Katie MacDonald - Bike the US for MS
Day 12 - Aug. 10 - Bath - Rest Day
First and only rest day of the trip! Bath is kind of the unofficial headquarters of Bike the UK, as James W went to the University of Bath, and therefore recruits a lot of cyclists from the cycling team to join JOGLE and LEJOG. At least four of my teammates are current or former students of the university, which meant we had plenty of recommendations for places to go as well as designated tour guides to show us around!
The day started off with a quick bus ride to the downtown area, down the gigantic hill that we were cursing our way up yesterday. We then walked as a group (Sarah, Laura, Issy, David, Tim, Becky, and Naomi) to a restaurant called Boston Tea Party where I got an egg, bacon, and avocado sandwich along with a chocolate croissant. It started raining while we were eating, so getting back to the bus stop after breakfast meant running from shelter to shelter to avoid getting absolutely drenched. When we eventually got to the bus stop, we took the bus all the way back up the hill to Odds Down for our afternoon with the MS Society. There was a lovely selection of food out, and a great group of people that joined us. I ended up spending most of the meal chatting with David, who has lost his vision and his mobility to MS. After lunch the rain started to clear, which meant we could go out to the track. I was initially worried that we wouldn't get the opportunity to go outside due to the rain, because I had been looking forward to this afternoon since last year, when I saw video of the 2017 team riding a whole assortment of crazy looking bikes. Odd's Down circuit has a whole bunch of adaptable bikes, ranging from hand-cycles and recumbents to bikes that allow for a wheelchair to be loaded in the front. They even had two ridiculously tiny bikes which were the star of the show. We all had a blast doing loops of the track on all of the different bikes, and it was lovely to be able to share the activity with the MS Society. After all the fun at Odd's Down was over, Sarah, Issy, Naomi, Laura, and I went back to town, and they gave us a quick tour of the city. We saw Pulteney Bridge, the Abbey, got ice cream, and then hung out at the park across from Royal Crescent for an hour or two, eventually being joined by Becky, Jo, and Tim. Later we decided to grab Thai food for dinner, and met up with David. After dinner, we got some groceries, headed back up to the church, and commenced the regular rest day activity of doing laundry. Tim work on his bike for a while, to make sure it was ridable for the remaining three days of the trip. The evening was a sad occasion, as we said goodbye to Jo, who will be missing the last few days to stay in Bath. James W gave a little speech, and presented her with a goodbye gift. Jo has been such a wonderful route leader, it'll suck not having her around for the remainder of the trip! Day 13 - Aug. 11 - Bath to Honiton - 87.9mi
We said our final goodbye to Jo this morning as we headed out for the day. Sarah, Naomi, Becky and I rode together for the first stretch, heading towards Cheddar Gorge. I'd been told by all of the Bath Uni teammates that this was a definite highlight scenery wise. Eventually I told the group to go ahead without me, as I wanted to stop and take some pictures. I climbed a bit up the side of the gorge to get some photos, and then got the drone out for some video footage. It a beautiful area! The descent was pretty great as well. When I got to the rest stop, I was told that the group had gone for breakfast nearby, so I went and joined them for a breakfast sandwich. Unfortunately at this point it started to rain so we got all bundled up in our rain gear and headed out again, leaving Becky behind as she wasn't feeling well and decided to ride in the van.
Rest stop two was on the side of the road in a cute, picturesque little town. There must have been a wedding going on nearby because as we rode into town we could hear church bells going off. It added to the charm at first, but eventually got a little annoying. During the stop, Issy called "draw" which is a game the guys play where they have to pull a banana out of their back pocket and eat it as fast as possible. This is the first time I had seen the game in action, and was impressed by how quickly David demolished the banana. The ride into rest stop three was still pretty rainy, so it was nice to warm up inside an alumni couple's house for a little bit. They had a whole bunch of food out for lunch, so I stuffed myself with pizza, mini donuts, and shortbread bites. Unfortunately right after leaving their house my bike computer died. The last hill of the day also felt like it went on forever, so we got into camp pretty tired. We're sleeping at a rugby club tonight, and there isn't a whole lot of space. There is however a very nice kitchen, so after showers Sarah and I went to the grocery store to grab some food to cook. This took way longer than it should have, as we got pretty lost on the way to the store. Once we got there, we grabbed some tortellini and bacon for dinner. I didn't particularly like the stove, as it was an old fashioned one where you have to turn on the gas and then light it with a match. It took me about three tries because I was so afraid of burning myself. While we ate our delicious tortellini, we had a team meeting, during which James gave us the lowdown for tomorrow. It's not sounding like tomorrow is going to be particularly fun, as it is going to be crazy hilly and the forecast is calling for rain. Not good. Day 14 - Aug. 12 - Honiton to Lostwithiel - 81.5mi
Woke up this morning to various alarm clocks, and the sound of Steve letting the air out of his mattress. Reluctantly got out of my sleeping bag, and headed to the kitchen to make my standard oatmeal and banana breakfast. Once everyone was up James W put on some music, purposefully choosing the ironic "Here Comes the Sun". It was already raining when we woke up, and Laura helped Tim and David fashion some rain coats out of trash bags (called "bin bags" here). As per usual, we left camp as a team but quickly got spread out.
Rest stop one was a quick stop on the side of the road, and by this point we were already soaking wet. This first stretch was pretty hilly, but according to our elevation profiles and the route leaders, this was the "flat" section of the day. The next stretch brought us up to the top of Dartmoor National Park. James W caught up with us on the climb, and we all stopped part of the way up to see some miniature ponies at a farm just off the road. The climb was scenic but tough, and I stopped frequently to take photos and rest. Naomi, Sarah, and I had spread out at this point with Naomi taking the lead, and Sarah just a little bit behind me. There were lots of sheep on the road as well. The worst part though was that there were two or three false summits, which really mess with your head. When you're climbing you keep your focus fixed on the crest of the hill, telling yourself you only need to make it that far. When you get to the crest and realize that you're not actually at the top yet, it's pretty devastating. Eventually though, as always, we made it to the top. It seems to be a thing in England to have a pub at the top of every hill, which I really love. I went inside to find the whole team eating at a big table in the back. I ordered some chips (french fries) and tried to dry my clothes a bit. On our way out of the pub I asked Becky if she could take a look at the back of my knee. The cut I had got in Glasgow kept opening up, and today with all the rain I was worried that there might be some debris and dirt getting into the wound. Becky rinsed it out with some water, and said she might need some tweezers to get a big chunk of dirt out, at which I slightly panicked seeing as she has no medical training that I am aware of. Fortunately it didn't come to that, and Dr. Becky helped me cover it up with some bandages to prevent and more dirt from getting in. We assumed that the next stretch would be downhill as we just finished such a big climb. This was not the case. There was a little downhill, then more climbing. It was also a really frustrating stretch weather wise, as it would be so nice and sunny and hot for a few minutes that we'd have to pull over to take off our jackets because we were boiling. Literally five minutes later it would be pouring and we'd have to pull over yet again to put back on the jackets that we just took off. We got to the town of Tavistock about two hours after leaving the pub at the top of Dartmoor, and met up with another MS Society. They brought some Cornish pasties for us - a local delicacy - as well as some cake! We chatted for a bit, and relished in the fact that the sun was out and it was warm again. The warmth stuck around for a little while after leaving Tavistock, but eventually it returned to cold and rainy. James had jokingly warned us about how hilly Cornwall is, and how the road basically turns into a wall as soon as you see the "Welcome to Cornwall" sign. Unfortunately for us, he wasn't exaggerating. The climbs were so tough and steep, and the downhills weren't even enjoyable because it was so wet and dark. I don't think I've ever been more thankful to see camp than I was today. It took just over 12 hours to get from camp to camp, and I was exhausted, soaked, and cold. The showers weren't working at camp either, so everyone had to take a bucket of hot water from the kitchen sink and pour it over themselves while standing in the shower. The night ended with microwave Indian food for dinner, and a team meeting about the final day tomorrow. Can't believe we're almost at the end! Day 15 - Aug. 13 - LOSTWITHIEL to Land's End - 64.6mi
The final day! Can't believe it!
