We started off our day with Kathy’s wraps and Dicks oatmeal mix. These came essential to providing us with enough energy to get us through the Fortuna hill in the morning. Thanks Dick and Kathy! Before heading on route, Dick gave us a grand tour and tutorial of his bee keeping setup. Although frightened at first, once we Saw Dick walk right up to the stacks of bee boxes and pull out sheets of honey comb, we gathered around closely and watched as the scout bees shot themselves out from the entry and exit point and make their way back after investigating the nearby nectar. This was truly a neat experience.

We played a little bit of dodge Highway 101 today, taking county roads between cities. Our largest climb of the day was ‘only’ about 200m of ascent, but since we were on a county road, the grade exceeded the typical highway allowance and at some points were fighting a 15% grade. Just as a reference point, there are usually warning signs for descents of 6% grades. To be honest, the climb was tired and challenging, but the most difficult part was probably squeezing our breaks for almost the entire duration down the descent to avoid speeding around sharp bends or into pot holes.

We made our way past the next few towns around the 101 and into the Avenue of the Giants. Our legs may have gotten some girth to them since starting this trip, but we cannot even describe how large these redwood trees are other than sharing some photos.

We have made it inland to Redway since Highway 101 and Highway 1 (which we will connect with tomorrow) sort of give up hope along the coast line due to fallen rocks and poor conditions. We did however have some nice riverside views from the highway as we approached Redway.

Our hosts tonight were a part of the reason why the Redwoods still exist today, as members of the movement that bought acres and acres of lands with settlement agreements to protect from logging. These are our first hosts outside of Warmshowers, and we couldn’t have asked for a nicer couple to meet through a mutual friend of theirs we connected with on Couchsurfing. We’ve truly hit a stretch of good luck when it comes down to hosts as well as their route recommendations along the way.

Tomorrow will be our largest ascent of the trip, 573m in one climb. Yes, this is taller than the CN tower. Yes, this will be painful, but as we have been told several times during this trip, it will be possible, and once we reach the Pacific on the other side of the climb it will be worth every minute of the pain and grind. We will attempt to confirm this theory tomorrow.

Count:

Bars devoured – 27

Bananas chomped – 26

Peanut butter wraps – 16

Arizona iced tea drained – 8.5L

Warmshower hosts – 10

Total ascent – 11,800m

Calories burned – 48,000

Total distance – 1330km

Today was our earliest start time so far, and with about 1500m of climbing and 135km ahead of us, we headed out of town by 7am. Sammy was locked and loaded with his jersey full of bananas and bars.

Late last night, we decided to tackle an additional 10km or so to see some of the tallest trees in the world at Jedidiah Smith Redwoods. What we didn’t know was that it would include an 11% grade for over a kilometre, but we managed! Within our minimal time at Jedidiah, we were blown away with 2000+ year old trees.

With over 365 metres of climbing just south of Crescent City, we decided to make our way out of Jedediah and sweat our way up hill with more than 25 minutes of climbing. We were treated with a nice California coast view on the bottom of the descent before another large climb into the Redwoods Creek Park.

Although most of our days have had their fair share of tailwinds, today we hit a harsh westerly crosswind which blew us side to side as we crossed bridges and open fields. Highway 101 has also been pretty kind to us so far, but we’ve now hit the Freeway portion of the highway with 65 mpr speed limit. Although it’s still legal to cycle on, we’re avoiding the Freeway whenever our route allows us to.

We’re with Dick and Kathy tonight, a really kind Warmshowers couple just east of Eureka. We’re sharing space with another Warmshower guest, Matt from the Netherlands. He’s a really neat guy who started cycling in Portland and will make it down to Vegas before cycling back towards Utah.

Tomorrow we head inland towards Garberville, meaning we have one more day before the legend itself, the Leggett climb. We will pass by the Avenue of the Giants, so expect some more tree photos.

Count:

Bars devoured – 25

Bananas chomped – 25

Peanut butter wraps – 14

Arizona iced tea – 7.7L

Warmshower hosts – 9

Total ascent – 10800m

Calories burned – 43,900

Total distance – 1210km

With ‘only’ about 90km on our plates today, we decided to sleep in and mosey around a bit more than usual. Our big climb of the day was about 5km into the route, with almost 250m of climbing followed by a sharp descent. We bundled up around four other touring cyclists, one of which carrying his dog behind him in a basket trailer, but we did not stick around with them long enough to hear about their stories or destinations. Once we hit the bottom of the descent, we took one last glance of the Oregon Coast and also passed the 1000km mark!

