Day 15: Jenner - San Francisco
Wednesday, September 21, 2005

stats:
88.22 @ 15.2 = 5:47'21, max: 38.2, trip total: 1183.3

weather:
warm - sunny, and breezy, beautiful day

eats:
raisin cinnamon bun, pancakes, vanilla shake, clam chowder, tequila shot, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, nachos, Negra Modelo

sleep:
Matt & Kate's home - Thanks!

thoughts:
The fog was in the distance- out in the ocean just hanging out in the horizon. So the sun was shinning and the was warmer right off the start. We had a plan too. Start out hard and get the bulk of the riding done soon. We were planning to get into to town by 3pm to have Tim meet Jessica.

It started out with the "warm up". We planned on riding for a while to get into a rhythm. Maybe 10 miles or so. But that somehow shifted into let's see who has more muscle. I don't know what happened but I was going hard at mile 0.4. Maybe I approached to close, maybe I had too much to give, maybe we all wanted to get rolling before we were warm.

And 32 miles later we were well into our day. It was probably only 10am or so and we decided to push ahead another 9 miles for breakfast. It was a fast morning. And we were that much closer to San Fran.

Breakfast was spectacular. You could tell we were closer to the city- the menu had more ingredients, higher prices, and the customers weren't all locals.

The ride was smooth- even with the large numbers of hills they were smaller and more manageable. And even though our legs had had enough they were getting closer to a major goal. So we were off with excitement of reaching another milestone.

As we got closer the directions got more complicated and the grid was part of what we had to navigate through. And yet there were a few major climbs right through the heart of some suburban neighborhoods. But before we knew it we were on our last climb to the Golden Gate Bridge. And there it was. Right in front of us.

It's been years that I've wanted to ride the climb over the Golden Gate (the park on the north side). And so I took the three miles of climbing as a gift. Reaching heights that overlooked the entire city and the bridge itself.

video clip: looking down on the golden gate bridge »

After hanging out for a bit we re-grouped at the base and rode over the bridge and into the city together.

And then the momentous ride across the bridge- the Golden Gate - into the city. It was a long anticipated ride across and it was great to roll into to town. Much easier than I thought. Then again how hard could it be? Just get on and over.

We met Matt there on the other side and quickly decided that some drinks were in order. And that's how we ended up at the bar telling our tales of success. Welcoming Jessica as the new driver and saying good bye to Bill and Melba. We were happy for our day off and ready to enjoy the good life - eat, sleep, and rest. And yet we've been doing that the whole time right? Well, kinda.

 

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