Day 41: Vacaville to San Francisco!

Today was the big day!

I started it with oatmeal for breakfast and said goodbye to Grace as she was off early to work in one of the local hospitals. Patrick also works at another hospital but had the day off. He gave me a fig and apple grown from his garden as snacks and also rode with me for the first 28 miles up to the US 37 turning where he set off to Napa.

On the ride we came through 'American canyon' where the epicenter of the quake was a few nights ago. As Patrick and Grace both work in hospitals they told me an interesting statistic of night time earthquakes is that there will be a baby boom 9 months from now!

I paused for a moment before joining the 37 for a snack to eat. Yesterday's ride had tired my legs out somewhat so my body was demanding food more often. The US 37 was a busy stretch of road alongside the bay. I stayed on for 20 miles and had to dodge cones at one point along the shoulder. It took me around to the north Marin area where I stopped at 'Peets coffee & tea' for some lunch and wifi. I had to drop Anna a message to let her know I was 20 miles out!

Then it was the final push into San Fran! It seemed to take a lot longer as I had to wind my way along bike paths and smaller roads in order to avoid the (now definitely illegal) freeway! Some of the hills were insanely steep and I had to push hard to make it to the top, with the Golden Gate not coming into view until the very last of them.

I started to see a lot more bikes on the roads, mostly tourist tours on hire bikes that run down through the city hills and presumably get driven back. There were a few more fellow lycra clads too. Eventually the tips of the north tower of the bridge came into view, and what a magnificent view it was!

I paused at the north end for a couple of photos (there were going to be many!) and text Anna: "Ready?". I then met her at the very central point of the bridge with all cameras blazing! I had made it!

I couldn't help but smile and laugh, the extent of what I'd just accomplished hadn't quite sunk in, and still hasn't really! Anna gave me a medal engraved with 'Two Tyred Travels' and the dates which I will treasure, and we rode the second half of the bridge together.

After a few more photos, a slight detour via 'Fisherman's wharf' and walking up some steep hills, we made it to the 'Hayes Valley Inn' hotel and got settled in. In the evening we got a taxi back down to 'Fishermans wharf' where we found a fancy fish restaurant to splurge out on a celebration meal. A seafood mix including crab, mussels, clams and lobster was a delicious way to end this epic trip! We caught the tram, which was much cheaper, for the ride back up, and bought ice cream and 'Californian champagne' (I know, its a bit of an oxymoron!) on the short walk to the hotel.

What a fantastic trip, truely life changing and something I will never ever forget. Thank you to all my followers and supporters, you really have been what's made this journey what it is.

Miles today: 72.3
GRAND TOTAL MILES: 3290.4 !!!

Day 40: Colfax to Vacaville

I woke up and Beth cooked me bacon, eggs and oatmeal for breakfast. Plenty of energy to get me going! She then cycled with me down to her daughters coffee shop where the wifi was better and I was able to contact home. Doug had broken some ribs fairly recently so he followed us down in the car. There I met the whole family, including little 4 month old Lola who took great interest in my cycling helmet. Very cute!

I was on the road properly at 9:30, a little later than planned, and started down some really beautiful forest roads along the hillside. I followed it to Clipper gap, where I deviated from my planned route as Doug had showed me another way to go which would take me to a long bike path that runs from Folsom to Sacramento and would keep me off the roads.

After several miles on the road I reached Beals point and the start of the beautiful bike trail that runs along the American river. Plenty of other friendly cyclists to wave to! I met one who pulled up beside me and I asked him directions to a nearby bike shop as my cleats were less than useless now. He rode with me and gave me the last few directions to find a little bike shop in Arden not far from the trail. New cleats bought and fitted, and a brief stop at the next door froyo shop for a quick snack of frozen yogurt sandwiched between two oatmeal and raisin cookies, and it was back to the bike trail for the last section into Sacramento.

At the Sacramento end of the trail I took the exit and rejoined my route which went through 'Old Sacramento', a part of the city still maintained as an old western type town. I stopped for a few photos at the old 'Central Pacific Rail Road Depot' which had been converted into a museum and shops. I also had a turkey sandwich and fries at the 'Railroad fish and chips' shop to fill me up for the rest of the ride.

Out of Sacramento the wind picked up quite a bit as the terrain was now fairly flat with no real hills to stop the winds off the Pacific. It made it quite a struggle at the end of an extra long ride. I had only planned for a 96 mile day, but the deviation at the start to find the bike trail plus faffing around in Sacramento added another 13 miles to my day. Still, I managed to make it to my hosts (Patricks) house, where his housemate Grace had a roast cooked. I showered quickly as the smell made me very hungry indeed! Patrick also told me about 'Kombucha', a drink made of fermented green or black tea. It sounds like something to try one day!

So that leaves just one day left! Tomorrow I will ride about 70 miles around the bay to the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge before crossing my finish line. I'm very excited!

Miles today: 109.0
Total miles: 3218.1

Day 39: Reno to Colfax

I woke up to news that northern California had been rocked by a large earthquake (6.0 on the Richter scale) overnight. Scary stuff! I wondered if I'd feel any aftershocks today.

Reno is a very quiet place at 8am, I guess they're not morning people here. I left my hosts and headed down to the river where I joined a nice path that led out of the city. It was a cold start to the day, but soon began to warm up with the sun out. The bike path made a very nice change from the interstate roads.

The path eventually turned into quieter roads up to Verdi, where I crossed the California state line, my last state! This put me at the bottom of a steep climb up 'Dog Valley'. Unfortunately, the road became rough gravel for about 7 miles and I had to get off and walk up the steeper parts.

The climb was long and tough, some sections were just about rideable, but it was slow and careful work. Halfway up I met a man called John towing his caravan up the mountain. He took my picture and I gave him the details of my justgiving page. He offered me a lift, but I declined, got to do this on my own!

Eventually the climb flattened and I was able to ride the last section of the climb and the gravel descent. This gave way to a gloriously smooth tarmac road and I was able to regain some time. The gravel walk had destroyed my cleats, so any small movement would unclip them, but the air smelt of pine trees and I could put down some good speed.

After descending a fair way and riding around a few of the beautiful big lakes in the region, I reached Truckee, a mid sized tourist town. From there I followed the route around 'Donner lake' and started to climb again up to a very picturesque summit just over 7100ft at 'Donner Pass'. I smiled when I reached the top because I knew this would be my last 7000ft summit of the trip. It was all downhill from here!

Along the route I saw a lot of other cyclists and became slightly envious of all the riders coming down off the hill as I was climbing it. But soon it was my turn, and the descent went on for the next few hours! Eventually the country road finished and I had to ride about 16 miles on the interstate again. This was fast as it was mostly downhill, but quite scary as there was a lot more traffic than the interstate of Nevada and it was travelling a lot quicker. I finally left it.though and followed the much more scenic roads through the small towns to Colfax.

My hosts for the night, Doug and Beth, live up in the forest on the side of a large hill, so it was an extra couple of miles to reach theirs. They were very lovely though, and welcomed me into their home. I'm staying in their guest house for the night, which I'm told is well bear-proofed! Doug cooked a fantastic chicken meal for me and we sat outside watching the sunset and chatting. A very relaxing way to end a fairly tough day of riding!

Miles today: 98.0
Total miles: 3109.1