West Coast of USA to Indio

Valley Ford to Corte Madero

 Strange start to today – no water in the hotel – imagine all those flushes that couldn’t happen. We found that we didn’t have water and Scott soon found out that neither did anyone else in the hotel. The owners live off-site so I gave them a call at 6:30am – happy or not, this problem needed attention! They showed up soon after and the problem was resolved – none too soon as they would have been left with extra deposits to clean up!
 After that kerfuffle, we set off to find breakfast as there was nothing open in Valley Ford and Tomales was only 12km away. But what a workout for those 12km – lots of steep short hills and downhills took their toll before some breakfast was had. We arrived in Tomales; thankfully the restaurant was open there and we ate heartily.
 We had left in a very light fog from Valley Ford and now there was nothing – it was a good feeling not to ride with that cold fog as a companion. But the road shoulders were still fickle as I’m surprised that for the Pacific Coast Bike Route the shoulders are not consistent. A constant vigil on traffic is necessary to ride this Highway 1 safely; the emergency vehicles that we see nearly every day remind us of that constantly.
 After our breakfast we rode on to enjoy some wonderful scenery along Tomales Bay which is separated from the Ocean by a peninsula – hence the lack of fog as the peninsula was preventing the fog from coming inland.

 

 It was a nice peaceful ride with minimal traffic along the Bay and the lack of fog was a real treat after two days of foggy outlooks.
 We rode on through a couple of small settlements that didn’t have anything to offer until Point Reyes Station – a pleasant larger town with many facilities that we took advantage of and had a rest break.

 Continuing on we rode for another 2km to Olema where we left Highway 1 to turn onto Sir Francis Drake Boulevard (SFDB). Finally off that road with the rolling hills, we were met with a stiff uphill and hot temperatures (it got up to 30°C today), but it went quite well and the road smoothed out somewhat after that. We even picked up a paved bike path a little further on which ran through Samuel Taylor State Park and then rejoined SFDB.
 What a pleasure to ride for about four miles with no traffic to worry about after the many miles on Highway 1 and 101. As soon as we rejoined SFDB, we were met with traffic that increased steadily through the towns of Lagunitas (good brewery), Woodacre and others until we reached Fairfax where we were definitely in the suburbia of San Francisco. All of sudden it was like riding in downtown Vancouver and traffic all around us.

 

 After Fairfax we wound our way through many streets and communities to arrive at Corte Madero – 80km later. Not much here – shopping and a couple of expensive and crappy motels. But beggars can’t be choosers and sharing the cost with Scott makes the bite less deep. And we are only 16km from the Golden Gate Bridge which will make for an easy run into San Francisco tomorrow morning.
 Wow – that bridge has been a goal of mine for many years now so finally tomorrow I get to cross that off my “Bucket List!” Beyond that there is still a lot of road on the coast before I possibly venture inland to Indio.
Lots of miles ridden, but lots to go and the body is feeling it, but one day at a time. A rest in San Francisco and a chance to plan for the rest of the trip will help and perhaps Bob will reattach and I’ll have a riding partner? Scott breaks off tomorrow as he will be going home to Vancouver on the train the day after.
 Yes, I’m feeling it a bit now but Basil never seems to age though – how does he do that? 😉

 

More tomorrow...

AdamK and Basil, "San Francisco! I’d better get some flowers for my hair!"

 

Corte Madero to San Francisco

 We left our motel in search of breakfast a little later than usual due to the shorter ride required today. A bike path not far from our motel was a bonus, but it required the usual heart pumping ride up a couple of short extra steep hills to reach the start of the path. Scott missed the turn for the bike path after a couple of inclines so I had to ride another hill just to stop him going any further – lots of fun and no breaky yet!
 Well we got on the path, and after that it was a pretty straightforward route to the Golden Gate Bridge – we did have to ask some cyclist commuters (of which there were many) a couple of times if we were on the right track or not. Not too long after starting, we found a Whole Foods store that had a good breakfast buffet, so that was the fueling station for the morning.
 For the most part we were on dedicated bike paths, but often we would have to ride in the bike lanes on streets to reach the bridge. However there was always somewhere to ride without a problem from traffic and it was nice to see an extensive bike route system that was well signed and was easy to negotiate.

 

 We rode for about 14km before we turned a corner and saw the fog low over the ocean – right where would should have seen our first view of the bridge – and there is was, almost covered in fog. Disappointed? Yes, but still thrilling to be there.

 

 So we rode on and realised soon that we were almost under the bridge at sea level and the bridge was high above us – how the heck do we get up there? Elevator? Not likely! Soon we find the answer by following the bike route signs – a very steep road with multiple switchbacks leading to the bridge deck. This road had barriers to prevent motorised traffic, so at least that meant no cars to deal with on the way up. It appears that the road may have been closed to motorised vehicles as an anti-terrorist measure to prevent any access to the underside of the bridge. So up and up and around and around – I had my GPS on and we eventually got up to almost 300ft on this short road!

