SAN FRANCISCO

DAY 17

WEDNESDAY 20 APRIL 2016

PIGEON POINT TO SAN FRANCISCO

0910 - 1730

88.04 km (54.7 miles)
Av. Speed: 14.7 km/h (9.1 mph)
Max. Speed 63.3 km/h (39.3 mph)
Time on Bike: 5h 57m 18s

17 days and 881 kilometers/547 miles has got me to San Francisco.

From here, there is now a planned detour which will involve me getting off the bike for about 10 days but more about this later.

It was as big a day as expected today but I made pretty good time on it.

Pigeon Point was a location I could easily have spent longer but in the scheme of it, I had to keep moving.

Conditions again today were superb for riding.

Clear, calm conditions and a good share of it nice and flat - until the approaches to San Fran, that is.

The recumbent REALLY, REALLY likes it when it's like this. 

This bike was purpose built for these conditions - all of its aerodynamic and ergonomic advantages come to the fore on days like these.

I'm also not reading too much into any of this for the risk of cursing myself, given that much of what I hear from various individuals is that I'm riding the wrong way, it's all uphill, the prevailing winds are all from the north etc, etc......

So far not much of it has been true although it could change on any given day. 

I was in Pacifica today by about 1.30 after cruising through the morning even though there were a couple of decent grades south of Half Moon Bay.

Taco Bell at Pacifica is ideally located on the beachfront and I had been tipped off to stop here as it would likely be the one and only time I would ever come close to eating at a Taco Bell.

And this is about the sum of it, although the unsweetened iced tea was pretty good....

From Pacifica it was mostly hard going, with plenty of pushing involved up some of the backstreets of Daly City. Easily some of the steepest hills I've had to negotiate so far and it wasn't particularly enjoyable.

I had to concede though that this is San Francisco after all - there aren't too many flat bits around here.

4 hours to complete just over 20 miles is not earth shattering by any standard.

And for once my extensive note taking came good and apart from one anomaly on a freeway exit, the previous nights' research got me door to door in just over 8 hours.

I've bunked into the HI Fisherman's Wharf Hostel (Fort Mason) for 3 nights.

This is the same venue I stayed in 12 years ago on my last visit to San Fran and it's probably the best place in town to stay from my perspective.

It's a rambling old timber naval building on Federal land, directly overlooking San Francisco Bay and everything that this highlights - Alcatraz, the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges.

There's more facilities and activities available than anyone can possibly fit into a few days but I will be sure to take advantage of the laundry, free breakfast and wi-fi at the very least.