The day stared off with a laugh. Someone was playing music while we got ready, and Ed Sheeran's "Thinking Out Loud" came on. The first line of the song "when your legs don't work like they used to before" had everyone busting. I had some leftover chocolate pastry from the MS society yesterday for breakfast, along with my usual banana and oatmeal. My shoes were still soaking wet from yesterday, which wasn't a very pleasant feeling. We all left camp together for the last time as a team this morning, and were immediately met by a giant hill. I think I would have had a breakdown if we'd had to climb this hill yesterday, which James W informed us they've had to do in previous years. However today I was in a much better mood than yesterday, so the hills didn't seem too horrible. Rest stop one was at a bike cafe about 28 miles in, where I got my last breakfast sandwich of the trip and hung out with the team for almost two hours. Naomi even managed to fit in a nap. Leaving the rest stop looked like a big climb on the elevation profile, but actually turned out to be a pretty manageable, steady climb. About two hours later, we reached rest stop two in Marazion. As soon as we got to the car, James K pointed to an alley way and said we had to go check out the view. We followed his advice, and soon had a wonderful view of Mount Michael, which is a castle out on the water. After taking in the view we wandered through some of the souvenir shops, and got clotted cream ice cream (another local delicacy) at James K's suggestion. When we walked into the shop the lady saw our jersey's and said "oh, more of you guys!". The ice cream was amazing, and we walked over to the view of Mount Michael to eat it. After finishing our ice cream, we head out for the final stretch of our journey. We biked along the coast, through Penzance, and up and over even more hills. The UK will just not let up on us! Vanessa Carlton's "A Thousand Miles" came up on shuffle on my phone at about the 996 mile mark, which I thought was pretty coincidental. We got to camp a bit before 6pm, and waited at the campsite for Tamla, who unfortunately got lost in Penzance. It is tradition to regroup and do the final stretch as a team, so we were more than happy to wait until the entire team was together. When she arrived, we all left together for the final couple miles. As we pulled in to Land's End there was a big group of family and friends waiting for us, all cheering. We rode around to the sign post and posed for a team picture - during which Becky and James K popped champagne and poured it over all of us! James K also handed out some medals that he had had made for us, which was so sweet. Unfortunately we had to rush a little bit, as our dinner reservations were at 7pm. We all biked back up to camp, ditched our bikes, and headed over to the restaurant still in our cycling kit. It was a really wonderful dinner. Sarah and I split two burgers that we both couldn't decide between which was a good call as they were both delicious. James K and James W also gave some speeches, and gave everyone on the team a notebook that was inscribed with their new nickname/award. Naomi's was "Elastagirl", Steve and Sara got "First past the post" and "second past the post" respectively, as they were always first and second into camp at the end of the day. Mine was "fountain of touring knowledge", and James K gave a really lovely speech about how I would always chip in with touring advice, and seeming to be able to pull anything out of the trunk bag I carried with me on the back of my bike. Back at camp we were finally able to shower. I mentioned in the washroom that these were probably the second nicest showers of the whole trip, to which another camper said "you must have had some pretty awful showers then!" After showers we started to say our goodbyes, as Laura and Tamla were not spending the night at camp. Laura's mom even brought more flapjacks for the team! We spent the rest of the night sitting around outside, bundled up in the warmest clothes I had and my sleeping bag because it was freezing. We chatted, snacked, admired the spectacular view of the Milky Way, and watched dozens of shooting stars passing by overhead. James W joked that he had arranged for that to happen. When it was time for bed, we all said goodbye to Issy as she was leaving at 3am. This has been such an incredible trip, and I am pretty sad that it's over. I am so fortunate that I got to spend the past two weeks with such and incredible group of people, and I am really going to miss everyone!
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DAY 7 - AUG. 5 - CARLISLE to Kendal - 56.5 MI
There were some rather noisy birds in the area over night, but getting to sleep in until 7:30 made up for it. We had a slow and steady 500ft climb over 7 miles to start the day, along some nice quiet roads. Rest stop one was at a Burger King at the 21 mile mark, where I got chicken fingers for second breakfast. I also used this rest stop as an opportunity to dump my trunk bag in the car, in an attempt to shed any extra weight from my bike for the upcoming climb.
Between us and the next rest stop was Kirkstone Pass - the steepest climb of the trip. I'd seen clips of it in last year's video, where the previous route leaders had filmed each cyclist coming to the top of the climb, utterly exhausted. We had an approximately 15 mile ride to get to the base, and then there is a 1.25 mile straight uphill that averages 12% grade, with sections of 20%. Well actually it's not very straight, rather a series of switchbacks that make their way up the mountain. Regardless, it was a struggle, and took a lot of physical and metal energy to get through. It was a relatively busy road, both with cars and sheep, and at one point I saw a sheep jump from the road up onto the rock wall/fence, and walk along it for a little while. We were greeted at the top by the route leaders and cyclists who had already made it to the top. James K was ringing his cowbell, and Issy, Jo, and Laura were cheering us on while capturing the moment on the GoPro. We stopped at the pub at the top (the only building around) and treated ourselves to refreshments. While we were chilling at the top, Jo decided it would be "fun" to go down The Struggle and ride back up. The Struggle is another road that leads up to Kirkstone pass, and is even steeper than the climb we just finished. Not sure what made her want to do this to herself, but it was fun to cheer her on as she got back up to the top. The descent was a bit bumper than I would have liked, and I was clutching the brakes the whole way down. Unfortunately, as soon as we got to the bottom Sarah realized she'd left her water bottles on a picnic table at the top. It was a fairly short ride to rest stop 3, but involved going off the map. We attempted to follow the directions that James W had sent us, but ended up getting a tiny bit lost and coming in from the other direction. All good though, as we made it to the BBQ on time. The local MS Society came to meet up with us and provided us with a lovely barbecued dinner. So nice of them! After eating and chatting, Jo led us the final ~2 miles into camp in Kendal. We are staying right at the centre of the city, in a church that has a lovely yard and garden. After getting set up, we walked about a kilometre to the hostel for showers. After showering we headed to the laundromat to do our first load of laundry of the trip. Never thought I'd get this excited to do laundry! It was ridiculously expensive (approximately $17 Canadian for a wash and dry) but much needed. We walked around town for a bit while the laundry was in, stopping by a convenience store to buy an ice cream sandwich and chocolate milk, which I have been surprised to find doesn't appear in many stores in the UK. In fact, this is the first time so far I've seen chocolate milk for sale. After our laundry finished up, Tamla and I walked back to church together. I organized my bin and read for a bit, but was starting to fall asleep in the middle of my book so eventually I gave up. I'm not sure if I've mentioned it yet, but I am reading Land of Lost Borders by Kate Harris and LOVING it! Highly recommend to anyone who is into biking. Day 8 - Aug. 6 - Kendal to Eccleston - 59.8mi
Pretty chill day today! Easy 17 miles into rest stop one in the town of Over Kellet. Almost the entire team was here at the same time, and we sat and chilled on the grass in what appeared to be the town green. A few people took a detour down to the next town to check out a bike shop, while Sarah, Naomi, and I grabbed some snacks at the store across the green. As we were getting ready to leave, James K said he would ride with us but then got a pretty serious leg cramp and fell over trying to stand up. He tried to walk it out, and even rode his bike around the block, but James W didn't think it was a safe idea for him to ride, so he got back in the van.
