Today’s ride…….. EDIT: after thinking about this ride, I ordered up new tires for the Cheviot. Bruce Gordon’s Rock and Road. A multi-terrain tire, much wider, 43mm. I currently have 33mm, Grand Bois Cypress. I was doing some training for a long distance ride on my Hillborne, these were great, and when I built the Cheviot, I just transferred them over. But I’m into a multi-terrain bike, the Cheviot is fully capable and with these tires I’ll be riding over all the Berkely/Oakland dirt trails! 
Tag: family
New Year’s Day and Monterey Bay
We planned a couple nights with the T@G over New Year’s at New Brighton State Beach hoping for a break in the rain. We had beautiful weather, but it was cold (for a Californian); in the low 30º’s. A great campground on a bluff overlooking the Pacific. We set up camp, investigated a bit and then went to a nice restaurant in Capitola to celebrate the new year. New year’s day we hiked down to the beach, walked along the water’s edge a bit, and sat in the sun. I had a T-shirt on! Worst thing about winter camping is it gets dark so soon. So I was BBQing in the dark and we sat around a wonderful fire while we had dinner. Pictures prove we were there………..
Big Sur
We took a two-nighter out to Big Sur with the T@G. Sunny in the campground but foggy at the beach and recovering from an eye injury after our morning at the beach I needed a nap. A low key trip for me. I BBQ great Paleo hamburgers (no bun) for dinner, with sides of cole slaw and potato salad. Port for dessert.
Lost
We took a short vacation out multiple days with the Tag to the Lost Coast in northern California last week. I’d first heard about the area as a backpacking trail which mostly follows the surf line through the King’s Range National Conservation Area. It took us over 6 hrs. to get there; the last 30 miles from Ferndale to Petrolia on a windy, hilly, barely two lane road. I was very happy to be in the Jeep. The last 6 miles were mostly on an unpaved road with one creek crossing as we headed towards Mattole Beach, the trailhead for backpacking north to south.
The Mattole Beach campground is on BLM land, with only 15 undeveloped sites, and has only potable water and vault toilets. The sites are good sized and we scored one at the edge of the dunes. We were a little disappointed about not being able to see the water directly, but soon discovered the dunes were protecting us from the winds.
Looking north and south from our campsite:
Our first hike was via the beach to Mattole River which empties into the Pacific; maybe a mile one way. The dogs were having a blast running all over and of course Chloe investigated the surf immediately.
We had great weather throughout with one day of severe winds. Unfortunately that’s the day we had planned to hike to the old lighthouse; maybe 3-4 miles south. About 2 miles out with the wind, we knew it’d take twice as long to get back against the wind. Coupled with soft sands and really tired dogs, we headed back, never reaching the lighthouse.
This was our longest time out with the Tag and the first to use our solar setup to keep our trailer battery charged. I’m excited to say, we didn’t run out of juice for the entire trip. Of course, we don’t use much; the refrigerator is on all the time, but we only use the lights for bedding down, and had no use for the fan this trip with cooler weather.
Being so close to the redwoods we took a little diversion on the way home via Avenue of the Giants. K loves trees!
Sacramento River
Last weekend we took an overnight to a State Park just a short walk to the river.
Hardly anyone there, a few at the group spot over a 100 yards away. We pretty much had the place to ourselves. We picked a site with lots of trees, set up camp and then took a hike to the river. As usual Chloe was the first in. We didn’t change to our suits so we just splashed around to cool off; it was about 97º.
We of course had an excellent dinner with a cold beer and the next morning a great breakfast.
K had found a shorter hike to the river with a nice beach and some trees to provide shade, so we took off after breakfast this time with our suits on to explore the river more.
Folsom (not the prison)
We had our shake down trip last weekend with our new teardrop trailer; we spent one night at Folsom Lake. Everything worked perfectly. We cooked a great dinner the night we got there and a fantastic breakfast the next day. Best of all was the refrigerator. No having to buy ice or food falling into the water. Even better, the beer was super duper cold!
Tag Your It
Been busy examining, commiting and executing the plans for the next several years vacation time. Here it is, a rig to get to the places I want to go; road or no road with my bikes, dogs, and partner.
And my new Jeep to get me there. Sitting in the lot just before it’s to be detailed.
We brought the teardrop home yesterday and have our first shakedown trip next Saturday. We’re going to a local lake just for the night. Fortunately swimming and hiking are in the plans for Sunday morning. We have reservations for local weekend trips already organized and we’ll be packing bikes for most of them. Still in the works, 3 weeks of vacation, for longer, bigger, further away excursions. Here’s some possible locations: Olympic National Park, Yellowstone, and the Grand Tetons. The requirements are always, bikes and dogs allowed.
peace, ks
Winter in March
Seems a long time ago, but we had a wet March and coupled with buying a Concept2 indoor rowing machine, I haven’t been on my bike much since. I love my rowing machine. It’s quite a different workout than a long training ride. In fact, right now, training rides are the farthest from my mind. I’m rowing 3 days a week and on a 24 week workout plan which indoor rowers are familiar with (Pete Plan). I am looking forward to alternating rowing/commuting to work but I have to get over a stretch of overtime the next week or so.
I’m actually on vacation this week and we just returned from camping in the Sierra foothills, our campsite on the edge of the south fork of the Yuba River. No bikes, no hiking, just playing in the water with the dogs (which the little one hates), investigating the locals, and sitting around campfires enjoying coffee and reading a book.
Morning mist………..
NO
Today my daughter will reach her destination.
She has been on the road solo, via her bike, since Jan. 8. She has weathered mountains, deserts, freezing temperatures, and high winds. I am sure she will return a different person……….
peace, ks
Update
My daughter rode, solo, from San Diego (she began in Santa Cruz, read the previous post) to Phoenix, and is staying a week with relatives. I am so proud of her.
She’s now hopped a train to skip some repetitive desert scenes to land in Texas to continue her two-wheeled journey east. Last we talked she thought she’d go all the way to Florida!
Cowboygrrl 
