Ride Summary

Distance: 41 mi
Climbing: 1457 feet
Descending: a bit less
Difficulty: medium
Link to workout in Strava

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Slept super poorly in the deluxe 60$ campsite since the freeway was a stone's throw away; you can't cuddle with the noise from engine brakes but they were too close to ignore. I woke often from weird dreams of drowning my bike and being on tour with more clothes than I have with me now, even though in retrospect from the end of the tour I had just slightly too many clothes (never used my tights nor puffy jacket nor rain gear).

Finally got up around 7:30am - I lounged since I knew it would be a short day and that I wouldn't have to cook breakfast. Got dressed, hung my rainfly to dry from the condensation I had created by breathing under it (no moisture nor dew as far as I could tell), and then walked into town to eat at the primary cafe. Said cafe had chicken fried steak and orange juice which was just what I wanted. Breakfast was fine, and then I took my time packing up, reserving an AirBnb in Redding, and confirming my route before I rolled out around 11, which was quite a late start for me.

The wind was for once unnoticeable and I ambled up through the countryside, including the primary intended gravel section of the "blessed route" I based my actual route on. (For the last 2 days, following it precisely). There were a couple of water crossings - all in the gravel section - which the map had indicated could be flooded, but fortunately they were all puddle-depth and no problem for me. I wandered into the extended suburbs of Redding where I had a snack followed a few miles later by lunch, just after the second and final major (few hundred feet) climb of the day.

Redding suburbs were fine, and I arrived at my place around 3pm, met the host who was a very friendly and bikey Rhonda who showed me the ropes of my short-term home, and suggested some activities. Then, I got cleaned up, started the laundry, and headed to the library where I got my Strava-struggles from a few days ago sorted out, and got my propoed route home dialed in and saved on RidewithGPS.

Wrote this up, and now off to explore town and consider what to do on my day off (possibly: go on a 20ish mile bike ride :P)