DAY 30
TUESDAY 3 MAY 2016
SAN FRANCISCO TO SAMUEL P. TAYLOR STATE PARK (SPTSP)
1100 - 1645
52.66 km (32.72 miles)
Av. Speed: 15 km/h (9.3 mph)
Max Speed: 59.9 km/h (37.2 mph)
Time on Bike: 3h 29m 47s
After a 12-day respite from riding, I returned to the bike today.
The Dodge Dart was deposited back to its rental garage in Bush Street
in San Fran yesterday and I enjoyed one final night in the HI Fort Mason hostel
last evening.
Unfortunately, I’m setting off with a bout of the flu, acquired during
my cold cold cold stints in Yosemite and Sequoia last week.
It is not exactly ideal but the show must go on.
All areas north of San Francisco present as new territory to me as I’ve
never ventured here before.
Immediately though, the route out of the city has managed to occupy
extensive amounts of my wi-fi time in the past few days.
Google Maps is generally a quality resource which I have been using
prolifically throughout the tour so far but not even GM had been capable of
solving the riddle of getting to my next destination.
Essentially, there were options – where to stay and of course, how to
get there – but what was most confusing was being able to link up usable and
safe bicycle routes which also minimised potentially gruelling hill climbs
through the Marin Headlands.
My other valuable resource currently is in print – the Tom Kirkendall
and Vicki Spring book “Bicycling the Pacific Coast” – pretty much the bible on
the subject.
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"THE BIBLE" |
Whilst it may be the bible, it is not necessarily gospel and I had been
thoroughly considering all other options, including researching various online
blogs and route maps (with gradient counters and everything) posted by other
cyclists etc.
At the 11th hour though, I settled on the version set out in
“the Bible” as I figured that it has been written for a reason and between
every other route I had considered, I was ultimately able to link them up to
the maps listed in the book.
So the first part was easy.
Take the San Fran coastal trail from the front door of the hostel back
out the way I had come in on 20 April and then link to the East Battery trail
that would take me across the Golden Gate bridge.
No problem.
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LEAVING SAN FRANCISCO |
Then bank off to the right onto Alexander Avenue which leads on a
fairly straightforward (and hugely popular route, as it turns out) trundle
through upmarket Sausalito where I could take a designated bicycle trail to
Mill Valley.
(I decided to take an unscheduled early lunch stop in Sausalito as
well, no particular reason, just because I wanted to….)
After lunch, things posed to get a little funkier, especially if I
happened to miss a turn, or was trolled out once again by dodgy (or
non-existent) signposting along the way.
Sure enough, all of the above came into play in spite of my personal
note-taking and directions outlined in “the Bible”.
As I think I’ve mentioned previously, “the Bible” is written in reverse
– well at least I’m travelling in the opposite direction to which it was
written, adding another dimension of challenge to getting myself through –
turning left every time it says “right” (and vice versa) and knowing I’m
pushing up a grade every time it says “descent” (and vice versa).
Notwithstanding, the assistance of a couple of random passers-by, helped
to reset my compass and I continued on my merry way.
And in fact, aside from a couple of dodgy-signpost moments, the chosen
route proved to be pretty straightforward and mercifully free of any serious
hill climbing.
Samuel P. Taylor State Park (SPTSP) was the chosen campsite for the
evening – the $7 Hiker/Biker option winning out over the $45 Olema camping
option and the booked-out Point Reyes HI hostel.
DAY 31
WEDNESDAY 4 MAY 2016
SPTSP – BODEGA BAY
1040 – 1630
66.62 km (41.4 miles + 1000 km total reached on arrival to Bodega State Beach
campground)
Av. Speed: 16.1 km/h (10 mph)
Max Speed: 66.6 km/h (41.4 mph)
Time on Bike: 4h 07m 51s
Last night was the most social of evenings.
Unexpectedly so, especially after pitching my tent shortly after
arrival adjacent to a strange fellow curled up on the ground in the hiker/biker
area in nothing but a sleeping bag.
No tent and what appeared to be about half-a-dozen of his worldly
possessions sitting on the picnic bench just above his head.
He cocked his eyelids and blearily acknowledged my presence as I
wheeled my rig down to a suitable resting position as far away from the
clusters of poison oak encroaching into the camping space as possible.
I continued about my business as my new-found-friend remained curled up
on the ground asleep.
After about an hour and a cold shower later, two young Asian-American male
cyclists had also arrived.
This, shortly followed by another group of three, including two young
American girls who were travelling with another American guy called Ron.
By now I was dressed for the evening and although less than
appreciative of having to endure a cold shower, was happily tucking into my
road dinner which had been purchased earlier in the day from Safeway in Fort
Mason.
