Don't fear my friends...we aren't dead!
As some of you may have guessed from my posts on Facebook, we ARE in San Fran and YES we hitched here. We were in Garberville, a weirdo hub of northern Cali and we just needed to get out. We got just outside of city limits and decided to thumb a bit to see how far we could get. After 40 minutes of really trying to get a ride we had all but given up until Mike the friendly (see: Creepy) truck driver pulled over and helped us out.
I don't know why, but the map always centers on Wyoming. Click and drag it to the right to see our progress
View Ride a Damn Bike in a larger map
Turned out ol' Mikey was haulin' a load to L.A. and we could hitch with him to just about anywhere. Our original goal was just to get to Legett where the 101 turns into the 1, but hell, it took us a good 30 minutes to load ourselves and our shit onto that truck so why not take us where we really wanted to go...SAN FRANCISCO??! We really deliberated for a while before we decided that yes, we did in fact want to drive 200 miles with a weird truck driver to San Fran. It was pretty cool to be honest. I'd never been in a semi truck before. They are smaller than they look, at least this one was. It had the drivers seat and the passenger seat, which were quite cramped, but it also had a sleeper cab with storage and a bed, but no windows so when you were back there it was anyones guess at the scenery you were missing. We all took turns in the front, battling with Mike's need to talk non-stop, I mean I can't blame him, he must get pretty bored driving 16 hours through the state, but still...let up a bit man. I was up there for a solid 2 hours...all the way through wine country and I'm not so sad we drove through it...it literally smelled like wine the whole way through, it was beautiful though. From the seat of a car you drive these stretches that feel impossible on a bike, but when you're actually biking it, it feels like any other way is just wrong. It was with much regret that we didn't actually bike it, but oh well...cuz we're HERE!!
It was a culture shock to say the least. At first you hit the outer suburbs and are accosted by the smell of fast food, grease and garbage. I completely forgot what it was like to be in a large city. This whole trip it's been tiny town after tiny town, but this was a full on assault to the senses coming down into Oakland....oh wait...I didn't tell you the best part. Mike wasn't actually going into San Fran because we got of the 101, had we stayed on it we would have ridden right over the Golden Gate into San Fran, but time is money and we got onto a bigger freeway so he could just blow through...meaning we got dropped off LITERALLY on the side of the freeway in Oakland/Berkeley...we're not super sure where, but it was loud, it was dirty and it was freaky as hell. We put our bikes back together and walked out bikes around a cloverleaf to get off the freeway (I mean the guy gets off the freeway twice to take a piss, but can't let us off at a proper exit?) Then we bike faster than I've ever biked before over a bridge with NO BIKE LANE OR SHOULDER and attempt to find our way to the BART station, which is the bay areas subway. We had to take an elevator down the platform one at a time because they don't make the elevators very big, get on a train that isn't well equipped for fully loaded touring bikes, only to realize we took the wrong train and have to go back to where we started, transfer, take several more tiny, pee smelling elevators before we are dropped off in downtown San Francisco, at which point we have to bike to the Western Addition neighborhood of San Fran to Kyle, Lani's boyfriends, house. With a bit of magic and my iPhone we made it.
We lugged our bikes up the steps and through his house to the "backyard", it's in quotes because yard would indicate that there is grass, something this area was lacking...it was a back slab...as in concrete slab, a very angled one at that. Me and Tamara set up the tent and felt happy at knowing we could settle in for a few days. Kyle and his roommates had some extra blankets and an extra sleeping pad that made the tent extra cozy and you could hardly tell we were sleeping on the hardest campsite to date. I was feeling really tired, but definitely excited for what the next few days would bring. My happiness bubble would soon be popped. Kyle's roommate has a dog and despite being told that this dog comes off aggressive, but is actually harmless, ol' Kujo had his eye on Marge. First he bit me on the arm, not breaking the skin, but leaving a gnarly bite shaped bruise on my arm. I shrugged it off and assured the owner that I was fine and probably just scared the dog, no biggie. Let me mention here that this dog is half black lab, half pitbull, in other words no fucking joke and despite my cool demeanor, I was pretty scared of this thing and not super keen on it just wandering around me all willy nilly. After some more casual conversation and food eating I excused myself to go into the back "yard" and go to bed, at this point Jango, that's the dog, gets all worked up AGAIN and bites me in the ass, this time breaking the skin and pissing me the fuck off. In less than 20 minutes that dog bit me twice, and the owners response is sheer dumbfoundedness, he just CAN'T BELIEVE his dog would do this. I mean, it's totally normal for him to posture at people aggressively and growl, but NOT TO ACTUALLY BITE?? Bullshit...I found out later that the dog has bitten numerous people and that the owner must have a huge case of denial. Despite all that I kept reassuring the owner that I was fine and that I'd be OK and that it'd be best if he just kept the dog away from me if that was possible. The next morning I wake up, walk inside to use the bathroom and am chased out the front door by this malicious fucker barking and running after me. I'm done...I want nothing to do with this dog and I need a new place to stay, but the problem is I have nowhere to go. I don't really know anyone in San Fran and no one had gotten back to me on couch surfers. I stuck it out a few more nights until Tamara finally heard back from a couch surfer.
We got offered to stay at Matt and Isabel's apartment in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, which ended up being pretty close. Off the bat I knew I was going to like them, they are bike people, I found out later Matt is a SICK fixed gear biker, who can do amazing tricks. They opened up there little office to us, complete with fold out queen sized bed (COMFORTABLE). Me and Tamara took it upon ourselves to explore the city via bus and on foot and SEE IT WE DID! We basically just got lost and walked around until we ended up back at Matt and Isabel's place. Turns out San Fran is pretty small and relatively easy to navigate on the bus...go San Fran. We saw pier 39 with all the sea lions chillin', rode on a cable car for free because Tamara told the guy her sob story, took the bus up to the Golden Gate bridge and acted a damn fool. The bus is REALLY fun actually, it's like you pay $2 and the city suddenly in the palm of your hand and since Tamara didn't have a bike it was a handy way to get all over town.
