Biking the Pacific Coast

Fort Bragg, CA to Anchor Bay, CA (miles: 60 calories: 1662)

Today felt like a rough day for me. It was cool most of the day and you couldn't see much of a view of the coast due to all the fog. We rode up and down the hills along the coast and I was relieved when we finally ended up in Anchor Bay. There weren't a lot of options for camping since it's the weekend and places fill up quick. We got a small spot at an RV campground just on the water. We could just fit our two tents and the car! Our other option would have been to keep riding to Gualala to a place 2 miles off route (and up a hill!).

This campground was almost all RV's. Some were there for just a weekend and others looked like they were there for the summer. Jerry talked to a couple of guys who were fishing for abalone. All around the campground were lots of abalone shells.

Amy

Anchor Bay, CA to Bodega Bay, CA (miles: 51 calories: 1318)

Another cold and foggy start, but it cleared up in the afternoon. We followed route 1 most of the day and traveled along a narrow, winding road that followed the coast. We would climb up to the top of a steep cliff overlooking the ocean and then fly back down to the bottom, take a sharp turn and climb back up again.

We ended the day in Bodega Bay staying at the Bodega Dunes Campground. Since we only rode 51 miles today we made it there around 4 p.m. and could have a nice, relaxing evening. We ordered pizza and went to bed early!

Amy

Jerry and Lucas at the top of one of the steep climbs

Bodega Bay, CA to San Francisco, CA (miles: 73 calories: 1855)

Again, the day started out foggy and cold. Route 1 went inland for a while and we passed through lots of farms before heading back to the coast. We stopped in Tomales for second breakfast and rode for awhile before stopping for lunch in Point Reyes Station. There we met up with Damien, an Irishman who had also started biking in Vancouver and was heading to San Francisco that day. We had run into him a couple times before and he decided to join us for the afternoon.

The sun was out full force in the afternoon as we navigated through the suburbs of San Francisco. As we got closer to the Golden Gate Bridge we kept stopping to take more photos. Finally, we reached the bridge only to find out that the walkway on the west side (where we were) was closed and we had to go down a set of stairs to walk under the bridge and back up another set to get to the other side. This wasn't a big deal for Lucas, Jerry, and I, but Damien had his bike loaded down with rear and front panniers and needed help carefully bringing his bike down and then back up the stairs.

Lucas helping Damien carefully bring his bike down a set of stairs before crossing the bridge.

Once we were all situated again we crossed the Golden Gate Bridge! With only one walkway open it was really crowded with pedestrians and walkers. We met up with a couple of Lucas' friends, said goodbye to Damien, and headed to a hotel for a hot shower!