Day 41 - 42 (Last 2 days)

My last 2 days of cycling, unable to decide whether to be glad or sad

Day 41

Was a tough ride of 75 km's, from Bodega Bay to Stinson beach. A fellow rider along the way told me I would like the ride into Stinson beach it was all down hill, a diplomatic way of telling me there was a big hill just before Stinson Beach.

I also met another rider from San Francisco and discussing dumping my bike, she suggested I donate it to 'Pedal Revolution', a non profit organisation.

The ride was pretty scenic, but I unfortunately had very little photographic proof.

Day 41 and my last cycle, I left my room to rain. I was very tempted to call an Uber. I waited an hour and it had cleared a bit so I set off. I had no chance of easing into the ride which started with the biggest single climb of the whole trip. The roads were wet as I got to one hairpin with a stupid angle, I got off and pushed my bike round the hairpin, a Harley came from the other direction, the lady smiled at me as they went past, I was watching as they went round the corner they lost control and went into the barrier. I slowed down other vehicles and then helped them lift the bike. They hadn't been going fast so no one had any serious injuries. If not for the barrier it would have been very serious.

As soon as I got over the mountain and started coming down I hit the outskirts of San Francisco. It had cleared slightly with the sun coming out every now and then. Crossing the golden gate bridge was madness. Thousand of cyclists many of whom could hardly ride all riding across the bridge. The walkway on the one side of the bridge was for pedestrians and the walkway on the other side for cyclist. I was riding against the traffic as the majority of cyclists were coming from San Fransisco. They would often start overtaking see you coming in the opposite direction and not get back in. I got to my apartment by 3, time for a shower and then a taxi to explore San Francisco.

I had a couple of days in San Francisco to relax, deliver my bike to 'pedal Revolution', then do some shopping, the first day was overcast all day, the final day the sun came out at about lunch time and it ended up being a beautiful day.  I did some shopping had a late lunch at 'Fisherman's wharf'.

Looking back at the trip some parts had been tough. I was to be going home slightly fitter, slightly lighter and a lot more relaxed, taking lots of memories with me. It was sad that it was ending, but I was looking forward to getting home seeing my family, and getting back to work.