Hello friends, family and those we've met on the road! Welcome to the fifth edition of our newsletter, written from both the beautiful Bay Area and the stunning Lake Tahoe.
It appears I have yet again left it too long between instalments, and do not have space to answer the lovely, entertaining and intriguing questions that some of you sent over. So I will endeavour to send out a sort of half edition, soon. If you didn't send questions about our journey last time, but you still have them, then please do reply to this email with your queries.
We last spoke just before we entered the state of California, and since then we've been wowed by its towering redwoods, dramatic coastline, relaxed residents and the always-undulating Highway 1.
Jedediah Smith state park has proved a highlight so far - it's a place we were instructed to stay at by a family of tourers we encountered in Washington, and boy, are we glad that they raved about it. Ed, Greg and myself spent three nights there, drinking in the presence of some of the world's tallest trees and taking multiple daily dips in the crystal-clear Smith River. Completely dreamy.
Redwoods were also plentiful further south, including on the 30-mile-long Avenue of the Giants. We travelled it over the course of two sweltering days, so were delighted by the blackberry ice lollies at Floodplain Produce, as recommended by Warm Showers hosts (and expert growers themselves) Sherilyn and Karen. Forgive me the tired trope of calling the garden there an oasis, but verdant herbs, smiling flowers and bulbous veg were abundant, making it the only appropriate vocabularly.
We then made our way onto Highway 1, famed for its jagged, dramatic coastal views and, ahem, lack of space for cyclists. Its first 70km involved two sizeable ascents to return to the Pacific from further inland, and these steady hills were some of our favourite climbs of the route so far, with the descents proving to be just this side of hair-raising.
The road then followed a lumpy profile (up to the cliffs, down to the gulch: repeat), punctuated by more excellent state parks with campsites full of cyclists completing all sorts of long and short trips across the USA - thanks so much to all who brought a smile to our evenings on this stretch. We got into a rhythm at this point, with camping finally feeling a bit easier (that's taken nearly three months, if you're counting), and the proliferation of grocery stores making day-to-day admin less of a grind.
At Bodega Bay we said goodbye to Greg, who by that point had been riding with us for nearly a month. Although we were expecting the split, it was still a hard moment. Both Ed and I have been reflecting on just how much the three of us laughed together, and how good it felt to have a real pal while we've been so adrift from our friends and family in the UK. We'll miss his easygoingness, patience with our moods, infectious enthusiasm for a challenge and awful jokes. And we do, of course, hope to see him again soon, but in which country, we have no idea. Do follow along with his progress, as he takes a train to Utah to do 900km of off-road riding (!), via this link.
We then pedalled into San Anselmo, north of San Francisco, to stay with a friend and former colleague of Ed's - Alex - and his beautiful family - Ivy, and kids Caspar and Colt. From their hilltop home we had time and space to sleep late, launder our socks and play with the children's toys (the kids were there too - promise). Meanwhile, a day spent exploring the city and pretending I was in The Princess Diaries (2001) gave us a touristic top-up, with trams, dim sum and cold brew all being ticked off. We were spoiled rotten during these few days - many thanks to the Valdman household for making room for two smelly bicyclists in their hectic lives.
'But what's next?' I hear you cry. Well, we've decided to take a little break from the coast and venture towards Yosemite and, therefore, lots of big mountains. Despite being in the best shape of our lives, we are more than a little trepidatious of the riding ahead. Please wish us strong legs, cooling breezes, and more free food scavenged from the side of the road (last time it was a whole watermelon).
We had been repeatedly advised that the valley between San Francisco and the Sierra Nevada mountains is insufferably hot and, although we are expecting challenging conditions in Mexico and beyond, it seemed daft to ignore these warnings. As such we hired a car and travelled the 300km to Lake Tahoe in a few gloriously air conditioned hours. While in the car, we recieved word that a couple from Tahoe that we'd met in Alaska had not only completed their expedition to the Arctic circle by boat, but that yes, we'd be welcome to stay at theirs before heading south once more. Unsurprisingly, we have made ourselves at home - I type this while an oven pizza is sizzling. Thank you again Niki and Jared, you absolute legends.
Until next time, mis amigos!
Toot or boot
The presence of a bakery with real, almost-European tasting bread and pastries in the city of Arcata TOOT
The restraint we had to show in there BOOT
Realising that minestrone from scratch is possible in a campsite setting TOOT
No longer being able to share overcomplicated meals with Greg BOOT
Discovering you can go mountain biking on your touring rig without killing yourself TOOT
The mountain biking trail we were on disappearing and turning into a bushwhacking hike BOOT
Thanks and shout-outs
Angela and Jamie
Sherilyn and Karen
Mike
Andrew
The Kentucky Riders
Ben from Bristol
Andrew and Niko
The Sea Ranch chapel-goers
Ben, Ben and Evan
Alex, Ivy, Caspar and Colt
Linda, for our day in San Francisco
Brett
Niki and Jared (again!)
About us
We are Edwin Foote and Suzie McCracken - thanks for signing up for our newsletter! Edwin is from England and Suzie is from Northern Ireland and normally we live together in Deptford, south-east London. We arrived in Fairbanks, Alaska, in May 2022 and are attempting to ride our bicycles the length of the Americas, hoping to finish in Argentina in 2024. If you have any recommendations of things we should do, people we should meet or places we should stay, we'd love to hear from you! Please reply to this email, or follow us on Instagram (ed_win or _suziemccracken).