After having a late pizza lunch and mushroom flavored ice-cream, we did a short ride to the KOA (“Kampground of America“) near the Manchester State Park. And what a good idea that was! For 9$, we had access to a hiker/biker campsite, hot showers, a warm pool, a hot tub, coin-op laundry machines, cooking stoves and sinks to wash the dishes (with hot water!) and arcades. Having access to the stoves, John (a fellow biker from Vancouver we had met the day before) decided to make us some hot pancakes the next morning… delicious!!

Having Rasputin beer at the Manchester KOA

John, alias Rasputin!

Distance covered that day: 48km

Total distance: 1904km

Having about 140 miles to ride in two days in order to get to San Francisco, we had to make good distance. Still, we took our time to take photos and to stop and visit Fort Ross, an old Russian fort.

Michel guarding Fort Ross

Fort Ross armory

Fort Ross

Just when leaving the fort to continue on our route, Michel found out that his  bicycle helmet was missing. He then realized that he had left it in a public toilet (the small usually blue-chemical toilet) that was standing in the parking lot. The problem was that the toilet wasn’t there anymore!! Thankfully, we were able to find the employee who had taken the toilet, and he explained to us that he had hung the helmet on a tree near the entrance, such that it’s owner could easily find it. Obviously, before he had told us, neither of us had seen it dangling right in front of us!

We eventually arrived in one of the Bodega Bay State Parks. Being the last camping night of our trip, we decided to eat delicious flame-broiled steaks, marinated in a red wine and garlic sauce, and a delicious and refreshing tomato, green onion and tabouleh salad (carefully prepared by our friend John).

Foggy coast

Seal or/and sealions

We also met up with the group of nice and fun ladies we had met before at the Standish-Hickey Recreational Area. They were pretty happy to see us… especially since we made them a nice fire!

In yellow, from left to right: Laura, Rhonda, Reba. Below: Michel and John

We also made it officially over the 2000km mark!

Distance covered that day: 112km

Total distance: 2017km

The next day was a lot warmer than the others since we were riding more inland. We stopped for lunch at Point Reyes Station, a nice little town where a large group of cyclists had accumulated. We still don’t know why… Anyways, locals told us of an alternate route avoiding a very steep (and over 500 ft) hill.

With the help of John, who had already biked through Sausalito (in the outskirts of San Francisco) to get to downtown San Francisco, we arrive at the Golden Gate bridge late in the afternoon. A well deserved beer-break was taken on the bridge to celebrate our arrival!

Having a well deserved break on the Golden Gate bridge

Bike path on the Golden Gate bridge

At the end of the Golden Gate bridge

We met up with my parents later that evening. We had a good time at a small pub where a blues band was playing. Having enjoyed the band for a long time, all  the nice restaurants we closed… so we had a good cheeseburger (or two for some of us!) at the In n’ Out. They offer very good burgers at very reasonable prices.

At the blues bar, with Michel's parents Diane and Serge (who is taking the picture)

Distance covered that day: 124km

Total distance: 2146km

Also, we rode past Hobiton (with no hobbits to be seen though).

Redwood tree: looks tall... IS tall!

Where's Waldo?? Ah, the blue spot next to the tree!

The redwood tree is probably older than Michel (about 2000 years older in fact!)

We first stayed at the Big Lagoon campsite and slept on the beach (the actual campsite was full). There were many birds on the trees next to us, and they made sure to crap on us on the way to their tree. Gilbert thought it was raining, but we quickly realized the rain was white and a bit sticky – not so rain like as we would have preferred. After that we kept watching the sky with fear, as birds would align in military formation and fly over us. That didn’t stop us from enjoying a good beer and see an awesome sunset while having dinner.

During the night one of the animals (probably a bird) made bear like sounds, which we didn’t find that funny since we had heard that a bear and her cub were in the park. Maybe the bird poo protected us?

View of Stone Lagoon (north of Big Lagoon)

Total distance: 1491.3km

Next up was Redcrest, a small town with very friendly people. The only cafe in town had closed 45 minutes before our arrival, but they opened it again to make delicious double-paddy burgers for us. The RV campsite also had a hot tub (jacuzzi) so we were finally able to warm up as we were hoping to in Crescent City. We had one of the best nights of sleep amongst redwoods.

Distance covered that day: 125km

Total distance: 1616km

The Hwy 101 went a bit inland from there on, so it got hot and nice. Next to the road we got to see some more Elk.

Wild elk grazing just south of Prairie Creek Redwood State Park

We stayed at the Standish-Hickey State Recreation Area (SHSRA). Right in front of the entrance of the park there is a coffee shop with awesome blackberry sundaes. The park is next to the Eel river, so we were able to swim in the water pools, and Michel’s snorkel and visor became handy to see the various fish species. After a hot day, the water pools were just what we needed.

