Sometimes Things Just Work Out

Sleeping under the stars went about as well as I could have hoped. Probably better. I had fallen asleep pretty early again last night which led to waking up pretty early this morning. Normally I’m not a morning person but today I didn’t seem to mind. Today was to be a pretty significant day as it would mark my arrival in San Francisco.

The main reason I pedalled as far as I did yesterday was that I wanted to make today’s ride into San Francisco reasonably short. I wasn’t sure how long I would be spending there, so I hoped arriving sooner rather than later would allow me more time to explore the city. Upon consulting my GPS, that hope became a reality as a short ride was all that separated me from the Bay Area.

The short ride was not to be dismissed as there were hills and beautiful vistas along the way. As much as I was looking forward to arriving in San Francisco, I thoroughly enjoyed the morning’s ride to get there. Although, the first big descent saw the temperature drop at least 10 degrees. Of course, I was going way too fast to do anything other than yell, “BRRRRRR” as I plummeted into the shaded and very cool valley below.

It was shortly after 8:30 when I caught my first glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge. It would be another 30 minutes (and one more big climb) before I actually reached the bridge but it was well worth the wait – and the climb.

When the week began, I really didn’t expect to be arriving in San Francisco this early in the day so I was in no real hurry to cross the bridge. Instead, I took more than a few photos and simply enjoyed the views. I even decided to have breakfast (a bagel with peanut butter) before making the momentous journey across the famous bridge.

The ride across the Golden Gate Bridge was both beautiful and impressive and I stopped regularly to once again enjoy the views and take a few photos. I won’t lie, the scale of the bridge made taking photos a bit of challenge. As did all the traffic – both vehicular and pedestrian.

Eventually I made my way over the bridge and began cycling along the bay where I may have taken a few photos of Alcatraz – I am a tourist after all. And it really is a fascinating landmark.

As I got closer to Fisherman’s Wharf, my day took an unexpected turn for the worse. Technically, the turn for the worse came last night but at that time I was too busy enjoying my WiFi-less night under the stars. As such, I remained in ignorant bliss until my first WiFi connection in the Bay Area.

My first WiFi connection in the city brought with it an e-mail revealing that my plans to spend the night in Oakland had fallen through. I was now homeless in San Francisco – not an entirely uncommon situation in the city. That said, I now needed to address the issue of accommodation since I figured wild camping in the city was not a viable option.

Addressing that issue became a bit more of a challenge as the battery on my phone was running on fumes. Well, that’s not really true since it’s not a gas-powered phone. But I was down to about 5% of battery life. I needed a power outlet. I wouldn’t find any of the kind until I reached the Ferry Building Marketplace. Fortunately, there was also WiFi access, albeit somewhat limited.

So there I sat. Leaning against the wall, charging my phone and scanning more than a few Warm Showers profiles. I managed to send out a few requests before I met Pierre. He noticed my loaded bike and we started to chat. He’s from San Francisco and he’s also done some touring both on bicycle and motorcycle. While on those tours, he’s also been on the receiving end of his share of random hospitality. As luck would have it, he was housesitting at his mom’s place and was able to offer some random hospitality of his own in the form of a spare room for the night. Needless to say, I graciously accepted.

He had to return to work but he gave me his contact information before we parted ways. We ended up meeting up again at The Bike Kitchen – a bicycle repair co-op. While I hadn’t planned on doing any work on my bike, I ended up giving it a bit of a cleaning, doing some adjustments to the the brakes, and just giving it a general check up.

From there we went to a bar, Trax, to meet up with some friends of Pierre. The bar was just down the street from the famous Haight-Ashbury part of town and tonight it happened to be featuring $2 beer. Real, local beers – not Coor’s Light, Bud or other such travesties. They were all very good, sadly, I don’t remember the names of them. But I remember there were four of them. Thanks to Pierre for being a great – and spontaneous – host.

With my beer limit reached (perhaps even surpassed), we pedalled wobbly back to Pierre’s place (or more accurately, his mom’s place) to bring an end to a long but fun day. Oh, there was one final detour made on the way back to the house – and it was a good one. The stop was a typical corner store. The purpose of the stop was ice cream. “It’s It” ice cream sandwiches to be exact. Forget Rice-A-Roni. “It’s It” Ice Cream Sandwiches are the REAL San Francisco treat. And a great way to end a great day.

Tomorrow I’ll be back on the road again heading south. The destination? Well, I’ll worry about that tomorrow.

Today’s totals:
Distance travelled: 51.76 km
Ride time: 4:08:28
Average speed: 12.5 km/h
Maximum speed: 56.11 km/h