On The Road

Finally! The day arrived and I hit the road. The days leading up to today were a flurry of activity as I tried to wrap things up at work and leave my household in order. On Monday evening John, Javy and I sat down and had a drink to commemorate and celebrate the moment.

Early the next morning my daughter Suzi’s boyfriend Ed picked me up and delivered me to the airport. One flight to Phoenix (where a guy stopped me in the airport to comment on my La Reforma T-shirt and let me how much he loves the restaurant!) and then another to San Francisco and in no time I was in an Uber headed to Roaring Mouse Cycles to retrieve my bicycle. The guys there were super cool and competent – they had my bike ready to go and gave me a space to work so I could get all my packs etc. situated and ready to go. I soon came to the realization that I have packed too much as I could barely fit all my stuff on the bike and then I could barely lift it! I am going to have spend the next week or so making some tough decisions on what stays and what goes…..but not today.

Next on the agenda was heading to beach over on the Pacific to perform the honored traditional salute of placing your rear tire in the surf. Luckily the bike shop was really close to the Golden Gate Bridge and I was able to cycle over to Baker Beach on a very nice bike-friendly road – not an easy road though as the hills in San Francisco are monsters! I had to test out my lowest “Granny” gears, passing some of the less-hardy who had to walk their bikes and getting a “thumbs up” from bike-friendly drivers who could see and appreciate the pain I was in. I pulled into Baker Beach with a sigh of relief only to realize that to get to the waters edge I was going to push my extra heavy bike through several miles of loose beach sand (actually only 100 yards or so, but it seemed like miles!). I had come this far, so I drug the bike through the sand, sweating and cursing to the waters edge. I was happy I did it though, so my smile is real.

After the beach, I biked around the waterfront area for awhile as it was a gorgeous, cool day – perfect for a ride. I local rider befriended me and we cycled together for a few miles as he pointed out landmarks and gave me cycling advice – the most important that was – do not ever let your bike out of your sight in San Francisco or it will be gone. I heeded his advice. Now I am comfortably bedded down in a nice hotel after having a burger and a beer at a local brewery. Tomorrow I will be eastbound.