Samuel Taylor State Park to San Francisco, California: 36 miles
Today was supposed to be a rest day but we decided to push on so we could have a day just to ourselves in San Francisco. Given the low miles and the last day of riding, why not ride four straight days? What could go wrong?
No I didn't get lost this time. It was actually a very nice warm day. Jordan and I set out first. I think I started out too fast because 20 miles into the ride, my left knee tendon started hurting pretty bad. Then my right knee tendon started hurting too. Just 16 miles to go, hang in there Marty!
Martin joined us at the College of Marin about 12 miles from our destination. As soon as he joined us, we experienced a moderate head wind. Those last 12 miles were pretty intense. Besides the head wind we had a tough hill to climb on a road called Camino Alto.
The last few miles were the toughest because the climb from Sausalito to the Golden Gate Bridge was steep, cold and windy. The temperature feels like it dropped from 80 degrees to 55 degrees. Finally, we reached the bridge, but we couldn't see it because it was shrouded in fog!
Even in cold, foggy and windy conditions, there were a million tourists on the bridge not realizing that they were in our path to complete our epic trip. It was slow going across the Golden Gate. When we finally reached the San Francisco side of the bridge, it seemed so anti-climatic. No throngs of well wishers congratulating us, just dealing with the reality of the moment: where to hookup with Soo, Martin freaking out about not knowing exactly how we are finishing this thing and needing to pee.
We took care of the reality needs in short order and peddled to a parking lot where Soo was waiting for us with a big hug and congratulatory excitement. That was all we needed. We finished! 993.5 miles!
This accomplishment will take a while to sink in. Now I'm just interested in lunch.
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