Hannah Jo
In January of 2019, I began my position with the US Peace Corps as a development partner. For my two-year assignment, I was sent to serve in the Ecuadorian Amazon to lead sustainable development projects in education and tourism. Due to lack of reliable transportation, I spent a lot of time cycling to different work …
Continue reading "The 1200-Mile Cycle Tour That Changed My Life"
I ended up heading south to Pacifica to stay with a friend for a few days. My knee bothered me immensely, so much that I could barely move and went to buy a brace. I learned that the knee injury was probably due to not having low enough gears, like the ones you find on …
Continue reading "Day 24: San Francisco/Oakland to Pacifica"
In the morning, we slept in and made breakfast together. The woman who took us in was a caretaker for an elderly man named Bud, and he told us stories from his younger days all morning. The woman was also extremely generous, having gone from a very successful business life to retiring and caring for …
Ruth and Rob left me behind for a bit because I was struggling due to knee issues. I spent a lot of the morning crying, and even threw my bike on the ground a few times. I had a total meltdown and was so frustrated with myself. It didn't help that the only other cars …
Continue reading "Day 22: Bodega Dunes State Park to Point Reyes (San Rafael)"
We made this a short day because we had been pushing ourselves too hard. My knee started to feel a stabbing pain, so I had to make a ton of stops. The big hills on highway 1 were beautiful, but also horrifying because there wasn't a guard rail. It was remote and trickled with vacation …
Continue reading "Day 21: Salt Point State Park to Bodega Dunes State Park"
It was a rough day, and we cycled from sunrise to sundown. I had been looking for sea glass the entire trip, and I finally found it at a beach in Fort Bragg! A beach full of sea glass of al different colors. We spent awhile there, and they helped me collect glass. I couldn't …
Continue reading "Day 20: Cleone State Campground to Salt Point State Park"
Leggett Day!!! Also known as the day we would have "the worst climb of the trip". We spent the first part of the morning worrying about how bad the hill would actually be. When we finally got to climbing, it was already midday. I can confidently say that Leggett was not the worst hill of …
Continue reading "Day 19: Benbow SRA to Cleone State Campground"
Today definitely deviated from the norm. On my way to cross into California, I was joined by a homeless woman who lives on her bike. She told me about the dangers of the area, and repeatedly tried to give me one of her knives, which was actually very thoughtful. She also warned me a million …
Two of us woke up sick in Eureka, so we decided to take the bus for some of the day's planned route. We started cycling somewhere before Avenue of the Giants, and stopped at every large tree stump or fallen log. My butt hurt terribly, and I kept stopping to rub Vaseline everywhere. We skipped …
I started the day by taking the gravel path from the hiker/biker site to the highway 101. It was really hard on my bike, and I should’ve just taken the 101 from the beginning, but I try to find alternate routes when possible. I made a stop in Orick, a small town, to grab snacks …
