Day 116: The End Of An Epic Journey
Posted by the girls on Thursday, July 28, 2011
Well, folks, today marks the end of our trans-America bike trip. We started the morning in Half Moon Bay and went through our usual routine for the last time. We had some leftover packets of instant oatmeal, so we passed them out to the other touring cyclists who were also camping in the hike-and-bike campground at Francis Beach.
The weather today was similar to yesterday: misty, cool, and foggy. We opted to stay on Hwy. 1 rather than the paralleling bike path. The traffic wasn't too heavy, but we had a few scary moments. There was a section of the highway that was under construction and there was absolutely no shoulder. It didn't help that the road was steep and windy in this section as well. But, alas, we made it through!
Our final steep climb was on an appropriately named road, "Skyline Drive." The road took us through Daly City, just a few miles outside of San Francisco. Soon we were on the Great Highway and nearing our final few turns. Suddenly, Emily's front tire got caught in a rut between the road and the bike lane. She managed to get off her bike without any scratches, but her front tire wasn't so lucky. The tire was scratched and shredding along the side. After knowing that Rebekah's front tire exploded after a similar incident, we decided not to chance it. We looked up a nearby bike shop and went there to pick up a new tire.
We put the new tire on and were about to bike the last 5 miles to Baker Beach (where we were meeting Emily's mom and sister). However, it was already flat, so we had to take it off again and put a new tube in. Finally, we were ready for our last stretch. It was really a bittersweet moment knowing that our trip was about to wrap up. We've been on the road for almost 4 months now and have gotten into such a comfortable routine. Biking has become our lives.
Once we rolled into the parking lot at Baker Beach, we saw Emily's mom and sister holding a big paper banner for us to bike through. They also had 3 bottles of champagne which they shook up, opened, and sprayed all over us! After our initial welcome, we walked our bikes down to the ocean so we could dip our front wheels into the Pacific. It wasn't easy trudging through all that sand, but we did it the first day in Jacksonville, so we had to come full circle!
After getting some snapshots with the ocean and the Golden Gate Bridge, we headed back to the parking lot area. Emily's mom, sister, and her sister's boyfriend, prepared an amazing picnic for us (burgers, cheese, chips, salsa, guacamole, cookies, cupcakes, and more)! We ate our hearts out, although in the back of our minds we were thinking about how this 5,000-calorie-per-day-diet is going to have to end soon!
Thank you so much to everyone for following us throughout our journey. We never imagined that this little blog meant for our families would turn out to be so popular. We are sorry that we haven't been able to reply to everyone's comments that they've left on here, but know that we read them all and LOVED receiving them. All of your encouragement has helped us through our not-so-easy days.
We will be spending the next week in San Francisco with Emily's sister and boyfriend's house. While in SF, we plan to get commemorative tattoos (look for photos to come), get our hair cut, go to a winery in the valley, go to a baseball game, relax, eat lots, and truly enjoy our last few days together before we part ways for who knows how long!?
The weather today was similar to yesterday: misty, cool, and foggy. We opted to stay on Hwy. 1 rather than the paralleling bike path. The traffic wasn't too heavy, but we had a few scary moments. There was a section of the highway that was under construction and there was absolutely no shoulder. It didn't help that the road was steep and windy in this section as well. But, alas, we made it through!
Our final steep climb was on an appropriately named road, "Skyline Drive." The road took us through Daly City, just a few miles outside of San Francisco. Soon we were on the Great Highway and nearing our final few turns. Suddenly, Emily's front tire got caught in a rut between the road and the bike lane. She managed to get off her bike without any scratches, but her front tire wasn't so lucky. The tire was scratched and shredding along the side. After knowing that Rebekah's front tire exploded after a similar incident, we decided not to chance it. We looked up a nearby bike shop and went there to pick up a new tire.
We put the new tire on and were about to bike the last 5 miles to Baker Beach (where we were meeting Emily's mom and sister). However, it was already flat, so we had to take it off again and put a new tube in. Finally, we were ready for our last stretch. It was really a bittersweet moment knowing that our trip was about to wrap up. We've been on the road for almost 4 months now and have gotten into such a comfortable routine. Biking has become our lives.
Once we rolled into the parking lot at Baker Beach, we saw Emily's mom and sister holding a big paper banner for us to bike through. They also had 3 bottles of champagne which they shook up, opened, and sprayed all over us! After our initial welcome, we walked our bikes down to the ocean so we could dip our front wheels into the Pacific. It wasn't easy trudging through all that sand, but we did it the first day in Jacksonville, so we had to come full circle!
After getting some snapshots with the ocean and the Golden Gate Bridge, we headed back to the parking lot area. Emily's mom, sister, and her sister's boyfriend, prepared an amazing picnic for us (burgers, cheese, chips, salsa, guacamole, cookies, cupcakes, and more)! We ate our hearts out, although in the back of our minds we were thinking about how this 5,000-calorie-per-day-diet is going to have to end soon!
Thank you so much to everyone for following us throughout our journey. We never imagined that this little blog meant for our families would turn out to be so popular. We are sorry that we haven't been able to reply to everyone's comments that they've left on here, but know that we read them all and LOVED receiving them. All of your encouragement has helped us through our not-so-easy days.
We will be spending the next week in San Francisco with Emily's sister and boyfriend's house. While in SF, we plan to get commemorative tattoos (look for photos to come), get our hair cut, go to a winery in the valley, go to a baseball game, relax, eat lots, and truly enjoy our last few days together before we part ways for who knows how long!?
