[Mile 7, 5:43am] As the sun took a peak over the horizon, I followed AJ across the shoulderless Petaluma Bridge on CA-37. This would be just one of the several highways we’d have to ride on.

[Mile 19, 6:45am] AJ on the Benicia Bridge over to San Pablo Rd. We’d get within 1 mile of my friend Lisa’s house, but sadly, it was just too early to stop on by!

[Mile 48, 8:26am] 2nd (no wait, 3rd) highway of the day: CA-24, which was an uphill grade to Fish Ranch Rd.

[Mile 51, 8:50am] Up on Grizzly Peak one gets a view of Berkeley, Oakland, the SF Bay, and SF.

[Mile 52, 9:15am] At Rest Stop #2–Sibley Picnic Area–Joseph Maurer (wearing the RUSA jersey) and AJ fill their bottles/Camelback. Water would become a precious commodity later in the day!

[Mile 85, 11:41am] Now off of traffic-laden Mission Blvd. and into Fremont, one gets a view of the top of Morrison Canyon Rd.–a familiar training grounds for me, having done many hill repeats up its 750′ in 1.75 miles. Fortunately we did not have to go up it today!

[Mile 73, 10:41am] At Rest Stop #3, several cyclists inspect a map of the route we would follow today. It does put the distance into perspective a bit, as in “this is nuts!”

[Mile 93, 12:20pm] Felix at Rest Stop #4 in Warm Springs (still in Fremont, but barely). And “warm” it sure was getting (93 degrees at this point already).

[Mile 99, 12:58pm] A cyclist approaches a bridge on a bike path in Milpitas.

[Mile 115, 2:25pm] By this point both AJ and Joseph abandoned, the heat being too much to handle. This rest stop in Palo Alto was welcome, as it turned out the next leg of the ride would provide a true test…

[Mile 118, 2:51pm] Oh, the heat! That combined with some climbing on Arastradero road, and I was slowly-but-steadily beginning to crack…

[Mile 130, 3:47pm] The heat was hardly relenting along unshaded Can~ada Rd. along the Crystal Springs Reservoir in Woodside.

[Mile 142, 4:51pm] And then we had to go on another highway–I-280! At least it was just for about a mile.

[Mile 152, 5:39pm] But finally, one got a reprieve from the heat through Pacifica and onto the Great Highway, shown here.

[Mile 156, 6:04pm] Of course, there was some climbing through the streets of San Francisco after getting through Golden Gate Park. This is 30th Ave., I think.

[Mile 158, 6:14pm] Leading me up Lincoln Street were Lisa and Alfie, who recognized me from this website!

[Mile 160, 6:28pm] The view doesn’t get much better than this. Canny and the Golden Gate Bridge.

[Mile 161, 6:32pm] Unfortunately, I got on the wrong (east) side of the bridge, and then had to navigate through throngs of pedestrians and tourists at like 4 mph! Lots of time lost here.

[Mile 162, 6:51pm] At least the view was good, this being of Treasure Island and Alcatraz.

[Mile 166, 7:08pm] Another mile, another highway. This is US-101 over the Richardson Bay Bridge.

[Mile 172, 7:38pm] Rest Stop #8 at Shoreline Park in Sausalito provided the best views of any rest stop in the ride. It was clear enough to even see San Francisco from here.

[Mile 173, 7:46pm] One of the most splendid roads of the day (in Paradise Cove), which was a huge contrast to all the traffic-laden roads from most of the day. Alas, soon it would get dark!