Distance covered that day: 90km

Total distance: 1706km

The SHSRA park was at the foot of a big hill (the Leggett Hill), so the next day we wanted to leave early as we had no clue how hard the climb would be. Michel’s bike got a flat, and after checking out the water pools once more before our departure, we headed up the mountain on a very hot day. After the mountain, we reached the coast and our not-so-much friend “the fog” came to greet us (and the temperature went down again).

Coast engulfed by mist

We rode till Mendocino, a town where many movies have been filmed (apparently over 60), and decided to stay and share a bottle of wine with John, another biker. We stayed at the Russian Gulch state park (with the fog).

Distance covered that day: 96km

Total distance: 1802km

It’s not very pleasant to put on bike shorts in the morning and to realize they didn’t dry after having washed them the evening before (it’s cold enough already!).

The lady at the entrance of the Sunset Bay State Park told us it had been foggy “for the last four days”… but a few days later we understood she really meant “for the last four days, and the four days before that, and basically all summer long it will be foggy”.

She assured us that Sunset Bay had awesome sunsets, and we have to agree: imagination surely is a powerful thing.

At the campsite we met with Ian, who’s traveled Canada from east to west and is now heading south (maybe to San Diego?).

Dinner was short and quick, we wanted to go to bed early and start riding early as well: we realized that leaving late in the morning (sometimes afternoon) meant arriving at sunset and thus not really having time for ourselves or to enjoy the place we arrived to. Furthermore, our legs (and bums) were tired of riding, and we hadn’t found a comfortable feeding pattern (too much, not enough, too often, not often enough). It was slowly taking a toll on our stress levels, and we were becoming cranky.

The simple solution we found (although it took time to implement it) was to wake up and leave earlier: that way we would have some more resting time in the afternoons to relax, read our books and enjoy, a nice reward that improved things considerably.

Distance covered: 139.7km

Total distance so far: 1303km

Next, we rode through Gold Beach, and stayed at the Hunter Creek RV Park. We were pretty cold, so we decided to do laundry and stay with the dryers while having tea. The camp site was in front of a big rock that was supposed to look like a turtle (not sure about that one). A lady who came to the laundry room explained to us that most hippies moved from California to Oregon, and that Oregon was a much nicer state to live in because “the state did more for its people” and because it wasn’t so money oriented. We’ve heard that a few times over the trip, the funny thing is that none of them want to move from California either. We left early the next morning.

Distance covered: 100km

Total distance so far: 1403km

Lighthouse in Bandon - another funny city name for francophones.

We surely didn’t expect the Oregon coast to be that cold in summer. Somehow we had thought, for some silly reason, that it would be really warm. As the days went by the fog and the wind made sure we got that false idea corrected.

We stopped at Crescent City, had one of the best pizzas ever at King Pizza, and continued a few miles to a camp site that ended up being a “primitive camp site” with no hot water… so we decided to bike back to Crescent City, and stay at a Motel that advertised having a sauna (after all we were really cold). The sauna was … cold. Disappointed, we went to sleep and prepared for the next day.

Coast near the border between California and Oregon

And… the next day we made it to California!

After twenty something days...

Seals on a sand bank (just south of Newport)

On a windy hilltop (cool temperature in spite of the clear skies)

At the Jessie Honeyman Memorial State Park

The dunes that inspired Frank Herbert to write the Dune novels

Having our last breakfast with our Californian friends

The dunes were indeed huge (probably miles in all directions), and there was a lake with warm water. We realized we were a bit late within our schedule so we had to up the pace by quite a bit if we wanted to make it on time to San Francisco. We had our last Oregon breakfast with our friends, and from there on we would have to focus on distance.

Distance covered: 89.5km

Total distance so far: 1164km

Despite not having drunk that much, our bodies are these days tuned to absorb all nutriments which implies being lightweight cheap drunks. For the first part of the trip we decided to be less ambitious (Team #2 joined us on that concept). The houses we rode by on the coast were pretty cool, some were perched up on top of cliffs, others right by the water at almost sea level, but all seemed to have a beautiful view.

Michel admiring the sky

Houses on the Coast

On the way we saw a cow giving birth (well, just the start of it, we weren’t sure how long it would take so we continued).

Our brains felt really slow, despite the relatively easy ride, and it seemed the environment was in tune with us: in order to get to Cape Lookout, we had to ride through Netarts. We thought it was a pretty funny name, and it seems some other people thought that too…

"OLD NETARTS RD" got its spelling corrected.

