Day 1 - Mile 0 to Mile 72

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Day 1 – San Francisco to Vallejo CA, 72 miles, 3300 feet of climb

Today highlights was worth the cost of the trip, a fantastic day. The first hill separated the men from the mice (squeak squeak) with a 4.4 mile 8% climb over to the San Andreas fault valley. From there we rode into Pacifica and unto the beach at Balboa Street for tire dipping. (See pictures at the link at the bottom). Everything I heard about San Francisco’s hills is true. They are much like climbing steps. I enjoyed riding through the Presidio, the old military fort that guarded San Francisco bay. From there we rode across the Golden Gate Bridge and then ducked down into the charming in town of Sausalito. All the towns on the bay were top tier income homes…

Once we got out into the bay flats the wind picked up again and the roads were rural. Over all the motorist treat bikers well, and there is an abundance of bike trails in the area. About 25% of today was on trails especially when we went over passes. The weather was the wild card. We started at 60 degrees with no wind and overcast, then 50 degrees, foggy, and windy on the fault, and down right freezing on the beach. The fog was light enough that we got good pictures at the Golden Gate, but too heavy to photograph Alcatraz or downtown San Francisco. By the time we left the bay flats (just past the Napa Valley exits) the sun was out, in the 70s, and all the sun screen in the world was no match for what happened to the back of my legs…

There was several events sharing the rode with us today. There was a half marathon for divas. I not sure what that is, but oh my, well never mind. The other event was 3000 bicyclers heading in the opposite direction to raise money and awareness of AIDS. Some had pledged to ride all the way to Los Angeles. The other event was the ‘escape from Alcatraz’ triathlon. Serious… those goes were too serious, and sad to say, maybe a bit nuts to swim in that ice water, ride the hills of SF, and then run back to the start…

On the taxing side, I had a major blow out on my rear tire. It sounded like a gun shot and scared everybody in the pack. Folks supporting us were on the spot, and we were off as a group in less than ten minutes with a new tire and tube…

Bottom line: Today was fantastic!!!! The people are great. This truly is a trip of a lifetime. Wow!