ALL DOWNHILL FROM HERE??

DAY 41 

SATURDAY 14 MAY 2016

ELK PRAIRIE CAMPGROUND (REDWOODS NATIONAL PARK) - CRESCENT CITY

1045 - 1600

54.87 km (34.09 miles)
Av. Speed: 14 km/h (8.7 mph)
Max Speed: 66.7 km/h (41.4 mph)
Time On Bike: 3h 54m 12s

CRESCENT CITY

If I were to nominate a halfway point on my route map, then Crescent City would be it.

My trip meter is actually registering a little over what I'd imagined halfway to be but it's not until I'm finished that I'l know whether this was accurate or not.

What I do know is that I leave California tomorrow after 6 weeks travelling north from Los Angeles.

I've chosen to bunk into a motel room here in Crescent City for a couple of nights to rest up and gather myself for the next section of the tour.

Yesterday's ride made up for what Friday the 13th didn't for spending time on a hill.

9 kilometers/5½ miles/130 minutes it took me to climb the 1200 ft, triple-crested Crescent City hills.

It may be a measure of my accumulated fitness that I actually found it the least offensive of all the major climbs I've taken on so far.

The abundant and cooling shade of World-Heritage Redwood forest also made a difference to my mood as I wheeled my way upwards.

Mentally, it was really a case of getting over this one as it is the last major climb on this Pacific Coastline.

There is a 500 footer or two to come, but in terms of ongoing, hardcore climbing - then this is it.

Up ahead now lies the Oregon coastline which I'm greatly looking forward to.

Compared with California, I'm expecting it to be quite remote, very beautiful and decidedly less hilly.

What the weather dishes up from here on could also be interesting although from canvassing southward bound cyclists in recent days, the reports are encouraging.

I'll be riding the Oregon coast now for about the next 7-10 days before bending inland towards Portland for an extended visit.

From Portland I also intend to ride the Columbia River Gorge which looks to be a 1-2 day extension to the east before continuing north towards Washington State and Seattle, quite likely via the coast.

Another extended stay in Seattle is on the cards at which time I must consider any remaining time I will have left in the U.S (29 June is the cutoff). 

If I can manage this well, there will also be time to visit Mount Rainer and Olympic National Parks before crossing into Canada for the final stage of the tour which will include Victoria, Vancouver Island and finally Vancouver itself where I'll take the chequered flag.