Friday, February 13, 2009

To SF

November 15th to 20th

Now it's the sunshine state!

We've got open top bicycles, we're on highway 1 and it doesn't get much better than this as we climb towards Bodega Bay....



Dazzled by beauty as we drop back to the ocean....



There's always one....



As we head towards Marin County it becomes clear why the mountain bike was invented here....



Highway One rejoins Highway 101 and the two become one in a four lane, fast moving swath of traffic funneling towards the famous bridge. We move less fast as the gradient rises. Then the shoulder narrows and disappears. And wagons pass within inches at 60mph! Now we're in trouble. A point of view that is confirmed when a nebulous voice booms "You guys can't be on here!!". The shock is nearly enough to force a swerve under a passing 18 wheeler, but that's nothing compared to the shock of turning to see a police cruiser complete with flashing red and blues joining a low speed 4mph chase after 2 errant cyclists. I suppose he thought we were just too dumb to bust, and finally helped us to an alternative route with slightly less death potential.

OK - the bridge.
Crossing the Golden Gate by bicycle IS cool. Especially when you've rode all the way from Canada. Sue definitely thinks so....



Not sure who started the "whole fog in the bay" myth though.....



Required tourist shot of Alcatraz and the "Streets of San Francisco"....



SF is a fantastic place - it's my third time, and we revisit all the highlights, Fisherman's Wharf, Lombard Street, Union Square etc..... But this time we also have stuff to sort out. My laptop bought in Portland died on the road, and after visiting all 4 Radioshack outlets in the city I finally manage to convince one to do an immediate replacement rather than their preferred option of a repair. I explain it gets tricky trying to re-unite said repaired laptop with a traveling man, so thanks to them.

Sue replaces her trusty road touring steed for something a bit more rugged to deal with gravel roads further south. Hers was just too fast and I couldn't keep up with her so we replaced it with a mountain bike style tourer. Nice and slow again now!!
REI helps us out with a 26 inch wheeled "Novara Safari" that will take some more meaty rubber and hopefully be a bit more controllable when the roads fall apart. Her Dawes Galaxy is left with a bike shop to be sold on commission.... I wonder if that money will ever catch up with us.....



Onwards - got a new horse to break in....

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Fatherhood is great mate, but very, very, very tiring. She's on solids now which is good fun unlike the nappies.

Let's see what happens on March 14th (Man U v Lpool) before we make any rash statements.

Later.
Hilt