Kiki Bikes Across America

Saturday, August 15th – Elk Prairie Campground, CA to Burlington Campground, CA

I got up about 6:30 this morning and the two guys who were camped out next to me (a father and son duo) were already gone. They are doing short days of 50 miles or so and go to bed at 7pm and wake up at 5am or so. I left the campground about 7:30 and rolled out into the fog with my bright pink jacket and flashing blue light. The fog is annoying since it’s so thick in the morning, but luckily today it burned off relatively fast.

Elk in the prairie just a few miles from the campground.

I stopped in the first town I came to, Orick where there was supposed to be something to get to eat and what not. I found a little store that had just opened so I got a chocolate muffin and hot chocolate to warm up. But before I went in, this man with a long beard came out and was cheerful and said hello and asked me where I was going. I told him and then said I was just stopping to refuel a bit. He asked “Do you get high?” and I thought I misunderstood him, but then he said, “Do you smoke weed?” and I was like “No.” and then he told me how Humbolt county is known for its weed and that it was some of the best. Then he proceeds to show me his stash of weed in his altoids box – I said, no thanks and went into the store. What a crazy guy…haha.

I pushed my bike over into the sun so I could get some charge going on my solar panel and saw a guy and his dog next to his van, so we chatted a bit. I was of course a little more cautious now after just being offered weed practically, and was kind of really alert of who I was talking to. But this man said he lost his wallet and was stranded on empty practically and was waiting to hear back from his wife about getting money wired to a Western Union. I wasn’t sure at first if this was a legit story or not, but once we were talking for a bit and then his phone rang and it was his wife telling him that he could pick up the money in McKinleysville at the Safeway, I started to believe it was true that he was indeed in a pinch and didn’t have his wallet or any money. He’d left it somewhere at a gas station between Eureka and Orick but wasn’t sure where exactly. Anyway, so after chatting with Bill for a bit and once his wife got his wire transfer figured out, he offered me a ride to McKinleysville and so I figured why not – I enjoy meeting the people along the way and don’t want to have to pedal 100 miles a day to get to San Francisco by my deadline. I was going to offer him some money for gas, but there wasn’t even a gas station in Orick, so we drove on down the highway and just outside of McKinleysville there was a gas station so I put in $10 for him and then we went to Safeway to get his money transfer. I bought a few groceries and while he was waiting for the transfer request and what not, he gave me his keys and paperwork to hold on while he went to the restroom which was nice considering he trusted me and was reassuring me that he wouldn’t drive off with my bike and gear inside his van. Bill was a really friendly guy and we had good conversations in the car ride (40 or so miles) down the road. He took me a bit further to Eureka and dropped me off there to continue my ride as he’d then start to try to remember where he may have left his wallet the day before.

Bill who gave me a ride to Eureka (45 free miles)

From Eureka, I had about 50 miles to cover before I’d be able to camp at Burlington Campground in the Redwoods. The riding was pretty easy with some rolling hills and the scenery of the Redwoods was again really nice. I passed three other cyclists (two on recumbents and one on a regular single bike). I stopped at a fruit and vegetable stand on the side of the road and got a blackberry popsicle (homemade) and the other cyclists stopped as well. They’re heading from Seattle to San Francisco and are also planning to camp at the same campground as me. I got to the campground about 4:30 or so (the earliest day I’d ever finished and come into a campground that I can remember at least). It was really nice arriving so early because I had time to let my tent dry out and everything and set up, shower, and then just relax a bit.

A short bit later, the three guys (Tom, Wayne, and Roy) showed up to the campground and set up and all. They were nice enough to share some food with me, since all I had was snacks (cliff bars) and cereal and a poptart. I didn’t have any real pasta or food for dinner since the last town didn’t have any place to buy food, like it showed on the ACA Map (but the map’s a bit outdated from 2001). Wayne cooked me up some vienna sausages in ramen noodles for dinner – it was the first time I’d ever had ramen and it was actually pretty tasty. Roy even gave me a pack of swiss rolls for dessert, so that was yummy and we chatted for a bit and then I headed back to my campsite to go catch up on my journal. At my site, another cyclist had arrived (Dave) who was heading northbound so we chatted for a bit. He had a Novara Safari (the other touring-type bike that REI makes). I wound up calling it a night somewhere around 11pm.

GPS Stats:
99.8 miles
66.3 max speed
17.5 avg speed
05:42 moving time

Computer Stats: (including hitched 45 miles approximately)
56.82 miles
43.0 max speed
11.9 avg speed
04:46:02 moving time

Comments are closed.