It's been quite a pleasurable week! Going North from Los Osos I've experienced some of the nicest scenery and roads thus far. My tent held up fine as well (a section of pole was broken causing the whole thing to collapse on me a few times; David helped me fix it and it's stronger now then ever!)
My days on the road were pretty short - 50 miles, 30m, 60m & 70m. I did lounge around quite a bit, taking in the elephant seals and their wallowing, picking strawberries at a pick-your-own farm, & enjoying the sun as it fell below the distant arc of the Pacific. My camp spots were utterly beautiful and probably very common among free campers as a lot of the people I talked to on the road knew which place I was referring to. Sunny most of the time, warm during the day and night, cool during sunset, couldn't ask for better conditions.
Traffic was at a minimal with no major problems until I got past Half Moon Bay. There the cars multiplied like crazy and the road going through Devils Slide (they're building a tunnel, hence neglecting the current road) was shit- no shoulder & the right side of the road littered with stone & glass. I had to walk a section of it up as the cars would not slow down for me as I was riding.
I got into San Francisco on Sunday. The worst winds I've ever experienced in my life were while coming up North along the coast. They weren't steady; constantly changing direction and speed so that it felt like you were truly getting a beating from Mother nature. My face got sandblasted (I was on the coast) to the point of gritting sand with my teeth was the norm. I asked a couple of people if this was a daily thing and was given conflicted stories that went something like: "Yes! I hate this damn place Ahhh get me out of here the wind and fog drive me crazy!" to: "nah don't worry about it... Want some weed?".
I spent the last couple of days here and got perfect weather, no fog or rain just a bit breezy. Biked around the whole city, saw Alamo Square, the Financial District, Chinatown, The Golden Gate and rode on a railcar! Also did some training in the Park, was surprised at how well I handled my intervals and the fact that my times from before this trip hadn't changed very much. Glad this tour didn't hurt my racing, hopefully when I get back to NY I will be able to take a week off the bike and then dive right into some training followed by racing.
Great city but as far as cities are concerned (which I'm not too fond of anyway) I still prefer New York to SF. Sorry San Francisco!
Today is supposed to rain a couple of inches, I'm heading out in it to test out my gear and see if everything is still waterproof. I'll be riding for another day or so and then it will be time for a change of pace. Monday I set out on a new journey off the bike! I will post another blog regarding that later this weekend.
Thankyou for reading,
W
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