Day 2 – Blue Balls and Noodly Appendages

The fog wasn’t as dense and thick this morning as it was yesterday, that we gleaned right from the start. The sun sifted through the marine layer as we loaded the van up with our equipment, and we left the house with ample time to meet David Hayes of the Del Norte Triplicate at the day’s starting point just south of Crescent City. Dr. B, Maureen and Jimmy opted to ride 4 miles from the house to the start point, and they came rolling up shortly after we noticed elk grazing a few hundred meters from us. I was engaged in an interview with David as the crew made final preparations before departure. These preparations included figuring out the use of a swim noodle (hereby referred to as Dr. B’s noodle) as a visual reference for drivers streaming by us. Dr. B graciously waved the noodly appendage from his bike while taking up the rear for the day. And what a day it was. Preparations also included donning our handy ASL (Adaptive Switch Laboratory- the day’s sponsor) fanny packs, which further served to increase our visibility with their bright red color. Dr. B put all of his cash in his ASL fanny pack, and he didn’t lose a single bill. Perhaps his trust in his ASL pack was based on my mom’s use of an ASL corkscrew opener to access a bottle of wine last night, and in Jimmy’s use of chargers provided by ASL to juice up his iPhone. A lot of people use ASL products for far more serious endeavors than those, and I’d like to shout out ASL for offering unique, creative solutions to those who are accessing their environments in nonconventional manners.

Ready for lunch after a sketchy morning ride!

Just a few hundred meters from the official start, Jimmy suffered his third flat of the trip. This was a most egregious deflation of his pride, and he really had to suck it up while David took photos of the repair efforts. I mentioned that these are the challenges of the road as David snapped away. Fortunately, unlike yesterday, this was the only flat that Jimmy (or anybody) suffered today. Before long, we were rolling again, and immediately we encountered a 4 1/2 mile climb out of the Crescent City area. While we tackled the route, which was replete with ascents, descents, blind corners, big rigs, RVs, some careless drivers who the crew cursed (especially Maureen the sailor), streams of traffic, narrow or nonexistent shoulders with heavy rumble strips, potholes and rocks, my mom brought the Quaddesy to a Les Schwab for 4 new tires and new rear brake pads.

Today was on par with the descent from Washington and Rainy Passes in the North Cascades in 2018. At one point, Dr. B proclaimed today to be worse than that day. Jimmy wasn’t ready to go there yet, despite admitting that he did want a shot of whiskey at the end of the day. At one point, we came upon a large construction zone, at which traffic was alternately directed to one lane via traffic lights. These light aren’t calibrated to people going hella slow, so after letting all the vehicles go by on our turn, we set out to cover the stretch. Jimmy rode ahead to stop the oncoming traffic, which otherwise would have started our way. The drivers that we held up were gracious to the interruption, and a number of them waved enthusiastically. Throughout the day, a number of people, including motorcyclists, expressed their encouragement and their support to our endeavor.

With such encouragement in the face of ample stresses, we quickly arrived at the Trees of Mystery, where I posed beneath Paul Bunyan and his blue ox. Now, Paul, he’s burly, and as you may have heard, “he once had a fight with a thunderstorm on a cold dark night. I ain’t sayin’ who won, but it don’t storm at all… round here… thanks to Paul.” Now, under a sea of blue beneath the ox, I admired a pair, and thought about how my crew has the same, facing what we did today while continuing on in good spirits.

Half a mile down the road, we enjoyed a fine lunch, then continued on. The Quadessy was still being repaired at this point, so my mom and Edwin were using Jimmy’s truck as the primary support vehicle. Thanks to Edwin for driving around today!

Maureen only collided into me once today, and she deftly swerved out of my way a few other times, so her Ian’s Ride skills are rapidly improving. We passed a fellow who was sitting by a small fire in front of an elk and salmon jerky shop who was excited to see our caravan. Jimmy stopped to purchase some jerky, and said fellow told him that we were the coolest thing he’d seen all day. Speaking of fire, smoke from the August Complex, which has burned over a million acres now, increased through the day. We crossed the Klamath River, then began an ascent that brought us to the Newton B. Drury Scenic Bypass, which provided a remarkable contrast to the stresses of the highway. We rode along in the midst of gorgeous giants, enjoying the soft, smoky sunlight resting upon the cinnamon bark of redwoods. Big leaf maples added nice splashes of fall foliage. We were able to ride side by side and have conversations, only occasionally falling back into line to allow vehicles to pass. Prairie Creek Redwood State Park, which the road goes through, was a highlight of the day for all of us.

Then it was back onto the highway. Another construction zone, during which we noticed a bull elk hanging out in front of some RVs off the highway. I dealt with battery challenges throughout the day. I always used my lead acid battery in the hills so that it could recharge during the descents. I took both batteries to their maxes today, completely draining the lithium battery just as we got into the town of Orick.

We finished day by picking up Greek food and spending the evening by a campfire in the back of our rental house. We were joined by local outdoor enthusiast Mary Esther, and her mother Robin. She is an awesome individual who I’m thrilled to have met, and who I look forward to interacting with again. Stay tuned for day 3…