Don’t miss: Pacific Coast Bike Tour Day 20: Eureka to Avenue of the Giants
Our day off in Burlington Campground was quite boring to say the least. We hung around and napped on and off throughout the day out of boredom. We thought about exploring the area but my knee wasn’t feeling too strong. I knew I would have to have one of these days at some point where I do absolutely nothing in order to make my knee feel a little better in the long run.
Other than heading into town with our buddy mike for an hour, we pretty much lounged around, checked out the visitors center and called it an early night.
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Burlington to Standish Hickey State Recreation Area
After a boring day off, we were more than ready to hit the road the following morning.
We packed up our gear, banged a left out of the campground and continued riding down the Avenue of Giants for another few miles before meeting up with highway 101.
On the way we found this incredible tree lying on the side of the road…
As soon as we turned around to the base of the tree we found this amazing hole in the bottom of it. There was no way we were leaving without a photo of this one!
The best part about today was that my knee felt great and I felt like I had most of my power back. The only thing that could go wrong now is a flat tire, and of course, that’s exactly what happened. I ended up getting two flats in just four miles. Since I’m new to this whole bicycle repair thing, it wasn’t until later on that I realized it was actually my rim that was causing the flats.
I spent some time on the side of Route 101 trying to figure out how I would get my bike to the nearest bike shop. Will pedaled on to the next town to scope out some shops but there was nothing nearby. A swiss couple who were touring from Miami to Vancouver, BC stopped and we chatted for a while. I patched up my tube and hit the road yet again. I rolled into Garberville, CA to find Will and I have to say it was the weirdest town I’ve ever been to hands down. Everyone there seemed as if they were high on all sorts of drugs. From bands playing on the side of the street to the gas station attendant with missing teeth, everyone was really spaced out.
After roaming around a bit, we hit the streets again and passed by the famous grandfather tree and the one log house. Both were complete tourist traps and like most touristy places they weren’t worth checking out. What I loved most about today’s ride was the groves of Redwoods that we rode through along the way.
Our last stop of the day was at the Standish Hickey State Recreation Area campground in Leggett, CA. We had dinner over at The Peg House, a great restaurant right across the street from Standish Hickey campground which is in danger of closing if the state of California continues to close down more and more campgrounds across the state. Save California’s parks and save The Peg House!
Today’s Mileage: 44 mi
I stumbled across your blog today – I can’t even remember how now – and have spent the last 90-minutes reading every entry from your bike trip. Sounds like you and Will are having a great journey. Good luck for the rest of it. I’ll be following along!
It’s okay, you don’t have to remember where you found me. All that matters is that you’re here and you’re leaving a comment. ;) Thanks so much and be sure to keep in touch!
I took my little brother on a road trip from Orange County to Crescent City/Redwoods a couple of years ago and it was quite a journey. From Seattle to San Diego by bike? You are a machine, Ryan. Congrats congrats congrats!
Sounds like quite the road trip for a brother and sister. Isn’t the scenery amazing? Thanks for the support Larissa, it’s greatly appreciated.