Just details

Day 18

I was sick and tired of being blasted by the wind so I woke up early and hit the road a little before 7am.  My plan was to stop in the first town I passed and buy some food, coffee and snacks for the road.  Weeeeelllll, the first three towns were essentially closed, no food, no water and nobody there.  I rode for three hours before I came to a town with any provisions!  I pulled up to Jenner, CA and ate two AMAZING eggs, drank coffee and inhaled water.  Then I headed out.  I was psyched and in a great mood.  I had big plans.  I figured if I was feeling good I would all the way to San Francisco in a day.  The night before leaving I was talking to a fellow road warrior on his way to Maryland (WOW) and he told me, "once you get to Point Reyes, you are close, then once you can see The Bridge…it's just details."   Just details.  I like that.  So with motivation excitement and the challenge of my longest day ever I rolled through town after town.  I stopped to eat two Lunchables® and kept pushing.  Riding along Tomales bay I found new strength with the wind at my back!  I was holding a 20mph pace up and down hills.  I arrived in Point Reyes at about 2pm!  I was psyched!  "You are close," I told myself.  I was, but I wasn't.  Point Reyes is still a 40 mile ride from my destination.  On Sir Francis Drake Rd. I realized why most people don't ride true road bikes when they tour.  I thought my poor bike was going to get ripped in half by potholes.  The road wound through towns for ages and I began to get tired, really tired.  I stopped a few times to finish my granola bars and the Snickers bar I was saving for when I really ran out of energy.  

Finally, I made it to Suasalito and got my first glimpse of the bay!  It was a beautiful sight…seriously I was awestruck.  I had only seen one Target in 20 days time, San Francisco was HUGE.  With the direction and help of a few commuters I found my way on to THE Golden Gate Bridge.  I could not stop smiling.  The wind was howling, I mean ripping across the bridge.  I would guess 30+ mph winds.  I biked slow and stopped a couple times to take in some views.  Once across the bridge I stopped by Planet Granite, the local gym to see if i could hop though the shower, but got no love.  I am not going to pay $16 to take a shower!  No big deal, I rolled my chipper self to Ghirardelli Square, dodging tourists and enjoying every second.  I met up with Ben Williams at Wattle Creek's incredible tasting room where I sampled wine to my hearts content.  By good fortune Laurel was headed to San Francisco that night for a Job interview, so I met up with her and her cousin.  We had a few drinks and then crashed at a friends house!  

It was the perfect ending to the perfect day.  I didn't take many pictures this day.  All I did was ride and ride hard.  When it was all said and done I had covered 120 miles and averaged 14.0 mph.  I had never even ridden 100miles in a day, so my first century was 120miles, on my 9th day riding culminating with a trip over the Golden Gate Bridge and an incredible night that followed.  

Here are a few stats I am quite proud of:

Day10: 77miles

Day11: 84miles

Day12: 78miles

Day13: 82miles

day14: 80miles 

day15: 65miles

Day16: 87miles and I climbed 8,641 feet on this day!!!

Day17: 65miles

Day18: 120miles!!!!  Including 5000+ feet of climbing.

Total ~735miles.  Miles/day~82.  Average speed ~14mph.

I have put together some of my favorite pictures from this past 9 days and posted them here:

PHOTOS

Also here is a movie I threw together.  I met a guy named Mike on the road.  We shared a campsite outside of Fort Bragg.  He is a nice kid and a great musician so I was treated to some good music that night.  I was able to snag a small sound bite of him singing and playing his guitar (which rode on the back of his bike).  In the movie the song that starts out is Dolly Parton, Jolene…then Mike takes over singing his version of the country classic.  Enjoy!