Catching up: Day 5...

Camp on the final night had a sunny finish but we heard of the threat of rain overnight. That didn't happen.

It waited til 5:30am. Of course.

So, a cold, early,wet start on our last day got a lot of us motivated to get the hell to San Francisco.

And then the sun came out juuuuust in time for some uber climbs up and over Mt Tam and the Marin headlands to the bridge.












San Francisco from Sausilito





Crossing the bridge












SF side







Finish line at city hall!

More thoughts on the ride in the next post...

Catching up: Day 4...

I'm sitting on a park bench in Golden Gate Park not far from our pickup point... So, spoiler alert: I made it.

Day 4 was by far my favorite day of the ride. It was a rolling ride with no early hills of note (except one stupid one that was insanely steep but about 2 city blocks long). Most importantly we had no rain.

I'm a big proponent of getting out early, and I was one of the early departures on day 4. I got to the first "water" stop early and did some wine tasting at 9:30am. Hey, it's noon someplace, right?




Moshin Winery

The remainder of the ride through Sonoma County was beautiful but the hills kicked in. Lots of pot holes in the road... The C&O trail is smoother...




The stupid hill

Lunch featured fresh squeezed (pressed?) apple cider. Awesome. Then it rained. Less awesome (but brief).




Last water stop was in a cool town...




... But it was overshadowed by our rogue breakoff group who got oysters and beer:





Deck+oysters+beer+sun = epic.

9 miles later we were in our last camp of the trip!

Gorgeous start...

The aftermath of the storm...

Much more like a December storm... Lots of tired wet riders but we're coping.

Wetness aside, the fog was pretty this morning and the lack of rain at dawn was as welcome as anything!







That's my blue tent on the left. No the tree cover didn't help...







The bikes got some cover last night but my saddle is assuredly wet.

Brutal rain...

The rain is so bad tonight people can't sleep... Lots of wind and wet tents. A few looked at the nearby barn for shelter but it's locked. Bad night. Hope this lets up soon.

Biking this kind of distance is enough of a challenge without rain and lack of sleep thrown in! My tent's relatively dry inside but I've got some seepage or (more likely) condensation here and here.

In a word: "duuuuuuude."

Day 3 ending thoughts

Technology is odd... I'm in a tent with wifi access but no cell signal.

As predicted it's raining steadily right now. The structure situation seemed unresolved at best as the first drops came down so I quickly pitched the tent and got in while still dry. I had plenty of food left over from the ride so I'm sticking it out in here and skipping the evening events. Why bother getting wet?

The ride today was fun... Tomorrow, I'm not loving. The prospect of another icy wet day is not high on my list of to do's but there's not much in the way of options short of skipping and riding windy roads in support vans til I get motion sick. I know... Some choice, eh? I'll probably rock the ride ;)

SF is less than 100 miles away! Crazy!

Not a century kinda day...

Ended in Gualala today... Fun ride with lots of ups and downs. The mechanic Brian told me what I already knew... My rear cassette is not geared for these kinds of climbs. I always felt I was working so much harder than others on hills despite being in comparable shape. So, that explains it.







My expression here is comical and odd...

Gualala is awesome. Getting a grilled cheese because I can.







Getting shuttled to camp - rain is in the air. Definitely thinking shelter over tent tonight...