Sorry for the lack of posts. I've been taking a few days off while visiting with a bunch of old friends in San Francisco. I think I'll be here for a few more days as I set my bike up with electric power for the trip over the Sierras and further east.
About my ride from Santa Cruz to the Bay Area... It was a beautiful ride along the Pacific Ocean, in which my main goal was to keep pedaling away in order to get to SF to see Warren play in Golden Gate Park. The ride was fairly uneventful and Stanley even fell asleep in the trailer. I know this because I had to pull over to see what this weird noise was, and it turned out to be him snoring. He had been running all morning since we had bike path and farmland, so his slacking off was warranted. We took the opportunity of the fairly easy ride to chill out at out of the way beaches and even found one spot where a guy with a dog was playing fiddle amongst huge waves crashing against the rock formations. It was a great way to end our trip up the coast as we will be turning inland in a few days.
One item of note for people that have been following this blog from the beginning, is that the majority of the bikers in Santa Cruz and San Mateo Counties wave back at me instead of nodding. That's right, I took Ashley's advice and kept waving even as biker after biker nodded back or ignored me completely. Thank you NoCal, you're my kind of people!
And, they really are my kind of people in a lot of different ways. Most of this community, one that has always been at the forefront of social and environmental change, are doing what they can to help out the environment. No matter what level of knowledge each person has, or what extent they go to, most share the same dedication to doing their part and helping to pass off the earth to the next generation in the same condition, or better, than it's in today. Remember that the main goal of this adventure is to inspire people that place little to no emphasis on helping the environment, to be cognisant about what they can do to help. Making small sacrifices in your daily life may help stop the bleeding and even repairing the damage that we have inadvertently done to the earth in the last 50 years. Just thinking about what you buy, riding your bike or taking one less vacation or business trip (or using carbon credits to offset) might make a big impact.
Back to the trip up here... the fairly flat and uneventful ride ended when I reached Devil's Slide. This is an area of Highway 1, south of Pacifica that is being altered with a tunnel through the mountain because the road has been gettting narrower each year due to rock slides and might be getting too dangerous for car traffic. The area is probably about two miles uphill, and the same distance downhill afterwards, and is curvy with no shoulder to speak of on either side. This area proved much tougher to negotiate than the parts of 1 that I had already passed, largely in part to the traffic. Every couple hundred feet, there would be a little turnout so I would wait for a line of cars to pass, then dodge and weave to my next "safety point." I felt like we were in a video game and, while never feeling in danger, it was no easy feat.
I made it through unscathed and stopped into a bar in Pacifica for a sandwich and a beer. During my time here, I was told that I might be able to make it to San Fran that night because the next BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit which runs electrically) was only about 6 miles up the road. I had a good hour before sunset so I left the bar in search of the station. Unfortunately, the directions I was given were for the highway and not bicycle friendly. Once I found out the bike friendly way, I was already a few miles up the road and I was told that I would have to climb a hill. The hill turned out to be almost two miles of a consistent 17% grade. With the sun setting fast, and not knowing the neighborhood, I ended up having to enlist a guy named Tom in a pickup truck to help out and get me up the hill. It was a tough choice, but I felt it was necessary to our safety as it was almost dark, I didn't know when the last train was and it could have taken hours to get to the top of the hill without help. I had gone over two weeks without using gasoline and will now have to start a new streak in which I will hopefully shatter two weeks and maybe even make it all the way back to CT!
In San Fran, Stanley visited the Haight and even got his picture taken in front of the famous 710 Ashbury where members of The Grateful Dead lived during the late 60's. He's also been to Golden Gate Park where he heard Warren's inspiring acoustic set, some reggae and met a whole bunch of really nice people. It was his first time seeing music in the park and my first time since driving from Tucson with Bill and Kronks for the 30th anniversary o
f the Summer of Love festival back in '97. Another cool thing about stores and bars in California, is that they allow dogs, so Stanley's been able to do almost everything that I do.
A big thanks to Michelle and Emilie for putting me up in San Francisco for the last few days! Their hospitality has been amazing.
About my ride from Santa Cruz to the Bay Area... It was a beautiful ride along the Pacific Ocean, in which my main goal was to keep pedaling away in order to get to SF to see Warren play in Golden Gate Park. The ride was fairly uneventful and Stanley even fell asleep in the trailer. I know this because I had to pull over to see what this weird noise was, and it turned out to be him snoring. He had been running all morning since we had bike path and farmland, so his slacking off was warranted. We took the opportunity of the fairly easy ride to chill out at out of the way beaches and even found one spot where a guy with a dog was playing fiddle amongst huge waves crashing against the rock formations. It was a great way to end our trip up the coast as we will be turning inland in a few days.
