Eureka!

We've found it!  A tailwind!

Current Location: Hidden Springs Campground (Humboldt Redwoods State Park)
Daily Mileage: 86.33 mi
Daily Climb: 7936'

Patricks Point SP to Hidden Springs CGShare your bike routes @ Bikely.com

Total Mileage: 543.74
Total Climb: 54172'

I can't begin to explain how much easier it is to ride with the wind at your back.  Yesterday felt like one of the easiest days that we've had, yet it was our third longest ride and fourth highest climb, in a much shorter riding time.  It has set us up nicely for a short day today in order to rest up for the BIG CLIMB over Legget Hill tomorrow.

Now that we're a week in to our trip, I thought I'd share some thoughts on the things I've brought along.

My top five "could not do without" items, in rough order of importance:

1.  Wool - Wool everything: jersey, underwear, bike shorts, socks, etc.  Wool is the most amazing thing to take on tour.  It keeps you warm, but doesn't overheat.  It absorbs sweat but somehow doesn't stink.  It's also lightweight enough to pack, and dries superfast, which is handy in wet conditions.

2.  Arm warmers (also wool) - I was pretty down on these things before the tour started.  They just seemed silly to me, but everything I read said to bring them, and I'm very glad I did.  Your body temperature changes constantly as you cross different terrain, sun / shade, climb / descent, up / down wind etc, and taking a jacket on and off is a heavyweight process when it's buried in your pannier.  Arm warmers are the perfect solution for keeping a comfortable temperature, plus they double as a sweat band.  

3.  Mirror - I probably check the mirror at least one a minute, mostly to make sure the car approaching me is not going to hit me.  Would have a huge neck-ache without one, plus it's a lot dicier to crane your head around while riding down rough road.

4. Cargo Net - Has given me tons of flexibility in my packing arrangements.  Has also been useful to hang stuff out to dry while riding, as well as accommodating a large grocery load (or ice chest full of beer) at the end of the day.  

5.  Camp Chair - So nice to be able to relax in a reclined position at the end of the day after being hunched on the bike for ten hours.  It is super lightweight and also let's me get close to the fire if I need to warm up or cook.

Things I brought which next time I would leave at home:

 - Backpack - Never worth the time to transfer everything I want from my handlebar bag over to a backpack.  Plus we haven't done any real extended trips off the bikes.

 - 3rd set of clothes - Just not necessary when wool is so easy to wash / dry and smell resistant.

 - French press - Can't compete with the convenience of the starbucks instant.

 - Books / kindle - Haven't had time to open anything other than the tourbook and maps.

 - Rain pants - Would not wear while riding, and would be in the tent in camp if it was pouring.

 - Camping / hiking water bottle - Unused since I already have the two bike water bottles.

 - Bike Jacket - My rain shell does a fine job of breaking the wind, and my arm warmers are more than enough insulation.

However, for our first time touring I think we've done a pretty good job of brining along what we need, without making the load overly burdensome.  

I also need to give my brother a big shout out for being a great traveling companion.  Not only has he been super helpful watching out for me, making sure my stuff was out of the rain, or that I remembered to put my covers on, but he's been as easygoing as could be with my neurotic self trying to over-organize everything.  Sometimes I forget what a great guy he is.

So about yesterday...

We did a better job breaking camp and getting on the road quickly.  Our tent was super wet with dew, so I packed it on the outside of the bags this time hoping it would dry out in the sun.

Our plan as to have a quick breakfast then stop in Arcata for brunch.  The road out of Patricks Point along the coast was pretty hilly with questionable conditions.

Again however, crap roads seem to lead to great views.  Here is the bend right before Trinidad.

We briefly rejoined the 101, which has now become a full on highway.

Two guys the night before had recommended we take the Hammond Trail into Arcata, which ran parallel to 101.  It was nice, but it started as a horse/mountain bike trail.

Some brief background on these two.  They biked in all loaded up, and we were exchanging info on weather and touring recipes.  Then it turned out they were just down the road from Eureka, and had driven up to the campsite with their bikes.  They parked near the gate and road in since it's $5 for hiker/biker campers.  Pretty funny stuff.

The trial opened up into farmland before the Mad River and Arcata.

Arcata, home to Humboldt State, had a nice little downtown.

We stopped for brunch (at the recommendation of the aforementioned pair) at a place called Luke's Joint.  I had something, again on a recommendation, called the Dirty-Bomb-B-Q.

It was a huge pile of pork smothered in BBQ sauce.  I was worried I wouldn't be able to ride after, but right after Eureka we caught a strong tailwind.

Miles flew by; it felt like it blew us right up the hill back into the forest.  The route detours onto the aptly name Avenue of the Giants.

It's really an amazing cruising along and looking up at these ancient 300' trees.  You see tons that had to be cut to make way for the road.

One sight along the route is the Immortal Tree.

Apparently it's withstood all sorts of attempts at its life, but is still standing.  For some reason this camp sign looked strange to me.

Take a closer look at the sign behind it.

The road bends back and forth along the Eel river.

The color of the water looked really cool.

Just before camp, in Myers Flat, we couldn't resist the $3 for the drive through tree.

I don't know that anything bigger than a smart car would fit through there, but I guess most cars must.

While buying groceries was ran into the fixie rider from the night before.  Even more impressive he was able to cover that much ground.  We ended up sharing a campsite with him (Sterling from Bend), very nice guy.

Both of us felt great despite the long distance and formidable elevation gain.  It could be that our bodies are just getting used to pumping out that many miles, or the scenery is just so distracting we don't notice how far we've gone.  But that tailwind sure does make life nice.