Well I made it to San Francisco. After spending a few wonderful days in Santa Rosa with my cousin Meredith, her awesome cousin husband Steve, two cats, three ducks, and a few chickens, it was time to hit the road. (The full Santa Rosa post will just have to wait along with a few others, as it is late and I need some sleep!)

So, after packing up it was almost tinge to get on the road, but there was one little thing to do. Steve had promised me a ride in his eclectic motorcycle. So after getting all suited up with helmet and protective (armored) clothing, we headed out. It was a total thrill! A bit scary at points, since I haven’t ridden motorcycles much, but lots of fun. So, it was a bit of a late start.

The day’s awesomeness continued with Meredith and Steve riding out with me. Meredith rode with me all the way to Petaluma. From there it was lots of fairly pleasaunt riding with some hills down towards the Golden Gate Bridge.

Here’s a great guy I met at the pizza shop on the way.

Lots of cyclists once I got further south, three of whom I had the pleasure of riding with a different times. They provided good company, conversation and, essentially, directions. Here’s Kid(?) from Tiburon, who rode with me quite a ways.

One guy even let me draft off him for a bunch of miles, allowing me to get to the Golden Gate Bridge before sunset. I took a bunch of pictures there and felt the thrill of accomplishment. Here’s a few.

Fellow cyclist enjoying the moment with me.