Priceless introduction to the town, no?

Despite the fun and the easy ride, we arrived in a slightly deteriorated state… We were hoping to have a nice hot shower, but the campsite had a water-preserving system that would vaporize the hot water on you (rather than just letting the water flow out), so showering had an unintended cooling effect (the vaporized water would hit us already cooled down).

Michel decided to make a delicious raspberry+strawberry+rhubarb+honey jam, and we had a calm dinner with the gang. We made rice with corn hot sauce and celery.

Team#1 and Team#2 decided to take it easy and rest that evening.

Distance covered: 80.6km

Well rested, it was time to take the road for Newport. We had heard it was a very nice town, and were were hoping to take a rest day there, maybe surf a bit (if it worked out). It was a pretty long day, since there were >700 feet (214m) overpasses. We stopped to eat a disappointing chili burger (it was small and dry), and because of the hill we ended up drinking several liters of liquid that day.

Part of the ride didn’t have a shoulder road, but once we reached the coast again (and the beautiful view), we were treated for a while with a dedicated bike lane (yes!).

We went past a camping ground (where Team #2 was planning on staying) that had a huge and awesome beach in front of it (Beverly Beach), but we decided to go past it, all the way to Newport.

Scenery near Newport

As we got closer, we entered the fog region. It got cold (quite cold actually), windy and very foggy (it was hard to see with our glasses, so we had to take them off for part of the ride). We were so cold that we decided to stay in a Motel that night (and the next one), and going surfing was definitely not on the ToDo list anymore. We had dinner at a Chinese restaurant, and their portions were so huge that even two hungry bikers were not able to finish them (it was enough for a full lunch the next day!).

The next day we went to the library to use the Internet for a bit, but we were only allowed to use the computers for an hour and a half (and they were extremely slow). We wanted to get ahead on the blog (we are still behind schedule after all), and while looking for an internet cafe (there are none), we bumped into the Beer One store. The lady at the counter allowed us to use her store computer to update our blog (she was very nice!), and we got to drink some delicious beer while at it. It’s a great place to hang out, with good music, comfy couches and tables, and a huge selection of wine and beer.

A few beers also had funny names…

Drinking beer in Newport (look carefully at the name of the company... it will probably appeal more to French speaking people)

More interesting beers...

A closer look at the brewing company logo - for the non French speaking crowd, "teton" means "nipple"

The breakfasts we had at the Newport Cafe were really good (Crab Eggs Benedict and Oyster Omelet).

Distance covered: 113.5km

Total distance so far: 985km

Enjoying a nice, warm fire

Enjoying a nice, warm fire... again

Enjoying a nice, warm fire... again and again

At some point it got really cold and we ran out of fire wood, so we had to do a Penguin-Circle in an attempt to keep warm (it worked pretty well).

Having a good time (after the fire...) despite of the cold

Good times.

The morning in Astoria was a laundry-day morning… which sounds a bit boring at first, but in the end it was quite fun.

While waiting for the laundry to wash and dry, we met the first (about same age) fellow bikers. Without too much hesitation we said “hi”, and both groups shared food and stories for a bit. Since we were tired, and less keen on hurrying up to our next destination, our lazy pace made it such that we ended up finishing our changing, eating and packing just about the same time as the newly arrived group of cyclists did.

All four of them (three guys and one girl) were really nice and friendly, so we decided to ride together for a bit, since we were heading to the same direction (i.e. over the bridge). We thought it would be a nice change to have a larger group of six riding on the highway (we felt a bit more sheltered).

The ride took us uphill right away, and with a head-wind for a while, but as soon as we got to the ocean, the spectacular Oregon beaches appeared before us.

Cannon Beach, coastal city south Astoria

From time to time the group would spread a bit, and we would take breaks to wait for the rest of the crowd. We are not sure right now, but we believe all four of them were reading the Dune saga books (by Frank Herbert), and thus Corey (very motivated) would go extra miles to check all the libraries on the way to see if they had the next Dune-book they wanted to read. It seems Mr Herbert was inspired by the Oregon dunes to write that saga, so they were the perfect books for the trip.

Whou hou!!! Our first cyclist friends - from left to right: Michel, Corey, Jack, Evan and Amy (sorry guys if your names are not spelled right!)

At some point we decided to part ways since our group of friends wanted to check out some more libraries, and we had talked about having beers together that night to share some more stories. Michel and Gilbert became the get-the-booze team that had to sprint to get to the store before it closed at Manzanita, and the other team would join us soon after. The rest of the road till the campsite had incredible views, and the tail wind was just awesome. At times we would gear up while riding uphill because the wind would push us so hard that riding uphill became a piece of cake.

