Today we bid farewell to Northern California and the Pacific Northwest as we travel down California Coastal Highway 1 to civilization - San Francisco! In the 200 miles from Fort Bragg to San Francisco, there probably isn't a quarter mile of straight road. The entire day was a real workout, and my shoulders are sore. It was up, down, left, right, and the views were spectacular! The morning started with a little bit of fog, but as the temperature came up from a frigid 61 degrees to a balmy 63 degrees, the fog burned off.
     And while the views were spectacular, one of the problems with the California coastline as compared to the Oregon coastline is that a lot of the California coast is private property, so there are much fewer spots to pull over and take pictures . So we took advantage wherever we could to take pictures. One of the problems with coastal elevation changes as compared to typical mountain roads is that there is much less room for the switchbacks. So the switchbacks end up being much steeper, and the turns end up being much sharper, One of the most difficult, and one of my most favorite were the uphill 180 degree right hand hairpin turn. You are on the inside part of the turn, which almost doubles back on itself, and as you come around the curve, you are on a 10% rising grade. Since you had to slow to about 15 mph to get around such a sharp curve, you need to let the bike fall over into the curve and accelerate quickly as you clear the turn. Definitely a second gear climb. In fact most of the day was either second-third gear tight turns or third-fourth gear wider turns. Rarely did we make it into high gear.
   Sometimes all this maneuvering was happening inland, but more often than not, this action was all taking place at the edge of a drop off into the sea a few hundred feet below . Sometimes there were guardrails, but more often there were not. One thing I have learned from driving lots of these roads is to drive at my own comfortable speed. I tend to ride a little slower than traffic sometimes, mostly because I don't want to miss the view, and I can't ride at maximum speed and sightsee at the same time.   So I use the turnouts and let the faster traffic pass. I am still afraid of heights, but I am determined that I am not going to let a little phobia prevent me from enjoying the rides I've wanted to do since I first got the bike.
     Highway 1 merges with US-101 just before the Golden Gate Bridge. We were cruising along, doing our twisty, turnee thing on CA-1, when all of a sudden we are on US-101 and barreling toward the Golden Gate Bridge. It all happened in just a few miles. At the same time, the wind picked up 20-30 knots. 4 lanes of traffic, cars changing lanes everywhere, wind blowing us all over the road, Jody's getting a little scared, so I tell her to just hold on, there isn't much I can do at the moment . Suddenly, we made it over the bridge,and the wind has returned to normal, and the traffic seems to have evened out. All is well!
     Then I see the sign "Golden Gate Bridge Toll - No Cash", and all the toll booths say "Do Not Stop". I guess I was supposed to have done something as foolish as crossing a toll bridge without knowing how to pay the toll. Later, I get back to the room and find out they use a license tag reading system. I log onto the website, and they tell me if I have crossed within the last 48 hours, leave my tag number, email address, and credit card number, and they will figure it out and send me a receipt. Crisis averted!
    Coming off the 101 in San Francisco, the Garmin lady tells me to turn onto Divisadero St. It;s just a couple of miles down the road to the hotel on Market St.As we turn onto Divisadero St, it looks like it is going straight up. So just like the scene in every San Francisco movie, I put the bike in first gear climb. Stopping at each intersection for the 4-way stop or the light . The stop signs are easy, the street levels out at each intersection, and if no one is coming you can roll through. The lights on the other hand were a little more interesting. Since there were cars in front of us, we would have to stop on the steep hill and hold the bike with the front brake. Of course when the light changed, it was the clutch thing on a steep hill. Fortunately the Goldwing has great brakes, and lots of power to climb the hills.
     Of course, what goes up, must come down, and the second mile of Divisadero St was just that. Same exercise, except it was all downhill this time. The hotel is called Beck's Motor Lodge and is located right in the heart of the Castro District on Market St. It has a courtyard with free off-street parking under the building. Everything has just been remodeled, so the place looks awesome! There are restaurants everywhere nearby! When I booked this place the other day, I got the last available room- the upscale king room with fireplace. The room is huge! It is well decorated and looks great. The lady at the front desk is very helpful and gives us some suggestions where to go, The historic streetcar "F" line has a pickup right across the street and will take us directly to fisherman's wharf.
     Tonight we were both pretty tired from today's workout, so we chose the Mexican place next door for dinner - Hecho. Chicken Enchiladas for me and Chicken Fajitas for Jody - Both were delicious! Tomorrow we start exploring. We may sleep in and check out the local area, or we may head for Fisherman's Wharf. But, at the recommendation of the lady at the desk, we will definitely try the breakfast bakery across the street in the morning.

185.6 miles today
11,512.7 miles total

4.820 miles today
275.053 miles total