PDF to SFO or Bust

  September 26th, 2020     The day has finally come! We were making it to San Francisco today, but it was going to require the “official” longest ride of the trip (since we stopped earlier than originally planned on day 15). We’ve both biked 106 miles in one day before, so that wouldn’t be a problem, but it was likely going to be another hot day and we wanted to make it to the Golden Gate Bridge before the sun went down. So we were up at 5am, packing up camp in the dark using our head lamps, and hit the road around 0630.      We rode back around Bodega Bay to head southeast onto country roads again. Of course on the last day of riding I would have issues with my bike chain. I probably adjusted my chain about 10 times after attempting to go up hills. This bike has gotten me this far, but I think for future bike tours I will get a new bike to avoid the headache 😂.     It was on the country roads that we witnessed magic! As we were riding past a cow pasture, I noticed something dangling

  It’s hard to believe that our journey has come to an end. Just like most travels it has gone by very quickly, yet when I think back on our first days on the road, with the road crew, it feels like years ago. We’ve seen so much, and traveled so far in that time that my brain just doesn’t know how to categorize the memories. I’m sad that our days of 50 miles rides along ocean beaches and amongst giant trees is over, for now , but also happy to have some time to rest my bum from all those hours in the saddle. It won’t be proper rest, as Christi has big plans to walk all over San Francisco, but at least my butt will get a break. 😂 Ready to hit the road before sunrise In order to have enough time at the Golden Gate Bridge before sundown we set an alarm for 5am, and actually stuck to it. After eating the last of our oatmeal, and packing our campsite for the final time, we were ready to finish our journey. With stars in the sky and a light breeze, we hit the empty roads towards San Francis

  Another day, another incredible stretch of Pacific coastline. This would be our last day along the coast as we head back inland and then south to San Francisco in the morning. Today the drop offs were pretty noticeable, as were the lack of guardrails. They did have what appeared to be ramps on the side of the road, so if you had enough speed you might be able to clear the rocks below, but landing in the ocean from 400ft up would probably not end well. We did have several stretches of road where we were specifically allowed to take the lane, which was nice, although we took the lane plenty anyways, especially on the downhills. Love this sign 😍 It was a short ride today, so we started pretty late, in hopes that we could find a restaurant open around lunchtime. On this stretch of Hwy 1 finding open establishments to eat meals has been tricky. We were in luck today eating at a little coffee shop in Jenner that also served food. I got the avocado toast, because I’m technically  a Millenn

Fort Ross State Historic Park- windmill September 25th, 2020     We woke up to another short day of riding. Today’s adventures would take us about 28 miles into Bodega Bay. Our journey prior to Jenner, CA consisted mostly of crazy hills along the coast that had shear drop offs to one side without a guard rail to prevent you from launching off the side and into the ocean. This was the first time on the trip that I didn’t just let the bike take me down a hill, attempting to go as fast as possible, typically 30+ MPH. It was terrifying and my brakes got a workout! There was also a fair amount of construction work happening on this road so it wasn’t a smooth ride either. The cars were mostly respectful during this section. Contemplating how far he can launch himself (parachute is in the back) 😂; also the rare guardrail is present     One of the first places we came across was Fort Ross. We didn’t explore much at this park, eager to get to the next place, but we had to see the windmill (pic

September 24th, 2020     We moseyed around the motel in the morning, taking our time packing up and getting ready for the day. This resulted in a 1030 start time for our 36 mile day. We were excited to have a short day finally, and crossed our fingers there wouldn’t be too many hills. This section of Highway 1 continues to have great views, but the first 10 miles or so had construction. This resulted in uneven road waiting for a fresh layer of asphalt; what a bumpy ride! A few vehicles got a little too close for comfort and didn’t bother slowing down. I cursed them under my breath and continued on.      We hit our lunch break in Gualala around noon and were excited to find an open restaurant! It had been about four days since we had an actual lunch with real food, not typical camping garb you cook over a Jetboil. It had also been since Trinidad, CA that we have sat at a restaurant in outdoor seating; everything we have found has been takeout only. We met a nice gentleman named Gray, wh

We were in no hurry to leave the comfort of the Wildflower Motel, but we did have 36 miles to ride today, so we finally rolled out just before 11, after eating a glorious yogurt parfait provided by our hosts. The day was misty and wet in the morning, but it soon cleared up and it was blue skies as far as our eyes could see. One of the many great looking beaches we rode past today We soon rolled into Gualala, the town we would have been camping in last night, had we continued on and passed up the hotel. We were both hungry, and it was a little after noon, so we stopped at the first (only?) restaurant we saw and grabbed some food and a beer. BBQ bacon burger 😋 After lunch we had one more break along a cliff side to watch the huge waves crash in. While there, Christi managed to see her first whales! They were quite a ways offshore, but we could spot their spouts of water clearly. It was a great little spot and I was excited for Christi. Great little break spot We didn’t have much further

  The aviators make their first appearance September 23rd, 2020     Our morning didn’t start as early as planned, but Flo shared a cup of jo with me in the morning (thanks again) so I was ready to conquer the day. It started by me walking up the gravel path to the main road, cause I was not confident I would stay upright on the bike 😂. Once we got rolling, the caffeine boost in the morning really pushed me up the hills and Brandon was wishing he would have had some. It was a short 10 miles into Fort Bragg. I will be adding this to my list of future towns to visit in a car. It was a bustling town for being 0930; we saw more cyclist in the next 10 mile stretch than we had seen this whole trip combined. Sadly none of them were going in our direction or packing gear for a cycle tour. But we had a great time waving hello as they went past.      I can’t say enough about the views on this stretch of highway 1; they were gorgeous! If I were to give someone else advice on doing this trip, spli

  We knew we had a lot of miles and a lot of elevation today, so we talked about getting on the road at first light. We missed that mark by about 45 minutes, mostly because I relied on my internal clock instead of an alarm. 🤷🏻‍♂️ Before we even left the camp we paused to take a picture, that would be the story of our first 30 miles today. It seemed like every time we turned a corner there was another gorgeous beach just begging to be photographed. As much as we wanted to take it slow and dip our toes in the water of some of these incredible beaches, we remained business like, and kept plodding along.  We were feeling pretty good about the ride at this point in the day, with the highway winding along the cliffs of the Pacific, it seemed like every hill was rewarded with an incredible vista. We stopped frequently to snap pictures. We made a stop at McDonalds for some breakfast in Fort Bragg. The town looked really neat, and had a brewpub, so I was a little sad that we didn’t have more