The Journey Begins

I remember sitting on the stairs at my parent's house as I watched my dad leave town to embark upon his cross country bike trip twenty years ago. Today, it was my turn to head out to the west coast so that I can complete my journey. I have a few pictures to document how I spent my day.

7am (ET): Outside the front of my house ready to head to Logan Airport. Is it me, or is my hair getting grayer by the day?


8:45 (ET): Boarding jetBlue flight 635 for San Francisco. Overall it was a decent flight -- pros: a direct flight with the usual jetBlue perks, plus an empty seat between me (on the aisle) and the guy sitting by the window. Always nice, especially for a 6'8" guy like me. cons: the tv was on the fritz throughout the flight, and there were 3 babies on the flight (right behind me) that were screaming for a good portion of it. Thank goodness for headphones!

Approximately 2pm (ET): Channel 13 on jetBlue's "in-flight" TV. It illustrates how far we have traveled by plane. It was at this point where I had, as expected, my "wait a minute, I have to pedal this far (and then some) back home" moment. Bring it on!


Approximately 1pm (PT): Kindly welcomed to San Francisco by Mayor Newsom (sort of)...

After getting settled into the hotel room, I went into town. I walked around to see what San Francisco is all about, and subsequently found a sports bar where I ate dinner and watched the Celtics get smacked around. A couple of observations:

1. We've all seen it in movies, but the hills in San Francisco are no joke. Although I captured a handful of pictures to prove it, Lombard Street is the only street I will share. Below are my amateur photos (notice the cyclist pedaling down the hill in the first one), but I recommend looking at a professional picture to get a true sense of what this street is all about:

Lombard Street:

2. I realize that I am in California, but I still found myself surprised at how many Lakers' fans were wandering around town. I know that San Fran has a huge Red Sox following, so I guess it's too much to ask for them to like two Boston teams. Oh well -- I mostly kept to myself anyway, but the people I did interact with were extremely friendly in spite of my allegiance to the Celts.

3. I found San Francisco public transportation to be fantastic (and very clean). The hotel I am staying at is off the beaten path (READ: Holiday Inn Express at SFO Airport), but getting into town was fairly easy.

Much as it was twenty years ago with my dad, It was tough to say goodbye today. I am definitely going to miss my family and friends. However, as I have said in the past, I remain convinced that this challenge is going to be a truly memorable experience -- and today kicked things off right!