 

 Once at the top of the road and at bridge height, we discovered that only the East pathway for cyclists and pedestrians was open on a morning. To get to the East side we had to negotiate some steep stairs down to a walkway under the bridge deck. Then another steep staircase to get up to the pathway. Had it not been for Scott, I would have had to unload my bike and make multiple trips for my luggage; with two of us to wrestle the bike down and up we managed ok.

 Finally we there and ready to begin the ride across – yes it would have been better with no fog, but we have no control over that and it was still very exciting to be finally making the crossing. We did get some clearing while crossing and took some photos when we could – other photos are at the usual location that the link at the end of this post points to.

 

 There is a visitor centre at the south end of the bridge, so we took advantage of that, had a coffee and said our goodbyes – well not really goodbye as we will meet once more for lunch tomorrow before Scott heads out to the train station. I will be going sightseeing in the downtown core tomorrow so we’ll meet up there for a much deserved toast to the ride. Bob is only a day behind me and I expect to meet with him tomorrow evening and see what plans he has for continuing south on the coast.
 My motel is quite a way from downtown (actually next to the SF Zoo), but the trolley and buses stop here so I shouldn’t have any problem getting around tomorrow. To get here from the Golden Gate bridge allowed me to ride through Golden Gate Park and then many residential streets – some hilly, some not so much, but you can guarantee that you’ll find a hill anywhere here! I couldn’t check in until 2:00pm so I rode around, explored some more, had some lunch – generally just taking it all in – wow!

 

No report tomorrow, day off...

AdamK and Basil, "Ooh, a streetcar and maybe a cable car ride tomorrow – can’t wait!"

 

San Francisco to KOA Costanoa

 A day off in a place such as San Francisco is hardly a day off! Much hill walking and sightseeing is still tiring even though I’m not pedalling. I won’t go into to all the details, but it was a lot of fun!

 

Some Views at the Golden Gate Bridge and the City of San Francisco

 I met Scott for lunch and after that we said our goodbyes riding a cable car – sad to see him go, he was a good find out of the blue for a touring partner. Later yesterday, Bob showed up at my motel and after we chatted a while, he decided to also finish his tour at San Francisco – sad too, as he also turned out to be a great guy to bike tour with. I knew that they both would be ok guys when I first met them in Oak Harbor as they were both wearing sandals to tour in, just as I do!
 After a quick goodbye with Bob this morning, I set off in a light mist, overcast skies but not too chilly a temperature. A flat road to start with, but that changed very soon into the first climb – not too bad, but the route took me off the freeway that was Highway 1 to avoid Daly City. A climb of over 600ft was next and the fog was up there. All my lights on, I crawled up the hill, it was very quiet though being the official bike route.

 After cresting my morning workout, I started a steep downhill and in no time the fog was behind me. Still on the bike route, I wound my way through back streets of Daly City and then Pacifica – all in all a good route so far. In Pacifica I rejoined Highway 1 and hit some roadworks which were not too bad though, but immediately after that I had a stiff climb with no shoulder to wobble up before conditions improved – and they did.

 

 The shoulders on the road were now quite wide and remained so all day – and a slight tailwind was helping me along. Between Pacifica and Montara are two tunnels, but cyclists (and pedestrians) get a treat here. No tunnel for us, the old Devil’s Slide Road is repaved and just a non-motorized road now. This used to be very dangerous section for vehicles as there were constant rock slides here – mostly caused by heavy truck traffic. Now they have tunnels and we get the view – what a fantastic by-pass!

 

 Wow, that was great! And the day only got better. After that there were the towns of Montara and El Grenada, all scenic, lots of ocean views and nice roads. Then a coastal bike path into Half Moon Bay where I stopped for an early lunch and some supplies at the Safeway store. Another bike path adjacent to Highway 1 led me out of town safely.

 

 After Half Moon Bay, I had excellent riding conditions, mostly next to or above the ocean and even the sun was coming out – not to mention the strengthening tailwind.
 I arrived at the Costanoa KOA (think, Costalotta!) fairly early, which was nice as I had to put up my tent and get cleaned up. This place is definitely “Glamping!” For most anyway, it has everything, restaurant, bar, fancy cabins, saunas etc. I’m in the “back forty” with my little tent with some other frugal souls tent camping. I can take advantage of all they have to offer here, but like most tonight, I am in my tent as the wind really picked up later on – it is howling right now to the point that I have extra stakes on my guy ropes. Hopefully it will die down by morning to nice tailwind again.
 So a sad day in one way, as I’ve parted with my two friends, but a great 82km day of riding and the scenery picked up my spirits. This was definitely one of the best sections of California coast that I have ridden to date!

 

More tomorrow...

AdamK & Basil, "No wind in this nice warm sleeping bag!"