We took a lunch stop in Brookings, the most southern town along the Oregon Coast. A number of locals have continued to congratulate us on the Raptors championship win once they noticed the Canadian flag on our pannier, and although we’re thousands of kilometres from Toronto, it’s nice to feel like Canadian sport tram representatives in some shape or form.

As we approached the California border, we couldn’t help but think we’ve come a long way since BC. At the same time, we still have another 11 days of cycling after today, all of which are now in California with some intense climbing days. Once we passed the state line, we mostly cycled through flats for the remainder of the day. Today was one of shorter and flatter days on our trip, which is also a quick reminder that we will need to make up the distance and elevation gain on some upcoming days.

We got into town by 3:30 and stopped by the Starbucks for wifi and some calorie replenishment. In Crescent City, Sammy made the decision to ship a bunch of his duplicate clothing and rain gear to one of our last stops in California, so hopefully we’re in the clear for rain (don’t worry, we checked each town and all we see in the next 10 days is sun and heat). No excuses up the big climbs now, right?

We arrived at our Warmshower accommodation for the night, St. Paul’s church, which will be our first time staying at a church overnight. The host, Katie, is super sweet and took us on a tour of our kitchen/room for the night and sat us down to go over maps for our upcoming days into the Redwoods National Park area. She has three rules for Warmshower guests:

1. Return the key
2. Sign the Warmshower book
3. Give her a hug

It’s pretty safe to say we’re in good hands tonight.

Tomorrow starts the serious climbing for our trip. With over 135km of cycling and 1400m of climbing, we’re planning to start off extra early and avoid some of the afternoon blistering sun. To start off our day, we will ascending 365m…another ‘training’ hill perhaps?

We may also see the tallest trees in the world in the Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, and if we do, it’ll become more of a 150km and 1600m climbing sort of day. Considering we may not make it out to California again for quite some time, we’re leaning on an extra early start and lengthening our day. Only time will tell.

Count:

Bars devoured – 21

Bananas chomped – 22

Peanut butter wraps – 12

Warmshower hosts – 8

Total ascent – 9250m

Total calories burned – 38900

Total distance – 1077km

Max speed – 78.7 kpr (Jordan)

Since the top outdoorsy attraction near Coos Bay is their state parks, we planned our off day around renting a car and hiking. We first stopped by one of the highly rated brunch spots, So It Goes, where a local overheard about our travels and shedded some local knowledge on the Gold and Silver Falls which are within an hour from Coos Bay. We both loved the idea, and as we scarfed down our morning burritos and heading out from the cafe, we couldn’t help but notice advertisements for the upcoming play being held at the cafe later this month.

Enterprise was just around the block, and as we walked to the front steps we noticed office hours do not run on weekends in Coos Bay. Our fun plans were potentially foiled. We then proceeded to look for alternatives at the nearby Tourist Information Centre and found out that the North Bend airport (8km away) also has an Enterprise and Hertz, both of which are open on weekends. We knew that would require one of us to ride against the strong winds for 8km to see whether there were any rentals, so since I have the slightly lighter bike, I was the lucky volunteer. Let’s just say we’re very fortunate we are not cycling north for this Pacific Coast tour. The 8km trek alone was miserable and extremely challenging. Once I finally arrived, there were no vehicles available. Our fun plans were looking even more likely to be foiled. I was just about to leave when the Hertz representative poked her head out from the desk and mentioned there was a late cancellation and that we will have a van for the day!

When I arrived to pick up Sammy from the Information Centre, he had already become a local expert on the big Storm of 1962! We headed out of town, but first made a quick stop at Dutch Brothers, one of those Espresso Drive-Thrus we have often noticed along Oregan. Once we ordered, we had mentioned it was our first time at Dutch Brothers, and to our surprise, all first customers get free drinks! This was turning out to be our lucky day.

We then finally made our way through the windy road with hairpin turn after hairpin turn, and arrived at the falls! The hikes were a blast and we even got a bit of bouldering in to access some of the better photo spots and cold showers.

We left the stunning falls and heading towards our next Warmshowers hosts, Daniel and Margaret, back in Coos Bay. Daniel has completed some pretty incredible rides himself, getting back into shape and vastly improving his diet to eating plant based foods and picking up some major cooking skills in the process. We reminisced with Daniel, Margaret, and their daughter, Promise, throughout the evening and then again into the morning prior to heading out of town. It was a very inspiring stay with Daniel and Margaret, which will be a very well needed boost for our next 7 days before our San Fran off days.