One item of note for people that have been following this blog from the beginning, is that the majority of the bikers in Santa Cruz and San Mateo Counties wave back at me instead of nodding. That's right, I took Ashley's advice and kept waving even as biker after biker nodded back or ignored me completely. Thank you NoCal, you're my kind of people!
And, they really are my kind of people in a lot of different ways. Most of this community, one that has always been at the forefront of social and environmental change, are doing what they can to help out the environment. No matter what level of knowledge each person has, or what extent they go to, most share the same dedication to doing their part and helping to pass off the earth to the next generation in the same condition, or better, than it's in today. Remember that the main goal of this adventure is to inspire people that place little to no emphasis on helping the environment, to be cognisant about what they can do to help. Making small sacrifices in your daily life may help stop the bleeding and even repairing the damage that we have inadvertently done to the earth in the last 50 years. Just thinking about what you buy, riding your bike or taking one less vacation or business trip (or using carbon credits to offset) might make a big impact.
Back to the trip up here... the fairly flat and uneventful ride ended when I reached Devil's Slide. This is an area of Highway 1, south of Pacifica that is being altered with a tunnel through the mountain because the road has been gettting narrower each year due to rock slides and might be getting too dangerous for car traffic. The area is probably about two miles uphill, and the same distance downhill afterwards, and is curvy with no shoulder to speak of on either side. This area proved much tougher to negotiate than the parts of 1 that I had already passed, largely in part to the traffic. Every couple hundred feet, there would be a little turnout so I would wait for a line of cars to pass, then dodge and weave to my next "safety point." I felt like we were in a video game and, while never feeling in danger, it was no easy feat.
I made it through unscathed and stopped into a bar in Pacifica for a sandwich and a beer. During my time here, I was told that I might be able to make it to San Fran that night because the next BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit which runs electrically) was only about 6 miles up the road. I had a good hour before sunset so I left the bar in search of the station. Unfortunately, the directions I was given were for the highway and not bicycle friendly. Once I found out the bike friendly way, I was already a few miles up the road and I was told that I would have to climb a hill. The hill turned out to be almost two miles of a consistent 17% grade. With the sun setting fast, and not knowing the neighborhood, I ended up having to enlist a guy named Tom in a pickup truck to help out and get me up the hill. It was a tough choice, but I felt it was necessary to our safety as it was almost dark, I didn't know when the last train was and it could have taken hours to get to the top of the hill without help. I had gone over two weeks without using gasoline and will now have to start a new streak in which I will hopefully shatter two weeks and maybe even make it all the way back to CT!
In San Fran, Stanley visited the Haight and even got his picture taken in front of the famous 710 Ashbury where members of The Grateful Dead lived during the late 60's. He's also been to Golden Gate Park where he heard Warren's inspiring acoustic set, some reggae and met a whole bunch of really nice people. It was his first time seeing music in the park and my first time since driving from Tucson with Bill and Kronks for the 30th anniversary o
f the Summer of Love festival back in '97. Another cool thing about stores and bars in California, is that they allow dogs, so Stanley's been able to do almost everything that I do.A big thanks to Michelle and Emilie for putting me up in San Francisco for the last few days! Their hospitality has been amazing.
7 comments:
Sounds like you and Stan are having a blast!
I'm glad he was able to see some live music and that dogs are actually allowed in parks out there in SF!!
Glad you included SF in your adventure! I'm sure the locals were receptive to your cause. Nice shot in front of 710 Asbury! keep on keepin on....aloha
Keep up the good work Todd... Lisa and I are definitely cheering you both on!
In the spirit of doing small things to help the environment, I rode my bike to the Obama rally in Hamden this past weekend, so in a way I actually did two good things for the environment!
http://www.inews3.com/topstory.php?id=546f646420616e647c5374616e6c6579
I told you the waving would pay off! Awesome! Sounds like you guys are having a blast - love the pictures!
Todd and Stanley for President!!
save travels on the campaign trail!
you've got my vote!
I am in awe of what you're doing. Sad that I wasn't in Santa Cruz, but I am in Salt Lake, so perhaps I can host you there in some way. I do have quite the soft spot for environmentalists and dogs!
Safe travels!
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