The next stretch of the day brought us along some narrow roads with tall hedges on each side which was a little scary. I was looking forward to the promise of a pub at rest stop two, but unfortunately it was closed today so we hung out outside. The local MS Society joined us for a bit, so we got to chat with them. Naomi also introduced us to a word guessing game that we played for a bit. I struggled to follow the rules at the time, so I won't bother trying to explain them in the blog, but it was fun. After R2 it was a quick 21 miles into camp. We got to a bigger town that made navigation slightly more difficult, and I definitely took the wrong exit at a roundabout and had to turn around and get back on route. James K apparently got over his leg cramp, and we met up with him on the road in the last 5 miles or so. After getting to camp at Eccleston Methodist Church we walked over to the park nearby to use their showers. A lovely gentleman who works for the town was waiting so that he could unlock the showers for us. After showers we went grocery shopping at Sainsbury's, because of course we were out of scones again. Back at the church we had some more people from the MS Society stop by to say hi, and then the whole team headed out for an Italian dinner at Verdes. It was a fancier restaurant that none of us were dressed for, but that didn't stop us and we got a long table that fit almost everyone. I got a carbonara that really hit the spot, and was big enough that I couldn't even finish it. Apparently it wasn't big enough for the boys though, as they started eating everyone else's leftovers. Back at the church we met our new route leader, Becky. She did the ride last year, so she knows Jo, James W, and Catherine. We stayed up chatting and building card castles until 10:30pm, and Issy did a French braid for me, which I've never had done before. Fun night! DAY 9 - AUG. 7 - ECCLESTON to Market Drayton - 73.2MI
I was hoping to eat my leftover carbonara for breakfast this morning, but I discovered that the fridge had not been plugged in so I settled for porridge with maple syrup. We had a couple of steep climbs to start the day which got the legs warmed up. We passed some beautiful wheat fields, and Naomi got her first hay bale photo. Unfortunately I must have walked into a thorn or something while I was taking the photo so my leg was stinging for a bit.
We rode into a bigger city for the first rest stop, which was on the side of the road. I though I saw a cafe not too far back, so Sarah, Naomi, and I walked back to get second breakfast. Turned out to be a good call, and I got a fantastic bacon sandwich. We headed back to the rest stop and hung out on the sidewalk for a bit while we waited for the bus that was going to shuttle us around the closed bridge. The three of us got on with Tim and David, and were driven around to the other side. Because it's a bigger city, there were lots of cars on the road which is never enjoyable. Eventually we left the city, and returned to the narrow road with hedges. Rest stop two was in a residential area, and a few of us walked to a convenience store to use their washroom and scope out some snacks. We spent about an hour at the stop, then headed out to finish off the day. We are camping tonight, and the local MS Society came out to meet us. When I got to camp, some of the guys were on their bikes and James was teaching them how to track stand (stay upright on your bike when it's not moving), so I got the drone out to capture the fun. We snacked on some donuts that the MS Society brought for us, put up our tents, showered, and then headed into the campsite restaurant for dinner. We ordered food, and then Sarah, Naomi, and I snuck back out to the tents to play a prank on Jo. Naomi had the idea to get a bunch of q-tips (which apparently are called cotton buds here) and just hide them in all of Jo's stuff. We put them in her shoes, her saddlebag, sleeping bag, book, day cubby, everywhere we could think of, then headed back inside. The amount of food we had on the table was absolutely insane. I got a burger and fries, and there were so many fries that they came on a separate plate. The food was delicious, and Naomi and I managed to save room and split a brownie for dessert. Now, laying in my tent, I am uncomfortably full and wishing I hadn't eaten quite that much. DAY 10 - AUG. 8 - MARKET DRAYTON to Hereford - 75.3MI
Woke up this morning to Tim and David chatting in their tent, and panicked that I had overslept. Nope. It was 5am. I found out later in the day that in his sleep Tim had accidentally kicked open the valve on David's air mattress and it started deflating, waking both of them up. I have no idea what on earth these guys had to talk about at 5am, considering they literally spend 24/7 together.
Sunny ride this morning into rest stop one. Our ride was briefly interrupted by some cows who were crossing the road to get to their pasture. The farmer strung up some rope across the road, opened the gate, guided the cows through while we waited, and then closed up the fence and took the ropes down. We pulled into R1 at mile 19, and I immediately ran across the street to join Tim who was petting a horse in the field there. We hung out with the horse for a bit, and then rejoined the team when the horse no longer seemed interested in eating grass out of our hands. The local MS Society joined up with us for a bit, and we took a group photo with them. Have I mentioned how much I love getting to meet people from the MS Society almost every day? It is such a nice addition to the trip. Becky, the new route leader, joined Naomi, Sarah, and me for the next stretch of the ride. Turns out she has great taste in music, and we had a great time chatting. Biggest climb of the day was during this stretch, but it wasn't too bad. We rolled into rest stop two in Ludlow and found the car, but it was locked and Jo was nowhere in sight so we had to give her a call. Turns out she was across the street at the Tesco, but just couldn't park over there because of a 2 hour limit. We went inside and met up with Issy, David, Tim, and Laura at the cafe, and I grabbed a sandwich for lunch. This was followed by some grocery shopping, which included a millionaire's shortbread for dessert, which I promptly ate in the parking lot. Jo said she remembered the rest of the day being pretty flat, but as soon as we took off from the rest stop we came across a pretty steep hill. Pretty sure we all uttered some variation of "damn it Jo!" as we worked our way up the hill and out of the town. It was just Sarah, Naomi, and me for this stretch, so I listened to my music and had a pretty chill ride. At one point we got the text about camp that said "showers at leisure centre, hair care available". Having no idea what this meant, the three of us starting placing bets on whether this meant free shampoo and conditioner, or access to hair dryers. We rolled into camp at Hereford Baptist Church just before 5:30, and promptly headed over to what are for sure the nicest showers of the trip. The Anytime Fitness around the corner from the church was nice enough to let us use their showers, which means we all got our own individual room with plenty of hot water. It took me a while to figure how to actually turn the shower on because it was super high-tech and incorporated a motion sensor of some kind. After the shower we discovered that "hair care" meant a countertop with hair dryers, straighteners, etc. down the hall from the showers. Tim and David were just arriving as we were wrapping up, and had to wait because all the showers were occupied. Tim took this as an opportunity to try straightening his hair for the first time, which was pretty funny to watch. The church has a big kitchen tonight, so Sarah and I decided that it was time to try the canned hot dogs. We cooked them up with some baked beans, and it turn out they're not to bad. Definitely not as good as a *fresh* hot dog (if that's even a thing), but edible nonetheless. After dinner we asked Tim what people were up to and he said that everyone was heading down to Spoons. When we stared at him blankly, he tried to clarify by saying "Whetherspoons", which still meant nothing to us foreigners. He then explained that it is a pub chain, at that there was one just down the street. We ended up heading down to Spoons and played cards with the team for a bit. We had a curfew of 9:30pm tonight because that's when somebody was coming by to lock up the church, so we continued our card game and had some hot chocolate when we got back. I claimed my own room tonight, just off from the main room, which hopefully means I'll have a nice and quiet sleep. DAY 11 - AUG. 9 - HEREFORD to Bath - 77.4MI
Oh boy, what a day. Prepare yourself for a long blog post. Ok, here we go.
