Neil's Waves to Wine Cycle Trip

The End

2007-09-30T17:18:00.000-07:00

Final verdict: That was a ton of fun. Oh, and I grossly overtrained.

Finished

2007-09-30T16:28:00.000-07:00

I pulled over to get a drink for the final push to the end. As I came to a stop, I looked up and saw the "FINISH" banner just ahead. Whee!

Fan

2007-09-30T14:58:00.001-07:00

The biggest fan I've ever seen. To keep frost off the grapes?

[Correction: I've seen helicopter blades which are bigger.]

Winery

2007-09-30T14:51:00.000-07:00

This must be where they take perfectly good grapes and let them go bad.

Narrow bridge

2007-09-30T14:49:00.001-07:00

When this bridge was built, it was probably a two lane bridge. But modern American cars have grown so wide that it is now classed as a single lane bridge.

Cops

2007-09-30T14:45:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the police were out in force handing out tickets to cyclists who got in the way of cars. Today the police were blocking traffic on busy intersections so that we could cycle by. Must be Sunday.

Vineyards

2007-09-30T13:39:00.000-07:00

I guess this is why they call the area "wine country".

Just say no to atoms

2007-09-30T12:58:00.000-07:00

What does this sign mean? That this village doesn't have nuclear weapons? Or nuclear power plants? Or MRI scanners? Or smoke detectors?

Contact

2007-09-30T12:13:00.001-07:00

Halfway up a hill in the middle of nowhere my iPhone discovers a connection and starts vibrating. I check it. It's a message from the widow of prince Mugooboo who needs my bank account number. Yay for connectivity!

Frequencies

2007-09-30T09:50:00.000-07:00

Concrete weights attached to a long telephone cable. Damps out swinging in the wind?

Reflection

2007-09-30T09:45:00.000-07:00

Perfect.

Unicycle

2007-09-30T09:07:00.000-07:00

Now I'm speechless. She's been keeping up with us the whole trip.

[Update: Her name is Gracie Sorbello and she has her own blog.]

Breakfast

2007-09-30T07:22:00.000-07:00

The start of day two!

Thank you to everyone who has donated so far. I'm matching all your donations and Google is matching the total. So your contributions to the MS Society are multiplied by four. Just click on the "Team Google" link to the right, then click on my name.

Goodnight

2007-09-29T17:36:00.001-07:00

Google gave its employees an emergency earthquake kit. Amongst the supplies was a tent. Hmm...

Tent city

2007-09-29T17:29:00.000-07:00

Some people booked rooms at a local hotel. The rest of us setup tents.

Medic

2007-09-29T16:57:00.001-07:00

First stop is the medical tent. There was a tree that had dropped a large number of spherical acorn-like seeds. Cycling over those was like cycling over ball bearings. My bike slid out sideways, Newton determined that I would keep traveling straight, and the theory of gravity brought me down to the pavement. Fortunately the iPhone was undamaged. As was my bike. But I skinned my elbow. No big deal.

Halfway

2007-09-29T16:08:00.000-07:00

With two hours to spare I've arrived at the halfway point. This is where we overnight. The full scale of this ride didn't sink in until I saw the bicycle parking lot. Wow.

Vultures

2007-09-29T14:34:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if they are visible in the photo, but there are vultures circling. The number of riders seems to be thinning out too.

Driving on Oysters

2007-09-29T14:30:00.000-07:00

Passing through a fishing village. They use oyster shells as a gravel substitute.

Painting

2007-09-29T14:27:00.001-07:00

I'm not the only one who thinks the scenery is spectacular. The catch is that cell coverage is getting pretty spotty here. So these photos are sometimes being delayed a bit until I get a signal.

Organization

2007-09-29T14:22:00.000-07:00

Lunch was really good. A very large burrito and plenty to drink. I'm very impressed with the level of organization for this ride.

Lunch

2007-09-29T11:42:00.000-07:00

So, what's for lunch?

Inverness

2007-09-29T11:23:00.000-07:00

Wow, I've definitely cycled too far.

Canada

2007-09-29T11:06:00.000-07:00

Have I cycled too far?

Eucalyptus

2007-09-29T10:19:00.000-07:00

Shade is nice.

Found a Googler

2007-09-29T09:41:00.000-07:00

Hi Stephanie!

Moonset

2007-09-29T09:01:00.000-07:00

The moon setting over the Pacific Ocean.

Uphill

2007-09-29T08:30:00.000-07:00

Long climb on twisty roads.

San Francisco

2007-09-29T08:00:00.001-07:00

From across the bay in Sausalito.

North Tower

2007-09-29T07:41:00.000-07:00

Golden Gate Bridge

2007-09-29T07:25:00.001-07:00

Bay Bridge

2007-09-29T07:00:00.001-07:00

Go!

2007-09-29T06:50:00.000-07:00

Freaky

2007-09-29T06:43:00.001-07:00

There's a group of cyclists in the parking lot engaged in a religious ceremony seeking divine assistance for the ride.

Gathering

2007-09-29T05:58:00.000-07:00

Breakfast and registration. I'm #848. Microsofties, Yahooligans, where are the Googlers?

Photosynthesis

2007-09-29T05:29:00.000-07:00

Palm trees outside AT&T Park (where the ride begins). I wonder what percentage of the trees' daily light budget comes from spotlights.

Tunnel

2007-09-29T05:02:00.000-07:00

And I'm off. Here's the Broadway Tunnel connecting my neighbourhood with Chinatown.

Good morning

2007-09-29T04:11:00.001-07:00

Not only is it very early, but as any web developer will recognize, it's an ominous time. This is going to be a long day.

And so it Begins.

2007-09-26T17:36:00.001-07:00

Watch this space on the weekend.