Day 18 - The Finish Line (Brandon)

 

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 Francisco. Our route took us over rolling hills, with nothing but livestock to keep us company. We made some animal friends along the way. Christi has most of the pictures, but we saw horses, cows, sheep, and even a young buck that I startled when I stopped for a wardrobe change outside of Petaluma. It was very peaceful riding on country roads, with large bike lanes most of the way to Petaluma.

Some of our companions along the way

We rolled into Petaluma around 11, famished, and a little behind schedule due to an unexpectedly long stop to watch a cow give birth in a field, and cheer on the calf to his first steps. This was probably one of the most unique parts of the trip, as it was completely unexpected and neither of us had ever seen a cow give birth. Wow!

A hearty breakfast in Petaluma to power us through the remaining 45 miles

The road after Petaluma continued through farmland for a while, and then slowly larger neighborhoods and towns started appearing. This was clearly a popular cycling route, as we saw dozens of fellow cyclists out for rides on these roads. We chatted with a couple of them, but most of the time I was just focused on pedaling through the heat and trying not to miss any turns and send us off in the wrong direction. Unlike most of our trip which consisted of the same road all day, today required a lot of navigation through neighborhoods, along bike paths, and across some busy streets. At one point I almost took us onto the freeway because I missed the bike trail entrance just before the on-ramp. 😳

Really cool bike tunnel alongside their light rail, also some cool shade on a hot day

The prize for all of our hard work was the Golden Gate Bridge, and it did not disappoint! I haven’t been on this bridge since I was 9 years old, when I walked across it with my grandmother. I remember her telling me about seeing grandpa off to WWII from the walkway of this bridge, and her getting emotional about him not being with her on that trip, due to some legal troubles with the feds. They are both no longer with us, but it’s memories like this that keep them alive in my heart. Now I have another set of memories with this bridge, and our long expedition to get here.

One last beer break, and a quiet rock from which to admire the bridge and contemplate our journey to it

We took our time crossing the bridge, taking plenty of pictures, and then made our way to the hotel we will call home for the next 4 days. The journey has been long, but incredible. I don’t think I’ve ever accomplished anything this big before, but may attempt more in the future. We met lots of great people along the way, and saw everything I wanted to see, except a black bear (Christi did not want this).😢

Rolling across the Golden Gate Bridge

Final Thoughts:

This world is a wonderful place, filled with natural beauty, and we should all slow down and appreciate it. At a cyclists pace, the world is different on the road. With time to think deeply and pause to watch nature, you see a lot more than any automobile driver. What you also see is how much destruction the automobile has wrought on that nature. From the daily lists of massacred animals Christi has been keeping, to the occasional crosses for lost loved ones,  and the stumps of 2000 year old trees, cut down to make way for man and his machines.

Cars and trucks were by far the biggest threat to our lives on this trip. The second biggest threat was air quality, caused by fires raging across the west coast. Our climate is changing, and it’s not for the better, and our love affair with the automobile is a large driving force behind that. If we are to be good stewards of this incredible planet we call home, we should spend some time pondering our activities, and the impact they have. This bike ride gave me countless hours to contemplate, while dodging trash and shattered glass along every mile. Humans are failing as stewards, we can, and should, do better! 

-Cheers