by Philip

Day’s mileage : 36

Running total : 1,015

Ascent : 1,499ft

Sunday.

Last night Cathy arrived after a long flight into San Francisco, several hours layover and then a short commuter flight up to McKinleyville. Sam, owner of Cathy’s bike, continued to be a total star and drove us to the airport at 11pm to meet her, waited for us and drove us home – meaning we were in bed by midnight which felt like a bonus.

This morning we had a gentle start, with eggs, fruit and cereal for breakfast and then getting all three bikes ready, installing a mirror and phone carrier on Cathy’s bike, as well as her panniers. We made good time, riding away from the cottage just before 11, following the same route we took yesterday to Arcata when we had the bikes serviced. The weather today is fabulous – warm and sunny with a strong tailwind. The route is mainly on small roads and trails – as we left Arcata to go around Humboldt Bay (the second largest bay on the west coast) we found a disused railroad being turned into a trail, with newly laid tarmac making it very smooth. A passing cyclist on a reclining bike told us it would be finished in two months time … a bit late for us!

The bay was pretty, with mudflats exposed as the tide was out. We were puzzled at the complete lack of bird life with a single crow and a turkey vulture … but none of the wetland birds we’ve seen so often before. As we made our way around the bay we turned to the west and the tailwind became a headwind – but we soon turned south again as we came into Eureka, making our way through back streets to the river, and coming across the Redwood Coast Kite Festival, with lots of people taking advantage of the winds – the kites were large and small, professional and homemade, with at least one getting stuck in a tree.

From the festival we rode through the industrial part of Eureka – with shellfish processing plants, huge cold stores and timber mills. There were disused railroad tracks and vast piles of tree trunks awaiting the mill. We soon joined a lovely trail that followed the banks of the Elk River estuary for miles, very marshy, with white herons for company. It’s interesting how blasé we’ve become about what we see – Cathy asked what a flock of birds was, to which we replied “pelicans” – she couldn’t believe it! We’ve been seeing them on and off over three weeks so it’s the new normal.

Turning away from the estuary we rejoined the 101 for a mile, came off for a mile, back on for another mile – but then off again, onto a very quiet road that took us past the Humboldt Botanical Garden and Redwood College, then into an area that felt very alpine, with rolling hills and pastures, and Dutch barns with fields of dairy and beef cows. Lunch was at the side of the road overlooking a pasture where we experienced the strength of the wind which has been blowing us along. In fact, it’s been so flat and the wind so strong that I’ve done 24 miles using only 10% of my battery, and climbed only 250’ … now, as I write after lunch, we have the day’s climbing to come before ending up in Fortuna for the night. 

And what a climb! Over 700’, and steep to the top of Tompkins Hill, past numerous gas extraction facilities with dire warning signs on them – the hill is a gas field. We saw a small snake on the road which slithered off into the undergrowth – the first live snake we’ve seen.  From the top we began our descent, which rapidly became gravel, then dirt, then a small overgrown footpath which was extremely challenging. A large puddle covered the path at one point and I got my bike stuck … fortunately I was pushing it and had not attempted to ride through. We had a small interaction between a tree and the chain guard on Liz’s bike, and after a mile of the path we were all a bit fed up with it, and ended up taking down a barbed wire fence to get onto a road. It is unusual for Komoot to send us on such an impassable path.

From the road we sped into Fortuna and found the lovely old house we have for the night, stopping to rest awhile before Liz went to buy dinner and cook, while I finished this blog and Cathy tried to work out what time of day it is.

Today’s smell: newly laid tarmac.

Today’s sounds: our bikes going over a brand new bridge with steel plates rumbling beneath us; the loud, well chosen, music at the festival. 

Additional notes

McKinleyville to Fortuna, Humboldt county, CA.

Left at 10.45am. Arrived at 4.30pm.

Weather: Sunny and cold. Warm sun but a strong, cold tail wind.

Landscape: The streets of McKinleyville. Residential roads and some fields with cows to Arcata. An estuary on our right and industrial sites on the left. Docklands, the large-scale industry quiet as it was Sunday. Tompkins Hill Road, farmland at first then alpine landscape, hilly with trees and open meadows. A small road up into the hills. A gravel road in woodland which became grassland, fighting through broom and other shrubs, an outback feel with flooded sections.

