The ride from Trinidad to San Francisco went smoothly, marked with clear skies and beautiful coastal weather. We took a scenic route through The Avenue of the Giants - a road that winds its way through more of the giant redwoods -and found a nice little state park nestled within the trees just as night fell. After a longer-than-usual sleep-in... due to our late arrival, we hit The Avenue where we continued to be awestruck by the giants. It seems the riding goes by remarkably faster when the scenery is pleasing and over the next few days we covered the longest distances of the trip so far... Perhaps also motivated to make our way to the city by the bay.
The hills of California have been large and numerous and we learned a valuable lesson when asking people for route information... always trust the map, and people who drive cars have this perception that the roads are flat. One local guy told us that after we made the turnoff Hwy 101 and onto the coastal Hwy 1, that it was all downhill to San Fran. Our hopes were quickly dashed as we tackled two of the biggest climbs of the trip so far one after the other. At the top of the first monster, we met up with another group of 3 cyclists on their first tour and as one of them finished puffing away on a dart, we were starting to question how it was they had made it to the same spot after departing on their trip, also from Vancouver, over a full week after we had. Our own physical ability came into question until they mentioned they had taken a Greyhound for about 300miles down the coast. Determined to show em' what true cyclists we were we pushed on another 10 miles past where they stopped for the day, with thrashed legs from the climbs, and the setting sun. Feeling good about our accomplishment, we pulled into a crowded hiker/biker site at a bustling state park and put our quarters in for a warm shower.
The group of three Greyhound bikers from the day before must have been choked on not making it as far as we had yesterday and gotten an early start to the day as they beat us into Fort Bragg where we saw them pulled over taking a quick break. As it turned out, they weren't choked at all, but merely anxious to get to spend a few more days in San Fran as they went whipping by us in a U-Haul not far down the road. It took us 2 more days to get to San Fran and finding our way into the city proved to be a significant challenge. Fortunately the large biking community is more than willing to help out a confused and lost-looking cyclist, offering directions without even having to ask. We eventually met up with a cycling club at a coffee shop and tagged onto their leisurely weekend ride into the city.
The much anticipated ride across the Golden Gate bridge ended up being more of a rat race than a relaxing peddle taking in the views of the bay and skyline. The 'biker' side of the bridge was closed for construction, so everyone was squeezed onto the 'pedestrian' side. The elite cyclists trying to race across in record time were the most frustrated of anyone, but provided good entertainment value as they yelled at the walkers to get out of their way, god forbid they have to unclip and walk around the guy taking a family picture crossing the iconic landmark.
Once we arrived in the city we eventually found our way to the accommodation that had been arranged for us, courtesy of Kenton's grandparents. Wheeling the bikes around the hotel did not seem to be an issue for anyone working there, but fitting them in the elevator was a bit more challenging. The bars in San Francisco were a happening thing Saturday night and a fantastic Tom Petty tribute band was playing at the Grant and Green, some hole in the wall that Alex knew of.
Sunday was spent walking around and visiting the city's Chinatown and Little Italy where the best pizza in San Francisco was served for dinner, according the the host of the restaurant. The city proved to have some great hidden gems.
On our last night in San Fran we met up with one of Kenton's family friends Sheila. She invited us in to her home and took us out for some great "Asian fusion" probably the best meal of the trip so far. The night came to an end with Sheila's friend Chris (another Canadian) giving us some excises to loosen up our muscles as we waited for the bill. As for today we are currently chowing on some breakfast and debating on weather to leave San Fran on such a gloomy day, or to to wait for the sun. What's one more day?
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