The Oregon coast - feels like we're on top of the world! (approaching Manzanita)

We got to the store on time (Team#1 – mission complete!) SMS’d the other team, and then headed to the campsite. We went to see the sunset, and although a bit windy and cold, it was awesome (the pictures speak for themselves).

Sunset at the campground beach

Sunset at the campground beach

Monkey Michel at the beach

It turns out that due to the very bad reception, Team#2 didn’t get our SMS, so “just in case”, they also bought extra beer (which ended up being a Good Thing(TM)) and food (also good of course!). They arrived about two hours after us, just in time for us to make a nice fire.

Distance covered:  65km

Total distance so far: 790km

Planning tomorrow's ride after having Tropicana orange juice (in the town of Astoria)

Cute little trolley in Astoria

Old broken-down dock

Old broken-down dock

Once in the city we decided to stop at the bike shop before they closed to fix Michel’s front bike racks (Gilbert went for Espresso). Before staying at a Motel, we decided to stop at the internet cafe to check our email (we were lucky there was one).

Repairing the bike racks... again!

Nice costal houses of Astoria

Astoria

Astoria is a nice and vibrant town, with history, coffee shops, and a bit european in style. We treated ourselves to a very nice dinner and at the restaurant we saw that indeed, the other people sitting there spoke Finnish, and the waitress spoke Swedish. We had beer from the Astoria brewery (very good!). We both liked the city a lot.

We were supposed to also do laundry, but decided to do it the next day, since the only open laundromat was more than 30 mins bike ride away.

Total distance so far: 780km

Tip: From experience, a very good way of finding the best routes and of avoiding the worst ones is to ask advice from the locals.

This day, we saw a bear in the woods and an elk that had been run over by a car, and later a bear (not sure what type or whether it was a baby or not). We both had our first flat tire. We finally arrived at Longview at about 7:00 pm, after buying some raspberries at the entrance of the city. Since all that intense riding made us pretty hungry, Gilbert ordered a burger at Stuffy’s that may have been a little too big for him…

Gilbert happy of having his mega burger

Might be a little too big for his mouth (but not for his biker appetite!)

After waking up late the next day, we had breakfast and headed to the bike shop to repair our pannier racks. After finishing the repairs at 4:30 pm, we realized that it would be probably more reasonnable to continue our journey the next day…

Distance covered:  134.5km

Total distance so far: 681km

After a quick breakfast, we took a free shuttle from Cougar Rock to Paradise, at the base camp of Mt. Rainier. It comes every half an hour or so. This saved us a climb of about 3000 ft, the equivalent of about two hours of uphill biking. Since the shuttle takes us back to the camp, we felt it didn’t count as “cheating”.

At the peak, we climbed part of the snowy mountain in sandals. We were hot because of the sun, but our feet were frozen! It was absolutely beautiful!

Michel posing where the bus left us.

Gilbert trying to disguise as a tree (while climbing Mt. Rainier).

That's right...

We had time to check out one of the water falls as well.

Waterfalls... lots of them around.

Once back at the camp site, we left towards Mt. St-Helens, in the direction of Ashford. The first 30 minutes were a complete downhill. It was a real pleasure! We headed south on NFD 52 road, in direction of Packwood. It was probably the nicest road yet! The narrow road covered by tall evergreen trees on each side followed at some point a small, crystal-clear river. After going uphill for about an hour, it went downhill for another hour until one reaches Packwood.

River next to the road leading to Packwood

Funny thing: A huge elk was grazing right in the middle of town (Packwood). While taking pictures, we realized the locals weren’t paying attention to it’s presence, as if it wasn’t there. I guess they are used to them being around town…

Elks and the city! (in Packwood)

After a couple of burritos, we left Packwood to get to Randle. This road is located in a wide valley where cattle is raised. We saw cows, horses, peacocks and llamas.

Randle is a really small and friendly town. The owners of the motel we stayed at also had a bar with karaoke. The barmaid was so convincing that eventually we accepted to sing. I went first and sang Hey Jude (The Beatles) in front of a crowd of about six people. Gilbert did the second round with When I’m 64 (The Beatles), while I danced with one of the locals, Phoebee.

Phoebee and also a couple helped us plan the quickest route to our next stop, since we were realizing that we were starting to be late with our initial travel plans.

Just before leaving, we had the honor of being hugged by Phebee, the barmaid and by a lady who earlier bought us a beer each. A guy who sang a rap song and that had arrived with a younger crowd a couple of hours later also came to say bye to us.

After such a perfect day, we went to sleep more than content!