Our first 50km was quick and also did not provide much of the Oregan Coast we have become accoustomed to. We made it into Bandon where we stopped by a bike shop to get a few minor items, and ended up leaving with a great pizza recommendation from the store manager. Although we had another 90km to go, it was already 12:30 by that time and we knew this may be the best alternative today.

As we sat down in the patio area, we noticed two other touring cyclists entering the same lunch spot. We were quick to make conversation with them and found out they are travelling by van, camping, and cycling throughout day trips. We carried on with our lunch when one of the two cyclists approached us and asked us what type of beer we enjoy. Without thinking too much about it, we mentioned our preference, but then all of a sudden the cyclists were off ordering us a round of beers to help us on our way through our long day of touring. What an outstanding couple! We spent the remainder of lunch with this lovely couple, Don and Bill, from Arizona, and chatted about cycling adventures and what to expect along the remainder of the coast line. We noted later in the day that we will do a better job of getting photos with all of the incredible folks we are meeting along the way, but it truly was quite unique to head into a pizza shop and to be offered glasses of beer just because we were also cycling with panniers.

Once we headed out of Bandon, we felt loose and crushed the next set of rolling hills. There weren’t many more climbs throughout the day, but we did manage to grab another set of great Oregan Coast views within our last 50km.

Tomorrow we will cross two milestones, our first 1000km of the pacific coast tour as well as the Oregon-California border. We head into Cresent City with an “easy” 87km day and will be hosted with yet another Warmshowers host.

Count:

Warmshower hosts – 7

Bars devoured – 18

Bananas chomped – 24

Peanut butter wraps – 10

Total ascent – 8400

Total km – 990

We got a nice kick start this morning with our host’s generous breakfast and large mug of coffee. We definitely did not expect all of the amazing food, but the extra energy is very appreciated. Thanks Mike and Julie!

Our first 50km was filled with steady climbs and the beautiful Oregan coast line we have started to become accustomed to. Today we passed a father and daughter cycling duo who are travelling from Astoria to Crescent Beach (the length of Oregon), but otherwise the roads were pretty clear of other cross country cyclists. We did however bump into two really nice groups who currently live in Canada, one group from Montreal and another originally from Holland and now live in BC. From the lookout point, we all noticed a number of sea lions directly below the cliff enjoying the cool winds and sharp waves hitting the rocks.

Our remaining 80km was not as pleasant or all too scenic, but we managed to pull off a few more ‘training’ climbs in preparation of our big climb coming up next week. Many of our hosts know about or have chatted with us about this Northern California climb in Leggett. Although we are getting ourselves mentally prepared, in the meantime we will consider all other climbs a form of training.

One unique thing we have noticed about Oregon is that people love their drive-thru espresso. Almost every town has a duel drive-thru coffee bean lover hut which sticks out like a sore thumb in a plaza. We haven’t tried using the drive-thru as a cyclist yet, but we’re sure we’ll have plenty other chances along the coast.

After a sketchy bridge with wind gust warnings, which is no joke, we made it to Coos Bay! Our motel for the night is just north of the downtown area where the mural of Steve Prefontaine (1972 Olympian from Coos Bay) is painted. He’s a bit of a local star, since he at one point held several world records in long distance runs.

Tomorrow is our first day off, so will likely take a day off blogging as well. Here’s hoping we aren’t convinced to start cycling on our off day.

Count:

Bars devoured – 15

Arizona iced tea drained – 7L

Bananas chomped – 20

Peanut butter wraps – 11

Total ascent – 7192m

Calories burned – 30,600

Max speed

(Jordan) – 71.4 kpr

(Sammy) – 69.1 kpr

Total distance – 855km

We’re now entering the point of the trip where we can’t tell if our legs are much stronger or just extremely stiff from almost 120km a day for five days in a row. We were given some good perspective from our host in Tillamook which quickly reminded us how good we have it with our lightweight touring bikes compared to other touring cyclists with camping gear and much more. We have been pretty spoiled so far with Warmshower hosts, and today we were sent off with a packed lunch and iced cold waters. Thanks Bruce!

Since we started close to 10am with a 140km day ahead of us, we planned out a few key stopping points before big climbs, and otherwise kept pedalling. We bumped into quite a few cross country cyclists today, one from France cycling down to the Mexico border, and another from Louisiana who has been touring by bike since February.

At our 50km mark, we stopped for a quick bite and prepared for our big climb of the day. We lucked out with tailwinds and weather yet again, which would could have been a nightmare considering the 30+km/hr winds we cycled through today. Over one big ascent, we climbed 230m (almost half as tall as the CN tower).

