Cool California Locals

I believe that yesterday could have been one of our most trying days yet, but it actually turned into one of our very best.

We woke up to pouring rain in Bodega Bay. The first 40km of our ride went by nice and fast as we were powered by leftover Halloween candy… We stopped for a quick lunch in Marshall. As we sat there shivering we were greeted by Rich who was also taking his lunch break; he told us about the upcoming roads, where to go for fewer hills, some cool sites, where he has cycled and of course the painted bridge. It was great to hear his enthusiasm and to have someone to distract us from our cold. Rich gave us one of his local maps and we were on the road again...

We reached our planned campsite early in the afternoon and decided that we would much rather stay on our bikes and push another 45km for San Francisco than spend the rest of the afternoon in a soggy crowded tent.

Ok, so almost to Fairfax we pulled over to the side of the road for a snack and a chat when Annie and Juliana pulled up. They were just making sure that we were ok. Annie is a super cool girl that has done tons of traveling and has guided bicycle tours all over the world. She gave us a few tips for the roads ahead and we were just leaving when Chris looks back at me and says, “That girl has jumped out of her car and is chasing us!” I guess Annie had decided that we didn’t look too threatening and generously invited us to her house for showers and a dry place to sleep and also out to live music with her and her friends that night in Fairfax. We decided not to climb the HUGE hill up to Annie’s, but that we would meet her later on.

A couple of minutes after talking to Annie, Rich honked as he was driving by on his way into town and stopped to see how we were doing. He told us that we were doing a great pace and wished us well on the rest of our journey. Somehow it almost seemed like we were beginning to be locals along this California highway…

We were completely soaked when we got into the cool little hippy town of Fairfax. We took over the laundry mat as our base to dry gear (and oursleves). After exploring some cute shops and eating a delicious burger, we met Annie at the Book Beat for some super fun music by locals Liam & Ronnie and then by Carsie Blanton from Philadelphia. It was a wonderful evening that was followed by an after party at The Scoop, the homemade ice cream shop in Fairfax. Oh, and courtesy of Liam, we are now known as “The Canadian Biker Chix” by the Fairfax locals.

~Jodie