Day 54 – Gualala Land

This morning was a very cold start. I put another couple of layers on and even pulled out my full-fingered gloves and ear warmers. Never thought I’d be doing that on the California coast. John and I were the last out of the campground and rode together for a couple of miles (including a hard climb out of the park, a precursor for the rest of the days) until I turned off to grab some coffee and WiFi.

The ride today was an up and down fest. While the climbs themselves only ranged from sea level to 250 feet, there were 7 that were at least a mile long and many more that were smaller. The worst one was a 10% average grade with some 12 and 13% sections. Even young folks hated that one.

However, the scenery was, as always, spectacular.

I had two banana wraps and the yogurt for breakfast, eggs and cheese wraps for lunch, and a second lunch of a pasta salad and fig newtons. All needed to avoid bonking. I topped the day off with a cooked pork chop from a local market and a big salad.

We are in a local park/campground in Gualala, CA. Never heard of it either. Nice river nearby, great camphost who let us charge everything at his campsite, free Wi-Fi, and a much better equipped hiker biker site and bath then the CA state parks. Lots of persistent racoons though and we spent a good deal of time chasing them away and securing the food and getting rid of the garbage. One of them had even started to chew through Luke’s tent.

Shorter day tomorrow, but still a lot of up and down climbing along the coast. I used the biofreeze on myself tonight!