Had a pretty good sleep last night, but discovered in the morning that my phone hadn't charged at all because I hadn't turned on the switch next to the outlet. Rookie foreigner mistake. We got packed up and ready to go, but then Sarah got a flat before we even left the church. Fortunately she fixed it super quick, and we were ready to hit the road. Less than a mile in, we come across Tim standing on the side of the road looking down at his bike. Apparently his derailleur snapped clean off, making his bike unridable. We hung around with him for a little bit, and David, Issy, and Laura eventually came back for him as well. We waited for the car to show up so he could get his bike looked at, but there was nothing the route leaders could do, so he just swapped his bike for one of theirs and was able to keep riding. It was a hilly ride to rest stop one, which was at a Morrison's. I got a chicken sandwich and a croissant for second breakfast which we ate in the parking lot. I heavily considered going back for a second croissant it was so good. I was very glad I didn't though, when we started climbing the big hill after the rest stop. Unfortunately the descent after the climb was interrupted by a detour to rest stop 2 which was being held at the National Diving & Activity Centre. The detour took us down some very narrow winding roads, which are becoming the norm. The detour was absolutely worth it though, because we got to meet up with another MS Society and they gave each of us a coupon for a free slice of cake! There were three different options to choose from, so Sarah, Naomi, and I got one of each and shared them all. The slices were so monstrous I didn't even come close to finishing it. We sat out in the back area with the MS Society and enjoyed the sunshine and the view of the quarry. There was a zip line, but it didn't look worth the price. Just as we were getting onto our bikes after about an hour of hanging around, it started to drizzle. By the time we crossed the bridge and entered Wales (third country of the trip!) it was pouring. Wales also decided to greet us with a nice steep climb up a busy road. Near the top of the hill, Naomi discovered that she was no longer able to clip into her pedals, so we got off the road and sought shelter under some trees. We called the car to ask if they could drop by and let Naomi get a new set of cleats out of her cubby, and then waited for them to find us. Fortunately, by the time Naomi got her new cleats installed, the rain had lessened and the sky was clearing up. We made our way through Chepstow, and to the Severn Bridge that would take us back into England. However, we had yet another mechanical failure before we were able to leave Wales, as part of Sarah's crank fell off somewhere and the whole thing was loose, making her bike unridable. We called the route leaders yet again, but as we were already on the bridge there was nowhere for them to pull over. Naomi and I rode to the end of the bridge to flag them down, while Sarah started a very long walk to catch up to us. We tracked down James K and Jo at the end of the bridge, and then I rode back to Sarah to keep her company. Fortunately James K was able to tighten the crank so Sarah could keep riding for the rest of the day. Less than 5 kilometres in Wales ended up taking us an hour, and James K and Jo were cracking jokes about how they'd expect another call from me in 30 minutes or so. Meanwhile, during all of this, I was trying to coordinate meeting up with Michelle from Ride On Cycling. Michelle is from Nova Scotia, and her and her husband Nathan had biked across Canada a couple years ago and had posted a video series about it on YouTube. I was a fan of the videos, and had seen on Instagram that Michelle had just moved to Bristol, which would be very close to where we were riding today. Hoping I could chat with her about the cross-Canada trip, I reached out to see if she would like to join us for a stretch of today's ride, and she agreed! We met up with her at rest stop 3, and she helped lead us onto the bike path that would take us all the way into Bath. It was so great to chat with her about the ride across Canada, as it is something I would like to do in the near future. Eventually Michelle had to turn back to head home, so Sarah, Naomi, and I rode the final stretch into the city together. Because of all the mechanical problems, it was pretty late in the day by this point and we were all exhausted. When we came upon the final hill and it was massive, none of us were happy campers. Turns out Bath sits in a valley, and our church for the night was at the top. The three of us were cursing most of the way up, but eventually we made it. The church we're staying in is very nice, and a lot more modern than most churches I've seen so far in the UK. It has a big kitchen, a laundry machine, shower, two big rooms for us to sleep in, and a lobby with couches. We all showered quickly, then got a cab down to the city where James K treated us all to dinner at Nando's, which was delicious. Thanks James! The night ended with the team staying up late, chatting, playing cards, and not having to worry about getting on a bike in the morning.
If you haven't read part one yet, read that first!
Day 4 - Aug. 2 - Fort Augustus to Crianlarich - 82.7 mi
Porridge with a banana to start the day. The team rolled out of camp together, and I rode with Naomi and Sarah until rest stop one. It was a beautiful morning with minimal climbing and waterfalls all over the place. All three of us also managed to fall over at during this stretch, which I think is quite impressive. Sarah accidentally bumped Naomi's rear wheel and rode off the road, I stopped to let a truck pass and just tipped over into a patch of moss on the shoulder of the road, and Naomi fell over on the sidewalk because she couldn't unclip her foot. Nobody got hurt though, so it's all good and we made it to the rest stop at the Ben Nevis visitor's centre in one piece. We grabbed second breakfast here (ham and cheese panini, delicious) and then shopped around at the gift shop. We left the stop a little anxious about the three big climbs to come, but turns out we had absolutely nothing to worry about. We passed through Glencoe and then started cycling up what I have to say is my second favourite climb of all time (behind only Glacier National Park). In fact it was so scenic that I eventually told Naomi and Sarah to go on without me because I was stopping to take so many photos. I ended up just wearing my camera slung around my shoulder because it was too much of a pain to put it away in my bag and then take it out again every 200 meters. It was foggy, and the mountains were so green, and there were so many waterfalls, it was just spectacular.
Eventually I made it to the second rest stop, beaming because I was so excited by how beautiful the climb was. We snacked a bit and chatted with James K, and then headed on to the next climb. The second big climb as shown on our elevation profile was pretty short and manageable, and it was only a short 15 mile stretch to the next rest stop. It started to drizzle a bit just before the stop, but by the time we were on the third climb of the day it had picked up and was full on raining. Thankfully, we were rewarded with a nice descent into camp, and were able to shower and get dry once we got in. Sarah and I ran down the street to order take out pizza, which turned out to be a great decision. I got a half goat cheese and caramelized onion, half meat-lovers pizza and it was soooo good. Were in what appears to be a community centre gym tonight, so it's significantly more spacious than the church last night. The team hung out together for most of the night, and we played spoons and werwolf before eventually calling it a night. DAY 5 - AUG. 3 - CRIANLARICH to Carluke - 77.3 MI
Turns out the jersey and shorts that I had wash last night did not dry overnight, so Tim and I tried to remedy this by standing in front of the oven holding our clothes and praying that they would dry even slightly. Not much luck unfortunately. I scarfed down my left over pizza from dinner (still amazing) and then headed out with Sarah and Naomi. It was only drizzling when we left but soon it was pouring, so I guess it didn't really matter if our clothes were dry. I had debated wearing my booties (rain-proof shoe covers) this morning, but had eventually decided against it. I regretted this decision. We had a nice descent to start off the day, but the rain made it a tiny bit difficult to see and my feet were soaked. Fortunately it didn't last long, and soon we were cruising alongside Loch Lomond. It was sunny and warm by the time we got to rest stop one, and you would never have guessed that it had been raining earlier.
