Pacific Coast Tour – Day 38 – 39; Bodega Bay to San Francisco – Some Major Milestones

Day: 38
August 24, 2021

Distance: 44 miles (1503 total)
Bodega Dunes Campground to Samuel Taylor State Park

I don’t want to blindside anyone should things change for the worse. But, we (mostly Andrew) may be experiencing some bike tour burnout. With Andrew’s knee hurting, a weird clicking coming from what’s probably our hub, a headwind, the consistent traffic, losing the riding buddies, and the stupidly annoying “rolling hills” Andrew was feeling a little down today and pessimistic about the remainder of the trip. We’re both very excited to reach the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco tomorrow, then a few days push to see more family, and another push to get to the Big Sur. So I’ve just been searching for little carrots to keep us excited (but also mentally preparing myself should Andrew decide he needs to call it quits). I’m definitely not in the “I’m done” state of mind, but I can be empathetic towards his mood. I’m hoping something cool happens to get him (and me) more excited about the remainder of the ride!

With that said, I think today went well. We saw the sun for the first time in a while, and it was paired with a nice cool breeze (which also rudely happened to be a headwind -we miss those Oregon tailwinds!). It was very slow going for us, but we weren’t in any sort of rush. We enjoyed the changing vegetation and rolling farmlands. We’re definitely out of the pacific northwest rainforests!

We stopped for a quick break in Valley Ford, although the market was the only thing open so it wasn’t a very grand stop. Our lunch break was down in the Tomales Bay which was really cool. We sat and ate on a small jetty watching some paddle boat fisherman load up their boats.

After riding through more small hills we were looking forward to pastries from a bakery in Points Reyes. We have had several people recommend the Bovine Bakery to us. Sadly, they closed at 1:30 and so we missed closing by 30 min! We settled for pastries from a nearby coffee shop (which were still delicious). I then went into the town’s fancy grocery store and spent way too much money stocking up our snack selection. #noregrets.

After Point Reyes it was fairly easy riding (maybe because we were fueled up on sugar?). We even got to ride on another bike path. While on the Cross Marin Trail we reached another milestone – 1500 miles! We are both impressed with ourselves. After hugging each other in celebration we finished the last three miles on the trail into our campground for the night.

Samuel Taylor is a nice campground nestled in some more redwoods. While writing this (6:15pm) we’re the only ones in the hiker biker site, which is our first time alone aside from the RV Park in Eureka) since central Oregon. We’re okay with the extra solitude though – for now at least.

Tomorrow: San Francisco!

Day: 39
August 25, 2021

Distance: 31 miles (1534 total)
Samuel Taylor State Park to San Francisco

After yesterday’s pessimism, we started our day out of camp with good vibes and optimism. It was another glorious day – beautiful sun that we haven’t seen in so long that we forgot to put on sunscreen!

The way out of camp was mostly flat with maybe two longer (but still small) hills- our decided preferred method of elevation gain. We had some nice views, and wonderfully long descents. Several road cyclist with their super light bikes passed us, so we knew we must be on the good flat route. About 15 miles in we started reaching suburbs.

We opted to stop for an early lunch in Larkspur where we were able to grab delicious portobello sandwiches and a side of potatoes. We were then able to carry on up the Corte Madera hill where we had some cool views of the city through the haze. After that sweet downhill it was essentially all flat. We had a nice bike path through a marsh, then a quick stop for ice cream in Sausalito, and a final climb to the Golden Gate Bridge.

The bridge itself was very windy and loud. It was neat for the first couple moments, but man that noise really gets to you. Afterwards while resting by the visitors center on the south side Andrew jokingly said “just pretend like it’s the ocean instead of cars and it’s not so bad” I’ll have to remember that for next time.

Distance: 19 miles (1553 total)
San Francisco

Being in the city where camping isn’t exactly an option, we found ourselves a WarmShowers host, Alexei. He invited us on a group ride through the city- Butterlap. He had a meeting so we left to join the ride a little late. He led us through the city zipping left and right. We sped through the city so fast it was like a movie, I swear that guy could ride with his eyes closed, traffic and all. Per my request he took us down “the wiggle” so that we could avoid hills. It was really awesome seeing the city on sort of fast forward, and Alexei was still able to point out various landmarks and history tidbits to us.

We missed the start of the ride, but since the route is always the same we were able to catch up to the first stop relatively easy. The sunset views over the Golden Gate Bridge were amazing.

Overall the group ride was a lot more fast paced then we were expecting based on the description and the route was a weird mix of roads and sketchy dirt trails after dark. But it was nice to get out and see the city, meet some locals, and not have to worry about which way we were going. It did lead to a later night home though. Good thing it’s a shorter mileage day tomorrow.

We finished our third ACA map! (Of 5). So here’s another ‘by the numbers’ update.

Average Daily Budget: $70.54

Northern California (Trip Total)

Nights Camping: 10 (28)

Nights with WarmShowers Hosts: 1 (6)

Nights with Family/Friends: 3 (4)… counting an Airbnb Andrews mom booked for us all

Nights in a Hotel: 0 (1)

Elk: 2 herds and 1 loner

Bear: 0 …not that I’m complaining!

Drive thru trees: 2 that we rode through, we passed at least 1 other

Lighthouse: 2? (12)

Outlets used: 5 (13) …plus a couple top offs not in long enough to count spots

Chain drops: 7 (25) …. Honestly this is a guess we’ve lost count because it happens so often lol

Crash: 0 (1)

Showers: Andrew, Angela: 6, 5 (19, 18)

Next Post