Day 55, September 25th 2007 (San Francisco,CA to Santa Cruz,CA)

It was my last day at the luxurious stay with my cousin in San Francisco. It was time to see more of the country and get on my way. It was also my last morning of pancakes for probably a good while. The pancakes tasted so good and were perfect for a ride in the morning. I said my goodbyes to the family in the morning and couldn't thank Chuck, Samona, and Emma enough. They had been so gracious over the past few days and I can't imagine what my trip would have been like without them. They had gone out of their way to accommodate my stay in San Francisco and made it hard for me to leave. I was on the road around 11 and was ready for a nice little ride to Santa Cruz. I was expecting a 75 mile ride ahead of me and was ready to go. It felt a little awkward at first when I was on the bike, but after about 10 miles, I was back. The bike was working very well and my body was ready for a beating. It was interesting spending the first 20 miles of my ride on a route that I had driven only a couple of days earlier. There were a lot more climbs that I didn't notice in the car that were fairly challenging on a bicycle. As I headed up towards Devil's Slide, I was panting until I made it to the top. I was glad that I had planned a shorter route today, and was going to ease myself into some longer rides. It was incredible to spend a little more time seeing the production on Devil's Slide, but when I reached the top it was a free fall back to the bottom. It was the same terrain of highway 1 that I had been used to. One climb or windy road in the front of me and a stellar view of the ocean on my side. It was my last day riding by the ocean so I wanted to make sure I wouldn't forget it. I didn't stop riding for the first 65 miles into the ride and then decided to pull over for some food. I was only 10 miles outside of Santa Cruz and I was making pretty good time. With a few snacks in me, I headed the remaining miles into town. It was a fairly easy ride in and I must have had the best day for riding. It was surprisingly warm, at almost 80 degrees for the afternoon, and it felt great. The coastal breeze was nice enough to cool me down when things were getting too warm. I made it to Santa Cruz in no time and started to look for my directions to Siobhan Saunder's house. She was on the warm shower's list that I had been enjoying so much along my trip. I was able to follow the directions through the beautiful city and had no problem finding the house. When I arrived at the front door, there was a note that said she was out on a run and to enjoy the ocean at the end of the road. I went to the end of the road and was amazed to see so many surfers. There were at least a 100 surfers out in the ocean and I enjoyed watching them for a good hour. Being my last day to enjoy the ocean I was glad that I was finally able to find such a great spot to see so many surfers that knew what they were doing. There were some pretty good waves tat were coming through and everyone seemed to be out. By this time I figured that Siobhan was probably back home, so I headed the one block back up the street to meet her and her roommate Jen. It was a beautiful home with a great location to the ocean. I was shown where the shower was when I arrived and took advantage of that instantly. When I was out of the shower Siobhan told me she had to go somewhere for the evening, but if I wanted to I could eat at a friend of hers. She gave me directions and I was able to take her cruiser up the road a few blocks. At the house I was able to meet Regina, Dave, and their daughter. They were not only expecting me when I arrived, but had made the perfect dinner for me. An incredible pasta was on the menu for the evening, along with a couple of splendid salads. I replenished all of the carbs and stored some for tomorrow's ride ahead. It was a great evening to chat with the family and to meet them and their hear some of their adventurous stories. I was given great directions from Dave, out of the city, and really wasn't sure what I would have done if I wouldn't have met them. I'm not sure if they have a cyclist pass through everyday, but they were perfect host and seemed as if they had done this on a regular basis. Regina was a great inspiration, as she was a strong swimmer. She told me how she was involved in a swim from Alcatraz to San Francisco City. It was over a mile and a half swim and the water was normally around 50 degrees. She performed the swim without a wetsuit and I couldn't believe it. 50 degrees was definitely too cold for me to swim in, but here Regina was, a sole survivor for achieving the impossible. Not only did she complete the swim, but she had also won the race. It was a lot of fun spending time with the family and on such short notice. Regina had talked to Siobhan only earlier in the day and everything had been worked out. I left the house feeling much more confident about my ride ahead, and cruised to Siobhans on the cruiser. It was so much fun to take the cruiser around for the few blocks along the ocean. This was easily the best stay that I could have asked for, being my last day on the ocean. I returned back to Siobhan's house and Jen was home. Jen had just recently moved in and although she was still just getting things in, she was very helpful and accommodating to my visit as well. She had made my bed that I would sleep in and made sure I had everything that I needed. Shortly after, Siobhan came home and continued to be very helpful. Being a cyclist in the area, she gave me plenty of directions and maps to get me through the state of California. It seemed nearly impossible to be lost at this point. The only thing that I could do from here was rest and mentally prepare myself for the ride ahead.
Daily mileage: 81.0 miles
Average Speed: 14.2 mph
Total mileage: 3,210.6 miles