We were on bike paths for most of the way into rest stop two in Dumbarton. Because the stop was slightly off route, James W was waiting for us at a roundabout and led us into the stop. The Dumbarton MS Society had rented a conference room at a hotel, and there were a ton of people there to talk to us and cheer us on. Upon entering the room we noticed that David was pretty banged up, and asked what happened. Apparently he had taken a couple of falls on the bike path - at least one of which was due to some slick leaves on the ground. Thankfully he doesn't have any serious injuries, just a few scrapes. The Dumbarton group had a huge spread of food waiting for us, and I ate way to many chocolate cups for dessert. The hotel was so fancy, I felt out of place walking around in my smelly cycling kit. At one point while I was chatting with a gentleman from the MS Society, I got a text from Naomi saying that she'd gone to take a nap in the lobby, and could I please wake her up before we left. When I went to get her for the group photo, she was totally passed out on a fancy leather couch. After photos, we left as a team to ride through Glasgow, with James W taking the lead. Unfortunately Tamla missed the lunch due to a flat tire and lack of cell service, so she was the only one missing from the group. Shortly after leaving, David took another tumble, due to a mechanical issue that just stopped his back wheel from moving. We paused for a second for James W to fix the issue, and then rode on together. We rode along more bike paths, and it was fun to ride with such a big group for a bit. At one point, we came across a gigantic statue of a bike and James W ripped off his shoes and socks and climbed right to the top and sat on the seat of the bike. The rest of the team followed suite, and I set up the tripod to take a team picture. Unfortunately, in my rush and excitement to climb the bike, I managed to slip while climbing it and cut up the back of my knee. We still got a good group picture though, and I was able to patch up my knee with the first aid kit I carry in my bag. Shortly after this, Tim got a flat tire from trying to bunnyhop a pothole, and James W ended up replacing it quickly because we were far behind schedule due to the lunch and David's fall and the statue. Riding through Glasgow was beautiful and the bike paths were very nice, although a little crowded. My bike started to make some weird noises at some point, and James W couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was but guessed maybe the bottom bracket. It was fine to ride though, so I just kept going. It was pretty smooth sailing for the rest of the day, except for right at the end where Sarah and Naomi breezed past the turn for camp and I had to shout after them to come back. We were able to shower at the pool down the road, which had a really nice locker room. We went grocery shopping at the corner store, and Naomi and I got some ingredients to make a salad. Sarah and I also split the cost of a can of hot dogs. You read that right - a can of hot dogs. It's pre-cooked hot dogs in a soup can. Anyways, we're going to try those on another night just to see how they taste. Naomi and I made the salad back at the church with some mac and cheese to go with it. Today is also Sara's birthday, so we celebrated with a cake and champagne later on in the evening. It was actually quite an effort to get the cake organized, because Sara wouldn't leave the kitchen for long enough for us to get it ready and the candles lit. Eventually we brought out the cake and sang Happy Birthday, and Sara gave a lovely speech. Pretty great day over all! DAY 6 - AUG. 4 - CARLUKE to Carlisle - 100.5 MI
On the road early this morning. Because It was a long day, the van was scheduled to leave at 7am, which meant we had to be packed and ready to go by 7am. I was feeling rather sluggish this morning, and ended up falling behind Sarah and Naomi before rest stop one. At the stop, James W took a look at my bike to see if he could find the source of the weird noise, while I went inside with Naomi and Sarah to join James K and Jo for second breakfast. The cafe had a really good bacon and egg sandwich, and we all had a great time chatting and laughing at Jo's stories. Unfortunately James W wasn't able to get to the root of the problem on my bike, but he made it significantly better and the noise wasn't nearly as annoying anymore. James K also joined us for the rest of the day. We stopped at a beautiful castle for some pictures and a bathroom break, and to put our jackets back on as it started drizzling. I thought the weather was temperamental in New England, but it's a whole different ball game over here. It'll be hot, then start raining and cool down, and then it'll be hot again!
The next rest stop was at a grocery store, and I was able to pick up some snacks for my day cubby. We were rolling at a pretty good pace into what was supposed to be rest stop three, but the car was behind and the van had to go ahead to camp, so we just picked a spot on the sidewalk in Annan and rested for a little bit. Along the final stretch into camp we crossed into England! James K told us a cool bit of history about how English teens used to sneak across into Scotland to get married because the marriage age was lower there. A building at the edge of the border confirmed that there had been over 10,000 marriages performed there since 1830. We stopped for pictures at the Scotland and England signs, and then Naomi and I ran across the street for a picture with a signpost that declared Land's End was 478 miles away. Almost halfway there! I had a surprising amount of energy left for the end of a century day, and was feeling good on the final stretch. We reached the rugby club where we are camping tonight at mile 99, so we had to go a little bit further down the road to round out the full century. As we pulled in to camp, the cyclist who had already finished were sitting with some members of the local MS Society at a pub right next to the field. I hurried to join them, getting sidetracked only by an absolutely incredible, delicious, freshly baked snack that was in the van. Wasn't sure exactly what it was, but it resembled a moist, chewy granola bar of some kind. I learned later that they're called flapjacks (even though they're not pancakes). I quickly set up my tent, showered, and then joined everyone at the pub. The MS Society was very generous, and bought everyone a drink. I think I'll have to make a "century cider" a think from now on. After they left, we headed inside for a team meeting, and everyone got paninis. They were really tasty, and super cheap. We ended up hanging out in the lounge until around 10pm and then headed back to our tents. First time I've camped so far this trip! Normally I prefer to be indoors, but I'm honestly looking forward to having my own space for tonight. Day 1 - Jul. 30 - John O'Groats to Bettyhill - 51.5 mi
Naomi and I woke up at our hotel in Wick, quickly got ready, and drove to the team campsite with my parents to start the ride. We spent about an hour getting our cubbies organized and our bikes ready to start the day, and then went over to the John O'Groats signpost to take team photos. It was raining most of yesterday, but today was nice and sunny. After a few photos and adding a Bike the UK for MS sticker to collection of stickers already on the sign post, we set off on the first mile of our 1,020 mile trip to Land's End.
The tandem bike quickly passed the rest of the group, and took the lead for the day. Most of the team stayed in a big group, and I got to chat with a few people. Once we started to spread apart, I ended up riding and chatting with Tim. The roads were narrow with lots of sheep, and my GPS at one point informed us that we had taken a wrong turn. Luckily this was caught almost instantly, and we got back on track only to find the majority of the team stopped at a beautiful beach taking pictures. We stopped to join them, and Issy tried (unsuccessfully) to take a team photo using her GoPro's voice activation feature - "GoPro, take a photo!". This gave us all a good laugh, but we eventually had to go manual and press the photo button to take the picture. Rest stop one was at a grocery store in Thurso, where we got some shopping done and got two donations from locals. I haven't ridden much this month, so I was feeling rather out of shape and tried to lighten the load on my bike by putting the drone in my day cubby. Leaving rest stop one, I rode with Sarah the rest of the way to rest stop two, which was in a parking lot at the top of a hill around mile 40. Here I snacked on a banana and some crackers, and tried to stay warm in the wind. It's been mostly crosswinds today, with the occasional headwind, and even more occasional tailwind. I left the rest stop with Sarah and Naomi, but lost them pretty quickly when I turned around to get a picture of a mom and baby sheep on the side of the road. Riding solo meant I stopped to take lots of photos and videos on the way to camp. The elevation profile for today showed three big climbs, the first of which wasn't bad, the second was pretty tough, and the last one was just plain annoying because I was so close to camp. Tonight we are staying at a community centre in Bettyhill, and boy are we being spoiled on the first night. We were able to shower at the local pool (complete with hot tub!) and then we were given a delicious meal from some of the ladies in town. They put out an incredible spread of sandwiches and desserts. After eating, we headed down to the beach in town. This place is stunning, and it looks more like you're on a tropical island than in northern Scotland. I brought the drone out, and was able to get some footage of everyone chilling on the beach. On the walk back it started raining, so we hung out in the community centre for a while and then headed over to the pub for some free wifi. We ended up sitting outside at a picnic table playing cards and watching the sunset for the rest of the evening. Pretty great first day! Day 2 - Jul. 31 - Bettyhill to Evanston - 76.8 mi
Woke up early to the sun streaming through a crack in the curtain, directly into my face. I instantly dropped right back into the morning routine I've followed on every previous tour - breakfast, get dressed, pack up my sleeping bag, brush my teeth, pack up my cubby, pack up my bike, hit the road. The whole team headed out together, but we soon got separated as Tim's chain broke within the first mile, just past the pub we had played cards at last night. I ended up riding with Sarah for most of the first stretch, occasionally joining up with Issy, Laura, and Naomi. We spent most of the way into the rest stop alongside a beautiful lake, or a loch as they would call it here in Scotland. There were also sheep everywhere! All over the road. We passed a sign that says "lambs have no road sense", which might be my new favourite street sign.
