BALLE On! The 2007 West Coast Tour

Alas the end of the long journey arrived. This adventure challenged each member physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. The last day was no exception.

We left the warm hospitality of Bodega Bay and initially headed inland for a hilly jaunt through primarily agricultural land. We soon turned back toward the coast and the sleepy, oyster-driven towns bordering quiet Tomales Bay.

The team had a last lunch-on-the-road huddle at a diner in Port Reyes Station before starting the last leg of the journey. Little did we know just how long the last leg would be!

The girls jumped into the car to navigate the wilds of city freeway driving at speeds of over 65 miles an hour (which seemed very fast to those of us that spent the last couple of weeks riding through the country) while the guys hopped on their bikes to finish the final ride.

Riding through an ever-densifying city meant an ever-slowing roll through urban landscapes and a dizzying maze of streets, signs, traffic, and buildings. Rather than one or two roads to navigate, the possibilities of getting lost mounted.

Bryan and Derek navigated the complicated routes and arrived at last at the magnificent Golden Gate Bridge late in the day, but with sun and partly cloudy skies perfect for some photo opportunities. They reveled in the bittersweet triumph and thought of comrades separated - it wasn't quite right to end the journey with only part of the team.

The foremost complication was getting to the East Bay. Cars could cross all the bridges, whereas the bicycles could only cross the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco. Hence, the groups were severed and had to navigate their own ways to Berkeley. Both groups got lost, arriving much later than we had hoped.

We did arrive though and enjoyed our indoor accommodation over the next few days while attending the inspiring BALLE conference. We took in the sights of the area with one last group ride on the Monday after the conference while hanging out at Indian Rock in Berkeley.

The boys hopped the train back to Seattle and the girls headed off to Yosemite to practice being Ansel Adams, hiking around and taking in this unique place.

What next? Stay tuned for some video clips of this incredible journey.

Day 17 - Bodega Bay

The second last day of our journey took us along the rolling, dry north California coastline dotted with wind-swept beaches and quaint towns.

For the amount of people that live in the state of California, there is relatively little development in this very Northern part. Sea Ranch was one particular area that seemed to go on forever with very modern wooden houses in all types of angular forms. They were all designed by the same architect and admittedly looked a little quiet and eerie as we passed these communities for miles and miles.

We arrived in Bodega Bay relatively early after a long day's ride overland and were welcomed by SCALE, the Sonoma County Alliance for Local Economy. Kelley, Dave and Derek were amazing and provided us with supplies, hors d'oeuvres, drinks, hot showers, and cooked us a wonderful meal all in an amazingly beautiful beach home on the Salmon River.

It was an amazing experience coming near the end of the BALLE On! journey and connecting with old friends and meeting new ones.

On day 14 we lengthened the ride to make it to a cute little hippie university town called Arcata. Bryan had a friend-of-a-friend, who lives in a co-op house in farmland right outside Arcata. We called ahead and were able to set up our tents in their yard and use their kitchen and bathroom.

Arcata was great. It was a welcome opportunity to shop at the farmer's market. The town was abound with people walking, conversations, children, community, and herbal smoke wafting from cars. We were ready for our daily ride precisely when the Arcata to Ferndale World Championship Kinetic Sculpture Race was beginning.

Derek is back on the road - finally! Bryan, Lisa, and Derek saw about half of the parade out of the town square, and then followed them through Eureka and some Californian farmland.

We have been blessed with several days both before and after Arcata on our bikes taking in the views of the giant redwoods. These massive ancient trees are quite a treat to ride through on the Avenue of the Giants and other side roads off of highway 101.

On our 15th day the weather improved markedly, with sunshine, warmer weather, and drier nights. We were in the right place at the right time when we scored the last camping spot in the beautiful state park! We finally caught up with the Memorial Day campers. We were up at 1000 feet in this beautiful state park and enjoyed hot chocolate and peppermint schnapps for the evening. The girls even went for a morning swim in the clean, not that cold, shallow mountain river, Eel River. A lot of climbing ensued but we got to enjoy the fast curving downhills.

And then it is back to the rugged California coastline and on the tiny Highway 1.

When the rain subsided Southern Oregon was covered in a cool fog for most of it. We were glad the rain was gone but missed the sun shining on the rugged coastline.

On Day 10 we splurged on indoor accommodation (a yurt at a state park for $27) near Bandon. Oregon state parks are awesome and cheap, with friendly hosts and hot showers. Bandon itself was an incredibly cute town with everything anyone would need within a couple block walk. There were at least three cafes, natural food store, supermarket, pharmacy, bakery, etc.

On Day 11 we camped for free in some fairgrounds near the ocean that seemed to be closed for camping but did trick.

Our food has been 80-90% organic, local food. Everyone in the group does a great job cooking delicious vegetarian meals, such as Thai green curry, grilled vegetables with miso-tahini dressing. This is a blessing to be eating so well.

We passed through North Bend, OR, which was an absolute downer. The entire town is completely car-centric and sprawled. Laura and Derek only saw two pedestrians. The street-side parking was completely empty.

The next day we crossed into California which was almost immediately very different from the Southern Oregon Coast. This whole section of the trip has been much more remote and wild. Coastal Oregon is absolutely beautiful.

On day 12 after Lisa and Laura did their first major ascent into the redwoods we stayed at the beautiful family-owned River Front Chinook RV Resort in Klamath, CA, with a spectacular view over a river. We met several people from San Luis Obispo who were family and friends of the owner. They were helping to build a dock for fishing wild salmon and other fish from the river.

We are actually ahead of schedule at this point, which gives us some flexibility to go from here.

We left Astoria on Day 7 in high spirits, ready to tackle tunnels and hills. What we found were dramatic beaches and delightfully quaint towns by the seaside.

As the day continued, however, the wind picked up and a cold rain seeped into our aching muscles. It was no picnic - nor was there a picnic as crossed wires resulted in a failed meet-up with Derek for lunch.

It was on this seemingly endless afternoon that we had our first flat tire of the trip. None of us could feel our fingers by the end of that fix. We rolled into Bay City Community Park campground as darkness was falling and spent a damp night by the creek.

On Day 8, Lisa, Bryan and Laura headed back out on the road hoping for a drier day, but instead were hammered with drizzle, cold wind and some serious hills.

We once again took the hotel option in Lincoln City (how could we resist the offer of a hottub?). We enjoyed the sound of the rain failing outside.

Laura joined Derek in the car on Day 9 after five days of steady riding, deciding to give her knees a rest from climbing hills in her retro roadbike. Much to everyone's surprise (including her own), she had a new bike with a much lower low-gear by the end of the day.

In the meantime, Derek has been suffering from his crash wounds and picking up the endless administrative tasks of grocery shopping, accommodation hunting, lunch-making, etc. We hope that he will be joining the riders out on the trail again soon!