This account is the third leg of our ride, from Marinwood to San Francisco.
Our control at Marinwood was a real treat. The control was at Paul’s brother’s house. Paul’s sister-in-law, Laurie, had set out food, drinks, and coffee, and there was plenty of room for everyone to take a nap. Which we all did.
We got underway agin in the cold pre-dawn. We rolled though largely deserted streets in San Rafael, climbed over the short, but steep, Wolfe Grade into Larkspur, rode through Corte Madera, and along the hills into Mill Valley. By this time it was starting to get light. And we were early for our 8am arrival in San Francisco. So we rolled slowly along the bike path through the Richardson Bay salt marshes and on into Sausalito. We found a cafe on the waterfront open and stopped in for a morning coffee. We took a long break there while the sun rose over San Francisco Bay. It was quiet, there was no one out except for us and a couple walking their dog. The morning was clear and cool. While we were getting ready to leave, one of the other Fléche teams rolled by.
We climbed out of Sausalito and crossed the Golden Gate Bridge. We climbed up through the Presidio onto Arguello Street, turned left at Golden Gate Park, and somewhere on Stanyan, caught up with the other team. We arrived at Crepes on Cole, our destination, at 0740, twenty minutes early. We were the first team in.
We parked and went inside and ordered breakfast. As other teams rolled in (there were five in all), there was a general feeling of a reunion, as most of the riders have been on the Northern California randonneuring circuit for a while. Paul filled out our paperwork, we got everything officially approved, and that was pretty much the official ending of the ride. We still had to find a BART station (which involved more hill climbing), get to AMTRAK, and take the train back to Davis. But by the time it was all done, we were in Davis by 12:30.
So, yeah, it was a long bike ride. But pleasant. Fun. Tiring, but not exhausting. Good introduction to night riding, and I hope, good preparation for the longer rides to come.