Day 7

September 1, 2001

Samuel P. Taylor State Park to Marin Headlands

29.7 Miles

The next day I was only going to the hostel in the Marin Headlands; just 20 or 30 miles. And I couldn't check in to the hostel until 3:30. So I took my time getting ready. Wayne and Guido and Waltraud were just about to leave when Wayne got a flat. The others slowly got packed and left. Even Josh and Sam left before me.

I walked to the front gate, and Wayne and Guido and Waltraud had only gotten that far. They said that Scott had just been by.

I went back and talked to the other cyclist. The previous day had been his first ever of loaded touring. He was trying it out for the weekend before joining some friends in cycling from SF to LA.

Finally I packed up and headed out. I stopped at a grocery store in Forest Knolls, and Sam and Josh showed up. Then I stopped at a post office, and the Austrians passed me. I stopped in Woodacre for brunch, and to check out the farmers market.

I was getting close to the city now, and it was the weekend, so there were lots of locals out cycling. I was passed by six riders in a double paceline, so I drafted off of them until we hit a hill, and they dropped me.

Then it was a long stretch through city. And you couldn't go fast, because there were lots of turns, and some cycling signs that didn't go the way you wanted to go. Finally it climbs up a steep hill. From the top you could see across the bay to San Francisco. Except that SF was completely fogged in. You could just see the tip of the Trans America tower, and one other building.

Then it was downhill, into Mill Valley, and a bike path along the bay. At the end of the path I stopped for ice cream.

After that it was into Sausalito. In the middle of downtown Sausalito the police had several blocks of the main street blocked off. I detoured around, along with a bunch of local cyclists. The Sausalito Arts Festival was going on. A guy directing traffic for parking said he heard on his walkie-talkie that there was a guy on a bus with a hand gun.

Then I ran into Wayne, Guido and Waltraud, and the Austrians again, and we took a bunch of pictures.

Then we rode uphill to the Golden Gate Bridge. It was very windy up there, and the bay was foggy, so you could only see the first spire.

We needed to get to the other side of the bridge, they to take the sidewalk across, and me to get to the hostel. But the only way was down some stairs, under the bridge, and up another set of stairs on the other side. This wasn't easy with fully loaded bikes.

I said goodbye to the others, and headed into the headlands. I had thought about checking into the hostel, and then riding unloaded around the headlands, but it was completely socked in, so there was no point.

I checked in, showered, did laundry, called Derek, called a bike shop about a bike box, emailed Ursula, and went to bed really early.


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