Day 1: San Francisco to Half Moon Bay

July 10, 2009

I got on the road at 11 AM. It took me much longer than expected to get the bike ready to roll. Before hitting the road I walked to the water side of the ferry building to take a picture.

The tour starts here, at the downtown San Francisco ferry terminal.

From the ferry building I headed north on the Embarcadero past all the piers, starting with Pier 1. It was my first time to see the Embarcadero since the ugly elevated expressway was removed (after it was damaged in the 1989 earthquake). It definitely looks nicer now.

Downtown San Francisco is no longer a functioning port, so most of the piers are now warehouses or offices. Starting at Pier 39 (now a tourist shopping mall) there are views of Alcatraz island which was once a maximum-security prison.

I stopped for an early seafood lunch at fisherman's wharf with all the other tourists.

Fishermans Wharf. My first time to see a Segway tour.

I continued counter-clockwise around the San Francisco waterfront.

After Fort Mason is a bike route along the waterfront through the Presidio. The former military bases are now mostly parks. I was amazed how many tourists rode rental bikes. All the rental bikes have a handlebar bag with a tourist map on top. I stopped at Sports Basement in Crissy Field to buy Coleman fuel.

I stopped for a few minutes to look around the Palace of Fine Arts.

This fine picture of my bike was spoiled by a bridge in the background. ;-)

Near the Golden Gate bridge I was back on roads with heavy traffic. I managed to get lost a couple times even though I was trying to stay along the coast.

Hazy telephoto view from Land's End looking into the Golden Gate.

Not so typical houses. San Francisco is a wealthy city.

Beachfront houses in Daly City, just south of San Francisco.

Eventually I was out of San Francisco, but there was still plenty of suburban traffic congestion through South San Francisco, Daly City, and Pacifica. It's Friday afternoon and seemingly all of the city is driving to the coastal resort areas for the weekend.

The Devil's Slide has great views. It was my first time to see the very expensive road/tunnel project underway to bypass this section of highway that is subject to frequent landslides. I wonder if the old road will stay open for cyclists and pedestrians until it becomes impassible? (when part of it falls into the ocean)

The Devil's Slide. Soon this high-maintenance scenic section will be bypassed by a not-so-scenic tunnel.

In the distance are the Devil's slide and the new road leading to the tunnel.

My destination for the night is Half Moon Bay State Beach. $3 for a hiker/biker site, plus 50 cents for a shower. I arrived at 6:30. Not too late considering I started at 11AM and had many scenic distractions to slow me down. I was in bed at 9:30 to catch up on sleep.

Today the weather was mostly cloudy with a high temperature of 65F. I was near the ocean pretty much all day. I felt good considering I didn't sleep well on the train. The dramatic change in environment (ocean, big city) gets the adrenaline flowing.

Distance: 44.0 mi (70.4 km)

Climbing: 2715 ft (823 m)

Average speed: 8.5 mph (13.6 km/h)

Max speed: 34.5 mph (55 km/h)

Today's ride: 44 miles (71 km)
Total: 44 miles (71 km)

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