Avenue of Giants

Distance: 86km

My ears were hurting, it was so cold! We started riding at 7am and I felt about as cold as I've felt on the whole trip. My feet were numb, and my hands were stinging inside my gloves.

The headwind was strong and my legs were tired already - it was day six of riding and we'd had some tough conditions during this stretch. I wondered how I'd be able to get anywhere today...

About 9am we arrived at the turn-off for the Avenue of Giants - home of the redwoods, the tallest trees in the world. We'd had a sneak peak of their majesty a couple of days ago and I was excited about riding through them for the next 45km or so...

It was still cold, and the trees blocked any warmth from the sun, but as soon as we rode amongst them my legs felt stronger, the wind calmed down, and I forgot my weariness.

It was like riding in another, magical land... a land where mystical creatures live in tree hollows and fairytales seem real... I felt like I could walk across one of the massive fallen trucks and end up in the Land of the Faraway Tree... It's no wonder the Bigfoot legend began in this area; I could imagine him peering at us from behind the trees.

As the morning wore on the temperature soared... by midday it was quite hot. The warm sun felt so good! Much better than the biting cold of the morning. We stopped in a small town, population 110, and bought some fresh burritoes with salad from the general store. Delicious!

Mid-afternoon we left the Giants behind and climbed a final hill into Garberville, where we devoured burgers and fries and washed our stinky, sweaty clothes...