San Francisco

Today we rode from Santa Cruz to San Francisco: 80 miles exactly. 6 hours 47 minutes on the bike. We were joined by a couple friends and a local we met at last night's show. There were 5 of us making the complete trek. Unfortunately, there was a closure on hwy 1 north of Half Moon Bay (a mudslide), which meant detouring through the hills. We had to make a judgement call on exactly which highway to take to get into the city. Thinking that heading farther north and turning onto the 92 would be more direct than our other option, we ended up on a very non-bike-friendly commuter road. Very little shoulder, many large trucks, a seemingly endless hill and lots of exhaust fumes. Before descending the other side, we took a brief rest at a scenic vista turn-out. For the remainder of the ride we improvised our approach to the city, passing through San Mateo, South San Francisco, and Daly City. Many stop lights and rough pavement made for slow going. As we neared our destination (a vegan restaurant called "Herbivore" in the south Mission district) one of our group took a spill scraping his chin up pretty good. We stopped in at an emergency room to make sure he didn't need stitches. I didn't take many pictures today, but here are a few for the hell of it...



Leaving Santa Cruz on highway 1.



A lifeless wind-sock. A happy sight.



Passing the Pigeon Point light station.



Pete and Amanda race up a hill. (There were a lot more hills today than I anticipated)



Pete is doing the AIDS Ride in a couple days from SF to LA. He rode a couple hours with us, then headed back to Santa Cruz.



Some metal dinosaurs on the 92 (a scary road)



A kooky roadside fruit stand.



John Abby and Amanda relax at the scenic vista point on top of the 92.



Kelly takes a load off before plunging down the traffic choked 92 into San Mateo.



Part of the "San Francisco Peninsula Watershed & State Fish & Game Refuge" very nice



Approaching the city. A bit stressful after cruising so many miles of expansive and secluded coastal highway.

Tomorrow is a rest day. I'm very glad, as my legs are really in need of a break.