Day 17, Stage 12 - Ferndale to Garberville
59 miles in 7hrs (incl. numerous juice stops and even more collapse-at-the-side-of-the-road-with-heat-exhaustion stops)
I awoke after a relatively sleepless night with still-tired legs and a still-strained and delicate stomach. The Mattole was looking like a non-starter and any lingering thoughts I had of doing it were finally vanquished when I put on my Camelbak outside the hotel and realised the waist strap needed tightened by some 3 or 4 inches from where it had been only on Saturday. Had I really been that I'll? Apparently so.
So, I turned left instead of right and rolled out into the late morning sunshine for a fast first 10 miles past the cows trying all the while to avoid shredding the numerous, seemingly suicidal butterflies. I felt almost good but then I hit the first hill of the day. It went up a trivial 200ft and I didn't, at least not easily. I knew then that the Mattole would have been a serious, if not terminal mistake. My tank was still very close to empty.
While missing out on the Mattole is gutting from a cycling point of view, fortunately the back-up route I was doing was by no means dull taking in the Avenue of the Giants (see pic). So, for most of the 32 miles of it I was back feeling like a three-year-old again and a three-year-old who was mercifully grateful for the shelter these mighty 'creatures' were giving as my thermometer had been showing over 20C when I'd first disappeared into the Avenue. It was now moving up markedly, even in the shade. By the time I'd arrived in Myers Flats, where my stomach was still quietly but adamantly insisting on a liquid only lunch, it was reading 30C in the shade. I was starting to fade and to make it worse, the trees were thinning and the temperature was continuing to increase.
Now, I'll be honest, I don't fully understand the concept of wind-chill. Sure, I get that it generally makes it feel colder but, as it gets warmer, it has less effect. Then, above around 32C, it all gets a bit bizarre (at least in my book) of actually making it feel warmer. Today was the first time I've actually experienced it on the bike but, believe me, it ain't pleasant to reach the top of a climb, dripping in sweat, hoping for the usual cooling breeze of the descent, but instead getting a blast of even warmer air. Something just isn't right and I could almost feel what little energy was left in me being sucked out by the heat.
The last six miles along the freeway, with the thermometer at 34C into Garberville were, frankly, hellish, almost comically so, but my spirits were lifted by the driver of the parked lorry who got out his cab to laugh at me collapsed in the shade from his trailer. I actually think he was quite worried, and probably rightly so.
I finally made it into Garberville and having gratefully checked into a motel here and done my stretches, I finally, for the first time in almost 3 days, feel hungry. Thankfully.
Here's hoping tomorrow's better, though, to be fair, the only thing that could be worse would be if I end up as carrion. Which was definitely not out the question today.
However, there's now a Mattole rat that's crept in my head quietly gnawing away.......
