Day 11, Fort Bragg, CA to Cloverdale, CA.  75 miles and 6600 feet of climbing.  Wowzer, it just keeps getting better.  Another sunny California day.  58 degrees when we left the motel and a toasty 85 degrees when we got do Cloverdale.  Left Fort Bragg on Highway 1 and hugged the coastline for 20 miles.  Got onto Route 128, spent some time with the Redwoods and soon entered wine country.  The terrain changed dramatically from old maritime forest to rolling hills and mountains.  The vineyards and wineries were quite a site and it was extremely difficult to pass up all of those tasting rooms  along the way.  Somehow it just did not feel right to pedal on by but that is what I had to do. The climbing was intense (our biggest day of the tour) and was made even more challenging by logging trucks that were on the road.  Thankfully the roads had recently been paved and we had some semblance of a bike lane to ride in.  Ate dinner tonite at a brew pub.  Any restaurant that has those two words in its name are usually a hit and this one was.  After we had eaten, the manager offered everyone a piece of pie on the house.  I had one of the best pieces of apple pie I have ever eaten.  Right now I am worried that I will still be too full to ride in the a.m..  However I must confess that many evenings I have that fear and by 3 a.m. or so I am relieve to be awoken by hunger pains.  Which reminds me of a story.  A few days before I left home for this ride I ran into a person and was telling them that I was going to do this ride.  They said, "Wow, I could never ride that far, my butt is too big."  To which I responded, "Well if I didn't ride my butt would be too big too."  I love riding and it allows me to pursue one of my other pleasures i.e. eating!  Life, it is all about balance!

 

I am a sucker when it comes to sea views

 

Day 11 Espresso.  I got off of Hwy 101 and rode into the town ofMendicino.  As I was walking up to this shop two guys appearing to be stuck in the "60's" got into a VW microbus that was painted in psychedelic colors and announced that they were off to find a Grateful Dead Concert!

 

More ocean/beach

 

Back in the Redwoods.

 

This is an "ant view" of 10 Redwood trees.  They are so close that they are growing out of and share the same root ball.  As I was riding away from this spot it struck me that the 10 trees represented the members of our immediate family.  All of them are unique individuals who stand tall, reach to their sky, and are anchored in the same root ball of love.  That thought made me grin and sprint up a steep climb.  It also made me miss all of you!!

 

 

 

Nope this is not another Espresso shop.  It is a fruit market where I had one of the best glasses of apple cider I have had since back in the day when Speckins made their own!  This spot also represents the half way point of our trip.  I have seen so much and have had such a great time that it is hard to believe it is only half over.

 

 

As we climbed higher, drought conditions were very evident.  It is dry out here!!

 

 

The first of many vineyards, wineries and tasting rooms.

 

Vineyards and mountains.

 

Yep, we are in wine country!