Oh Deer, We've Had A Crash...
Total distance traveled: 848 miles--We are closer to Mexico than we are to Canada!
Cumulative Elevation: 47,575 feet
Laying here in this bed in Fort Bragg, my elbow is hurting much worse than it did yesterday. I can only imagine how much pain Katelyn is going to be in once she actually wakes up and tries to walk around on her bad knee. Although we plan on riding slowly today, this was an element of the trip we were hoping to avoid. Let's rewind:
We checked out of the Sherwood Forest Motel and met up with Dan for breakfast. The folks at the motel were super and their generosity to Kids with Cancer to provide us a place to stay for the night was great! Back on the road, we knew it would be tough--almost twice the climbing as on any previous leg of the ride. When it comes to days like these, I still feel like my apprehension comes more from wondering how Katelyn will handle it rather than how my own ride will be. Recall that our first blog in January was about Katelyn finally breaking the 20 mile barrier and how her whole body hurt from it. And there has never been a day she has had on bike where she has had to climb as much as yesterday--your body sooner or later hits a wall and we still didn't know what her wall was. We would find out though soon enough.
20 miles into the ride, we had to say goodbye to an old friend. The 101 South had been with us for three states and almost 800 miles and we had some solid memories rolling down her. Even though Highway 1 was the new destination, it was a little sad to see her go! We turned off and immediately met the infamous Leggett's Pass.
On the climb over Leggett's Pass--which is the biggest and highest climb on the Pacific Coast--we made it to the top with relatively little trouble. Other than the heat, we had a hard but good ride up. The decent down the other side was almost 10 miles long and super technical. This is where I am watching Katelyn in my mirror as much as I am looking forward. I tried to pick good lines on the road and then have her follow me down them. Still, I dread seeing her have an accident. It is the stress that weighs me down more than anything. After Leggetts Pass came "Mini Leggett's Pass" which, although a shorter climb, was a steeper road that still climbed 750 feet and really zapped my legs. Katelyn actually climbed it well though and got down the other side OK where the Pacific Ocean was waiting for us once again.
With only 25 miles left to Fort Bragg, we were feeling pretty good at this point. The climbs were over, the wind was supposed to be behind us, just easy rolling miles the rest of the way. Note to self: NOTHING IS EASY ON THIS TRIP! I think what happened the rest of the way was meant to humble us into remembering that. The wind was blowing gusty wind right in our faces and the coastline consisted of steep descents into ravines followed by a steep climb back out the other side. The descents weren't even fun because you had to break the entire way down due to how steep they were. After the first couple of these, my legs were jelly, and even though I caught my second wind a few miles later, my thoughts were with Katelyn.
Then things really went south. With only 3-4 miles left to ride, I was riding in front on a short downhill slope and I passed a deer right along side the road. I'm always looking for things that I think Katelyn would like to have a look at so I immediately breaked just past the deer so we could back up and have a look. Unfortunately, Katelyn had spotted the deer herself and kept her eyes on that rather than on the road ahead. The next thing I know, both our bikes are on the pavement, bags and gear all over the place and Katelyn is in the middle of the street moaning. Not having seen me braking to stop, she came into me at full speed and the result was not pretty. I quickly got her into the grass at the side of the road and cleared out bikes from the path of cars; then I did an assessment on the body damage. Katelyn had the wind knocked out of her and was scraped on both knees, an elbow and on her mid section. I was bleeding from one elbow but that was about it. Checking on the bikes, Katelyns front wheel had a bit of a wobble in it and one of my pannier's clips broke off where I couldn't attach the bag to the bike any longer.
Knowing that there was a bike shop in Fort Bragg, I made sure Katelyn could still ride and then I carried the broken bag in my arms and made a rushed pace to get there before the shop closed. The fact that Katelyn was still riding was a good sign. We even stopped for a picture on the way by the Fort Bragg sign. The bike shop was not able to do anything about her wheel though--which is still very rideable by the way--but they did give her bike a look over and adjusted her gears at least. As for the bag, they didn't carry any clips that would replace the broken one. The closest ones are in SF so I pulled out my zip ties and was able to more or less secure the bag on the bike for the next couple days.
I mentioned earlier that sooner or later I would find out where Katelyn would hit a wall. On this trip I learned where that point was and that I was actually the wall she would hit. We used the event as a teaching opportunity, grateful that it wasn't much much worse. Still, as I said in the beginning, today just became a lot tougher as she gets back on the bike and attempts to ride though the pain of what I'm sure will be a very sore body.
Prayers. Prayers and donations. That is what we need most today.
Knowing that there was a bike shop in Fort Bragg, I made sure Katelyn could still ride and then I carried the broken bag in my arms and made a rushed pace to get there before the shop closed. The fact that Katelyn was still riding was a good sign. We even stopped for a picture on the way by the Fort Bragg sign. The bike shop was not able to do anything about her wheel though--which is still very rideable by the way--but they did give her bike a look over and adjusted her gears at least. As for the bag, they didn't carry any clips that would replace the broken one. The closest ones are in SF so I pulled out my zip ties and was able to more or less secure the bag on the bike for the next couple days.
I mentioned earlier that sooner or later I would find out where Katelyn would hit a wall. On this trip I learned where that point was and that I was actually the wall she would hit. We used the event as a teaching opportunity, grateful that it wasn't much much worse. Still, as I said in the beginning, today just became a lot tougher as she gets back on the bike and attempts to ride though the pain of what I'm sure will be a very sore body.
Prayers. Prayers and donations. That is what we need most today.
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| 101 South, you have been there from the beginning. We won't ever forget you! |
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| Katelyn told the Indian she was raising money for kids with cancer. The Indian said "How." |
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| Lots of smiles. That's because we are still early in the ride. |
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| Katelyn finding yet another tree with a door. |
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| This rest stop was the largest carving site in the Redwoods. So many fun things to look at! |
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| This smile is probably forced. It came only 3 miles after a pretty nasty crash. |
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| Did I need to have that guy sign a waiver for being in our blog? Pls don't mention it to him... |
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| Even though we traveled through the heart of Bigfoot country, he never came out to cheer us on... |
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| Our riding partner for 2 days of the trip, Dan is pressing on. Katelyn really liked having him along on the ride. Super nice guy! |
Well shoot! Sorry to hear about the crash, but so many teaching moments for you two on this adventure. Wishing you both well the remainder of the trip. Katelyn, Im so impressed by your true grit and determination, Im pretty sure there is nothing you could not do! GO TEAM !
ReplyDeleteNo picture of the deer?? Glad you’re still pushing through and making it work!!!
ReplyDelete