At the first rest stop we had a little picnic in the grass and messed around with accents. The Brits tried out their best American accents, and we tried out our best English and Scottish ones. After the stop I rode with Sarah again. What looked like a climb on our elevation profile didn't really feel like one, but then the descent didn't feel like a real descent either so it kind of evened out. We were both pretty frustrated by this point, as we had some unpleasant headwinds for this stretch. We did however pass some beautiful waterfalls, and Sarah graciously put up with me constantly stopping for pictures. We also stopped for French fries at a cafe in Lairch because we were both starving. A bit later on, we met up with Tamla at the big waterfall, and rode with her for a bit. Tamla and I popped into a corner store for snack right before the rest stop in Bonar Bridge, and then hung out for a bit with Jo and James K at the stop. As we were leaving the stop, we passed by a lady who handed me ₤10 when we biked, saying "I saw your van pass and wanted to give you a donation! Keep riding!". This was a great moment, and a good motivation for the climb that we were about to face - 13% grade for 2 miles. The climb was tough, but at least we got a good descent out of it. Every part of my body is hurting at this point, and my legs started to seize up a bit on the descent. I rode the final stretch alone, and got into camp just before 7pm. There are no showers tonight, so I took a quick sink/wet-wipe shower and then went to the pub with Sarah. We met Steve and Sara (the tandem couple) at the pub with their friends, and then James W, James K, and Naomi joined us a bit later. After dinner we grocery shopped and then headed back to the church to go to sleep. Day 3 - Aug. 1 - Evanston to Fort Agustus - 59.7 mi
Due to some snoring, I ended up moving my sleeping bag into the kitchen of the church in the middle of the night, where I was able to get a much better sleep. I woke up to people coming in to make their porridge, and figured I should probably start getting ready myself.
Had a good ride in to Inverness with Sarah, and even got to ride with Sara and Steve and their friends for a bit. Sarah and I joked that this may be the only time on the trip where we spend more than a few seconds riding with the tandem because they are so fast. We almost missed the first rest stop, but thankfully Sarah noticed the van at the last minute and yelled ahead for me to pull over. At this rest stop, we were joined by a couple members of the local MS Society, which was really cool. We got to chat with them, and took a team photo. It was during the team photo that a seagull decided to try and steal one of my recently purchased bananas right out of the grocery bag. I almost tripped over David's bike running over to scare it off! After saying goodbye to the MS Society, we rode through the city as a team, passing by the area where I had stayed with my parents a couple nights ago. After getting through the city it was a short ride to Dores, an unofficial rest stop, where we got to see Loch Ness and take some pictures. I was honestly pretty relieved that we were stopping for another break, because every part of my body was hurting. I'm not sure why this ride is hurting so much more than any other trip I've done, but it's really frustrating. I rode with Sarah, James K, and Naomi to the next rest stop, which was on the side of the road right beside the loch. My phone was on the verge of dying, but I still managed to fit in a quick drone flight out over the loch, which was stunning. After the rest stop, we had a big, tough climb between us and camp. The four of us struggled through it together, and stopped at the top for some more photos. We also saw a couple taking wedding photos at the top - that's how scenic it was. Just as we were starting off towards the bottom, I saw James W climbing up the other side, coming from camp. I yelled at him "why would you do this to yourself?!", not yet knowing how amazing the descent would be. He replied with "you'll see!". Thankfully James was right, and the descent was even more beautiful than the climb was tough. It's amazing how quickly a good descent can erase the painful memories of a climb from my mind. After getting to camp, James K, Naomi, Sarah, and I head down towards the loch to swim and then shower. It was freezing cold and raining, but we figured we couldn't come to Loch Ness and not jump in. It took us five minutes to finally waddle out to a point where it was deep enough for us to fully submerge ourselves, and in that amount of time we amassed a little audience that cheered for us when we finally worked up the courage to dunk underwater. The warm showers that came next were very welcome, though we had to wait for the rest of the team to finish because there was only one functioning shower. For dinner Sarah and I went out to a fish and chips shop with James K and James W. James K treated me to a battered sausage for dinner because I said I'd never had one before, and it was actually pretty good! After eating, a bunch of us went down to a pub by the loch, where we spent most of the night teasing Jo because she was confused as to what end of the loch we were on, even though we had spent the whole day riding alongside it. Back at the church we chatted for a bit, and then headed to bed by 10:30. It's a pretty tiny room tonight, so hopefully the snoring won't be too bad! Seattle to San Francisco - August 2017 San Francisco to San Diego - March 2017 Day 17 - Aug. 22 - Redway to Ft. Bragg - 76miDidn't have a great sleep last night as our site was right next to the highway, and there were some pretty loud trucks. Left camp with Sarah and Michael, but was pretty soon just riding with Sarah. The elevation was trending upwards on the way to rest stop one, so we gained a good bit of elevation before the real climb started afterwards. The climb wasn’t too bad, as it was a relatively good grade, and the descent was pretty cool. It was way windier than any other descent I’ve every done, and involved a lot of leaning into the corners so that you didn’t skid out. Just as we were approaching the bottom of the descent, we saw the van heading backwards, which is never a good sign. The route leaders had left the chairs and boxes out for us on the side of the road, and we heard from the people that were already there that it was Kelly who had taken a spill, but that she was fine, which was really good news. We didn’t stick around too long, and got back on the road after a quick snack and chat. What we didn’t know, was that there was another significant climb after the rest stop. After this, however, we were back on the coast, which we hadn’t seen in a few days. It was pretty hilly for the rest segment of the ride. We decided to bypass rest stop three as the van hadn’t caught back up to us, and stopped at one point to pick some beautiful flowers that Sarah was going to use for her bromposal. We met up with Melissa before getting on a really poorly maintained bike path, and stopped to check out Glass Beach which happened to be at the end of the path. We tried to stop at a brewery for dinner, but ended up deciding to get Subway instead because the restaurant was closed until 5pm. On the way to Subway, we stopped at a thrift store to get our brom outfits, which I have to say I am pretty happy with. We got our food, and ate at camp. I hadn’t eaten a real meal yet today, so I was pretty hungry by this point. Took a shower after eating, and then found out that Andrea had also fallen off her bike when I returned to the campsite. Thankfully, she is also ok, and just has some cuts on her knee and elbow. I spent most of the rest of the night planning my bromposal. Because Brian is the only other computer science guy on this trip, and generally a pretty cool person, I decided to ask him by writing out some Java code and texting it to him. He said yes, which means I have an outfit and a date, and am all set for brom in two days. It was a pretty cold night at camp, so we got a campfire going, and sat around it for a while before getting ready for bed. After Michael went to sleep, I helped Sarah set up her bromposal by arranging the flowers to spell out “brom" in her cubby (because of the flowers he got us after he got us lost), and leaving a note by the entrance to his tent. Day 18 - Aug. 23 - Ft. Bragg to Gualala - 58.2miMuch better sleep last night, which was surprising as we were all pretty crammed into the campsite. Left with Michael and Sarah, and stopped for breakfast about 8 miles in. Breakfast burrito with a chocolate croissant to go, which I ended up eating at the first rest stop. Super foggy yet again, and quite cold. Definitely did not expect California to be this cold in August. Mostly coastal hills into Elk for the first rest stop. We hung out for a while, and Sarah and Eddie ended up falling asleep in their chairs. Michael challenged Amanda to eat a cupcake all in one bite, which was attempted but didn't happen. Sarah and I rode out of Elk together, and pretty soon encountered one of the steepest climbs of the coast. It was a switchback going from sea level up to a cliff, which had a corner registering at 17.5% grade on my computer. It took every bit of energy I had to get around that corner without falling over. A little bit down the road, the sun finally started to come out, and we met up with Michael at a thrift store to shop for his brom outfit. Rest stop two was in Point Arena, and we stayed here for a while as well. I bought a chocolate milk and some Oreos, and we discussed who was still available to be asked to