onwards!

Yesterday another 95 miles was cycled...a bit less than planned for the day, but it was a late start because Dougall was chatting with Bea, Eli and Ari! Apparently there are photos, but I haven't received them yet and Dougall's phone doesn't seem to be sending photos properly. In any case, he ended up yesterday evening at Smith River at an interesting looking motel called Ship Ashore, which is, apparently, exactly that, a ship ashore. Have a look at the website, it's not something you see every day.
Dougall said his bum was not too sore, so nothing gruesome to report on that, but he had to go get some anti-allergy medication as the pollen is flying and he was wheezing a bit. The medicine helped, so he's fine now.
Um, so here are some "artistic" impressions of the cycling yesterday....

Arcata

So on Tuesday, Dougall eventually managed 104 miles, despite the strong headwind. He camped somewhere in his cheap-o tent which was about 10 quid and was chosen purely because it hardly weighs anything. Good thing it didn't rain that night, because the waterproof levels of that tent are pretty much nil.
Yesterday another 120-ish miles were covered, with Dougall ending up in Arcata, which is where my sister lives. So he slept in the newborn baby's room, ensuring a good night's rest........hahha well ok the baby slept with the parents, so Dougall wasn't actually in charge of looking after him all night!!!
Due to the lack of photos getting through, here's an artist's impression of Dougall's night in a tent:

limited mobile coverage

Well, we've been thwarted again by mobile phone reception. We're thinking it's a conspiracy by AT&T but that might not actually be the case. Anyway, I did manage to speak to Dougall yesterday early evening. He hadn't finished cycling for the day, but had done 84 miles already and was going to do 15 or 20 miles more. No idea if he did though, because that was it for the day's communication. There was a lot of background noise on the call, too, so here's what I *think* he said: Monday was tough, since it was the first day and his legs filled up with lactic acid. Luckily the motel he stayed in (which turned out not to be the posh one I put a link up to!!) had a bath, so he drank loads of water and had a super hot bath, which meant he started out fine on Tuesday. There was a very strong headwind that was slowing him down and some crazy hill at some point that he struggled to get up in 1st gear. The views were spectacular!
Dougall also met some fellow insane cyclists - a guy who was cycling 9000 miles - oh yes, 9000. BUT he was doing that over many months and with many breaks (slacker!!!! ha!). There were also two ladies cycling 4000 miles, but over 3 months and with someone else carrying their luggage (again, slackers!!!). So Dougall's still the most bad-ass, haha!
More updates when there's more mobile reception......

map of day one progress

Timber Cove!

Update!! I got a message from Dougall on the answering machine -- there's ZERO mobile coverage on a whole stretch of highway he's taking along the coast. So, he managed 126 miles yesterday and got to Timber Cove on the coast. I had a look at the website of the Timber Cove Inn and it looks pretty snazzy and expensive!!! He told me he was going to stay in cheap motels! Well, I guess that didn't happen last night, ha!
(Of course all the sponsorship goes straight to charity, just in case anyone missed that, so he's paying for all the cycle trip stuff!) I had a look at the weather too, it's quite cool still, a bit cloudy and about 63F so should be pretty comfortable cycling. According to Dougall's message, he's going to try to find a landline to phone me from tonight, so more updates tomorrow. Sorry no news on boils/blisters/pain levels thus far.... 

Start of epic journey

Well, the plan was to write yesterday about how far Dougall got, but the last communication was around lunchtime! I think he's out of mobile reception area. Possibly camping in the woods with a bear or two for company. Or not. So, thus far, here's what I know:

Flight over to California went well and bike was fine and assembled fine as well. Dougall cycled off to start his mega journey at 8:40 Monday morning. Jet lag helped the early start, as he was already awake at 5am anyway!! Here's a photo at point of departure:

A bit after lunchtime, around 1pm, Dougall reached Calistoga, which is about a 70 mile cycle.

I'm afraid that's all I know so far because of lack of mobile reception. I'll update later when I hear something.

Nerdy bike specs

There have been some requests (hello Eton!) for more information about the bike that is to be used in this mad adventure. Thanks to everyone who has sponsored so far! Remember, all the money goes to charity and you can sponsor either at Just Giving or Virgin Money Giving. So, here is a bike nerdy list of details:

The bike is a 15 year old Aluminium 23cm softride, bought second hand, nearly new.

It has a suspension headset that has been replaced as the first was worn out.

It has a carbon fiber suspension seat bar that has been replaced once as the first broke due to old age

It has a 2 year old Campagnolo Centaur group set with a comp triple 50, 40, 30 front chainset and 13 to 29 10 speed cassette

The wheels are Campagnolo G3 Sirocco (Rear and trailer) front is an old record hub with 36 aero spokes and a mavic ceramic rim

The rack is a Blackburn SX

The trailer is a "Extrawheel" bike trailer

The panniers will be Ortlieb back roller city

The saddle is an old Madison gel saddle.

The peddles are shimano spds (something like M540

The shoes are shimano mountain bike shoes something like MO77

Front tyre is Michelin pro race 3. Rear maybe Bontrager RXL hardcase or pro race 3