by Liz

Day’s mileage : 56

Running total : 1,071

Ascent : 2,125ft

Monday.

And now there are three 🚴‍♀️🚴‍♀️🚴‍♀️ It’s wonderful to have Cathy with us and she’s doing unbelievably well, really hit the ground pedalling.

Today we rode along the Avenue of the Giants, cycling through 32 miles of magnificent redwood forest. The sun shone all day, the sky blue, so that shafts of light filtered through the canopy high above and lit up the ferns on the forest floor. By contrast the redwoods rose up dark and straight, the biggest 21 feet in diameter, 175 feet tall and 3,000 years old. A humbling, beautiful experience. 

Highlights of the day included the quiet of the forest, seeing a hare, two turtles basking on a log, and Philip spotted and photographed a beautiful owl. 

Lowlights were an annoying padlock on a gate this morning making us retrace our steps, and a mosquito bite from yesterday that itched all day. We wanted to have lunch in a chipmunk grove among the redwoods, like we did so happily last Thursday, but it turned out to be more of a mosquito grove. A spectacular setting but a lot of batting and swatting was needed. 

We enjoyed making friends along the way, including Kathy, a kindred spirit and teacher in Miranda town who was commuting home on her bike, and Susan outside Shop Smart in Redway, who does an ace impression of a raven. 

The pelicans we’ve seen on this trip fly in formations of two or more (the most I’ve seen is 17), cruising effortlessly above the waves and looking super cool. Today, as I drew up the rear, it seemed to me that we were riding in a three-pelican line up, weaving in sync around the pieces of wood and bark on the cycleway, linked, synced and cool as any pelican line-up I’ve seen. It felt fun, easy, great. 

This evening we’re in rural Redway, in an old weatherboarded cottage with a kitchen that would have been state of the art in the 1950s. The evening sun is shining, Philip is cooking and we’re regrouping before another 50 mile day tomorrow, when the pelican line-up will set out again.

Additional notes

Fortuna to Redway, Humboldt county, CA

Left at 9.45am. Arrived at 6pm.

Weather: Sunny day with blue sky. Warm and humid in parts. 

Landscape: Fortuna. A track alongside an estuary with buttercup fields on the left. Over the Eel River, beautiful green water. 32 miles through The Avenue of the Giants, impressive from the very start, spectacular trees, sunlight entering the forest through the canopy throwing shafts of light on to the forest floor, lighting up the ferns. Small communities along the way, not affluent at all, in fact the opposite. The Eel River occasionally visible below with forested slopes and mountains beyond. The 101 above the Eel River, the sun still shining. 

Towns: Fortuna. Rio Dell. Crossed the Eagle Prairie Bridge. Scotia where we stopped for a snack outside an adult education building. Miranda. Redway.

Trails: A gravel track outside Fortuna but we had to retrace our steps due to a locked gate. 

State roads: The 101.

Breakfast: Fruit and yogurt with Bonnie’s granola. Toast and waffles. We always divvy up the morning’s tasks – making breakfast, making sandwiches and clearing up – and Cathy got stuck right in, taking turns.

Lunch spot: A mosquito grove among the beautiful redwoods. I brought Cathy’s leftover sandwiches from yesterday for my lunch, as I did every day, a little act of kindness because she minds them and I don’t 

Dinner, made by Philip: Pasta bake.

Wildlife: Two turkey vultures perched on a rooftop in Fortuna, one with its wings open, displaying. A hare. Martins swooping over the Eel River. We thought we heard a woodpecker. Two turtles basking on a log in the Eel River. Philip saw an owl. 

Plants: Redwoods and buttercups. 

Things we saw: A huge tractor supply store – this is a farming community. Cool shop names in Rio Dell like Cutie Pie’s Parlour and Red Eye Tattoo. Rio Dell had a gorgeous mural of townspeople in the 50s. The forest was even more beautiful after Weotts, dappled light and the trees well spaced. A 21-foot diameter tree, 175 feet tall and 3,000 years old, with a natural tunnel running through it. I hugged a redwood. 

People we spoke to or saw: A cyclist loaded up going in the opposite direction. Taffa was waving to everybody! A lady in the adult education centre who gave Cathy advice on today’s ride. Kathy Fraser, a teacher in Miranda, who Cathy rode with and had a long exchange with. Susan outside Shop Smart who did funny bird impressions.

Incidents: Realising as we entered Rio Dell that I’d been reading the Komoot map upside down, strangely it had actually made some sense, but it made more sense once I’d realised. There’s only 4% of the original redwood forest left. Cathy’s period started so we had to find hygienic loos along the way, not easy as many are portaloos. She was brave.

Shopping: Shop Smart, Redway.

Accommodation: A very sweet cottage, once owned by Lea (the owner’s) mother who lived to 100, with her artworks on every wall.

Today’s sound: Strange bird sounds behind the house at Redway (it wasn’t Susan).

Today’s smell: Pine scent in the redwood forest.

Special moments: Cruising along the shoulder of the 101 in a pelican line-up, linked, synced and weaving around the wood and bark fly-offs, fun, enjoyable and cool. The stretches of the 101 were safe today. Cathy loving the redwoods so much. Carrying Philip’s liquorice for him.

Positive experience from my journal: Managing 56 miles without any real trouble. 

Appreciation from my journal: Writing the blog without much notice as Cathy had thought she might write it but didn’t feel up to it.

Blog comments from Kathy Fraser, Hugh and my mother. Kathy: ‘It made my day to meet you all – we get a lot of cyclists through Miranda, but few take the time to chat. If you hadn’t already booked accommodations, we’d have loved to host you up here on the mountain. Every summer, cyclists like you folks from around the world roll down the Avenue of the Giants and inspire me to travel by bike! It’s such a wonderful way to experience a place. So proud of you all for doing it’. Hugh: ‘I am enjoying your journey, vicariously, very much. Your blogs bring the days to life – thank you. What an inspirational trip!’

Video: Philip and Cathy cycling through redwoods (9s + 2m39s + 13s). Redwood Forest (15s + 8s). Liz and Cathy cycling in redwood forest (39s). Cathy eating on a redwood (9s). Liz and Philip eating in redwood grove (11s). Redwood lunch spot (17s). Liz and Philip riding in redwoods (1m1s). Philip riding through redwoods (41s). Philip and Cathy riding through redwoods (46s). Liz and Cathy riding in redwoods (40s). Cathy in redwood tunnel (7s). Liz in redwood tunnel (10s). 

Mementos: Ray’s receipt, Fortuna. Shop Smart receipt, Redway. Humboldt Redwoods State Park brochure. Avenue of the Giants auto tour leaflet. Avenue of the Giants travel guide and map.

Audio: Voice note to Helen C (10m30).