It’s all fun and games until the rain starts. That was my thought as I heard the rain drops on the tent in the middle of the night. As the humidity rose, the dampness of everything in the tent did as well.
By time morning arrived, I came up with a plan. I’d check the weather and see when the break was and then wait it out in the tent.
It was then I discovered that my pre-trip waterproofing treatment was 95% effective. I can tell you, 95% doesn’t cut it. It’s starting to get wet inside my tent with some pooling action. The tent is probably about 10 years old, and it was looking a little thin and the seam treatment was lifting off.
New plan, definitely book a hotel to get things dried out in the evening. Might as well pack up and get on the way even though it’s still raining since all the gear will just get wet anyways.
I brought out the rain covers for the Panniers.
The ride leaving the campground was on a nice trail but with the fog and drizzly rain, there really wasn’t any picture opportunities.
I got to a point where the path was closed due to a bridge being out so I had to detour to the main road. On the main road I discovered that there were some kind of bicycling event going on. There was what seemed to be an endless stream of cyclists. I had to finally squeeze through to get going. I made it in town and found a restaurant with an outdoor covered seating area that was serving breakfast. Looks like a good place to wait out the rain.
Breakfast while watching the rain. The hourly forecast is showing the rain tapering off in about an hour.Might as well have a second breakfast while waiting for the rain to stop. I was actually going to have a hamburger, but it was too early and they weren’t serving it yet.Took a picture of a rain puddle while waiting for the rain to stop at breakfast.
When the rain slowed to a drizzle, I decided it was time to go. Per the weather forecast it looks like it was going to improve as I headed north. Maybe I’ll get some pictures today after all.
I almost went through this tunnel, but I checked my route and discovered there was a path to the left for pedestrians and bicycles (Devil’s slide trail).The Devil’s slide trail has a steep climb. One of many steep climbs on the route today.I think there is a good view here from the devils slide trail. If the weather wasn’t so bad I could tell for sure.Just like magic, I came down a hill and around the corner, the weather cleared.At Pacifico State Beach. Another one of the steep climbs of the day.Pier at Sharp Park Beach. The trail here and leading up to it, ended up being a bit muddy.Fishing at Sharp Park Beach.Fishing at Sharp Park BeachToday wasn’t the hardest climbing day, but it was the day of many short and very steep climbs. This little beauty was 2.4 miles averaging 6% grade.Made it to the top of the 2.4 miles 6% grade climb in Daly city. There were periods where it was between 10 and 15% grade. By the end of the day, there were more steep climbs in San Francisco as well as Sausalito.On the weekends, San Francisco closes some of the roads to motor vehicles. Since it was Sunday it was only bicyclist and pedestrians.Murphy windmill at Golden Gate Park.Bison at Golden Gate Park.More climbing and first glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge.Golden Gate Bridge.Another obligatory selfie.They separate bicycle traffic on one side and pedestrian traffic on the other side depending on the day of the week. Today bicyclists were on the west side.Big cable on Golden Gate BridgeI was able to video call my wife and son on the Golden Gate Bridge. It was too noisy next to the road but on the supports you move to the riverside and are shielded from the noise of the traffic.Fishing from the pier with San Francisco in the backgroundOne of the buildings at Fort Baker.Whenever someone describes the city of Sausalito, they say “it’s an expensive ritzy place”. In fact one of the tourers I talked to on my trip described it that way too. Must be good marketing by the city.Photo of photographer. (I had to throw another one of these in, it’s one of my trademarks).Charles McGlashan pathway in Mill Valley.
I got to my home for the night a little after 4:30pm. I quickly set out to charge my electronics and put out my stuff to dry. After a not so quick shower, I road back a little ways to find food and use the laundromat for my desperately needed clothing.
Using all space to air out and dry my stuff.
I don’t expect that I’ll be able to avoid all rain for the rest of my trip but at least the next few days look like a return to good weather.
If it does look like rain, I’ll try to strategically place my tent under the trees to help prevent water leakage.
Ride summary: 4/10 difficulty, 41 miles (+3 for dinner and laundry run) with 2684 feet climbing. Started off raining transitioned to overcast. Calm to strong tailwind most of ride. Today’s ride detailed GPS. Tour totals: 996 miles (47 / day). 55,735 climbing feet.
One response to “Day 21 – Bicycle Touring Half Moon SB to Mill Valley. Rain and Golden Gate”
Second breakfast is always my favorite meal of the day.