We slept in a little bit today since we knew we didn't have as many miles to do as normal. We had a little "picnic in the weeds" as we ate our oatmeal and the last of our blueberry muffins. We didn't make it too far this morning once we were packed. In fact, we only made it to the driveway of the cemetery before we had to stop. Loic had a flat tire! Those darn pricker bushes. In the end though, it worked out perfect. As the tire was being fixed, who came riding along the road but our pal Fred! After splitting up for a couple days, we would get to ride into the San Francisco area, on Fred's last day of riding on his trip, as a group of 4. We found out that Fred enjoyed some free ice cream at the KOA campground he pushed to get to that first day when he decided to ride ahead- it definitely payed off for him! We had a little climb early on in the ride and then enjoyed what Joey said was "an awesome descent." It was curvy enough to make it fun, but had the right grade so that you didn't have brake too much. There was also a nice section of flat ground that meandered right level with Bolinas Lagoon. It was really pretty, and enjoyable since we had another tailwind pushing us along. We took a short break in the town of Stinson Beach so Fred could grab something to eat. I rode over to the beach and was excited to see a beautiful sandy beach full of sunshine. Almost immediately after leaving the town, we started to climb. The road climbed high up on the cliffs above the ocean. We got a great view of the beach behind us and were amazed at the path the road took ahead of us. It was just as good if not better than our ride along the cliffs just before Jenner. We had a couple really long "c hills" and a good mix of climbing and downhills. As we were getting close to the end of the section that was right close to the water, we had a pretty steep climb. Then a wonderful descent. About half way down, a car decided to pull out right after Joey had gone by. They had plenty of time, so there wasn't really a chance for a crash, but once they pulled out, they just went so SLOW. As I was trying to enjoy the descent that I worked so hard for, I was stuck behind this car and had to brake the rest of the way down. It didn't take long for Loic to catch up and have to do the same thing. That was pretty disappointing. A little while later, we were going up again. This time in a hot, dry area. Curve after curve we went. We could see the top of the pass off in the distance since there weren't any trees in the area. The sun made it a pretty hot climb. The best part of the climb was that as we were going, we got passed by a racing cyclist who was doing a training ride. For some reason, Fred decided he would try to race him- on his fully loaded road bike. Joe, Loic and I watched and cheered on as he took off after the cyclist. He caught up to him and passed him somehow. I guess Fred wanted to go all out on his last day. It was a lot of fun. After the climb that went on forever, we made it to the top. Civilization was in the distance! The other side of the pass was full of houses. As we descended it was like going through another world from where we were just climbing. At the bottom, we were in the middle of a suburban area full of shops. We were in the Mill Valley/ Tamalpais Valley area. We stopped at a bike shop and found out we were very close to the Best Buy store we have been waiting for. We were hoping to get our tablet fixed- and crossing our fingers that it was just the cord and not something wrong with the tablet itself. Loic was hoping to find a netbook with the right features he was looking for. The kid at the bike shop told us about a bike path to take and somehow we ended up going the wrong way on it. It popped us out in an woodsy area with a few houses. We knew right away that we headed the wrong way. We rode along for a few miles in the right direction and found a nice bike path. Since we were all super hungry, we decided to think about food before going to Best Buy. The 4 of us decided to go to Panda Express since there were only a few restaurants in the area and we wanted to go out to celebrate making it to San Francisco and Fred's last day of riding. Joe and I had never been to Panda Express before, but since we love Chinese, it was great. We all enjoyed a huge plate of food and relaxing outside for a little while. Later, we bid our farewells to Fred and the 3 of us that were left headed across the parking lot to Best Buy. Someone told us when we got there that it was kind of a bad area and that our bikes might not be safe. We thought about just leaving Joe out there to watch them, but then we decided to ask if we could just put them inside. The guy that worked near the door said it would be fine to bring them inside so we didn't have to worry about them. I went over to the Geek Squad desk and was a little anxious about what they would say was the problem and about how they would go about fixing it. I was pretty sure it was just the cord, but I was prepared for the worse anyway. In the end, it turned out to be the cord after all. The Geek Squad guys were great. Normally they would have to order a new cord and have me come back to pick it up in a few days, but since they knew our situation they tried really hard to figure out a way to get a cord for me today. They were just great- I don't know what they did, but I was able to trade in my old cord and walk out with a brand new one- problem solved! When I went to find the guys to let them know I was ready, they were both being boys- playing video games. From there, our next goal was to go see the Golden Gate Bridge since we knew we were pretty close. On the way we rode through a very cute little area full of shops. We rode right along the SF bay and could see Alcatraz Island and Downtown off in the distance. From where we were, you could see how hilly it was-just as I imagined. For some reason, the three of us were still hungry, even after going to Panda Express. So, we stopped at a little grocery store to pick up a snack. I got a loaf of Italian bread and some baby carrots to tide us over. The three of us found a nice bench overlooking the bay to relax for a little bit. What a view! From there we had a small hill to climb. Then, there it was.. the bridge! I was just so darn excited. There were a bunch of cyclists around and one of them stopped to talk to us. He told us that if we were up to it, to ride up to the Marin Headlands area because it would give us a fantastic view. So, that's what we did. It was a good climb and a wonderful view. For some reason, being there looking at the bridge was just so magical. I've seen photos, seen it in movies and on tv, but to be there, and to have gotten there by my bike was just so neat. It's such a famous US landmark and for some reason, I was more excited about this landmark than some of the others we have been to. After taking some photos and just taking in being there, we headed back down the hill to start thinking about a place to camp for the night. Since it was pretty much all houses and stores, we decided to ride back to the area the bike path took us when we went the wrong way. We did so and found a church that might be an ok spot, and then found an even better spot down a hiking trail. It was perfect; we were in a wooded area that was out of sight, but still about 5 or 6 miles from the bridge. Joe and I ate the rest of our carrots and bread for dinner. We were a little sad since it was probably the last night we would be camping with Loic. There was an animal, probably a deer walking around in the woods that we had fun trying to spot. We went to bed after another great day. After all the extra riding around we did after we got into the Mill valley, our miles totaled 40.63.
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