We swam upstream on the Golden Gate Bridge on our way to Half Moon Bay. We’re now farther south than home.

I woke up this morning fully refreshed and ready to meet the day. I was also quite convinced I was at home. Then I looked at the clock. 2:00 am. No longer feeling refreshed, I spent some time figuring out that I was in a hotel room, in the middle of a bike tour, and should really be sleeping.

Every morning, as part of getting out the door, I do a sweep of the room. Every drawer gets examined, blankets get pulled apart, furniture is looked under. Sometimes I find something we forgot, or one of the kids stashed for us. Today, I noticed while packing that Max’s hat was missing, and it wasn’t found in the sweep. Oma made the hat, and Max had grown quite attached to it. If we go out of the room, even after dark, he’ll put his hand on his head and plaintively ask “Hat?”

Anne called the restaurant from last night. Not only did somebody answer the phone, even though it was hours before it opened for lunch, but they had the hat. So we got an extra stop on the way out of town.

We headed south on a patchwork of paths and roads. It was hard to follow at times, but we figured it out. As we were passing through Sausalito, a pair of motorcycle police had their lights on in a cross street, but we didn’t see them until we were in the intersection. After we got through, they pulled out and blocked the street behind us, as some kind of demonstration came around the corner. We were chased through the streets of Sausalito by an angry mob.

We stopped briefly for pictures along the waterfront, but, you know, angry mob.

We headed into the hills, approaching the Golden Gate Bridge. A ton of people on rental bikes were coming the other way, making it easy for us to figure out where to go. At the time we were going, they didn’t have the west sidewalk, dedicated cyclists open. That meant not only would we be dodging people on rentals, we’d also be trying to get past pedestrians taking selfies.

Other than a few choke points, it was okay. Being southbound, we got squeezed against the guardrail closest to traffic. But that meant we only had people on one side. Once we got onto the bridge, it was pretty good until we got to the southern tower. Gaggles of tourists, with bikes laying about haphazardly, made our passage a challenge. The beauty of the view and the bridge itself were quite nice, but the crowd kept it from being fun. We stopped at the visitor center on the south end to regroup, when the angry mob caught up with us. Turned out they were actually a Special Olympics torch run. We also met a woman who biked the coast a few years ago with her wife, though she didn’t bring any kids along.

We stopped for lunch at the Lincoln Park Playground. While we were eating, we saw another touring couple with a Chariot, so probably with a kid, go by the other way on the street. We were too far to do anything but wave.

Then down the Great Highway, and it’s sand drifts into the shoulder. At most intersections it was bad enough we needed to take the lane. Fortunately, traffic had breaks to make it pretty easy. Ruth was entertained with the windmills in Golden Gate Park.

Then for the biggest climb of the day, up Skyline Blvd and Skyline Dr in Daly City. I felt really weak on this climb. I knew I could do it, it just took a lot more oomph than I thought it deserved. At the top, we were treated to a nice view of the city back north. The descent was crummy, though, with frequent stop signs requiring riding the brakes.

Then into Pacifica, and past the gravel lot that was an apartment building until recently. Then back on Highway 1, now carrying a ton of traffic with scant shoulder. We began the final climb of the day, up towards Devil’s Slide.

Just before the tunnels at the top, we pulled off Highway 1 to the Devil’s Slide Trail. Before the tunnels opened in 2014, it was the road, and evidently quite an exciting one. Now that cars have a shiny new tunnel, the road has been converted into a walk/bike/horse trail. It felt like a nice stretch of mountainy road that we got (nearly) to ourselves.

Back on Highway 1, we rolled back down the hill and into Half Moon Bay for the night. We ate at The Barn (tasty, but overpriced), then went for a walk along Miramar Beach.

Tomorrow we’ll be heading to Santa Cruz. I’m looking forward to a couple of days from now when we’ve cleared the Bay Area. It’ll be less familiar terrain, and hopefully a little less densely populated, too.