May 14, 2023 – Manchester Beach to Ocean Cove
Our goal was to ride 65 miles to Bodega Dunes State Park, so we got a fairly early start and were out of the campground around 8am. As soon as we hit the road we realized that we were dealing with some pretty strong northern winds that dropped the temperature consistently into the 40s most of the day. When I got some cell reception I checked my phone and we had 12-17mph winds going against us. Essentially this meant that flat roads felt like we were going uphill and the uphills were miserable. I took plenty of breaks and we stopped early for lunch in the town of Galala about 20 miles into the day. Even with a decent lunch, I was running out of steam around the 30 mile mark. We pushed through the wind for another 6 miles before I had to take a long break and decided that we would stay at a closer campground. As a side note, Isaac is doing great and moves along a heck of a lot better than I do (who would’ve known that it pays off to be younger and in good shape). We kept moving along the highway and the winds seemed to die down a bit, but unfortunately my body was already spent from fighting it all day, so we still stopped early. Our plan was to go to Stillwater Cove State Park, but we stopped at a restaurant in Ocean Cove so we wouldn’t have to cook anything tonight and they had free Wi-Fi. Once we connected, we looked up Stillwater Cove State Park and their site said that they had found E. Coli in their well water, so it was no longer potable. So instead, we stopped at the 42 mile mark at a private campground in Ocean Cove with some hot showers (outdoor) and an amazing ocean view (about 1.4 miles from the Stillwater park).
We haven’t set our route for tomorrow, but if we go to the originally planned campground then it would be a 25 mile day, so we’re going to see if there’s another viable campground a little further on.
All-in-all the wind made today absolutely miserable and brought me to exhaustion, but I guess that’s what makes these trips worth doing. Some days just bring you to your max and you learn when to push on or readjust. Looking forward to some early rest tonight and a fresh day tomorrow.
-Chris
Not many pictures from the day because the wind was so frustrating.
