Blog

7-12 August 2021

We spent two nights at the Olema Campground. A nice place where we could have hot showers and pick wild blackberries from across the road. But it turns out, it is one of the most expensive camp grounds on the West Coast. Fortunately, even though we are low budget we can afford to spend some money when we have to.

The blackberries were delicious. I took our camping bowl and filled it with big, black and sweet berries. They grow wild along the hedgerows and we had stopped for a snack but never been to collect this many. A real treat, we had them in the afternoon with ice cream from the camp shop. Was the ice cream better or the berries? Was it berries served with ice cream or ice cream served with berries? Either way it’s a real blessing to be able to enjoy them.

After Olema we continued our journey North up the West coast. Our first stop was for breakfast at Bovine Bakery at Point Reyes Station. The bakery must be famous, it was marked on our map and there was a lot of people there at the little serving window where you place and pick up your order. Quite a few people were interested seeing Jonny Blessing fully loaded and asked us about where we were going.

One very interesting and helpful person was RIck Gunn. His website is rickgunn.org

He has helped us a lot already. He has ridden this route many times and he easily suggested where we could stay for the nights along the route. Thank you so much Rick for your help!

Our first stop was Bodega Bay as Rick suggested. A nice campground with $5 hiker/biker sites. These sites need no booking and are a lot cheaper than the regular car/RV sites. Because you don’t need to book they are supposed to not get full and the idea is that if you have hiked or biked in then they won’t turn you away. For a hiker/biker that’s so important as the next place may be ten miles away and it is not always possible to make it before dark.

In the morning at Bodega Bay we had what has been voted the best Chowder on the Coast. A long line for it but it was worth it. Very creamy and tasty and full of goodness from the sea. At the same place we bought a lovely piece of salmon. Freshly caught that morning they packed it in ice for us and we took it away looking forward to having salmon sashimi for dinner!

Memories of a previous camping trip with friends in New Zealand. That time we had the whole salmon and and managed to finish it all. Fried the skin and bones and had them crispy, the flesh we had saahimi style, with wasabi and soy sauce.

We decided to take a short day after Bodega Bay. Rick told us about a big hill climb after passing Jenner and at the top there was a chance we could wild camp on the cliff side. If not we could carry on to a place called Salt Point.

We decided to wild camp at the cliff spot. Who could miss it?

Before the town of Jenner we stopped at Russian House #1. Not a restaurant, it is more of a community center. They have courses and lessons there. But for us we went for the food. No prices just give whatever you feel is fair. We have Russian Bortsch and Beef Goulash. With bread and I couldn’t resist the offer of a beer as well! Our first time to have a beer during the day with still some riding to go. Hungry Cyclists, I was happy as I loaded up my dish with Goulash and picked out several big chunks of the meat. Good for my legs.

The Russian House is now facing some problems as they need to find a new place to locate to. I hope they can find a good place and continue the good work they are doing.

From the window of the Russian House you can see the Russian River and beyond that the road that climbs up and up to one of the highest points on this part of our route. But well fed and knowing that we would camp when we reached the top we slowly made our way up. It’s hard to climb a tandem bike. For us it’s tricky to standup and pedal so most of the time we are sitting. And with our camping gear and other stuff we are fully loaded. But I’m proud to say that we have ridden up all the hills we have faced. No pushing. Lot and lots of stops and mini breaks. But we don’t stop for long and we encourage each other as we climb, rest, climb, rest and climb, climb, climb some more.

Up at the Sonoma Coast Vista Point we would camp. There are views here of the cliffs and the Pacific Ocean below. But for us we saw only the fog and low clouds. Our hidden campsite there was nice and comfortable, we even had a picnic table. With the low clouds I felt confident that nobody was going to be parking their cars and walking the mile long trail to see the fog. We could rest and sleep without being disturbed.

We had our salmon on bread buns with lettuce. Very fresh and tasty. I was afraid that the night would be could exposed up there and windy, but as it turns out it was not so cold and we stayed warm and comfortable in our little tent.

After our short day to the Vista Point we had a longer day to reach the next point on Rick’s list. We skipped Salt Point and made the 32 mile ride to Gualala. For this kind of terrain and early on our still not trained legs, 32 miles is a good ride and we made it just after 6pm  with a couple of hours of daylight to setup camp and cook dinner.

We are camping at the Gualala Point Regional Park Campground. It’s a lovely wooded campground filled with redwood trees and other tall beautiful and old trees. We met another avid cycle tourist there, Javier aka hungryguyonabicycle who gave us lots of useful tips and advice. One tip for wild camping was to pee all around your camp site. This helps to keep the bears and other animals away as they can catch the human scent and will avoid it. I have no idea if it helps but I’m willing to give it a try!

Javier also shared some wisdom with us. Take your time. Enjoy the ride. The goal is one that we have set for ourselves and it’s not real. If we don’t reach all 48 state capitals it doesn’t matter. We can come and do the rest another time. Or just stop when we find a place that calls to us and makes us feel like we don’t want to leave. It is good advice. I don’t want to linger long on the thought of not completing the full journey, but if we do need to take a break or change and do something different there is no fear in that and no shame. Just more of life experiences that we have been able to take part in, enjoy and live in the moment.

Writing this on the US Pacific Coast. I can hear the waves crashing, the birds are flying overhead and the sun is shining down on me. Happiness is here.