Our host, Bruce, from Tillamook shared some great recommendations for avoiding the 101 for portions of the day, and we cashed in at Otter Rock with a beautifully peaceful ascent alongside the coast line. Oregon’s coast line seems to get even more impressive every day we cycle further south!

We finished off our day with some rolling hills until we hit Waldport. Our AirBnb tonight was at the top of a steep climb which saw us defeated once more for the final block. Since we had already put in 140km on the bike today, we figure we would make the exception, and we walked the last 100m.

Maybe we look like we’ve lost some weight, but now even our AirBnb hosts are trying to feed us hearty meals. We haven’t said no to being fed just yet, which is maybe the only reason we haven’t withered away just yet! We’ll take what we can get and appreciate the home cooked meals.

Tomorrow we’re off to Coo’s Bay where we will finally take a rest day. We’re looking forward to resting up not only our legs but also every other muscle that has been getting worn by repeatedly putting in several hours on the saddle.

Count:

Bars devoured – 12

Arizona iced tea drained – 7L

Bananas chomped – 16

Peanut butter wraps wrapped – 9

Total ascent – 5900m

Calories burned – 25600

Total km – 722

Our host in Astoria had more or less a cyclist’s paradise for a basement, where guests stay the night with easily enough space for 5+. He hosted 150+ people in 2018 alone. Just unbelievable. We stayed with two other guests, Malcolm and Hunter, who are heading south towards La Pas, Bolivia this summer. Malcolm used to work as a bike mechanic and gave us some really neat tips on cleats and extending a chain lifespan. Although we left at slightly different times in the morning, we managed to bump into Malcolm and Hunter, along with another cyclist, Steve, who is cycling across the states this summer, in both Seaside and Cannon Beach.

We found a really neat pizza spot in Cannon Beach where we bumped into a couple who recently sold their home and are now cycling by tandem bike for the next few years. No joke.

Our group split paths after Cannon Beach where we were quickly reminded about how much ascent our daily route will provide (approximately 1000m per day, meaning we will have even more climb heavy days later into the trip). There was a small accident with cars on the 101, and with a traffic controller out to stop southbouth motorists, it opened up the highway completely for us to safely ride in the main travel lane momentarily!

After Cannon Beach, there was a sign which mentioned there was only 6 miles to Manzinitia, so we figured we would get to the next town in 30 minutes tops. However, once we travelled through a short tunnel, we were hit with what was easily a 350m climb spanning multiple kilometres. It was one of those hills where you think you’ll hit the peak around the bend, but then it just keeps ascending into the distance. When we finally reached the peak, the view of Oregon’s coast line was well worth the burning calves.

The remainder of our ride was relatively flat and filled with tailwinds, so we can’t really complain! We passed a small town named Wheeler, where we noticed Rail Riders, a bike that holds several riders to cycle along an abandoned rail line.

We ended off our day at the Tillamook Creamery which has free cheese samples and delicious Tillamook iced cream!

Our Warmshowers host tonight had some family over and we even got to celebrate the final moments of the Raptors Game 6 to capture the first ever NBA title in Toronto! Our host, Bruce, rode through 48 states in 2014. We’ve met some pretty unbelievable hosts along the trip, and today officially marks our 1/4 mark of our journey.

Counts:

Local beers – 4

Bananas chomped – 14

Arizona iced tea gulped – 4.5L

Bars devoured – 10

Peanut butter wraps/ sandwiches – 6

Total ascent – 4,300m

Total calories burned – 20,400

Total km cycled – 576

With another hot day ahead of us, we lathered a thick layer of sunscreen and headed out of town early on in the morning. Our host, Lauri, made sure to run us through the route out of town which came super handy to overwrite google maps and skip a few main highway bridge connections. Thanks Lauri! Our day started with another big climb of almost 200m into Arctic, WA followed by a huge descent. It certainly made us wonder why no road designer considered an alternative route to avoid the huge climb.

We found a DQ in Raymond, Wa, which was about 40km into our route, and we don’t know whether the beating sun was getting to everyone in town, but due to some unprepared machines, the staff ended up upsizing our drinks!

Aberdeen was once known as the capital of lumber, and although it’s not the case any longer, we have been overpassed by several lumber trucks and noticed quite a bit of lumber debris in the shoulder. Most drivers have been extremely respectful and went well out of their way to pass by our bikes.

