We Found Our Hearts in San Francisco

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Total Distance Ridden: 1,030 miles!
Elevation Gained:  60,044

Today's ride profile: click HERE
Day 18 Vlog: click HERE

A while back, I wrote that, if you had any questions about us, our trip, or what we are riding for, please send us a message and we would answer them in the blog.  After the last blog posting, we finally have our first questions to answer:

1.  I don't know if you're sleeping.  I don't know when you're awake.
2.  I don't know if you've been naughty or nice.
3.  I don't know Prancer's favorite food.

Ok, glad to put those questions behind me.  Right now I am sitting in the hotel room listening to the faint sounds of traffic and city noise--a far cry from the days past where the towns were small and everything closed at 2:00pm due to lack of customers.   San Francisco is the closest spot we will hit to our home during this trip so it really does feel like home.  And seeing family and friends?  Even better!  Here was our day:

We left Tomales shortly before 10:00 to head for the city.  The stay at the Continental Inn was an interesting one; we did not see another soul the entire time we were there.  That included hotel staff.  We let ourselves in and we let ourselves out in the morning.  Had a nice time though!  Getting on the road, there was a bit of a headwind that greeted us as we wound our way down towards Point Reyes.  The road was full of steep ups and downs with not much in between for quite a long ways.  Eventually, the road turned inland and we found ourselves on the Marin Bike Path which wound through another redwood grove and finally ended in a campground--yet another place I want to come back and visit!

As we entered populated areas, it was a bit hard to enjoy the scenery because our route took so many different roads that I was glued to the map to make sure we didn't miss a turn.  We did go through some pretty incredible places though.  The town of San Anselmo looked like one of the coolest places to live ever!  Eventually, we ended up on the Sausalito bike path that took us almost all the way to the Golden Gate Bridge.  It was funny--as we got closer, there were more and more bike rental shops and of course everyone was getting bikes to ride over the bridge.  Leaving Sausalito, however, there is a steep climb into a brisk headwind.  Even by our standards, it was tough.  We sort of laughed as all the tourists walked their bikes--they didn't have the practice we had!

We timed our arrival to the bridge to meet up with my wife and son and some of our friends from home.  As we dropped down to the parking area before the bridge,  we were greeted with signs and cheers and hugs and smiles--which were needed because of how cold it was--probably our coldest day of our trip so far.  Mark Twain said it best: "the coldest winter I ever felt was a summer in San Francisco."  Katelyns friends had already ridden across the bridge from the SF side in order to wait for us and now they were all going to turn and ride back as our company.  Katelyn and I dropped our bags off in the van and, for the first time on the trip, rode our bikes with no additional weight--such a difference!

After goofing around, taking pictures and having fun, we decided to head to Fisherman's Wharf for some food.  I led the junior cyclists on a fun up and down road to get their blood pumping.  You can't ride for cancer without some good hills!  Finally, after eating, Katelyn and I left to pedal to Hotel Via.  The hotel sits right across the street from AT&T Park where the Giants play and the hotel is AWESOME!  Lodging in the city is tough and Hotel Via did a HUGE contribution to our cause by providing us a room for the night!  After checking in, we went and met up with most of Katelyn's friends for some ice cream before calling it a night.  Back at the room, my wife had brought us some clean clothes and supplies to swap out.  Also, we were able to take lots of stuff out of our bags since she will be meeting us in Santa Cruz again in a couple days.

So on to today:  we will be heading to a hostel at the Pigeon Point Lighthouse in Pescadero.  51 miles.  The winds don't look like they want to be our friend today.  Wish us luck!

This ride would not be possible without a dear wife and awesome friends and family supporting us on our journey.  Even on a cold day, soooo nice to have this to run into!

What to do on a cold night in San Francisco?  Get ice cream!

These girls all got to ride for cancer today--going both ways over the  Golden Gate Bridge in really foul conditions.  I think they are ready to do the rest of California with us!

This girl has earned that smile the entire trip!

It's one thing to ride TOWARDS something you are familiar with; it is something much stranger to ride away from.  The Golden Gate Bridge represented home for us.  Tomorrow we leave it behind.

Loved having the company on the ride today! 

Katelyn and her brother (in the BYU sweatshrit) and her friends..

Here is my family--my wife stayed up all night to make signs and awesome t-shirts  so we felt the love on the way through!

We were in a hurry to meet everyone at the bridge, but that didn't mean we couldn't stop and take our own bridge picture on the way. Such a pretty part of the ride (and still warm here!) 

The first view of the Golden Gate Bridge for us.  Is the barbed wire trying to tell us something?