Long Day to the Redwoods

Amanda was our rider for the day from Elk to Westport...we had ocean views when the sun came out and noticed that many of the trees were bent from gail force winds! Amanda we thought you'd like to see the neat trees!

On day 5 we left our foggy ocean view campsite...to head out on our hardest day so we thought to climb the big hill before Leggett. It was a big day of climbing but we did it! Dave was our rider of the day he gave us strength like the big redwoods hahahah. We decided to camp in the Redwoods because when else would we be able to do this-it was a nice spot but cold. In total we rode 120km that day and ended at 7pm.

A short video of us riding through the Redwoods

We enjoyed seeing the redwoods and havd a wonderful ride on the Avenue of the Giants! We cycled 95km from the campsite to a town called Arcata. This was to be a night of rest as Daun wasn't feeling well...I think we both got a little bug of somesort but we are going strong now. We had a nice room at thje Hotel Arcata but the dance club next door wasn't very cool! We didn't want to dance all night we wanted to SLEEP! So we left a little tired but optimistic we would sleep well the next night because we were already so tired. We decided to camp out again well that was the plan in the next Redwood State park but our map was very very very very wrong. There was no hostel, or DeMartin campgroung erererer...just one giant hill of 6km...longest climb yet plus we did that climb after we already had cycled 100km. There was one great part to this day which was the random yelling out of a car.."Granite! Granite...which is Daun's earth name from a camp she worked at in Halifax, Nova Scotia (yes the other side of Canada..east coast)...and so we stopped and it was Springbox (aka Niko..sp) and his roomate, Ben...wow small world!! So they said they would check into this non existing hostel and campground....It was not until climbing the montain did we see them again and heard their honking...oh I have never been more excited to see someone...although they came bearing bad news...this is De Martin campground..a silly small sign that goes down to a trail where bikes are not allowed. So, we said our goodbyes (thanks again guys ...we felt disgusting and sore but we were warmed by your smiles..we do wish we had gotten a picture though...another time;)) and continued for another 16 kms to make it to the first motel we found in Crescent City (it was going to be the next campground cause apparently it was right on the highway...just as a side note never ever tell cyclists 2.5 miles is right off the highway...can you tell we were bitter...bah!..but today is sunny!)

Emily as we were on our way to the Redwood State Park we came down towards the water and there was a beautiful marsh area...since we went to the Wye marsh Day Camp I thought this would be a good place for you to join us on our ride. The picture got a little wet sorry! It was anice part of the ride!

We are rested today (if you can say that) and on our way to Gold Beach, Oregan..less than 16kms away and we will have crossed our first state!!..Mom, you have made it to Crescent City Beach, enjoy the view!

Nice room in Elk

Here are some photos from our awesome room we had overlooking the ocean in Elk CA.

The fog actually lifted for a brief moment...

Our view and sweet room....

Day 4....we actually have a tail wind!

So when we left you we still had about 40 km to ride and it was 3pm...we made it to the town of Elk at 7pm (92kms) looking for the campsite that was on our map! But surprise, surprise...there was no campsite to be found! We were wondering where to sleep- anyways we got hooked up at a beautiful B and B overlooking the ocean- we were like queens!

We are now in Fort Bragg and about to get some more tubes because Lisa has had 5 flats in the last two weeks. Unfortunately we can't figure out how to find the drive with the camera so we have no pictures to share and it really is too bad because we just went to the thrift store here in town and bought some sweet tops (it is really chilly here!). Not to worry we will post those pics later.

On our last post we had a picture of us drinking wine and we would like to thank the lovely father and daughter who gave us money for a bottle of wine (we did actually buy a bottle) for helping them fix their flat tire..we now call ourselves the CBA (Canadian Bicycle Association...get it? AAA or CAA)...

Last thank you is to the anonymous shirt printing store in San Fran who printed our wicked t-shirts for our ride (see the previous post) in less than 48 hours and gave them to us as a donation...thank you thank you so very much!!...our other shirts will be done after our ride and will be used as a souvenir:)

We hope the rest of our ride will be nice because we know we will be hitting the biggest switch back climb (apparently) of our whole ride...this is what the other cyclists have been telling us. We'll let you know tomorrow after we conquer it!!

Thank you again to everyone who has donated we are so appreciated and have been spreading the word to people who we meet along the way. Watch for more pictures of people who have donated.

Choa for now and until our next post!

We are finally on the road...updates from Lisa and Daun: Days 1-3

We have finally started the journey up the coast! Sorry for any readers who have been waiting to read but let us tell you that internet is quite sparse on the coast.


Just as an FYI...we do not have time to proof read so please excuse us (teachers) will not be editing posts...but for the kids out there reading please don't do this at school:)...edit all the time!

In any case we are already on Day 3 of our ride. We will have to be quite brief since finding internet and using slow computers is cutting into our time on the road...let's just say it took us 2 hours to ride 17 kms yesterday...THERE IS A LOT OF CLIMBING!!

