Friday, July 5, 2013

Day 13 Manchester Beach to Ocean Cove 43 miles (total miles 558)

Another beautiful day riding along the northern California coastline. After 2 days riding in Mendocino County we finally crossed into Sonoma County and only have Marin County left before reaching San Francisco.  After today our destination at the base of the Golden Gate is just 87 miles away with 2 days of riding to go.

Seems like we are making slow progress but the terrain is just endlessly rugged.  Barely a flat spot anywhere, just endless ups and downs.  Our shifters are getting a workout as we are constantly shifting up and down for each hill.  

Before leaving the KOA this morning we had to make one final tree climb

A couple hours into the morning ride I heard a shout from Catalina as she had spotted a group of seals on the rocks far below.  So it was as good of a place as any to make a morning rest break.  Can you spot the seals?  There are 13.  

For lunch we rolled into the tiny town of Stewarts Point and had lunch at another tiny old general store.  This one was built in 1861 and is still going strong.  Plus it had a nice outdoor deck so no eating on the sidewalk or mill crates this time.  Grandpa and I ordered Ruben sandwiches and they warmed up some meat loaf from the deli for Catalina. Food is generally excellent at these little stores. 

We had planned to ride all the way to Bodega Dunes State Park today which would have been a 68 mile ride but by mid-afternoon we came across what is probably the only motel on the coast with vacancy on 4th of July weekend.   Catalina is about done with the camping in the cold and wind, we probably all are.  Evenings in the coastal campgrounds have been low 50s or high 40s with constant wind so just a bit chilly to be outside camping.  

So we biked up and got a room at the Ocean Cove Lodge.
It is an old style motel that the owner, an elderly guy named Tim just bought and re-opened after it had been closed for 10 years.  Nice and adequate in an old motel sort of way.  Apparently he isn't very internet savvy so he has no online presence and people just don't know about it yet until he gets on tripadvisor and the other online sites.  But it was our luck he still had a few rooms at 3 in the afternoon.  Here is the view from the front of the motel


Tomorrow we are going to bike the remaining 30 miles to Bodega Dunes and hope to arrive early enough to snag a hiker biker site.  I expecting campground sites will be more and more precious the closer we get to SF this weekend.  That will leave 58 miles for our final day to the Golden Gate on Sunday.

1 comment:

  1. What an absolutely awesome adventure! Hang in there, Catalina! We are coming right behind you!
    We love you all, and we'll be leaving Salem for Crescent City tomorrow. Can't wait to see where some of these pictures were taken :-)

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