As I sat munching away, the activity around me had increased as tents
were pitched, panniers unravelled and travel tales began to circulate.
What I learned almost immediately was that for the first time so far on
this trip, I had met people who were all headed in the same “wrong” direction –
south to north that is - so much for conventional wisdom…..
I was the first and loudest to decry the apparent “south to north”
myth, although there is every chance I will still be put in my place about
this.
(Today’s juicy tail breeze for the best part of the day however, is yet
another case for the affirmative….)
By now, “Sleepy” had also risen from his slumber basically because
unless he was actually dead, he couldn’t have possibly slept through this.
Up and about, he actually seemed quite lucid and he and I
surreptitiously went about (illegally as it turns out) gathering up firewood
for what was to become a mighty but short-lived campfire.
As myself and Sleepy worked the fire, the others had begun breaking out
all manner of cooking paraphernalia and gourmet produce from their panniers.
I could not believe my eyes.
Frequently, I lament at how overweight my rig seems to be, chastising
myself equally as frequently at not having mastered the art of “packing down”.
But when I rationalise the reality of carrying camera equipment and a
laptop computer with external hard-drives, PLUS extra amounts of warm clothing
and all my cycling gear, I can sort of justify the bulk of it all.
(If, for instance I had NOT had the extra warm clothes in Sequoia and
Yosemite last week, I’d probably still be in hospital….or worse!)
So how on earth these travelling cyclists can feasibly carry around
more food and cooking gear than a big city restaurant is beyond me.
Ron particularly had more food on him than I have eaten in a month –
and he was only on a 2-day return trip out of San Fran!
And the girls weren’t far behind with a collection of herbs and spices
and powdered delicacies combined with an arsenal of the latest, new-fangled
(albeit folding and collapsible) pots and pans and burners that money could
possibly buy.
The campground Masterchefs continued pulling out satchels of this and
packets of that whilst the Sleepy and Vorn campfire had reached epic status.
There was now some serious heat pumping out of it and the 2 Asian boys
had dropped their jacket potatoes deep into the coals, cooking them to
perfection less than 5 minutes before a Park Ranger showed up and pulled a pin
on the whole thing.
We were reprimanded for having gathered the wood as we had and then
going ahead and starting the fire – the outcome being we had to pour water on
it immediately and throw the wood into the creek first thing in the morning.
What a shit.
With that pall cast across the evening, there was not much else to do
than to continue to watch food being cooked – Ron was now onto his third batch
of soup – and prolong the inevitability of going to bed early.
The girls were still working on their main course as 10 pm approached having
produced about 7 or 8 different appetizers which had apparently been acquired
from delis from all corners of San Francisco as well as a particularly generous
“Warm Showers” host they had lucked out with in the past few days.
My belly was full and with local wildlife starting to hover with the
abundance of food present, it was time to retire and contemplate the way
forward today.
KEEP PRAYING FOR ME KEN…..
I have a former supervisor from one of my jobs in Sydney who has been a
little concerned about my well-being, given the nature of what I am doing and
the propensity for natural disasters occurring in this part of the world.
All fair enough I suppose but it is the risk I take.
Other than this, I could choose to stay home and watch it on television
but I know this is not going to happen whilst ever I am capable.
Ken in the meanwhile has been busy praying for me all the while and all
I can say Ken is, “KEEP IT UP”, especially if it continues to produce nice, fat tail-winds like I got today!!
NICE RIDING!!
The first part of today’s ride especially, was about as good as it
gets.
Mostly flat conditions, cloud cover and said tail-wind got me through
the first 25 km in less than 90 minutes.
My average speed was nudging 20 km/h through this section which is also
a testament to how the recumbent performs in these conditions.
This is a significantly quieter part of the California coast than I
have previously encountered.
Once again, I could not help but to draw a comparison to parts of
Tasmania in the areas around Point Reyes especially.
Very little traffic accompanied me along this part of the Shoreline
Highway and as seafood outlets started to dot the sides of the road through
here, I felt compelled to stop at one of them.
With the offer of fresh oysters and various other treats at hand, it
was not an option.
So I ended up ordering a bowl of clam chowder and 3 fish tacos for
lunch which I normally wouldn’t do.
I almost even ordered a beer or wine but could not justify this with
the hill climbing that I knew lay ahead for the rest of the day.
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CHOWING THE CLAM CHOWDER IN MARSHALL |
So it was and although the hill climbing eventuated and was probably
even more strenuous than I had allowed for (computer says “1203 calories” today
– that’s a lot for a 40-mile day….), I set down at Bodega State Beach Campground
at 4.30 this afternoon.
1000 km, right on the button as well, as I approached the registration
gate.
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THE FIRST 1000..... |
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