Flea The Race

“Tony….Tony…[yeah?], are you checking out today?” was this mornings alarm clock at 10:40am, I was fast asleep, checkout was 10am so I slid out of bed, packed my stuff, locked it in a locker in the hostel, checked out and went across the road for breakfast before heading away from the city along Haight Street, through Golden Gate Park and down the coast along Ocean Beach towards Pacifica where I stopped off for food and supplies to keep me fed for the next few days.  It rained much of the way from San Francisco to Pacifica but it was warm and I didn’t really get wet wet.  There was another mountain tunnel, known locally as Devils Slide, to negotiate today, this one was a lot more fun as it was downhill all the way but once you get in the tunnel you have no perspective on the slope of the road so it just feels like a mini time warp as you speed through it.

I met one German cyclist along the way after Pacifica at about 7pm who was travelling the same directing and was sort of fretting about were he was going to say as there are no campsites in the area.  I told him everywhere was a campsite but I don’t think he was quite ready to try wild camping, he was none the less curious about it as it takes a lot of organisation to book accommodation along the way, especially without data on your phone, it also ties you to having to be in a place by a time which for me is a pain in the ass, much easier it is to have your free campsite at your side when ever you are ready to call it a day.  The state parks with campsites are also great when they align with the end of your day as there is usually loads of other bike tourers there and they have showers.

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At 7:30pm I had riden 90km, nursing a hangover, I was ready to call it a day when a gateway into the woods presented itself, I cycled past it as it was on the other side of the road, surveyed the area and it looked quiet, checked for traffic, pulled a u-ey and walked my bike through the gate that was conveniently opened just enough to allow me pass.  Carrying bags loaded with new food supplies I cooked up a storm at camp Tony and ate a little bit of everything.  I went to sleep at ten but it took me hours to sleep, I think the city of San Francisco rocked my sleeping rhythm a little out of kilter over the three days I spent there.