Coast Cruz

Friday, July 10, 2009

7/9. Fellow travelers

Our fellow travelers Nick & Teresa, and Roger & Christine, came through on their way south. We met up with them at 99 beers.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Day 31. 7/8. Santa Cruz!

Left hotel by 8:30.

Pedaled over the hill to Dennys for breakfast.

Decided to stay on the highway up through the Devils slide area, instead of searching for the old San Pedro mountain road aka Planet of the Apes.

They're working on a tunnel project at the Devils slide. They brought a portable concrete factory up the side of the mountain.

Up and down up and down, coastal sprawl.

Some big estates on the high points. We saw a forest fire from one of the hilltops.

Lunch at San Gregorio beach park.

The weather was great all day. It was pretty flat after Pigeon point and the tailwind kicked up. Bicycle is a great way to travel when the land, sun, and wind are all in your favor. We made our best distance by far on this the last day. We had thought about camping around Pigeon point but we got there before 2 pm and decided to go for Santa Cruz.

We also set a downhill/downwind speed record of 48.5 mph.

We got to Santa Cruz with enough time to stop for dinner before the final 12 miles up hill to Chris' place.

76 miles.

Trip total 1021 miles.

Day 30. 7/7. Sea Breeze Inn at Rockaway Beach

We made breakfast in the kitchen at the hostel, and did laundry.

The weather had turned cold and cloudy again.

Stopped by the Marin Headlands visitor center. Liked it.

Pedaled up and down through the tunnel on Bunker road.

It was very crowded on the sidewalk crossing the Golden Gate bridge, even though it was a weekday, windy and overcast.

On the south end we stopped for a snack, then got lost in the Presidio for a while. At this point we're off the edge of our adventure cycling map and navigating on our own.

We decided to take 15th ave south to the Golden Gate Park, then go west through the park back out to the coast. Stopped for lunch at the Bagel shop.

There was a very long uphill into Daly City, followed by a big downhill, which I took too fast. Daly was funny-looking. Evidently a bedroom community of SF, but very high density low-rise housing up this headland. It looked like a mountain of dice.

We had originally thought to get to Half Moon Bay but getting over the bridge and through the city was stressful and took a long time, and it was cold, cloudy, and windy, so we bailed and stayed at the Sea Breeze hotel in Pacifica/Rockaway Beach. But not before backtracking over the hill from Linda Mar. We had dinner at Nick's, the pricey restaurant next to the motel, with sixties lounge decor that was kind of cool. Chris passed out at like 8:30 while I stayed up to sort photos.

31 miles.

Day 29. 7/6. Marin Headlands Hostel

In the morning at S.P. Taylor we called about camping at the Marin headlands, Kirby cove and Bicentennial. These were full but there was room at the hostel.

Stopped at a little store to eat a BELT sandwich. and get groceries.

Stopped at the Fairfax library until 3:30 to update blog.

Flat and prosperous through San Anselmo, Larkspur, Sausalito.

Stopped at a couple of bike shops looking for Chris' friend Ronna.

Steep hill up over the headland to the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge, downhill to old Fort Baker.

Arduous climb up and around the headland on Conzelman Road. Evidently there was a tunnel route through the headland that we didn't know about, so we ended up taking the high road. That was okay though, as we got a great view of the bridge, clearly lit by the evening sun, just perfect.

I thought the hostel might be up high as well but no, we went down and down again, meaning we'd have to go up and up to get back out. At one point I said, this was a mistake, we should've gotten a hotel room in Sausalito. But when we finally got there it was really cool. The hostel was in a hundred year old building in old Fort Barry. It used to be the infirmary. This was about the best lodging of our whole trip. We were glad not to be camping out in the mist after all.

31 miles.