Towns: Eureka, an old town with a western movie feel to it, even a saloon with double doors. Fortuna, an old town, period houses with shutters and sash windows. 

Trails: A lovely trail that followed the banks of the Elk River estuary for miles.

State roads: Cathy had her first taste of the 101, which was busy but had a good shoulder. 

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs on toast. Fruit and yogurt with Bonnie’s homemade granola on top which I brought for Cathy as it was so delicious.

Lunch spot: On a hill with views over an alpine landscape, a valley with buttercup meadows and an abandoned farmhouse. 

Dinner, made by Liz: Risotto with prawns for us and cashews for Cathy (it wasn’t very nice though). Fruit. Carrot cake from Crescent City.

Wildlife: Turkey vultures. Pelican line-ups (Cathy’s first sighting). Pure white egrets and herons. A small snake on the road. Cathy saw two deer in the outback. 

Plants: A lot of colourful wildflowers I didn’t recognise including carpets of deep crimson ones near the water. Wild irises and dark-pink jewel flowers. Buttercups. Broom. 

Things we saw: The tide was out and the trails of water across the estuary were sky blue. The estuary was a designated nature reserve but was devoid of nature as far as we could see. The fabulous Redwood Kite Festival in Eureka with fantastic music, hundreds of kites, some in the shape of fish, octopus, a dragon, impressive against the blue sky. Several lumber units with huge quantities of trees stacked up. Gas extraction sites with warning signs about harmful chemicals in the area.

People we spoke to or saw: Exchanged greetings with anyone I saw as we rode through McKinleyville. We had a chat with a man who lived in the hills, with barking dogs. A resident of Fortuna looked at our neon jackets and commented ‘No one’s going to run into you!’

Incidents: I cut Cathy’s book and my book in half with a big knife. We had our first stop and Cathy thought it was lunch so she ate hers before we realised. I got bitten by a monster mosquito. In the outback a shrub trunk got caught in my chain guard and broke a bit off it. Cathy was worried about bears and found the outback creepy. Philip dismantled a barbed wire fence so we could get onto a trail on the other side, then put it back. We emerged scratched, bitten and tired.

Shopping: Ray’s, Fortuna.

Accommodation: A very sweet old house, pretty and weatherboarded, with original kitchen cupboards. Badly stocked though, so annoyingly so we nicknamed it Unfortuna and it has been called that ever since.

Today’s sound: Great music at the kite festival.

Today’s smell: Newly laid tarmac on the bike trail.

Special moments: Cathy was half dancing, half wafting around, she was so excited to be here. As we rode past a basketball hoop down the road she did a mime shot in it (I wouldn’t even have noticed the hoop). I felt joyful and exuberant, so happy to have Cathy with us on the road. The beautiful weather. The kites. Cathy loves her rental bike, a Specialized Tero 3.0. Finding Philip’s pannier clip which came off on the gravel road. Being able to get through the jungle path, and not minding it at all.

Positive experience from my journal: My joy at riding together, the three of us. 

Appreciation from my journal: Making space for Cathy as she joins us. 

Blog comments from my mother, Juliet and Kathy Fraser. Juliet: ‘Love to you all. And welcome to Cathy’. Kathy Fraser: ‘Yay! You rode some of my favourite local rides– the Hammond Trail is a gem, and we can’t wait for the Bay Trail to connect with it for a full day of coastal cruising… Tompkins Hill is another hidden jewel that feels a world away from the 101. Not to mention your earlier visit to Revolution Bikes – we’ve been loyal customers there for decades! You sure did your homework for this trip. Wishing you safety, sunshine and smiles all the way’.

Video: Kite festival (16s + 9s + 10s). Cows (6s + 7s + 23s). Riding through farmland (1m56s). E&P riding past trees (4s). Cathy riding in the outback (13s).

Mementos: Ray’s receipt, Fortuna.

Audio: Voice note to Helen C (7m20)