We left at 12:20pm and it was cloudy and a bit cold.  The temperature has dropped a bit and it could rain tomorrow!  But for today, we put on some extra clothes and started off!

Traffic was busier on the Shoreline Highway today but most of the drivers slow down and give you lots of space.  There really isn't any shoulder at all to ride on.  The views were fantastic again, ranging from right beside the ocean to hilly farmland.  There are lots of grass covered cliffs  between the highway and the ocean.  A lot of times we would drop down to sea level and then immediately climb back up to the cliffs.  Today, the legs got a good rest on the downhills but worked very hard on the uphills.  We had one very steep uphill where we had to stop to let a big, oversized, wide tractor trailer pass.  It was hard to get moving uphill on the bikes because of the steep incline...but we did it (after a few tries!).

From Mendocino we went through Albion which looked like a Victorian style community.  There were many pine trees lining the highway and in the adjacent fields, the cows were staring at us!  We saw a sign to Cloverdale, probably not the city in BC:-)!

The sun finally came out after we stopped for a quick lunch just outside a town called Manchester.  It was so nice to feel some warmth from the sun.  We decided to stop in Gualala because the next towns with services were too far away for today.  We also found out that the cell phone coverage in this area is only Verizon and Sprint and too bad for us, because our phones use AT&T!  No phones for the last couple of days!  We should have cell phones working tomorrow after we go about 60km!  For now, the only way for us to connect is with Internet at the motel.

Gualala is a small, but interesting town is located in Mendoncino Country coast.  Two big grocery stores (surprise, usually there is only one small one) and at last, we found a pizzeria!  We've been craving pizza for 6 days!  That was dinner for tonight, a very good thin crust pizza, Margherita for Patrizia, house combo for Ellie!

We decided to stay in a motel tonight as the forecast is rain for tomorrow.  Good idea because the clouds started rolling in at about 7pm!

Pacific Coast Bike Route: Day 19

June, 21 I  Mendoncino - Gualala, California I United State I  Km, 84.50

Pizza delivery from Ellie's bike