt’s to get pitched up.  We knocked on the door and said ‘hi, Wyatt sent us and said we could camp in the yard’ Mimi replied ‘totally’ and so that is what we did.  That was 4 days ago now and so far we’ve not slept in the tent, in fact we took it down yesterday as we’re sleeping in Wyatt’s campervan.  There are 3 houses in what is jokingly referred to as The Compound and I think we’ve met most the inhabitants who all seem very cool and friendly.  Wyatt has left us the key to his house so we can use the kitchen and bathroom and it’s all awesome.  We have wifi and so we were able to email and skype with Thorn and after a 4am skype call with Robin, the director, we have a new fork on the way, being sent to Paul at Rock Lobster.  We’ve paid the carriage and after a little discussion they have given us the fork for free.  It’s going to take 3-5 days to get here so at best we’re guessing Monday so we’re ‘stuck’ here until then.

Santa Cruz is a very chilled out, hippy, surfer, bike-friendly town.  We had a wander down the pier where massive sea lions warm themselves up on the joists of the pier.  We could see dolphins in the bay and pelicans flew overhead.  It’s where O’Neill was founded and though there wasn’t a lot of swell there were a few guys out surfing the point break and the break a bit further out.  We saw a guy cycle by with a surfboard strapped to a specially made rack on his bike – awesome.

On Wednesday afternoon we met up with Colton, another warm Showers host who we should have been staying with in Monterey on Thursday, though obviously our plans have changed.  He happened to be in Santa Cruz so we decided to hook up for a beer at Lupulo, a little craft beer place 5 minutes from Wyatt’s.  It was great to meet up with a host in advance and he assured us we were fine to stay whenever we turned up.

So we've just been cooling our heels in Santa Cruz for a week now.  We've been so lucky to have been able to stay with Wyatt and have met some really great people.  Its been nice scoping out a place and getting to know our way around a bit.  We've sorted out a US mobile and got some other bits figured out.  All in all its been a great week, even if there's been zero cycle touring!

Gas Station Forecourt to Well Deserved Hot Tub!

We woke up just after 5am the next day and got up about 30 minutes later after discussing possible options for the day and got packed up and were on the road by 7am.  We had decided we would head south and climb over the hills via Kings Mountain Road (not an appealing name!) and aim straight for Henry Cowell SP just inland from Santa Cruz.  After climbing up Bunker Hill again, the ride out of Crystal Springs was nice and we had great wide shoulder/bike path to ride along Canada Road amidst the beautiful scenery of wooded hills.  We stopped at the foot of Kings Mountain Road at Woodside Store for second breakfast – we thought Woodside Store would be a store, but it was an historical landmark, but there was a water spigot (get me and all my American lingo).

 

While we were just getting the bread, bananas & peanut butter ready a sporty lady cyclist passed us, turned around and came back for a chat.  She asked if we were heading up this road and we said ‘uh-huh’, 'hmm', she said, 'you’re carrying quite a load'.  We said that we’d been recommended to climb up Old La Honda, but that we’d not been able to find it.  She said ‘Oh that’s a much better bet; much quieter, not as high and it’s just down this road’ and gave us directions.  We chatted a bit more and then she set off up the hill on her morning ride.  We ate breakfast and turned left in search of Old La Honda.  THANK GOD we chose this way.  It was really, really tough and I ended up having to get off and walk and then Tom did the same, more to keep me company I think.  The lady cyclist had said the Kings Mountain Road went up to about 1600ft and Old La Honda was about 1300ft so we saved ourselves 300ft, but yet it seemed to go on and on and on.  It was beautiful, gorgeous pine tree clad slopes and quiet winding roads, but just when you thought ‘I think we’re near the top’ we’d turn a corner and the hill would just continue on.  I think we probably took at least 2 hours to reach the top and I think we probably pushed the bikes for a little under half of the distance.  But we did make it to the top. And then we had another think about where to go and what to do.  We opted to head down the other side, Old La Honda West, instead of along the bigger road running along the tops of the hills.  We were still aiming for Henry Cowell SP, though we thought it was going to be a push at this rate.  The ride down the other side was incredible, stunning scenery and sweeping, gently sloped winding roads.  We passed one car on this whole downhill which must have been 4 or 5 miles.  We stopped occasionally to take in the view across wooded peaks as far as the eye could see.

