Days 64-66 - I Think I'll Stop Here

Samuel,
Thanks for following along! Glad you enjoyed it. Are you going to school in California? Where?

Emily,
Glad you finally commented! Thanks for following along.


From Placerville, I rode to the eastern side of Sacramento where my friend Nick, a frequent commenter on this blog, set me up with his uncle. He had a beautiful home with a pool less than a mile from the bike route. The bike route, from Folsom to Sacramento was actually a 30 mile long bike path. No cars here! Just have to watch out for wet, slippery boardwalks...

Looks pretty dry...

Right along the American River.

The ride along the river was beautiful and since it was on a Sunday, the path, parks, and river were full of people. It was nice seeing so many out enjoying themselves. 

Bob was a great host and he took me out to Jack's Urban Eats for dinner and afterwards we shared a bowl of popcorn while watching Pierce Brosnan as James Bond before going to bed. In the morning, I had a high calorie breakfast before beginning my ride around 8:30AM. Bob made a strong brew and I took it black. I could feel the caffeine immediately. It was certainly mixed with some adrenaline. I was ready to go and as I was walking my bike out of his backyard, Bob yelled, "You're livin' the dream, man! You're livin' the dream!"

My final day of riding was to be 90 miles from east Sacramento to Vallejo. From Vallejo, I would take the ferry across the bay to San Francisco. I started out still on the bike path, riding as fast as ever. I caught a group of 8 local riders within the first few miles and rode and chatted with them for a bit to Old West Sacramento. Not too long after, I stopped for a quick drink at a gas station. While I was outside wondering why I had decided to get the large soda instead of the small, I saw what was sure to be another trans-America cyclist heading west. I threw my drink away and jumped on my bike to catch up. 

The rider's name was Brian and he had come from New York City. He was 27 years old and was not going to be finishing his ride today in San Francisco. He would stop after only 30 or 40 more miles and then go around the bay on his bike in order to come into San Francisco on the Golden Gate Bridge. 

We began talking about how our rides have been and our worst and best experiences and our longest days and so forth. I was getting hungry and the conversation was getting good. So, we decided to take a lunch stop in Winters at the Putah Creek Cafe.

In college at Carnegie Mellon, Brian was a math and computer science major. He interned at Microsoft and worked on Vista while he was there. He has been working in the finance industry for the past few years in New York City. He lives on the upper east side of Manhattan and has made a lot of money at his job. He said they paid him, "gobs of money like you wouldn't believe." 

Then, his boss was let go. He did not like the new boss and so he started to not like his job. He told them he was quitting and then they decided to not give him a bonus he had already earned unless he worked 18 more months. So, he went to work every day for a year and played games on his computer. 

Once he finally quit that job, he knew he needed to make some changes with his life. This lead to him riding his bike across the U.S. He said he wants to do something more meaningful when he returns. He wants to do something that would have an immediate, positive impact on the world. He certainly has the means to do whatever he wants. 

However, his parents, who grew up in very poor households, are worried about him. To see their son without a steady income gives them sleepless nights. They are constantly asking about when he will get another job. He feels tremendous pressure from them. 

He also is feeling pressure from his girlfriend. She also has a high paying job in finance and they have been together for the better part of 6 years. Marriage is certainly on her mind and he knows it. He just is not so sure about it. 

He finally said that he just wants to move to the Caribbean and live on boat. 

Brian is certainly at a crossroads in his life. He is a smart guy and I am sure he will make good decisions. My only advice is to be more selfish. 

I rode with Brian for about 40 miles and it was a remarkable coincidence how appropriate that nearly half of my final day of riding was with as interesting of a person as him. He has confirmed in many ways what I thought I already knew. 

I cranked out the last 30 miles to Vallejo through the strongest headwind of the entire trip. I was nearly blown off my bike numerous times. I managed to arrive at the ferry building in Vallejo at 5:20 just in time to catch the last ferry of the day at 5:35. 

The ferry ride was an hour long so, I decided to start looking for a place to sleep that night. I had no idea how long I would be in San Francisco and I hadn't even purchased my plane ticket home yet. Heck, I didn't even know how I was going to get my bike back to Cleveland.

After seeing how expensive the hotels were, I found a hostel close to the San Francisco ferry building for 30 bucks a night. I called them immediately and reserved a bed. The hostel turned out to be a much better idea than a hotel even if I could afford one. There were about 20 other young people staying there and I was one of only a couple Americans. There were people from Canada, Russia, Germany, Italy, England (southern softies, though), and even Egypt.

After meeting everyone and claiming a mattress, I set out to buy some real clothes. I haven't worn cotton or denim for more than 2 months and I miss it. I've been looking forward to this moment! I walked over to the nearest clothing store,  found a manikin with a good looking outfit on, found a salesman, and told him I wanted that outfit. He went around and picked everything out and I was back in street clothes again. I also dropped 2 inches around my waist.

Today, I made friends with the German guy staying at the hostel. His name was Felix and he was from Düsseldorf. He did not come from there, though. He actually just finished a 2 month internship in Jamaica and just got into the states the same night I arrived. He was 20 years old and enjoyed mountain and road biking back in Germany so, we had plenty to talk about. Plus, I could practice more of my German. He was impressed or, just really nice.

First, we walked over to a bike shop and I dropped the Marin off for it to be packaged and shipped back to Cleveland.

Best looking bike in the shop. 

We then walked a bit more before deciding to hop on a bus to the beach by Golden Gate State Park. I was sorry the Marin couldn't be there with me.

Felix und mich.

Where's the Marin?

So, this is my final stop. There are more places to go. I could go to Yosemite or down to San Diego or even up through the Redwoods. That's just in California! There's Montana, Idaho, Rocky Mountain National Park, Oregon, Washington, the Grand Canyon, England, Scotland, Switzerland, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Greece, Italy, Germany, France, Spain, just to name a few. This trip was never about getting to San Francisco. If I just wanted to get to San Francisco, I should have gotten on a plane. 

I have been gone from home for over two months and I am ready to get back. I booked a flight that will get me to Cleveland at around 11AM on July 29. 

Also, I have one more blog that I will post as an attempt at an epilogue or summation to this trip. It should be up before I arrive back in Cleveland. Check back if you are interested. As for the riding, it is now over...until next time.

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life=good