Hai Voluto una Bicicletta. Mo Pedala!

One can tell a fair amount about a country and its people from the language and idioms they employ. In China a common greeting is "Ni chi fan le ma?" or, "Have you eaten?" While eating is central to existence for all of us, multiple periods of famine have raised the importance of the question in China. Many times throughout history - as recently as the 1960's - the answer could easily be "Not for the last there days. How about you." Here in the US we say, you made your own bed, now sleep in it. Perhaps this mindset contributes to our country's obesity epidemic. In Italy they say something different, which appears in the header of this post. In English it means, "You wanted a bike. Pedal it." I like this version much better and encourage everyone reading this blog to substitute the Italian version for the American. Maybe we can start a trend and change the culture!

Well, I wanted a bike (or six) and wanted a bike ride and today I had 100 miles between Mendocino and Bodega Bay to cover. I would be traveling the coast down highway 1, also known as the Shoreline Highway. Apparently, "shoreline" is a more demanding moniker than "coastal" as in the Oregon Coastal Highway. As I've noted before, the Oregon version spends at least as much time away from the coast as on it. You could ride a bike an entire day on that road and never see the ocean. No such worries in California where they hang the road right on the water for most of the route.

Tired of Pictures of the Coast Yet?

This morning's ride started with beautiful sunny skies and crisp air. A line of fog, however, hung a few miles off the Mendocino Coast and I wondered if I would encounter it. For the first 50 miles the answer was no. Past the Big River and the Little River, the Navarro River and Puntas Arenas the skies remained clear.  As I approached Gualala (pronounced Wa-La-La, with the accent on the second syllable) the fog moved in and temperatures dipped. This was the halfway point to Bodega Bay so I stopped for a burrito and to warm up a bit.

Once more rolling I knew I had some climbing ahead of me as the Shoreline Highway follows the contours of the coast. I would climb 300' then drop down to a river and sea level; climb 250' and drop down to a creek; climb another 300' and drop to the beach; rinse and repeat as necessary. Along the way, however, I did have company.

The World Famous California Mountain Cows

The miles passed fairly quickly as I entered Sonoma County - the last one before my home county of Marin. I came to Jenner where the Russian River enters the Pacific. Ten more miles to Bodega Bay where my friends Paul and Jane had come to spend the night. They had already checked in when I arrived so it was a quick shower and off to dinner.