The Trip Commences

Since I haven't been able to update my blog for a few days I will start with Friday, June 10th. That morning we had our team pictures taken at Fort Baker which sits at the northern end of the Golden Gate Bridge. That evening we ate at an In-'N'-Out Burger near Fisherman's Wharf. This was my first time eating at this West Coast version of Cookout, so of course I had to commemorate the event with the purchase of a t-shirt from the restaurant.

Saturday was the last day of training before the trip began the next day. So, we started the day off with a 24 mile training ride. While not exactly a very long ride it did include some pretty good inclines; we finished with 2,400 feet of ascent. The downhills were a little scary because along with being pretty chilly most of the year, the Bay Area is also quite windy. A couple time the crosswinds were pretty strong. Dinner for that evening included a meal at the Buca di Beppo in downtown San Francisco. This was a great event that brought together the participants of Journey of Hope (for both the North and South routes), their families, and the staff of Push America. The CEO of Push gave a speech that stressed his urge for us to get as much out of this awesome experience we are privileged to be a part of.

Moving on to Sunday, the day it all officially began. We had to wake early this morning...really early (4:45 to be exact). After getting all our gear and bicycles packed, we left the Alpine Inn for the last time and headed to the Golden Gate Bridge. We had breakfast on the San Francisco side with our families, and then after a couple speeches we were driven over to the opposite side of the Bridge to bike back and kick off this ride. This breakfast was also the last chance we had to hang out with the North route cyclists and crew who biked north off the Bridge and headed on their own separate course to Washington D.C. As I cycled on the Bridge I was able to snap some photos of the other cyclists, myself and the scenery. After we crossed the Bridge, the South route cyclists and the supporting crew traveled through San Francisco on our way to Santa Cruz. Because of some delays experienced at the start of that first day, we were unable to complete more than 50 miles of the 80 miles we were scheduled to cycle for that day. Also lots of construction traffic kept the vans from continuing to move ahead and support us as we rode. As a result we had to be racked and driven to the lodging for the remaining 30 miles. After arriving at our lodging for that night, we met with the organization for that day for dinner in a local park.

This morning we began the day with our 50 mile ride leaving from Santa Cruz and traveled down the coast to Monterey. This ride as a whole was not too difficult; there wasn't as much ascent that we experienced the day before. Primarily the roads we were riding on bordered strawberry fields, lots of them. After the cycling was complete and while we were preparing for our first arrival of the trip, the crew fed us an awesome snack of fresh strawberries and cherries. We rode in formation to the Gateway Center. They warmly welcomed us with applause and a banner they had made as all the vans and bikes rode into the entrance. The lodging tonight had wireless internet, which I was very pleased to learn. This allowed me to type and post this entry you are now reading.

You will be able to tell which pictures were taken while cycling because most likely they will be pretty crooked.

Location: Monterey, CA

Total mileage traveled: 100 miles

Total calories burned: 5559 cal

Today's temperature: 60°

Today's humidity: 83%