Patrick's Point

C2C4K CA.9.406

Eureka to Patrick’s Point

I got up early again this morning to do some work. 6 am turned into 7 am, which turned into 8 am, then 9, then right before 10, Erik and Ryan made their way into the complimentary breakfast.   It was close to 12 by the time we left Eureka.

I don’t love biking through the larger towns/ cities.  Especially given the traffic and lack of bike lanes. It might be worse than biking on the freeways, but I guess at least the cars aren’t screaming by at 70 mph.  Which brings up another tidbit, on ramps/ off ramps, navigating those at speed definitely takes a team, and Ryan, Erik and I have a pretty good system at this point.

The ride went fast at first, but slowed down once we got off the 101.  We were definitely lagging today and by the time we got to Trinidad on the coast we seemed beat.  The problem was we were only 30 miles in.  So after about an hour of debating we headed another 6 miles north and stayed at Patrick’s Point.  This ended up being a great decision as the state park there is spectacular and there were plenty of bikers staying.   As usual we made friends with them and below is a picture of Frank, Erik and Dave from right to left.  Frank was riding a “borrowed” road bike and had only a blanket, talk about roughing it.

I took about an hour and a half to go hiking on my own and take some photos.  It was a good time to reflect on the last week and the trip so far.

We’ve gone over 400 miles at this point and are probably about 1/12th of the way through the trip.  While it’s only a short amount, I’ve already feel like I’ve settled into this “style of life”.   We’ve had some hiccups, but for the most part, it’s felt great to remove so much from my life.  To reflect on life and to just breathe.  Breathe and peddle.  To meet new people every day and to take in so much country.  So many little towns, so many people, picking up tidbits of their lives. At the same time maybe it’s so enjoyable because at some point there is an end to it, it’s not all I have.  It’s an experience with a specific end, where I can move onto the next chapter afterwards knowing that I’ve accomplished what I set out to do.