80k and +1100m climbing 

Legs were feeling it today, despite the elevation total coming from lots of ups and down. More and more spectacular coastal scenery that is impossible to capture adequately on camera. Part of that is because there was literally nowhere to pull off  the road. In parts the other side of the fog line was a sheer drop at least 50 metres to the water. (I did a bit of freaking the hell out about that!)

Fast descents into gullies (or ‘gulches’ as they appear to be called here), then a slow climb back up.  As it turns out, we actually did today what is apparently the steepest gradient on the whole of the Pacific Coast route.  We had heard about it, but couldn’t remember where it was. As we were slugging up these couple of ridiculously steep pinches, I was hoping that this indeed might be That Climb, because I really, really didn’t want to even think about handling anything steeper.  Turns out a few people walk it, but Marc Does Not Like To Walk and will pull power out of nowhere to achieve that aim. Also our new tandem is (deliberately) lower geared just for these kind of situations. (At the expense of the bigger ring where we now coast where we would have still been cranking it down a hill on the Santana).   I honestly don’t know that I could have done it on my own – not being known for my hill-climbing.

Yesterday and today we’ve seen lots of stands of Eucalypts. I’m not sure why, but you could smell them, moreso than I’ve ever noticed at home.  Or am I just ever so slightly nostalgic/homesick and more attuned to the scents of home. (Yesterday I googled Eucalypts in California, and it’s an interesting history as to how they came to be popular here (will come back later and expand on that).

Right now we’re in an Inn in Gualala (silent ‘g’), and will have a rest day here tomorrow,thank goodness.

Upload photos time, then collect the washing which I was able to put on in their commercial machine). Then foooood.

​
Seeing a few of these signs. Signs of the current times, and the vibe of the locale we are in.

​

​

​

​​

​

​

​

​

​

​

If we’d known at the beginning of our trip that we’d be seeing all these ‘World Famous’ claims, we’d have been taking photos of each one.  Like the World Famous Hot Dogs back up in Langlois. You’ve heard of them, right? And the World Famous Point Arena General Store for its Sandwiches and Pizza! Of course you have!!

​

​