brom. Andrea texted Kurt a picture of her doing his famous "seal pose" with a sign that says "Brom?". From the rest stop, it was about 14 miles into Gualala, where we stopped for dinner at a nice Italian place. Amanda and Neil joined us a little bit later - they were held up due to a flat tire. Camp was less than two miles from the restaurant, and it's in a beautiful forest. Some alumni joined us this evening and brought everyone pizza. I had just eaten a full dinner, but I still had two slices. It's amazing how much you can eat on trips like this. Most of the rest of the night was spent organizing and setting up camp, and then hanging out by the bathrooms where people were charging phones and waiting to shower. While I was sitting talking to Nick and Matt, Kaylyn came up with a towel on her arm, saying that she had fell, and was hoping Dr. Nick could take a look at it. When she removed the paper towel, it revealed "brom?" written in marker on her arm. I love how creative all the bromposals have been this year. Day 19 - Aug. 24 - Gualala to Olema - 81.6miIt was nice and sunny out as we left this morning, which was a welcome diversion from the cold and foggy mornings we have been having. This didn’t last too long though, and we rode right into the fog before rest stop one. Bit of climbing out of the rest stop, followed by a windy descent that felt a little sketchy in the thick fog, but was still pretty fun. Brian joined Sarah and I for ~10 miles leading into rest stop two in Bodega Bay, where a bunch of us grabbed lunch at Fishetarian. I’m not really a seafood person, so I opted for the grilled cheese, which turned out to be quite good. The next stretch of the ride into rest stop three wasn’t the most fun. There were some pretty nasty headwinds for most of the way, and my left calf was feeling oddly tight/crampy. Tried to massage it out at the rest stop in Marshall, but it still felt off for the rest of the day. Everyone was pretty exhausted by the 81 mile day when we got to camp, but most of the team managed to rally for brom. We had a meeting to discuss the route into San Francisco, and then everyone changed into their outfits so we could take brom pictures. Such a fun night. Day 20 - Aug. 25 - Olema to San Francisco - 58.6miSo it turns out that the Olema campsite has a really bad racoon problem. A few of us were hanging out in the van after the camp quiet hours started, and when it got cold I ran to my tent to grab my sleeping bag so I could stay warm. With my headlight on, I could see a pair of racoon eyes staring at me from the tree next to my tent. I ended up sleeping in the van, and could hear them on the roof all night. In the morning, everyone was discussing their own racoon encounters, which brought out some pretty hilarious stories. Amanda slept in the other van, and said that racoons were sliding down the windshield. Andrea’s jersey got dragged halfway across the campsite because it had food in the pockets, and Claire’s saddle bag got opened and all of her food got eaten. When I went to my tent in the morning, I found muddy paw prints on the door, but thankfully the racoons didn’t manage to open the zipper. Michael, Sarah, and I left just after Claire, Gabby, Kelly, and Shannon’s group. There was a solid uphill to get back on route, and then a descent that brought us whizzing by our turn onto the bike path. Luckily, I saw the sign out of the corner of my eye, and called after everyone that we missed the turn. Not everyone heard me, but the van drove by us right after, and made sure everyone got back on track. The bike path was nice and shaded, and the pavement was a good amount smoother than some of the other bike paths we have been on this trip. We rode as a big group into breakfast in Fairfax, and then headed through some cute towns on our way to the rest stop. Andrea and Camille joined us for this segment, but we all got a bit split up on the hills of Sausalito. Sarah and I ended up running into Gayle, who was on the phone with the route leaders trying to figure out where the stop was. After gracefully dismounting her bike (i.e. falling over into a bush) Sarah took the phone, and I got out my first aid kit when I realized that Gayle had blood dripping down her knee from a spill. Turns out, we had to carry out bikes down some stairs and under the bridge to get to the other side of the road for the rest stop. We got some pictures on both sides, and then carefully took off across the bridge, trying not to run into any pedestrians. Towards the end of the bridge, Michael’s sister Katie surprised him, and we stopped to chat with her before heading to the end of the bridge for yet more photos. We met up again with Katie at the cafe for some hot chocolate, and I ran down to the gift shop to get some stickers. It was a weird officially being in San Francisco, as I have now done basically the entire west coast. We eventually started riding again, James joined us as we were stopped to check our maps. We rode through the Presidio, Golden Gate Park, and Daly City, taking the exact same route Carissa and I took six months ago. Eventually we split up from James, and grabbed some Thai food in Daly City, as we were all pretty hungry. The food was delicious, but none of us wanted to get back on our bikes for the final 12mi, and jokingly debated calling an Uber. The last few miles weren’t terrible after the initial hill on which I almost got doored, and it was nice to get to the hotel and take a warm shower. It had been warm and sunny on the Sausalito side of the bridge, but as soon as we got to SF, it was freezing cold and foggy. I spent the night getting Italian food and ice cream sandwiches with Soo Jung in San Mateo, but was basically falling asleep at the table I was so tired, so she drove me back to the hotel early and was in bed by 9:30pm. Post-trip - San Francisco to BostonIt’s really weird that the trip is over. I knew saying goodbye to everyone when I left would suck, but I didn’t think it would be this hard. Saturday was mostly spent hanging out with people at the hotel, enjoying waffle machine at breakfast, cleaning out my cubby, and getting ice cream sandwiches for the second day in a row because they were just that good. I also took my bike to the shop to get boxed up and sent back to Boston, but really did not want to hand it over when the time came. In the evening, we got to have a Skype call with Angela Shaw, who will be virtually joining the Pac Coast team for the rest of the trip. She has MS, and only has the use of her right arm left. She will be doing 10x our daily milage in steps on a NuStep machine from home. She is such an incredible lady, and it was so inspiring to hear her story and be able to chat with her. Sunday was harder, as I signed my name on the trailer, and said goodbye to my teammates as they headed out for the day. I really love this team, and I am so sad that I will not be riding all the way to San Diego with them. Thankfully, Soo Jung and Phil helped me distract myself for the rest of the day, as we toured around the Berkley campus and ate so much good food. They dropped me off at the San Jose airport at 8, and I was on the plane home by 10pm. To my teammates: You guys are incredible, and I wish you all the best of luck as you ride to San Diego. I am so glad I got to spend the last 3 weeks with you, and hope we can ride together again in the future. Day 11 - Aug. 16 - Humbug State Park, OR to Crescent City, CA - 82.2miBeautiful last day in Oregon. Left camp with Sarah, and about 2 miles in, passed Sully with a flat tire. We eventually caught up to Amanda and stopped to take some pictures, and then Sully caught up to us and the four of us rode together to the first rest stop. At the first rest stop, a lady in a cafe recommended that we check out the Double D Cafe for breakfast, which we did. Best breakfast sandwich I've had in a while. Right after breakfast, we lost Sully and Amanda, and learned later that it was because Sully got a second flat tire. We had our biggest climb of the day, and had the entire lane to ourselves on the descent because there was a flagged controlling traffic. I hit a high speed of 48.5mph. The rest of the stretch into rest stop two was hilly, and Sarah and I stopped to take lots of photos. Rest stop two was in a Fred Meyers parking lot, and a lot of people were still there, so we got to hang out for a bit. Six miles after the stop we crossed over into California! There was a nice big sign, and we took lots of pictures. The last 20mi or so were decently flat, but I am already missing the Oregon coast. Camp is at St. Paul's church in Crescent City, and I get to sleep on a couch tonight. Andrea and I grabbed dinner at Burger King, and then shopped around at Walgreens. We ended the night with a game of euchre, and hung out outside the church chatting for a bit, and cuddling with a cat. Redwoods tomorrow! Day 12 - Aug. 17 - Crescent City to Redwood National Park - 39.9miWhat a great day. The couch I slept on last night was so comfy, and we "slept in" until about 7am when other people started getting up and moving around. As I was getting ready, a gentleman stopped by and asked what we were up to. His father-in-law has MS, and he saw the trailer parked out front. I explained the ride, and he gave me a $2 donation. Apparently he even called the newspaper to tell them about us. Because it was going to be a short 35mi day, we left camp around 9:15am, and 10 of us headed straight to Denny's for breakfast. I had a huge breakfast of sticky bun pancakes, bacon, eggs, hash browns, and toast. After breakfast, we hit our biggest climb yet on the trip - 1,200ft