Day 30: Made it to San Francisco!
Tent was still wet when I woke up. But my mood was high as I was going to arrive in San Francisco today. After coffee and packing up camp, I was off.
After some initial cycling through some forest with hard pack gravel, we met Julia and Phill briefly and agreed to meet the following day in SF. Jullian is a faster cyclist than me so eventually I fell behind. Cycled through some commuter towns. There were many cyclists around. I guess because I am now so close to SF and it was a Sunday and tomorrow is the Colombia day bank holiday here. All of these cyclists were cycling at double my speed. An SF native, must have felt sorry for me as she cycled with me for 20 km or so, pointing out some cool things (e.g: The house where the Grateful Dead band practiced) and history and waiting patiently at the top of hills while I struggled. Thanks for the tour Ruth!
And then there was the golden gate bridge. I don’t know if it is just because I have been cycling towards it for so long or have worked it up as such a big milestone in my head, but it was so God damn beautiful. I was laughing and smiling from ear to ear for the entire cycle across it. I have made it to San Francisco! I think this makes me a “real” bike tourer now.
Adding to the sur-realness of the experience was the blue angels military air show going on over ahead. These planes were all flying in close proximity to each other and doing tricks over the city. Crossing the bridge with these overheads was cool. And they pulled such a huge crowd so the city was so packed with people I could barely cycle the bike.
A few days ago a classmate and friend from college reached out to me offering a place to stay in SF. My rule number 2 of bike touring is to never turn down such help. (My first rule is “don’t die”).
So I met with Aofie and her boyfriend Nick who helped me drag my bike up flights of stairs. We caught the rest of the airshow from the rooftop with cool city views on one side and the Golden Gate bridge views on the other. After catching up over dinner, we drove to a scenic point overlooking the bridge/city for sunset. Being a wildlife photographer, Nick must be the most well traveled person I have ever met so it was great hearing some of his stories.
A warm shower, a home cooked dinner, great conversation and a comfortable sleep with a roof over the head. Life is good. Thanks so much for hosting me Aofie!
