Day 9, Eureka, CA to Garberville, CA.  79 miles and 3130 feet of climbing.  Oh baby, what a glorious day it was.  For the first time on this ride we awoke to sunny skies!  No fog, no drizzle just sunshine streaming down on us.  It was 60 degreess in the a.m. and by the end of the day it was pushing 80.  Oh, and the added delight was a tail wind.  First third of the day was spent in cattle country.  Cows, cows, cows wherever you looked.  But before I know it I saw the exit for "Avenue of The Giants" and from that point on we were in the Redwoods.  It was a very special day!!

 

 

This is a pic of a very large lumber yard/saw mill.  It covered a mile of frontage along the highway 101.

 

After drinking my Espresso I met a couple who were riding their bikes together down the coast.  Earlier in the day I had been reflecting on how lucky I am.  After meeting these two I decided that he was luckier than me because he had his wife with him.  It reminded me of how much I miss Leisa and how I wished that she were here experiencing all of this with me.  I became depressed and lost my desire to push on.  Somehow I rallied enough strength to drag myself back into the coffee shop and order another double shot.  I downed it and headed on down the road!!

 

 

Spent all day on the Avenue of the Giants.  It was spectacular!!

 

After awhile all of the trees look familiar and I would swear that I had seen them before.

 

There was a section of old "downed" Redwoods.  It looked like a graveyard.  This is the root ball of one of the trees.

 

Me in front of the root ball

 

An ants view looking up.

 

Avenue of the Giants paralleled the Eel River.

 

Me riding thru a Redwood.  This is the tree that everyone gets photographed riding their cars thru.  Costs me $3 and it wasn't til after I paid that I figured out the tree was dead and held up with cables.

 

Another ants view.

 

I went looking for some Dukes but did not find any.

 

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