5-13-10 -- San Francisco to Santa Cruz

What a brilliant first day of riding! I hopped in the saddle this morning at the northern tip of the Golden Gate bridge. In my mind it would have been a stunning start to the ride – dawn sunlight streaming through the skyscrapers downtown as I silently buzzed across the bay. What I got was fog, cold, and a brutal wind. I don’t know how I got so naive, especially after living in San Francisco for nearly 5 years now. Haha. Oh well…....

It turns out I picked a fun day to start in San Francisco, as today was ‘bike to work day.’ I was greeted by a well-bundled bunch of Kaiser Permanente volunteers running a food station on the north end of the bridge. They really went out of their way – giving away bagels, fruit, sunscreen…. I was impressed. Having not packed breakfast, I was thrilled to find them waiting in the cold for me. The staffers asked the usual question – “Where do you work? How far do you have to ride today?” I was grinning ear-to-ear, five minutes into my ride when I got to reply “Mexico!” The response got me some extra food, sunscreen, and encouragement. What a way to start the day!



I cruised through my usual bike routes in the city – Lincoln to 25th to the park to the Great Highway. I stopped and had a quick bite at one of my favorite little café’s – Java Beach. It wasn’t that I needed anything, it’s just nice to have a little taste of home before leaving on a good journey. I pedaled back out onto the road, and was admiring our newly collapsed-into-the-sea roadway, when I spotted another touring cyclist about ¾ of a mile ahead. For whatever reason, it’s VERY unusual to see adventure cyclists (travelers) in San Francisco. I sped up to catch this atypical rider before he/she got away. At first I thought it was a woman (long blonde hair in dreadlocks), but it turned out to be a guy named Bryan. I rode up to say hey. He turns out to be a 23 year old physical therapist who’s been working in SF for the last 10 months. His work put him on rotation in Santa Cruz, and he figured what better way to get there than ride? I couldn’t agree more. Turns out he’s a professional, clean cut, well kept, intentionally homeless person. He thought it would be fun to camp out in the city instead of getting an apartment – and that’s exactly what he’s been doing for almost a year! I think we intrigued each other with funny and unusual life stories, so we decided to finish the ride to Santa Cruz together. It’s nice to meet another person who is driven but not worried, and is simultaneously mellow and excited.


We rode out of the city, past Devil’s Slide and into Half Moon Bay. Every dramatic vista brought hoots and hollers of excitement from both of us. I feel FREEDOM! There are no walls around me, just the sound of the wind, and the rush of the descent.



So far my new bike setup is working really well! I bought a Fuji CrossComp bike a few weeks back. It’s kind-of a weird setup – a road-race frame with some beefier components to do some mild off-road duty. I put slick tires on it, and some new Ortlieb pannier bags and called it good to go. It turns out the panniers allow me to go WAY faster with much less effort than if I were using my trailer. I can’t carry quite as much, but I’m happy with that compromise.




Bryan and I continued on out of Half Moon Bay, and back out onto hwy 1. The road gets a little more rural at this point – not many resources. Fortunately you trade in houses and gas stations for beautiful teal-blue crescent shaped beaches, lined with craggy old Monterey Cypress trees. It’s a stunning scene around every corner. About half way into our ride we picked up a HUGE tailwind. My idea of a perfect tailwind is when the speed of the bike matches the speed of the breeze. An eerie 25 mph silence falls over you as the scenery continues to whizz by. The wind noise is gone, and all you are left with is the satisfying hiss of bike tires blazing along the pavement. Bryan’s “WHOOT!” of joy behind me confirms what I’m thinking – this is why we’re out here! 



After a brief stop at the rapidly-decaying Pigeon Point lighthouse, we decided to put down some miles – quickly. We rode in the last 40 miles to Santa Cruz with hardly a pee-break. We got into town at about 4pm. It took 7 hours to ride from SF to here – not bad considering how much stuff we were carrying. A quick burrito downtown, and it was time to part ways with my new riding-buddy. Poor Bryan has job interviews and other activities to attend to tomorrow, so he headed off to shower and get settled for the evening. I find myself at a comfortable Starbucks on Pacific Ave. in downtown, contentedly typing up the day’s activities. Tomorrow at this time I’ll be deep in the heart of Big Sur where I’m sure there will be no cell-reception. Look for my next update in a couple days!