WARNING: This one’s a long one! Wowza, these last few days have been pretty busy. Finally, a little down time to catch my breath & catch up on this blog. We’ve only been biking for 3 days but it feels like we’ve been gone for several weeks. So much to say, where to start?
Day 1: We biked up to the Eastern Coastal Trail Overlook in San Fran to snap a quick photo with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background, then biked down the hill a few miles to a spot on the beach to dip our bikes in the ocean. The hardest part of our entire day was pushing our loaded bikes through the sand to the water. Heavy bikes + deep, dry sand = an almost impossible task but great workout! Ben would’ve been fine dipping a cup in the ocean & pouring the water on our bikes on the road but not me! I wanted the full experience & got it 🙂 It was pretty powerful standing in the water, looking out at the vast ocean, thinking about all the land we’re going to cover, people we’re going to meet, things we’re going to see & do until we reach the other ocean. After schlepping our bikes back up the beach, we needed a break (no, I’m kidding) but we did stop to talk to a couple who noticed our bikes & had lots of questions. We chatted a bit about our trip and a photo project one of them is working on. Not even one inch on our bikes since the dip & we were already meeting people. Perfect way to start the ride. Without further ado, we hit the road & had fairly smooth sailing for 15 miles until our Garmin wanted to take us on a very different route than we had planned. After a few wrong turns & walking our bikes up a short unexpected hill we weren’t prepared for (16.8% grade, something I’m still very unfamiliar with but I’m told that’s hella steep; a map app called that particular hill a ball buster) we took a quick break to eat, regroup & plan a new route sans Garmin. The day had started out cold, windy & misty but the further we biked inland the nicer it got. The rest of our day was lovely, beautiful weather, & good biking. Total mileage for the day roughly 55. We made it to our next Warm Showers destination in Fremont, CA around 6:30pm. Don & Gail were our next hosts. They were wonderful. Very warm & welcoming. They had several pets (dog, cat, macaw), which always makes me happy. They even had chickens so I felt right at home! They showed us around, we chatted about our day & biking in general, unpacked a few things, rinsed our sweaty clothes & cleaned up while Don & Gail made a tasty dinner: frittata with goat cheese, roasted squash, strawberries for dessert. Most things were from their backyard which was pretty cool. It was a nice evening, learning about all the things we don’t know yet 🙂
Day 2: Don made us oatmeal & coffee, then showed us lots of stuff about our bikes we should already know but don’t 🙂 He was very helpful & I’m very thankful for the knowledge he passed onto us. I’m pretty sure he thinks we’ll be flying home in the next few weeks but I have faith we’ll figure it out. Just you wait & see, Don 🙂 Once we were loaded up, we swung by the grocery store for few things & ran into another bike touring couple. We chatted a bit, wished each other well & hit the road for Livermore, CA. In terms of mileage we took it fairly easy (only 23 miles this day), but the beginning was a little hairy. Don had suggested a different route that was slightly longer & hillier but safer, we just decided to go slow & take our chances on the shorter/flatter route. We did fine, nothing bad happened, but it was a little nerve-racking with barely a shoulder on the side of the road in some spots. Luckily it was only a portion of the ride, not the entire time. We took a short break after 15 miles & met another bike tourist out for a spin. He’s training for a ride in Oregon with his brother. It was nice chatting with him. We’re meeting so many other cyclists, it’s awesome! On the road again & to our destination by 2:30pm, another Warm Showers host. This time, Krista & Zack. They were absolutely lovely. I can’t say enough nice things about them. When we arrived, Zack was still at work but Krista welcomed us in & introduced us to their kids. We unloaded, cleaned up, & tagged along with Krista to a local winery where we met a group of her friends & their kids for a chill afternoon. Zack met us there. Later, back at their place, they made dinner for their friends (a rotating Friday night tradition with 2 other families) & they let us join 🙂 Dinner was super tasty tacos & homemade strawberry ice cream. Yum! We ran some errands, helped clean up after dinner, planned our next day & got some shut-eye.
Day 3: Zack & Krista made a delicious egg-bake, coffee, sausage & cut up orange slices. A lot of the ingredients (for both dinner & breakfast) were from their garden. What a treat! Zack checked out our bikes, gave them a once-over to make sure things were working properly & gave us a few much-needed lessons. Thank you! We loaded our bikes, snapped a few pictures, exchanged hugs & hit the road. I really enjoyed our time with them & am so thankful they were a part of our adventure. It was nice chatting about their experiences both bike/camping related & general life too. Such a warm, loving family. They made it easier to be away from home. Today’s destination: Ripon, CA (a 43 mile trek). We rode past a kids Motocross park on the outskirts of town which was pretty fun to stop & watch for a bit. We also enjoyed some seriously sweet biking: downhill, in the country, very little traffic, through some big wind farms and through a valley. It was beautiful & relaxing. We bought some lemonade from a kids stand & stopped for pizza. We also passed a mud obstacle course used for 5k running events & had to take a turn through one of them. Pretty fun 🙂 We picked up some fresh strawberries from a roadside stand. These were day-makers. So good you could only eat them while closing your eyes in pure bliss. Ahhh, so good. We took a break in Manteca, CA, under a big shaded tree & finally reached our next Warm Showers host around 4:30pm: Jerad & family. Again, such a nice family. Very welcoming, helpful, generous. Jerad gave us lots of tips on routes, maps, things to do & see, & how to use our Garmin (Ben has a little PTSD from the 1st day & doesn’t trust it, but it will definitely be useful, we just need to know how to use it & Jerad helped with that. Thank you!). We chatted a bit about his own upcoming bike trip for the month of June with his 13 year-old daughter from Canada to Mexico (1,850+ miles). They’re raising money for kids with cancer. If you want to help them reach their goal, check out http://greatcyclechallenge.com/Riders/KatelynCardoza. To follow their blog: Cardozasbikethecoast.blogspot.com. His family made a tasty taco bar; very delicious. We’ve been so spoiled this past week. We did some laundry, planned our next day & I finally had time to catch up on some things.
Reflections thus far:
- Time has completely changed: Every day is Saturday & so many things happen in 1 day that when I look back at the end of the day if feels like a week’s worth of experiences. There’s no way we’ve only been gone 1 week. It definitely feels like at least 3. How will we feel at the end of the trip? Like we’ve been gone years & normal life is on the road?
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The generosity of strangers gives me faith/hope in humanity. News & social media is saturated with so many negative things happening in the world (not to say those things aren’t real or important) but your worldview gets skewed when you don’t see any of the positive stories. I’m blown away by & so grateful for everyone’s generosity towards total strangers.
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Taking things one day at a time is a game changer. Thinking about the big picture and thousands of miles and all the things we don’t know is overwhelming & makes me want to shut down but if I just think about what I have to do today, I can handle that. Even if we just bike 10 or 20 miles, it’s further than if I’d gone nowhere.
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Every day gets a little easier. We’re slowly but surely figuring out routines & picking up new skills every day. The longer we’re out here the more confident I get that we can handle almost anything.
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I’m not sure I’m doing this whole blog thing correctly. It’s pretty much a journal right now & who wants to read that other than the person who wrote it? Hmmm, I’ll have to think about that one & switch things up if this isn’t working.
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I am way two-tired to continue and need to get some sleep! For your sake, I need to be done because by the time you’ve finished reading this post it will not only seem like days went but, but ACTUAL days may have gone by.
Until next time,
-Whitney