Day 11: San Francisco to Santa Cruz

The night in the Hostel was good. Great roommates and a comfortable bed. I woke at 6am and retrieved my bike and equipment at 6:30am. By 7am I had it all together. After breakfast we set out through the streets of San Francisco in search of the Golden Gate Bridge. We finally found it in the thick of the clouds.

The day was overcast and there was a mist in the air. Nonetheless it was an exhilarating experience to bike the bridge. On the return trip I asked another cyclist the best way to The Great Highway, the start of our route down the coast. We had to go up the hill...something we would do alot of over the next 3 hours. Around SF, Daily City and Pacifica it was very hilly.

After Pacifica the hills were very fair. Uphill but not forever or too steep. Good downhill with a great view of the ocean.

The CA coast has such a diverse landscape. Ragged cliffs, sandy beaches, fields of fruit, cows and lighthouses. It was awesome!

It was nice to be going through cities that had stores, McDonalds,
Starbucks...civilization!

Before Davenport I heard a loud blast, I knew Ben had had a blowout. It damaged the tire a bit so he had to move it to the front and run a lower pressure in it in hopes of making it to the bike shop in Santa Cruz before 6pm. Shortly after resuming our ride I heard the noise of metal falling to the road, the bolt that held Ben's seat together broke. What next we thought? Especially with the need to get to the bike shop. My prayer was for continued tailwinds and gentle terrain.

The prayer was answered and we pulled into Another Bike Shop at 5:45! The guys at the shop were great. Both Ben and I bought a new tire and I also purchased some sport/energy jelly beans. They are good and they work. Looking forward to snacking in them this next week. Ben had to go to a hardware store for a new bolt, he found one.

After all that we went to Safeway to purchase dinner, some supplies and an iced coffee at Starbucks (at 3:30 this afternoon the overcast turned to blue skies and sunshine). After Safeway we went to do laundry. Since it was going on 8:30pm I decided that we should get a room across from the laundromat. We finished up laundry just before 10 then we changed out our tires.

Tomorrow we will ride to Seaside, CA to have lunch with Darren & Sydni Murphy, Sydni is Celeste's cousin. After lunch we will ride to Big Sur, it will be amazing. We have a campsite reserved at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park.

For everyone praying for us, thanks and keep it up.