Day 1 -- San Francisco to Vallejo -- 76 miles

Well, folks, it's official -- day one of my cross country challenge is in the books. And what a day it was. After leaving our hotel in San Francisco, we encountered some rain and heavy fog after about 8 miles. This lasted for about 20 miles, so we had to brave the cold as we did our ceremonial rear wheel dip in the Pacific Ocean (see picture above). Furthermore, the fog hampered our ability to see the Golden Gate Bridge as we pedaled across. That said, it was still exciting to make the 1.7 mile trek over this famous landmark.

Strangely enough, as soon as we crossed the Bridge the sun began to shine brightly, and it remained sunny for the rest of the ride. We had a "SAG stop" (a required stop where all the riders sign in and have an opportunity to fill up water bottles and have a snack), and made our way through Sausalito -- an absoultely gorgeous town.

The rest of the day consisted of rolling hills, pedaling on major highways, bike paths, busy streets, quiet roads -- a little bit of everything. All things considered, I am pleased with how the day went, and am looking forward to getting after it again tomorrow.

Kindly click here to visit my pictures from the day (I have to load them on a separate webpage; otherwise, my blog layout goes out of whack. Side note: I welcome any tips on how to fix this without using a separate webpage).