Day 17 - Trinidad, CA to Eureka, CA

I took an easier day and almost coasted 35 miles into Eureka this morning. I’ve been going back and forth on whether or not I’m going to ride the Lost Coast or take an inland route to bypass it. When I set out from Vancouver I very much I intended to, but with the knee issue my degree of certainty had faded over the last couple of weeks. This morning when I woke I knew I’d be remiss if I passed up the opportunity.

While I’m not exactly 100% my bike is in worse shape. It turns out the $8 Chinese brake pads I installed right before the trip were not the greatest value ever because they had already worn nearly all the way down. Shifting has become a bit erratic due to a gunked up drivetrain. If I’m doing this 70 mile rural stretch with absolutely gargantuan hills I needed the bike to be serviced first. Eureka is about 15 miles from the northern entrance to the Lost Coast and has a great bike shop. It made sense to drop the bike off to get the work done then spend the night here in town. I’ll pick it up in the morning and try to make it 55 miles to a primitive campsite south of Petrolia. Sunday morning I’ll wake up and climb what is known as “The Wall”. You can see why in the elevation profile below, and understand my concern about brakes! It’ll be a challenge, but one that I’ve been looking forward to for some time now. There won’t be cell service so I’ll be posting a recap in a couple of days. Should be a fun weekend!