Day 46 (October 3): More Northern California and San Francisco

I reluctantly got my things together and took off from Davis yesterday
morning, passing a couple hundred students on bicycles on their way to
class. Davis is known as the bike capital of the US, and it certainly
felt like it. Bikes seemed much more equal to cars on the road than in
other cities (though I was nearly the only one wearing a helmet).

I rode through orchards all morning - my tree identification skills
are not what they should be, but I saw plums and almonds, among
others. I also rode through some vineyards in the Suisun Valley. All
day there were eucalyptus and other sage-green trees lining the road.
Everything else was that dusty-gold color, and again the air smelled
like dried leaves. I passed lots of horses and cows, including some
'hairy coos' which I thought only existed in the Scottish Highlands.
I'm not sure what the five or six of them were doing there, and I have
to say, they looked a little uncertain themselves.

But maybe it was the weather. A huge storm system was on its way into
the region from the Pacific, with wind advisories and rain due to
start later in the evening in the Bay area. Though I was off my bike
before the rain started, the wind tossed me around a bit all afternoon
and, along with the consistently rolling landscape, wore me out by the
time I'd covered to 65 miles to Vallejo.

I'd been on back roads, criss-crossing I-80 all day. (On one of these
near Fairfield, a stranger pulled over and put a twenty dollar bill in
my hand, because I looked like I 'was going somewhere'). From Vallejo,
I took a ferry into San Francisco! So, no dramatic bridge rides on
this route, but I'll likely take a few spins around the city while I'm
here. It's pretty satisfying to arrive, but there's so much else going
on here that it has really distracted me from fully processing the end
of my trip.

I've got lots more photos to add when I get back to NC after next
weekend, and a big list of superlatives (best hamburger, etc). I'm
glad to be out here with my friends for a few days, but I guess it
hasn't quite sunk in that I'll be getting on a plane later this week
instead of riding off in a day or two on my little Bianchi. But it's
time to return to society and be a worker bee, at least for now. (I'll
be starting work in the concrete canyons of New York later in
October).

So, I'm not quite signing off, but my big pedaling adventure is over!
Next time, I'll pick a smaller country, like Ireland or Iceland. Or
India.

For now, so long from the Pacific coast!!