We've moved along, Mariana, Misty and I. We left Crescent City, Alston and Calvin, the ocean and the beaches. Now we're headed inland to see the coastal redwood forests for the next few days, including the famous Avenue of the Giants in Humboldt National Park. We are also moving into the infamous hilly section of Northern California, one that tests a cyclist's mettle. Today we got a taste of what both had to offer today, and I am happy they came together since one without the other would be definitely less memorable (well, I could do with less hill...)
Today the challenge of climbing high and long hills reached another level (no pun intended). Misty read, reread and checked her maps and books about today's hills south of Crescent City. The more info she has about her opponent, the better she feels. She knows the distance, the elevation gain, calculates the grade and tries to solicit other cyclists' perceived exertion on it and how it compares to other previously difficult climbs. On the other hand, I prefer to know the bare minimum, preferring the approach of just pedaling until the downhill or until my legs don't work any more, whichever comes first. After the sixth discussion, my previously cavalier attitude towards the hill was replaced by a bit of apprehension, which was a first.
In short, the next hour was spent climbing the 1200 ft hill with three peaks. That would have been enough of a feat, except we had another one shortly afterwards to do, this one up to 900 ft into the redwoods with two
peaks. I kept my motivation until I looked up at the last one, which rose straight up for what looked like an really long way. Ok fine, I can handle this. Except that the hill continued beyond the first bend, the second, the third, and then I stopped expecting that the hill actually ended. I think it was a good 45 minutes that I spent at 80% max heart rate. We are grateful that only the next two days of cycling are not supposed to be this difficult.
At the end of the day's interminable climbing, we had both friend and forests waiting for us. Marty from Phoenix was a super approachable and friendly guy who made such a good impression on Alston and Calvin that those two mentioned him to us. Being a solo cyclist heading the same way, we invited him to join our biker gang as we made our way to Eureka. He zipped right past us on the uphills. reminding us that it is possible to go up and not die from fatigue, and secondly that there were Redwood forestseyond waiting for us to explore.
Explore and marvel we did. Those trees are majestic beyond description. The forests where they thrive under protection from us teeny weeny little humans are special places, and I can only describe them as Nature's cathedrals. Those trees, decades to millennia old, tower over the roadway like pillars. The tallest ones have grown to about 100 m in height, which happens to be higher than Notre Dame de Paris which stands only 90 m high. The light filters through the leafy branches high off the ground painting delicate patterns of light like those you might see through the great rose windows of a stone cathedral. It's quiet there too, the moss, ferns, clover and poison oak forming a thick carpet at the feet of these giants. Wandering in was a completely breathtaking experience which made it easy for us to forget the fatigue in our bodies.
