Dipping Wheel in Pacific

Weather on the Californian coast has continued to be by dismal: Windy, gray, and temperatures in the 60s. I took shelter on day 11, hoping it would clear up again, but it never rid, so I ventured off on the road again today, riding 35 miles from Arcata to Orick, CA.

After watching surfers brave the freezing Pacific waves at Clam Beach, and a nice lunch in Trinidad, I encountered a nice beach just past the Humboldt Lagoons State Park. It was here that I conducted the transamerican cyclist tradition of dipping my real wheel in the Pacific. I will complete the tradition when I arrive in NY by dipping my front wheel in the Atlantic.

The inn that I stopped at in Orick is what you might call "good value", or at least "value". For $35 I effectively got a tent with running water. Sure, it was a permanent structure, but the cracks in the wall were covered with duct tape that came unstuck and thus had light streaming into the room with views of cows and sheep milling about a field. The mattress had evidently lived outside for some period (evidenced by leaves stuck to the bottom) and this was the first inn that I felt inclined to go to bed over the covers, fully clothed. I checked for ticks the following morning and I think I escaped unscathed.

When I went out for dinner at 8:30, I discovered that Orick rolls up the carpet at 8pm and all the restaurants were closed. I did find a bar, recently acquired by Mark Rochester, which had some frozen pizzas that Mark was able to defrost for me. Mark's transforming the bar to a Harley destination, with classic motorcycles, gas tanks, and wheels decorating the bar. In the heart of the People's Republic of California, a deeply Democratic state, Mark is trying to establish a bastion for Republicans. He has an imposing, 48-star flag on the wall and a huge picture of George Bush on the wall, cleverly put out of reach behind the bar to prevent Democratic graffiti.