We found a really nice fish and chips place along the 101 in South Bend, the only town with food for the next 50km or so, so we ended up grabbing an early lunch at 11:30. The owner was nice enough to provide us with an extra piece of fish to help get us through the next part of our journey.

We took the 101 past South Bend and fortunately did not have any other major hills for the day. A really nice couple stopped their car to check up on us when we hid on the side of th road for a shade break. Even though we mentioned we were fine, they continued to open up their trunk and handed us some waters. All in all, Washington folks have been extremely kind and very generous.

We took the 4 mile bridge into Astoria which borders Washington and Oregon. The bridge was extremely deceiving because of how flat it is for the first 5+ miles, followed by a huge climb to enter Astoria.

Our host tonight lives up an extreme climb in Astoria. We may seem tough, but even this climb forced us off our bikes to walk up the final block and still manage to burn our calves. We were heckled just a little bit by a local, but we’re unsure if this road grade would even be legal in Ontario!

Off to Tillamook tomorrow which means we have officially reached the Pacific Coast! We’ve been told there is a Tillamook dairy factory with lots of samples, so we will try to reach town with enough time to replenish our calorie loss!

Counts:

Local beers – 3

Calories burned – 16100

Total km – 465

Bananas chomped – 13

Warmshowers Hosts – 4

Last night, the owner of the Mt. Walker inn kindly reminded us that we would be expecting a very hot and sunny day today, so we got up earlier to try and avoid too much exposure to the heat. Unfortunately, it was already over 20 degrees before 8am, so instead we turned our focus to hydration and shade.

We had an immediate 100m climb within the first 7km of our route today, which was a bit of a rough start to our extra long route today. After chugging up the first climb, we were treated with some spectacular views of Mt. Rainier and Mt. Walker throughout the next stretch of highway.

We stopped for lunch at the 70km mark at the Skokomish casino restaurant where we each devoured a full pizza and salad. With another 90km to cycle in the beating sun, we chugged another litre of ice water over lunch, and before we left our waitress made sure to send us off with full bottles of ice water.

We took the advise from our hosts in Victoria, Steve and Melissa, to take Highway 102 rather than Highway 101 all the way since there is less truck traffic. We’ve been quite lucky with weather and tailwinds in our first 3 days, and fortunately the only portion of route with headwind today was during a long flat.

With about 40km between our lunch break and Elma, a small town on the way to Aberdeen, we found shade whenever possible and drained the majority of our water and Gatorade before arriving in Elma at a brand new Starbucks. We each grabbed a large frapp to gain back some of the calories we burned off, and continued on our way to wrap up our 160km (100 mile) day.

Our final 35kms were very smooth with a little help from the tailwind following us around the past 3 days. We had a wonderful stay with our 3rd warmshowers host, Lauri, who made sure we could finish off our long ride with a cold beer and ice cold minty waters. We even got a tour of Aberdeen and nice views from the hospital Lauri works at! We made another oversized carb meal and although we’re pretty much ready for an off day, we’ve got another 120km to ride tomorrow.

We’re starting to find our groove and set a pace which works best for our bodies. Looking forward to another warm and sunny day and making it towards Astoria and the Pacific Coast!

Counts:

Warmshower hosts – 3

Local beers – 3

Calories burned – 11600

Bananas chomped – 9

Total km – 340

Our second day was mainly an afternoon trail ride since we left Victoria on the first ferrry out at 10:30am. Our hosts fed us a hardy breakfast before we made our way to downtown Victoria and grabbed our last Tim’s for a few weeks.

Once we entered the ferry, it wasn’t long until we bumped into fellow cyclists, one of which will be cycling to Mexico and then New York. He had built his bike add-ons from scratch, including a generator to charge his electronics while he pedals!

We had a 90 minute ride with a absolutely unbelievable view of Mt. Olympia in northern Washington. The ferry arrived in Port Angeles where we stocked up on dry fruits, nuts, and other food essentials for long distance cycling.

We dropped by the local bike shop in Port Angeles which sees many cyclists who travel around Mt. Olympia and onwards. We took their recommendation to stick with the Olympia Discovery Trail (ODT) as far as it runs, and then connect with Highway 101 for the remainder of our day. The ODT was a stunning roundabout way which took us our first 40km in Washington, mostly flat terrain with a few exceptions of extreme dips and climbs.

Highway 101 has been good to us in our minimal time along the highway, and with a big day ahead of us tomorrow, we’re glad to stay in a motel and cheer on the Raptors! Update – they lost by 1, but what a 4th quarter.

Count:

Warmshower hosts – 2

Total km – 186km