Day 24: Mendocino - Gualala Point Regional Park, 85km

For the last few days of cycling, I have felt something was stuck under my brake pads. On conclusion that I was simply less fit then hoped for, I ignored the nuisance and cycled on. Before leaving Mendocino, however, we popped into Catch a canoe and Bicycles too, to pick up some sexy fluorescent vests. On putting a pump to my rear wheel I found I only had 50psi in it - I may as well have been towing an RV behind me.

From Mendocino we cycled along Hwy 1 through Little River, Albion and Elk. The route was undulating and the coastline littered with inlets which dropped us down to sea level and raised us up again. Although there was a very strong wind behind us, there must be a weather phenomenon (funnelling maybe) when the wind hits an inlet. The result of which whips the wind around onto your side, ending in a strong head wind as you try to mount the small climb out of it. By Manchester, I had lost count of the number of times I had taken full possession of the road to account for any random swerving or at worst tumbles.

The views of course remained spectacular, as the route alternated between farmland and clifftop, but at Anchor bay I have to admit my nerves were shot. The topography was great for cycling but the wind was almost terrifying.

At Gualala we collapsed into a cafe, Trinks, and considered camping v motel. Tim dutifully scoped out the campsite - there were hot showers - and then the motels - none of which were less than 100 bucks. Decision made.

On the way to the campsite we stopped into Surf Supermarket for supplies. As Tim stocked up on essentials - wine and chocolate - another cyclist pulled up. Our fellow traveller turned out To be a student called Derek who was cycling home from Humboldt university to Santa Rosa. We spent the rest of the evening gleaning every drop of local knowledge we could. As we sat there munching away on our tinned tuna and strawberries from Mexico, I felt mildly guilty as we delved into Derek's sustainable outlook on life.

With the evening drawing in another guy called Peter Joined us. I am not too sure about his story - he was German and spoke a lot - but he had no tent or camping gear. He had a bike and a car in which he was sleeping, and it turned out he was living on bagels and MacDonald's!

As we sat around a camp fire we started to talk about all the bikes we owned. We were happy to find out both guys had more bikes than us although I am unsure if theirs had to fit into a 1 bed flat!