santa cruz to san francisco via bicycle

my oh my was this an epic weekend.

on friday mikey millz, ryan agler, will, and i packed and suited up for a bicycle ride. our destination: the city of san francisco. we headed out at about 11, later than was probably wise. then it was about 75 miles up to the city. we took hwy 1 the entire way. it was definitely one of the most challenging things i've done in my life. the first 30 miles up the coast was against a grueling headwind. at one point i was in my second chain ring pedaling as hard as i could downhill! i have never worked so hard to accomplish so little. after 30 miles the headwind did let up a little, which was an absolute requisite in order for me to finish the ride.

i got into the bike touring groove at about 45 miles and was feeling great. we stopped about every 5-10 miles for water, bites of food, and stretches. the night before will and mike whipped up about 15 peanut butter 'n jelly, and honey/peanut butter/banana sandwiches, which we steadily devoured over the course of the ride. i felt like i was hungry at every stop, which surprised me. the boys stopped for jooze breaks every 10-20 miles, which i did not partake in, well not much...

when we hit half moon bay everyone was feeling pretty worn out and hungry, so we chilled out at a taqueria and munched on some tasty mexican cuisine before the last leg of our trip. i was feeling pretty freaked out. the sun getting low on the horizon and we still had the toughest 1/3 of the trip still ahead of us. nothing to do, however, but jump back in the saddle. i am pretty mental when it comes to physical challenges, so this leg didn't seem as bad as i expected. i was pretty cheery and full of smiles. at one point we were bombing into pacifica and it felt just like a really steep run down OG (zoobomb!).

as the sun set so did my attitude. i was pissed by the time we arrived and left without really saying goodbye to everyone. they headed to a show and i headed to the airport via BART and then CalTrain. i was dead and the train was full of obnoxious drunk assholes coming from a) horse racing b) a shark's game or c) a giants game.

i explained my life to some real sweet squares who thought i was totally insane by the end of the conversation. then, in an effort to find out how to get to the airport i met a really rad lady named emy. she invited me to stay at her place, which was a true blessing. she gave me water, a shower, a bed, and a route to the airport for the morning. i can't explain how awesome this was.

then portland! nick graduated! the clowns won best bicycles for the st. john's parade! we rung in summer with the first portland bbq! i ate SO MUCH tasty food! i got a free plane ticket anywhere by getting bumped off my flight!

life is good. now i'm back and feel like michael j. fox in back to the future! i just can't keep track i'm moving so fast!