Day 10 - Fortuna to Fort Bragg (190.1KM)

What a day!Breakfast in the hotel before sunrise and out on the road feeling energised. I left Fortuna with high hopes.After a bit of fun going down the wrong road and having to hop over a barbed wire fence to get back on track, I was soon as the entrance to what turned out to be the most incredible 40kms.It's really difficult to describe and my terrible photos can never do them justice, but the sheer height and volume of the redwoods in the Avenue of Giants is out of this world. Cycling through only minutes after the sun came up let me think I had the entire road to myself. I won't gush too much, but I felt very privileged to be able to ride so much of the road with only the sounds of nature around me and the smooth ticking of my bike.Unfortunately, I was all too soon brought back to reality and ejected back on to the faithful 101. Onwards and looking to finish early, I only had a few hours left in the saddle.As I was preparing for my midmorning stop I spotted a fellow cyclist on the horizon. Food or contact? Contact it was and for once it was worth it. A chatty Aussie called Bart kept me company for the next half an hour until we stopped for a rest at a rather strange shop mid climb. Bart had started his day further on than me and was planning on ending at Fort Bragg, I was pursuaded to extend my day!The extension of the day brought with it a relatively serious climb and a finish along rolling hills. I was feeling good after a relatively relaxing yesterday, so left Bart and pushed on agreeing we may meet for a beer later if we both made it.I'm so glad I was pursuaded. The additional 65km or so was fantastic. A gruelling hill perhaps, but really enjoyable and it was followed by an incredibly rewarding, long and winding descent. Truly epic, a really great day in the saddle, one I wouldn't trade for another.Of course one thing I would change would be the weather, the fog is still following me everywhere I go. As I type, it's thicker than ever!Once again on the hunt for fruit or vegetables, today I was particularly unsuccessful. The store clerk in the only food shop I could find laughed at me when I asked about bananas. I'm having Pop Tarts for breakfast!It's 7:15pm and I'm all done for the day. No sign of Bart!