Day 23: Standish Hickey - Mendocino, 90km

In an attempt to miss the heat of the day we got up at 5:30 and left not long after 6:30. Finally the temperature was a good 20 degrees lower and in true British style I now found myself wishing it was little hotter.

Past Leggett we climbed for 5 miles as we turned onto hwy 1 for the first time. We had been told so many horror stories about the road, which generally ended terminally but before 7am we enjoyed traffic free bliss. The climb was almost fun and the descent the best yet. The road surface was perfect and the bend more like chicanes than hairpins allowing for little dissipation of speed.

Towards the bottom we came into our first sea fog, and the temperature plummeted. We were in thick woodland and it was so remote it felt more like a rainforest than the sunshine state. In comparison to peoples negative comments of the road, I felt mildly spooked by the lack of fellow human life. Cycling through Rockport with its population of zero just compounded my feeling of unease.

After about 25 miles and a solid 2 mile climb, we came along the shoreline. I am sure there was a view to be had, but we would have to have been 2ft from each sea stack to enjoy it. Into Westport the road started to undulate and a lack of sleep (10m from us last night was a lady who sounds like Janice from Friends - it was difficult to zone out once I had tuned into this thought) and 30 miles of cycling before 9am caught up with me. I needed chocolate, or a motor, or both, so we stopped in a motel advertising espresso.

The next 30 minutes were brilliant. We were taken in by a guy in his 80s who fed us coffee and homemade biscotti, whilst amusing us with a dancing George W Bush doll in his living room. At 82 the guys was 10 times more lucid than Tim or I after a mere 30 miles of cycling.

I wish we had stayed there all day. Instead I realised I needed more air on my tyres and rest in my legs. Yesterdays legs of jelly had turned to Blancmange and tumbling terrain with it's white backdrop was tougher than it should have been. Through Cleone we came to Fort Bragg where we stopped again for coffee. Fort Bragg seemed pretty cool in parts and in the cafe I was fed 'Rapid Transit' coffee which promised to get me everywhere fast! I thought it was fitting although a little hopeful.

Back on the road, hwy 1 became a bone shaker where they had ripped the macadam off. It was pretty effective at keeping me awake, especially as I tried to dodge cliff sized ruts trimming the road edge. Our route took us past Caspar and into Mendocino where we were told we could get great views from the hotel out over the ocean. Sadly the only views we could see reminded me of white outs in Whistler.

Waking this morning I got up early to come and edit the blog. To my delight the fog had lifted allowing for photos of the bay and a day off the bike with views ;-)