Day 1 (5/28): The route through San Francisco was facilitated by the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, we took the wiggle. The ride through Golden Gate Park was scenic. We ended up on Lincoln Way, which wasn't great. We took 28th Ave nearly down to Sloat and followed Hwy 35 to Skyline through Daly City. We paralleled Hwy 1 via Palmetto and Francisco/Bradford before finding a bike path along Caldara Creek which led us into Pacifica State Beach. We rode up and over Devil's Slide and down Hwy 1 to Half Moon Bay. We stayed the night at Americas Best Value Inn and Suites, eating dinner at Asian Kings Kitchen. The hotel offered continental breakfast, including hard-boiled eggs!
Day 2 (5/29): The second day of our trip we followed a bike path out of town and stayed on Hwy 1. A fruit stand in Davenport was a life-saver. We arrived in Santa Cruz and stopped at 'Another Bike Shop.' Our hotel for the night was called Hitching Post Studios Inn. They had laundry machines, a swimming pool, and a full-sized kitchen. We rode to the boardwalk and out to the end of the pier. We had dinner at Taqueria Agave, which served fantastically large portions.
Day 3 (5/30): We had breakfast at Subway and made our way out of town on Soquel. This portion of Hwy 1 does not allow cyclists in the roadway, so we took San Andreas to Beach. The road labeled McGowan is called Thurwachter Rd. Other than that we didn't have any problems navigating. After taking Trafton/Bluff/Jensen back to Hwy 1, I noticed signs for a bus to Salinas. Instead of riding by myself, it was eaiser to put my bike on the bus and get a ride straight to the Salinas Amtrak station.
When I left the house on Memorial Day (from LA to SF via Amtrak Coast Starlight) my panniers weighed about 15 pounds each. I felt like they got heavier each day of the trip. By day 3 I was bearly crawling, but I kept moving forward singing to myself "Takin' my time, gonna take my time." I went through all the stuff I brought and didn't think I could have done without any of it. In fact, I would have added a sewing kit.
One important thing I did forget was shoes. I ended up buying a pair of Specialized Cadet from Valencia Cyclery. They worked out splendidly. One thing that happened that I didn't expect is that my thumbs started getting blisters from the gear-shifting levers. Also I wore a hole in my long-fingered gloves.
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