| Biking
with Bill |
|
JUNE 6 WE ARE OFF!!This morning at 7:00 am our energetic group of some 30 cyclists departed our hotel near the San Francisco airport and headed out on an adventure of a lifetime. We had assembled yesteday for orientation, bike assembly, and introductions of our group as well as the 4 person staff of AbB. It is a diverse, friendly, focused group of bikers...and we all get along very well (much more about the individuals as we go along).
Day 1 was an 85 mile trip from SF to Fairfield, CA that encompassed about every kind of biking terrain challenge I've ever encountered: STEEP CLIMBS, fast down hill runs, all sorts of traffic conditions, beautiful scenery, and long flat runs. The weather was perfect. We rode together for at least the first 23 miles...to the Golden Gate Bridge which we biked across, stopping on ocassion to marvel at the sights. After passing through Sausalito we broke into smaller groups for the rest of the day. A real HIGHLIGHT of the day had occured previously at Ocean Beach in Golden Gate Park. We all took off our shoes and socks and carried our bikes the 50 yards or so down to the ocean where we dipped the rear tire in the Pacific, symbolically representing the start of our coast to coast journey. We posed for a group photo, watched a large group of triathletes pass on their bikes after having swam in the waters off Alcatraz, and headed EAST.
We also passed, during the day, hundreds of cyclists participating in an AIDS RIDE from SF to LA, some in outrageous outfits. We passed by San Quenton prison as we rode the roads north of the Bay. My group arrived at the hotel in Fairfield at 5:00 pm (not the first group in), a 10 hour day on the bike...but with many great stops along the way. It was a very tough day for me-- to be sure, but one of the best days I have ever spent on a bike. On to Sacramento! - Bill
|
|
Contact Bill now at bill@bikingwithbill.org |
Journal Entry Home