straight up into Redwood National Park. We got pictures of the sign on the way up, and enjoyed a nice descent after a few false summits. We waited by the beach for a few people to catch up (they were stopped by a construction flagged) and then headed out to the Mysterious Trees tourist attraction. They had a giant statue of Paul Bunyan out front, and there was someone controlling the mic to make him talk to people, which was funny to watch. We got fudge and ice cream, and then bought tickets to take the tram up to the top. The ride up to the top was cool, but nothing too special, but the walk around in the forest was pretty amazing. After this it was a few short miles to the Country Club for lunch. The place was basically a dive bar, but the food was actually pretty good. Half a mile past this was a tree that we could bike through, which was a really cool experience. The ride up the hill to the tree was super steep, and Sarah dropped her chain right at the start, which made it difficult for me to pedal because I was laughing so hard. Right after the tour through tree, we did 4 "bonus mile" (i.e. we got lost). After we got back on track there was a big climb and Michael took off. When we got to the top, he was waiting for us with flowers to apologize for his contribution to getting us lost. The descent into camp was pretty incredible. Normally I am a huge fan of steep descents where you can go 30+ mph, but this low grade descent was perfect for taking in the trees and beautiful scenery around us. Dinner consisted of eating ramen noodles, and desert was s’mores around a campfire in the middle of Redwood National Park. Not a bad way to end the day. Day 13 - Aug. 18 - Redwood National Park to Arcata - 45.8miSlept surprisingly well last night, which I wasn’t expecting because I never sleep well when we are in bear territory. Headed over to the trailer to grab my stuff, and saw Sully building a bike. Turns out Andrea’s friend Camille showed up in an Uber at 1:30am to join the team. I was super impressed that she made it all the way out here, and managed to find Andrea’s tent in the dark. It was freezing cold this morning, so I bundled up, and headed out with Sarah. Just after leaving camp. We stopped to take pictures of some elk that were chilling in a meadow on the side of the road. We rode along the 101 for most of the way into the rest stop, and saw some more elk hanging out in a marsh. We got a tweet saying to use caution on Patrick Point Road, because of rough terrain, but a few miles into the road we were wondering why they had bothered to send the tweet - there were a few potholes, but nothing too crazy. We spoke way too soon, because shortly after discussing this, the road was became horrible. Gravel, potholes, and bumps everywhere. We also stopped for a few minutes when some people in cars on the road ahead of us started getting out of their cars and screaming at each other. Not sure what was going on, but they were not happy about something. Eventually they quieted down, and we were able to pass by and make it to rest stop one. We walked a couple blocks down from the stop to check out a cafe for breakfast, and boy was it worth it. It took about 30min to get our food, but the bagel breakfast sandwich was amazing. The road out of the rest stop was worse than the road into it, but I had some fun treating it like a cyclocross course. Eventually we got on a bike path that had a nice gravel hill to climb, and then we were on quiet back roads all the way into town. The church we are staying at is about 4mi off route and out of town. It’s pretty small, so I sent up my tent in the backyard. We grabbed an Uber into town to use the showers and hot tub at the fitness centre, and then walked to a brewery for lunch. We walked around town after eating, and met up with some other people from the team. We all ended up at a cider bar/pie restaurant that was really good, and then a few of us went to a Mexican place after that. We grabbed an Uber back to the church after Mexican, and it turns out the Uber driver who drove Camille to the Redwoods also drove them home from the Mexican restaurant! Such a small world. A few of us ended up hanging out in the van talking for a few hours, and we ended up staying up pretty late. Rest day tomorrow though, so we can sleep in as late as we want! Day 14 - Aug. 19 - Arcata - Rest DayIt was freezing cold in my tent last night. I was wearing all the warm layers I had, and it was still pretty chilly. I stayed in my tent until about 10am, and then got up and ready for the day. Walked with Michael, Sarah, and Eddie to the cafe for breakfast, but on the way there everyone decided that they wanted pizza instead, so we took an uber into town. We walked around the farmers market while we waited for the pizza place to open at 11. After we ate, Michael's friend showed up with Michael's dog Debo. We drove back to the church, and I ended up going back to the cafe to use the internet, which wasn't that good. I had hoped to get a blog post up, but that might have to wait until tomorrow. Spent the afternoon getting the usual rest day errands done - laundry and groceries - and then came back and made spanish rice and bean wraps for dinner. Early to bed tonight - it's only 9pm and I am already in my tent and ready to go to sleep. Day 15 - Aug. 20 - Arcata to Weott - 63miWoke up to the sound of roosters this morning, seemingly coming from every direction. Packed up our tents, wet with morning dew as per usual, and then Sarah and I set off for the day. We got about 100 meters when we heard Michael yelling at us that we were going the wrong way. Great way to start the day. We turned around, and rode towards Eureka with Melissa, Kelly, and others right behind us. The boys soon caught up, and Sarah and I managed to stay close enough behind them that we could follow them on the many turns that brought us through town, without even needing to pull out our maps. We were on the 101 basically the entire way into rest stop one in Ferndale, where I got a delicious heart shaped scone, at a really cool cafe that has a canoe making school in the back. Just as we were about to leave rest stop one, the route leaders learned that our plans for camp that night had fallen through, and they needed to find a new place for us to stay. We set off again, not knowing where exactly we would be sleeping that night, but the route leaders solved the problem really quickly, and we got a tweet with the new campsite only a couple miles after leaving the van. We turned onto the famous Avenue of Giants a little bit later, and were riding between enormous beautiful redwood trees. We saw some bikes outside of a cafe down the road, and stopped to join Michael, Kurt, Jen, and Jeff for some food. The waitress was pretty funny, but kept getting everyone’s order wrong. There was a little store attached to the cafe, so I bought some postcards and stickers after lunch, and then we made our way to the campsite. Before we got there though, we ran into some teammates stopped at a blackberry popsicle stand. Apparently some local cyclist occasionally donates money so that cyclists passing by can get free popsicles! This has got to be one of my favourite campsites of the trip so far, so I am really glad that our other plans fell through. We are right in the forest, and Kaylyn even managed to set up her tent in a tree, which I am super jealous of. There was a giant tree stump that someone had carved handholds and footholds into so that we could climb up and view the campsite from above. In the evening, we had a team meeting to go over a few things, and the route leaders officially announced that brom (bike prom) would take place in Olema. We mostly hung out at the picnic table chatting for the rest of the night, but also ended up watching Kurt film a spinoff of MTV Crib’s about his tent and the trailer. So hard to hold myself back from laughing while they were filming. Day 16 - Aug. 21 - Weott to Redway - 20.3miWe woke up in the redwoods, which was so beautiful. Sarah, Michael, and I were on the road by about 8:50am, because apparently people were gabbing breakfast in a town 11mi away, and were planning to watch the eclipse there. We got there in less than an hour, and met up with almost the whole team. I had a great breakfast sandwich with home fries, and we took turns borrowing Richard's glasses to look at the eclipse. It was pretty crazy to see. After breakfast, it was a short 10mi or so into camp, so we were there before noon. There isn't a whole lot to do here, but some of us hung by the pool for a little bit. It was so weird being at camp so early, we didn't really know what to do with ourselves to fill the afternoon. A few of the guys biked into town for food, and came back saying that it was pretty sketchy and that people should go as a group. Sarah, Michael, and I ended up going in at around 4:30, and ended up finding a really nice pizza place. Michael even bumped into someone he knew, and town wasn't nearly as sketchy as we had heard. When we got back to camp we played cards for a little bit, and then just hung out and talked until the sun went down and we were ready to go to bed. |
katie macdonald
Summer 2016, I biked 4,295 miles, coast to coast across the USA to raise money and awareness for MS. March 2017, I biked self-contained from San Francisco to San Diego with my friend Carissa. August 2017 I connected the dots and biked from Seattle to San Francisco. Summer 2018 I am heading to the UK! Follow my journey here! Miles biked for MS:
6,800.13
Updated August 27, 2018 Archives
January 2019
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