The day started out feeling like a lyric from a from a John Prine classic, “when I woke up this morning, things were lookin’ bad.” The day began with the team searching the Airbnb for coffee and Jimmy. To be honest, the coffee was a bigger concern since we’re used to Jimmy wandering off. When Jimmy walked though the front door with coffee for everyone we knew we were in for a good day. We loaded up the Quadessy and Jimmy’s truck with four bikes, seven people and me and my chair.. We drove to Harris Beach State Park in Oregon and got ready to start our ride toward Fort Bragg. Just as the coffee was wearing off we came across our first hurdle. Our newly repaired Yakima cargo carrier decided to break. Thankfully we always carry bungees and straps. A little low-class but problem solved. We were on our way.
Made it to the border!
Harris Beach to the California border should have been relatively uneventful, but this is Ian’s Ride, and that means to expect the unexpected. Jimmy had the first of his two flat tires before we got out of Oregon. I suppose this isn’t unexpected given the size of Jimmy compared to the size of his tires. My brand new tires I had installed for the ride have made controlling my chair a little more difficult which causes me to come to sudden stops which the team is not always ready for. Not long into the day our newest team member Maureen rear ended me, twice. The second collision was particularly noteworthy because it was a chain reaction initiated by Jimmy (which he denies) that ended with Maureen shedding the first blood of the ride. And shortly after that we had another chain reaction event when Celina ran into me, then Maureen ran into Celina. I’ll accept 99% of the blame.
A large portion of the day we spent riding through quiet farm lands which was always welcome compared to the alternative of the highway. Celina and I were able to find two Geo Caches along the route, one in Oregon and one in California. The second Geo Cache was found along the Smith River in what turned out to be a perfect location to stop for lunch. My mom brought tasty Mexican food which the team inhaled as a curious dog (or perhaps local in a costume) watched with intrigue. While we were at lunch my temperature began to drop due to the cold weather and fog. Eventually my mom brought me some wool socks to cover my hands which really completed my outfit. Even though the socks/mittens helped, the remainder of the ride and even a few hours after were spent trying to get my body temperature up.
Our lunch companion.
West Coast Best Coast.
Just when the scenery was beginning to become monotonous, we turned a corner and the ocean came into view. This seemed to perk everyone up a bit. We were in the final stretch and really enjoying the view and thoughts of a warm house and some local beers. I was hoping my batteries would get us to the end of our 36 mile day. I haven’t been able to “train” my batteries lately on any long rides so I was unsure whether they could make it. Well, we made it. It was hella close, but we did it. The riding portion of the day was behind us, so we headed back “home” and enjoyed some beer with a side of dinner.