The Ride is Underway!

As our dear, loving, and extensive audience is aware of, the ride started today! We met at a quarter to nine in the Oval, took some photos, and then headed out on the road. Dave and I were joined by Lauren and Dave's brother Nate for the leg up to San Francisco. We encounteredour first road bump 15 miles in when Nate was sidelined with a flat tire. A quick tube change later we were back on the road and on the way to San Francisco.

Once in the city we gathered at the Ferry Building. Dave and I bought tickets to take the ferry to Vallejo while Lauren grabbed the car and headed across the Bay. I was very excited to see the Richer family, albeit for only a few minutes, before jumping on the boat.

Now, I just want to say one word about the ferry. Some people have called it "cheating" or insinuated that we weren't really biking across the country. Initially, these naysayers got to me. Then I remembered I'm biking 4,500 miles- that's 50% more than the width of the country- in less than two months and I feel better. You know who you are.

Getting back on track, Dave, Lauren, and I lunched in the car with the food we bought at Costco. After a particularly gooey PB&J Dave and I hit the road again to Fairfield. The 30 miles went great, but the extra 5 we tacked on because we got lost weren't all that great. Still when we did find our final destination we were greeted by an extremely friendly and welcoming host. Barbara Cruz is the mother of a Stanford alum and graciously opened her home to us. We are currently chilling in her living room watching the NBA Finals (why are the Magic terrible?) after having had a delicious pasta dinner.

I'm pretty tired but am looking forward to tomorrow. We're heading to Carmichael, CA to stay with our good friend and teammate Charlie Lilley (shoutout to Charlie for graduating today. Congrats!). But right now I'm thinking about heading to bed. Thanks for reading, and come back for more tomorrow!