So here we are Day 1 in San Francisco about to head across the GG bridge in to the unknown...and that it was on Day 1...holy the mountains and who knew we would be joining a cycling event too that day. Some cyclists were going to ride 360kms in one day...we were not but waved at them along the way. Day one was San Fran to Dillon Beach 108 kms!



We had said that if you were able to donate over $20.00 we would bring you along for the ride and dedicate a day or part of a day for you. Our first person to join us is my best friend Jen...you were able to enjoy the foggy weather at Bodega Bay..but it did get sunny too! Thank you Jen for your support!


Day 2 Dillon Beach to Stillwater Campground 75 kms, the words for this day: tired, cold, foggy, a little sun, switch back craziness! It seemed like we were never going to make it...but somehow Stillwater Campground apeared out of the fog and we were able to camp, eat and even have showers! We have met many interesting cyclists along the way almost all of them heading south and we are able to say hello as they pass by. We are finally settling into a routine of waking up at &am, cooking oatmeal and being on the road by 8 ish. We are feeling the strain of carrying the weight up the hills but we are making sure we stretch well at the end of the day. We stopped in a town called Jenner and had a great chocolate chip cookie and saltwater taffy. Our joys in the day are breaking for lunch and know we will be able to go to sleep...well the views are pretty spectacular when the fog breaks.

Day 3: Stillwater to hopefully Greenwood State Park...we don't know yet...will let you know on a l

We woke up bright and early to another foggy day..it almost seemed like it was raining but the fog was so thik it was just misty! Our rider for the day was Marisia and she was able to jump right into the Pacific Ocean outside of Gualala. It's funny how Daun and I thought we would be able to swim in the ocean everyday! NO WAY! It is freezing here, we have our rain suits on not swim suits...heheh.

We've run out of time at the library and need to eat but here are some pics from our first few days.

Last note, PLEASE PASS ALONG OUR BLOG TO ANYONE WHO YOU THINK WOULD BE INTERESTED IN OUR RIDE 'CAUSE WE NEED MORE DONATIONS!!

Count Down...

Daun and I are counting down the hours until our departure from the Golden Gate bridge. We still have some food to pack and some maps to check out but we are hoping for good weather, the wind at our backs and gentle inclines. Thank you to everyone who has supported us and gotten us to this point. We will try to post pictures and stories as we travel along but finding the internet will be the challenge:) We are both very excited and determined to reach our fund raising goal of $3000 dollars. Our pre trip through San Francisco and the Napa Valley have gotten us back into the routine of camping, changing flats ( I have already had two!) and cycling in every type of weather condition, hot, foggy, windy and cold. Our adventure continues...stay tuned!

Last post until San Francisco

Well the journey soon begins! Daun will be heading out of Ottawa tomorrow morning and meeting Lisa at our family cottage for a little family reunion and then to Toronto to leave Tuesday morning to San Francisco.

The ride won't start for another week or so but it will be exciting to see some of the areas around San Francisco before heading north.

Daun's boyfriend, Travis will also be joining the ride but not until Portland...he just bought the ticket yesterday. Oh and we also know when the trip will be ending..or at least that's when our flight leaves, August 27th out of Vancouver so the total trip is pretty much a whole month..so exciting! Check out the "The Plan" tab for the approximate route of the tour.

On a side note, this trip has been quite interesting to plan since there are so many logistics to take care of. If you've never toured by bike there are many things to think about especially when you have to travel by plane. We'll try and take some pre-trip pics to post so you can get an idea of what is involved. Although there is lots of planning we know it will be worth the trip!

One week until San Francisco!

It is officially one week until we head out to San Francisco! We will be doing a bit of a pre-tour trip to enjoy the sites around San Francisco and area before we head north on "Get out the Grease".

We have so far raised close to $800 and are getting closer with every donation to our goal. Any donation can make a difference.

Efforts to stop oil flowing continue. As of last Friday BP managed to put a cap on to stop the oil flowing. Check out this site for more information: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/7900558/Oil-spill-BP-mulls-using-mud-to-block-Gulf-of-Mexico-oil-well.html. It would be awesome to finally stop the oil flowing into the Gulf however there is still lots of damage to take care of.

I read a blog post on the Greater New Orleans Foundation today that was posted on July 16th: http://www.gnof.org/blog/bird-rescue-in-buras/ and one comment made by Mark Russell who has been working with oil spill bird rescues for 20 years said that there is always an oil spill somewhere but you cannot always respond to it. It is crazy to think that our planet is under such stress just so we can use oil. It really makes you think and not to say that we should all not use or buy oil products (it would be nice in a perfect world) but it just really makes you think about what is going on if spills are happening all the time without people taking action.

Even in Canada things go unnoticed, for instance, in northern Ontario I (Daun) remember communities not even having recycling programs (this was eight years ago so this may have changed by now). I could not believe that part of the country (i.e. Halifax and PEI) had really awesome municipal composting programs/recycling and other communities had no program in place to recycle even paper.

I definitely don't have the answers and it appears sometimes that the leaders of the world don't either but I guess on an individual level you have to take it one step at a time or you will probably drive yourself actually crazy.

For Lisa and I our one step at a time is more of one pedal at a time and we hope that the fundraising will help... so here we come San Francisco!