Tamara must have karma like a banshee because Matt offered her a free Specialized Crossroads bike that he found. Granted it's quite rusty and not in the best shape, but it works and it has a rack already on it...the same rear rack I have on my bike in fact. WAIT A MINUTE...why doesn't Tamara have a bike you ask? Well...on one of our exploratory nights while we were still at the dogs house, we parked our bikes on Haight street, near Ashbury and during that time someone came over and clipped Tamara's cable lock and made off with her Kona. I was sincerely sorry for her and in a bit of a panic over what she would do, but Tamara was shockingly OK with the whole thing. She was giggling about it within minutes and only really sad when she realized that her hat, the one she had custom made in Nepal, was stolen along with the bike. She was wishing the people who stole the bike well, hoping that the bike would help them get where they needed to go or give them much needed money...talk about non-attachment. I really learned a lot from her and was grateful I got to experience such a beautiful moment. She was downright light hearted when reporting the theft to the police and wished the dispatcher a lovely day when she was done. The downside was the thought that Tamara would now be hitching or backpacking, while me and Lani went on without her, but Matt cleared all that up by giving her a new bike of her own!!!
Me and Tamara have been bouncing around ever since, we stayed at Kyle's until the dog tormenting me pushed me over the edge and I couldn't take it anymore, then we stayed with Matt and Isabel, but Isabel's mom came into town so we had to leave. All day today, since about 9am, me and Tamara have been out and about since we didn't really have any place to call home. We hauled our stuff around and by 4:30, with no place to stay still, we started to panic...or at least I did. Tamara, in true Tamara fashion, was just as bubbly and confident as ever that things would be fine. To be honest I just wanted a nap, I was REALLY REALLY tired and have been ever since we got into the city, perhaps the non-stop hustle and bustle is just too much for me now and what really get my motor runnin' is the open road between towns, where all you need to worry about is a well oiled chain and powerbar. Fortunately Tamara put a posting on craigslist.com asking for help regarding her stolen bike situation. The manager of a hostel downtown got back to her rather quick saying we could stay at his hostel for a few nights to try and sort some things out without having to worry about where we were going to sleep. So here I am...on the Jack Kerouac bad (they name all the beds so you know which on is yours). I'm still tired, but feel really happy to have my own bed for the next few night and not have to worry about hauling my stuff to and fro.
So much has happened in San Fran that I didn't even go into, but I'll post pictures with some captions so you can get a snipit of the time we've spent here, it's too much to try and write about it, I could go on and on and on, but this would get long and I need sleep.
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| This is from the sleeper cab in Mike's truck. Yes there was a picture of a naked woman on the dash and yes he claimed to be dating a 19 year old her refereed to only as "my lady" ::::SHIVERS:::: |
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| Oh god...from the sleeper cab |
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| Vogue-ing in the Bart station...culture shock never looked so good. |
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| Hanging out on hippie hill in Golden Gate park...drum circle anyone? |
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| Isabel, our couch surfing host, spins fire!!! |
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| I GOT TO PLAY TOO!!...I didn't burn anything! |
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| I'm not too bad...honestly |
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| Miles and Fumie, cyclists we met in Honeyman park WAAAAY back in Oregon called us up and we had a PARTY!!! |
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| Me acting a fool on the cable car, I kept trying to get the driver to tell me all the gory details about people falling off and dying...he only responded by saying that that is "unpleasant", then we sang purple rain together...I told him I was from MPLS...he's a Prince fan. |
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| Bikes have traffic signals too. Despite it's monster hills San Fran has a HUGE biking community...an a rather large Fixie crowd too. Matt our couch surfing host, rides fixed with no brakes...and he's REALLY amazing at it. Did a wheelie for 2 blocks with one hand I shit you not. |
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| Kyle showing us the San Fran "wiggle" it's a bike route you can take that avoids all the major hills...pretty sweet. |
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| Tamara, minutes before we locked our bikes up to explore the Haight where her bike would eventually be stolen. She was still smiling like this despite the theft. |
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| This town is a HARSH |
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| LET'S DO IT!!! and so we did! |
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| So amazing...the hills are so steep that you feel like you could fall off when you're at the top |
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| Lombard street...super curvy |
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| Fisherman's Wharf |
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| Trying to figure out where Lani is...shit. |
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| Walking up to see Lombard...this hill was damn near verticle...it baffles the mind |
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| Spinning practice poi if Isabels, Matt is an artist and took GREAT pictures. Here's one! |
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| And another |
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| And me playing with fire.... |
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| More by Matt |
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| Poi spinning is my new addiction for sure...it's pretty hard...literally I smashed myself in the head... |
I think that's as up to date and detailed as I can get for now. The plan from here is the stay in San Fran a bit longer and then pedal on. We're feeling a little itchy to move faster though and there has been talks of ditching the bikes and hitching the rest of the way. We love biking, but it feels like we are being pulled in another direction, we all seem to really want to go to Mexico, but with the recent border issues and it being unsafe to travel in those areas we were thinking we'd take a bus to Mexico City and maybe WWOFF or try and teach English. I've been fluent in Spanish for all these years and have yet to really use it. Why not now? Plus if we hurry the California bit up we are less likely to spend all our money here. San Fran alone has really drained the funds and I've been quite frugal. This place isn't cheap, but I do love it. Maybe when I want to plant my feet somewhere firm again I'll do it on San Fran soil, but until then I'll have to have a love long distance with this fair city.
Just keep pedaling....??
Maggie
