Astoria to San Francisco

This week’s episode of Eric’s Adventure is brought to you by chocolate milk and the letter F.

Days 10 - 13

Finally, 2 whole days of sunshine! I left Steve’s in Astoria and rode to Garibaldi, where I found a beautiful stealthy camping spot on the ocean behind an enormous pile of oyster shells. The next day I made it to Lincoln City, despite getting lost and accidentally climbing Point Lookout twice. I spent too much time watching the sunset and was forced to set up camp in the dark, in the middle of a town whose size I underestimated. Turns out my super stealthy spot was right behind the grocery store.

I woke up feeling like garbage but fortunately I only needed to go about 20 miles to the Newport bike shop, where I had ordered a new cassette for my bike. My right knee was getting sore, to the point where I pushed my bike the last couple miles into town. Upon arrival at the bike shop I discovered that they were closed for Easter so I went to the state park campground a mile away for the night. I returned to the bike shop (which had showers and laundry and beer!) and ended up spending the whole day there while it rained relentlessly. I made friends with the woman who cleaned the shop and she invited me to stay at her apartment across the street. After an hour in her apartment I began to doubt my decision (and her sanity) so I headed back to the campground I was at the night before.

Day 14 & 15

I was hoping my knee would feel better after a day off but 10 miles out of town it was worse than ever. I made it to the lovely village of Waldport in the morning and began to contemplate my fate. I needed another day off but I was nowhere near a campground and the forecast called for some serious rain. Fortunately an ex-homeless man saw me loitering around town and directed me to the bridge he used to sleep under. I set up camp and spent the next day being the weirdo manically stretching in the public library.

Days 16 - 19

The knee gods answered my prayers and I left Waldport feeling much better. I stocked up on chocolate milk in Florence then headed off to Honeyman State Park for the night. The next day I ran into Anne, a cyclist from Germany, at the grocery store and we agreed to ride together. We stayed at a Koa campground on the edge of some sand dunes, where we were delighted to listen to motorcycle noises at all hours of the night. The next day we rode through Coo’s Bay and most of the way into Bandon.

Anne got a call from a Warmshowers host inviting us to a party, promising pizza and beer. We couldn’t resist free calories so we rode off to what would be one of the strangest and most enjoyable encounters of the trip thus far. We arrived on a beautiful acreage overlooking a coastal marsh to meet Brian, his wife, and 2 young kids. Typically Warmshowers hosts are cyclists themselves, but we learned that despite hosting over 800 cyclists over 10 years, neither Brian nor his wife were cyclists. Brian had a really strange sense of humor and if it wasn’t for the 2 kids I would have been suspicious we were about to be murdered. We climbed into the bed of his pickup truck and drove off to the party. We arrived to find a professional pizza oven, 2 kegs of beer, and some of the most interesting and eclectic people I’ve ever met. Also, at one point we pulled some placenta out of a sheep. All in all, a good night. Full of pizza, Anne and I slept in Brian’s living room and then parted ways as she had booked a room in Bandon for the night and I wanted to continue on while the weather was tolerable. I rode a short, moderately wet day to Humbug State Park, where I set up my tent under a deserted gazebo, anticipating a big storm that night. Turns out the concrete floor of the gazebo was a poor choice because my tent was blowing all over the place and everything got soaked anyway. I didn’t sleep much that night.

Day 20 - 22

I rode in the pouring rain all day from Humbug to Brookings, where I stayed at the state park located on the edge of town. There were some nice views but the nearly constant rain over the last 3 weeks was starting to bring me down. The following day I made the decision to make the short ride into Crescent City, despite a nasty headwind and heavy rain that showed no sign of stopping. The weather was horrendous and the Welcome to California sign wasn’t nearly as exciting as I thought it would be but I was enticed by the promise of a church that hosted cyclists. The church in Crescent City was dry and warm and glorious and I made a feast fit for a king (the type of king who really likes frozen pizza and whole boxes of Reese’s Puffs). I took the next day off and spent the morning sucking down coffee and watching it rain. In the afternoon Anne, and another German cyclist, Timo, arrived at the church and we walked to the pier and got fish and chips.

Day 22 - 24

We were shocked to see that the next 10 days were forecasted to be sunny! The next 2 days Timo, Ann, and I rode slowly through the Northern-most redwoods into Eureka, where we stayed in a cyclist named David’s back yard. Travis, a cop from Texas, bought us all pizza and beer that night. At this point Timo and I parted ways with Anne.

Day 25 - 28

Timo wanted to be in San Francisco by May 3rd so we stepped up the mileage per day. The first day we rode from Eureka to Burlington campground, right in the center of Avenue of the Giants. Camping right next to 1000+ year old trees was a treat. The next day we rode a monster climb through Legett back to the coast where we stayed right on the water, near Westport. I’m not sure if it was just the contrast from the weather in Oregon, but the California coast seemed otherworldly beautiful. My photos don’t do it justice. I was also surprised by how remote the Northern California coast is. There were no significant towns or cell reception for hundreds of miles. From Westport we rode to a campground near Jenner, which was definitely the highlight of the trip scenery wise. The cloudless blue skies probably helped.

Day 29 - Day of the Dumbass

We left the campground before 7 in anticipation of reaching San Francisco that day. We had nearly 70 hilly miles to cover and we really wanted to see the bridge in the daylight. We made a wrong turn just after Bodega Bay and accidentally rerouted through the rolling green hills to Petaluma instead of staying along the coast. Exhausted but thankful for Google maps and ample cycling lanes, we rode uneventfully through the city between Petaluma and San Rafael until disaster struck.

About 15 miles from San Francisco I mistook a stop line for a crosswalk and the front end of my bike was forcefully introduced to a car. It was my fault but fortunately the only damage was a bent front wheel. I was a little shaken up but thankful that I wasn’t injured and my bike still kind of rolled. At least I would be able to get my bike fixed and sleep in a real bed in San Francisco that night, right? WRONG. While loosening my brake calipers I stuck my finger into a spinning disc rotor and nearly took the end of my finger off. 4 hours, 5 stitches and a monster hospital bill later, Timo and I were sleeping on Steve from Warmshowers’ floor in San Rafael. It goes without saying that I felt really stupid. Huge shout out to Timo for accompanying me to the hospital.

Day 30 - 32

We finally arrived in San Francisco! I was in a pretty foul mood and the fog and pesky tourists all over the bridge didn’t help much. I’m taking a few days off here before continuing down the coast.