IN GOD (-fearing drivers) WE TRUST

Day 23 – Manchester Bay, CA. – 73 km

We spent most the morning in Fort Bragg, a very appealing town compared to many we’ve been in recently. We had Sophie’s brakes worked on at the bike shop, ate a great breakfast and shopped for the day’s groceries. Down the road we stopped for coffee and muffins in Mendocino – absolutely one of my favourite places on the CA coast.

I love this part of the country. The coastal scenery is jaw-drop beautiful, and the weather is perfect. Sunny with a light breeze – blowing in the right direction. The road, however, features narrow to no shoulders. In some places the crumbling edge of the pavement is just five feet from a cliff-edge drop 150 feet to the crashing sea below. It can stir a mild panic attack if you look down. We try not to. I suspect drivers don’t even notice.

Riding as we do, on the shoulders where they exist, but more often on the actual roadway, we are constantly in the way of drivers who must slow down before passing as the constant twists and dips of the road mean you can’t see too far ahead. It really is amazing that there aren’t more accidents. Actually, I have no idea about the stats in that dept. But just from our experience, the incidence of dangerously close encounters – mostly between vehicles trying to pass and on-comers – is pretty frequent.

I stopped to wait for Sophie as we were drawing close to our day’s destination. In a field overlooking the blue Pacific a rancher was using a tractor forklift to shift bundles of hay for his cattle. He got out of his vehicle and we talked across the fence. Turns out he’s originally from Vancouver. His brother played 15 years for the BC Lions in the 60s and 70s. His property stretches hundreds of acres of coastline, with a couple miles of beach front. Clearly the guy didn’t want for money, so I asked was he a hobby farmer. He said his cattle (Wabu?) were each $10K and he had $1.5M worth. He also has Merino sheep. So no, it’s not a hobby. He also has the distinction of having the San Andreas Fault run through his place where it heads out to the sea. But it’s not his fault, he claims.