AWAY FROM IT ALL: One doesn't have too many opportunities nowadays to be away from screens and messages and ringing and screen-based message-ringing. But we're lucky to live in a state that's home to a place called the Lost Coast. That almost mythical handle isn't mere p.r.; the ocean-adjacent knob near Ferndale is indeed pretty lost, in the loveliest sense of the word. If you've been wanting to de-message for awhile, and take in some remote countryside, and riding past craggy shorelines, and pedal through redwoods, and you heart your bicycle a whole lot, this is your big moment. Tour of the Unknown Coast pedals through the area on Saturday, May 7.
NEWBIES TO PROS: While the Tour of the Unknown Coast will attract people who like an extremely put-it-to-the-test ride -- "past Olympians" tend to join in, says tour director Vic Armijo -- there are options for take-it-easier family riders and even "kids with training wheels." Registration is open online through midday on Friday, May 6, then the HQ moves to Ferndale. Mr. Armijo also tells us that "Unknown Coast" is part of the 33-year-old ride's historic name. You might know the area as the Lost Coast, but you can certainly call it the Unknown Coast as well. (Which further proves how great this region in; some places don't even have one cool nickname, and yet this stretch boasts two. Case rested.)
