As soon as we pulled out of the motel we began our climbing.  But first, a nice descent along a river on a county road before getting to the highway.  It's common around here for roads to be closed from time to time and this one had been in that state recently.  They had just repaired some of the roadbed that was affected by a slide but they hadn't put a hard surface to it yet...and may not from the way it looks.  It wasn't bad and only about a quarter mile of gravel road before we got back on pavement.  On the highway, there was another place as seems to be the norm around here that had just been repaired.  As we were climbing along the ridgeline it wasn't hard to understand why they have so many slides in these parts.  The road is just cut out of the mountain and it seems there's nothing to hold it up.  If the ground gets saturated, it's going to slide down the hill.  Aside from that, being on that road above the river was a sight to behold.

We had several 1 mile ascents before the first SAG and we again were in and out of giant Redwood forests, through a couple tourist traps (Confusion Hill and Legend of Bigfoot), and along a river...where was the coast?  We were a bit more inland for the first 50 miles but that would change at the second SAG where we were right on the coastline.  It was hard to imagine we were on the same planet when we popped out to the coast.  Gone were the giant fir trees and redwoods as we rode up and down along the cliffs that bordered the pounding surf.

When we left the first SAG, we started up the famous Leggett Hill...a 4 mile, switchback climb that definitely woke everyone up.  But every effort has it rewards.  Cresting the top led us to a marvelous 9 mile descent with plenty of switchbacks to make it interesting.  I've ridden this section every year until today and I've always been in a good zone in the climb and elated with the technical descent.  It's exhilarating to feel the tires grip the road in a 45 degree bank zooming around a hairpin turn...one with the bike.  After bottoming out, we started another major climb of about 3 miles that was a little steeper than Leggett, but again the rewarding downhill was well worth the effort.  Plus, as I said above, when we neared the bottom we popped out along the coast again with breathtaking scenes of the surf below.  There were several places along the side of the road where there was nothing between the vehicles and the steep drop off to the ocean below.

We thought it couldn't get any better as Barb had set the SAG along the ocean.  Usually we got a good lesson in coastal weather...it's hard to believe the temperature differential from where we were riding inland to the ocean edge.  But today was pretty perfect all day.  This morning it was clear and sunny when we left and was getting to be the perfect temperature to ride when we went over Leggett...then when we popped out on the coast, the sun was shining and the temperature was still on the warm side...no arm warmers or jackets today.  More good news was we picked up a slight tailwind for the last miles and the scenery was beautiful.  When we left for the last 20 or so miles to Ft Bragg, we rode along a high ridge overlooking the ocean.  Again, we had to make several stops just to take it all in.  The only thing bad about the scenery was we never saw any wheat again today. 

One interesting stop many made today was at a small grocery after the second SAG.  There wasn't much on the road today in the line of food, so several stopped at the grocery-deli for a bite in the early afternoon.  I'm not sure how it went today, but in the past the lady working there would never win a Miss Congeniality award but she's usually a hoot. 

Another successful day...everyone in safely.  At rap we talked about tomorrow's challenges.  It promises to be another good climbing day...what's new.  We're also expecting to see some more awesome scenery and we'll cross our half way mileage point at one point during the day.  I'll get to ride tomorrow...I usually don't get to ride on this day so I'm looking forward to seeing something new from the bike.  We'll go through tall trees, start getting into wine country, and I think we'll see the ocean a time or two along the way...makes for another great day of riding...see you then.