WOW! What an incredibly stimulating day today was!!! I woke up at 5, and we started on the road at about 6:30 am!!! HA! This may have been the only time I've ever had a smile on my face so early in the morning!!! After about 1.5 miles, we started a 600 foot climb that lasted one mile! That was the most challenging part of the day. It was fun riding to the ocean and carrying my bike across the beach, and dipping my wheel into the ocean! I was going at a slower pace because I've only been to San Francisco one time, which was a quick trip. So, I was stopping often to take pictures. One of the highlights (along with dipping our bikes in the ocean) was riding across the Golden Gate Bridge! One street we took to get there was Balboa street.... it was in the heart of San Fran, with those super steep hills going up and down, like we used to see on the Rice- A- Roni commercials. So, of course I had the ROCKY theme in my head going down this street! This organization (America By Bicycle) is very organized. It is the ultra yuppie trip. They provide us with food and water along the way...so this isn't as hard core as other bike trips can be where you are responsible for everything...I've met a lot of great people on this trip in just the first day! This one lady Carole goes at my own pace, so we buddied up quickly. Then we met up with 2 others later on who traveled along with us. The four of us ended up getting lost, taking the wrong highway, and having to backtrack. We had to call for support to find where we had to go...one of the vans came and met up with us, to point us in the right direction. It just happened to be the street the was directly ahead of us! LOL!!! As one other bicyclist told me: the more miles, the better the stories!!!We also rode through a cute town, Saulsilido... (I may have misspelled this), it was just very quaint with a lot of unique shops, and no chain restaurants or businesses.I was super grateful that the weather was so perfect. Not too hot, not too windy, and no fog, so I got great pics...which will eventually be posted!We go to a restaurant together every night, where we all swap stories of stuff that happened. Today was a bad day for many, but as was said by those involved, could have been much worse. In short, there were 3 accidents, 2 flat tires, and a warped bike rim. According to the staff, this is highly unusual that all this happens in one day, let alone the first day! Aside from some scrapes, cuts, bruises, and a dislocated clavical, everyone involved in accidents are okay, but really had made many of us realize how important it is to stay focus while riding these streets!We go through so many neighborhoods, and saw so many different parts of the San Francisco Bay area, which included passing by San Quentin... as I told one new friend, I feel like I had so many different flavors of America in just one day....that is, just seeing and experincing things we don't normally see or do! Overall, it's been a blast, and everyone here is in agreement: that if this is how invigorated and rejuvenated we feel after just one day, we just can't imagine how great the rest of this trip will be! We are all simple giddy!On that note, its time for me to turn in! Thanks again to all of you for your prayers and support!Going to Sacramento tomorrow!!!Adios!!!
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