Day 18: Back in the Bay!
Finally back in San Francisco (writing this journal entry on a real computer instead of a phone)! Today was unlike the rest of my trip. I pushed hard on the pedals, making it back in record time, and only stopped twice for food. Not too many pictures, because my phone was about to die, but biking into the bay area was beautiful! And gave me sometime to reflect on my trip.
Mike, Joey, and I stopped in Lagunitas at the general store for some breakfast burritos, making sure Mike and Joey experienced a typical morning for the trip. The breakfast burritos were meh... But the company was great. Following our breakfast, Mike rode to work on his motorcycle, and Joey took his truck to get some errands done (he had the day off of work.) Once again, thanks guys for coming out to the woods with me! That made my day.
The ride back into the Bay Area was beautiful, but a bit complicated. I rode through downtown Fairfax, Kentfield, Corte Madera, and then finally the Golden Gate Bridge. There was a nice headwind most of the way, but I pushed all day. It was my last day, I had to push it.
In total, my route between the Best Western in Astoria and my house in San Francisco was 820 miles. My legs are in great shape :). But I also feel exhausted. I will definitely sleep in tomorrow. I'll miss the tent, the freedom of being on the road, the push of peddling the bike, and meeting random people.
In terms of lessons learned, I think this trip was a good one for me. First, as I mentioned earlier, I feel like I'm more confident talking with strangers. Just sitting at a bar and starting a converstation has been something that's always been hard for me. This trip forced me to do that. I think it'll be harder in SF, without the talking point of being on a bicycle, but the thought does not scare me anymore.
Secondly, I was nice to accomplish this trip. For me the scary part of this was not necessarily the biking (although that turned out to be harder then expected) but doing it solo. I realized pretty quickly, however, that biking solo would not at all be an issue. In some ways I enjoyed it, although I think I'll always prefer to have a buddy on trips. Maybe that's just part of being a twin :).
Finally, I'd say this trip helped restore some faith in humanity. I met so many different people on this trip. I stayed in small conservative towns, and small liberal towns. I met people from both of these areas, as well as people from all over the world. Almost everyone, with one exception, was polite and nice to me. I left my bike unlocked most of the trip, and only occasionally really worried about anyone taking anything.
Finally finally, for anyone considering a similar trip, do it! If you can ride a bicycle, you can do a bike touring trip. You may opt to stay in hotels instead of campgrounds, do only 10 miles a day, or have a support van. But I think there's not better way to see the sights if you have the time. It becomes so easy to just stop and check things out that you have to do it.
The pacific coast is a beautiful place. I'm always amazed at the power of the ocean, and the beauty that lies at it's edges. I will be back to many of the places I saw along the coast, to spend more time exploring the coast, and doing hikes in the area.
Thank you all for reading the blog! Hope you enjoyed it!