We had to climb another hill though not as big, which was slow going again, then another coast down though the road was slightly busier.  Near the bottom of this hill Tom came off his bike.  It was a pretty minor incident.  The bike came off the road, dropped the 6-8 inches down the verge into soft leafy matter and the front wheel stopped moving causing Tom to go over the handlebars, it wasn’t fast, it wasn’t spectacular and Tom got straight up uninjured and we set off again.  He said it felt like the bike was pulling to the left and to me looking from behind it looked like the front wheel was not in line with the back one.  We pulled over another couple of times to see if we could figure out what was up and if we could fix it, but couldn’t really fathom it.  We cycled along the flat towards Pescadero and rather than turn off towards Henry Cowell we decided to stop in Pescadero to have some lunch and regroup.

It was gone 1pm already, we’d been cycling for 6 hours mostly up hill and were pretty knackered and we weren’t even half way to Henry Cowell SP.  And now Tom’s bike was dodgy.  We decided we’d see about finding somewhere closer to stay and we started asking around.  The potter just outside the garden of the place we had lunch suggested Pigeon Point Youth Hostel, which the lady cyclist had also mentioned was an awesome spot to stop.  This was about 8 miles away and he even rung the hostel up to check they were open and had vacancies, which they did.  So we headed for the coast and cycled south.  Seeing the Pacific in the glorious sunshine was a tonic and I felt good riding again after the morning’s torture!  We spied the little lighthouse at Pigeon Point and gladly pulled into the car park just before 4pm.

It was a little odd to think about sleeping in separate dorms (single sex dorms) but we were happy to have arrived and the thought of a bed and wifi and kitchen were pretty exciting.  Plus the potter had tipped us off about the hostel’s hot tub so as we were checking in I asked about it.  Michael on the desk said that we could have a session for free (usually it’d be $8 a person) as we deserved it after our tough day of cycling.  We booked the sunset slot from 5:45-6:15 and he said that we could call by just after 5pm and if no one had booked the slot before us we could have it from then.  We had a quick stroll around and before we knew it it was 5pm so we headed for the hot tub.  This has to be one of the most spectacularly located hot tubs on the planet.  Its on the cliff top and all you can see is the ocean and the beach below.  And you get it to yourselves!  So Tom and I sat there in the hot tub, with seals or sea lions on the beach below us and watched water spouts from what must have been passing whales as the sun went down over the Pacific.  I don’t think it gets more idyllic than that.

We spent a nice evening chatting with the other guests in our little dorm block.  In particular Sue and Kristen we spoke to a lot and both of them ended up giving us food.  Sue gave us this delicious jalapeño and cheese bread which we had with our tinned chilli and Kristen sent us off the next day with 2 delicious breakfast muffins, a big bag of almonds, dried mango and 2 avocados.  Though we both got up early we set off late Tuesday morning as we’d decided just to head to Santa Cruz to the bike shop to figure out what was wrong with Tom’s bike and then decide what we would do from there.  Tuesday was the 3rd March and the 12th anniversary of my Dad’s death.  I always like to mark the day by doing something and I couldn’t think of anything more perfect than riding down Highway 1 in California, along the coast to Santa Cruz on a sunny day singing The Eagles (mostly in my head).

Get Us Detouring

So, part of the plan for while we are away is to try and detour to as many random places as possible and this is covered a little bit in our About Us page and after all it is the name of our blog.  Some of the detours we have already planned, like going to Moose Jaw or trying to get to Rough and Ready. However, we also need some input from people in the know, just like you.  So far we've had friends point out the Tunnels of Moose Jaw and Ellis Island Casino and Brewey; but we need more.  I've had family members talk about a beautiful, winding scenic route from Flagstaff up to the Grand Canyon but that can't be the only hidden gem that you lovely people know about.

The trick is that in the United States and Canada the distances we will be covering and our visa lengths mean that detouring will have to be kept in check - but hell we get 180 days in Mexico so if you know of a place then please, please, please get in touch.  Try to not get us in too much bother but that is all part of the adventure right?

One of my colleagues had a mate that went off into the big wide world and he got people to take polls for his next destination.  Granted I think he was taking flights so it was higher stakes and quicker, but hey man I think this could work on a bike; why not???  I'm not completely sure that Sophie will be 100% game, but I love the idea.  Also, if we can't decide between the east or west coast of Costa Rica then why not involve you guys?

So, in a nutshell, if you know somewhere awesome that we shouldn't miss out on then get in touch. Cheers in advance folk, I know you're going to have some amazing suggestions.