We had people all doing different options today. Cora wanted to stop off in Fairfax and see her friend Charlie Cunningham, and Phil wanted to go with Cora to meet Charlie. Charlie was one of the inventers of the mountain bike, and Phil really wanted to meet him. Charlie is also married to Jacquie Phelan, the fabled queen of the WOMBATS (Womans Mountain Bike and Tea Society), of which Cora has been a card carrying member since 1988. So I was happy to send them off to meet Charlie. I was locked into going to Stinson Beach, as I had made arrangements with Megan Nguyen for her to meet us there. The Double DipSea running race was being held this morning and Megan planned to work the registration and then ride home with us.

Lisa, riding.

The Peleton, from before.

The Peleton, from behind.

Many people were also planning to go to Stinson Beach for breakfast, so I was with this group which included Peggy and Lisa and Nicole. There was a third option also, and this group stayed with us for the first 10 miles and then headed up the Bolinas-Fairfax Road, where they were then to go along the ridge and up to the top of Mt.Tamalpais.

In Stinson Beach we all stopped in at the Parkside Cafe and got seated in the patio. I went over to the park and looked for Megan, but no Megan was to be found. I had half-expected this, so I wasn't too surprised or disappointed. Megan had been getting more flakey with her riding commitments, so this was just one more. We were late arriving today and all of the runners had already left so we never did get to see any of the race.

Panoramic view of Stinson Beach, from the Panoramic Hwy.

Lisa and Miguel, near Stinson Beach.

Peggy, Miguel, Lisa, Theresa.

Nicole, riding near Stinson Beach.

After breakfast we all headed up hill on the Panoramic Hwy. This time I didn't offer Nicole a tow but just rode up with her for awhile. About half way up Nicole said that I could go off ahead and so I did, as I wanted to find some film for Cora's camera. At the top, Mt.Tamalpais park headquarters, we met up with the group that had climbed to Mt.Tamalpais along the ridge. They had just come down and were there waiting for us. When Nicole showed up, we were one big group again, so we headed off along the Panoramic Hwy and then down into Mill Valley.

In Mill Valley I stopped to try calling Cora to see where they were, but no answer so I left a message. We then rode over to Sausalito and we found them waiting at a coffee shop. Some of our group stopped for them while many kept going. Phil said he had a great visit with Charlie.

People were just wanting to get finished now, so we rode across the Golden Gate Bridge and then went straight through to the finish in Golden Gate Park. Most of the people were already arrived by this time, and many were boxing their bikes. At lunch we saw Rosa who came up to pick up Jolyce and Nancy.

Rosa was looking much better than when we last saw her, being loaded onto a stretcher on Dogtown Road. Rosa cleaned up pretty good, with only a few minor scrapes showing on her face, even though she had some broken facial bones. Her left arm was in a sling because of a broken elbow. Rosa asked me if her being injured meant that she wasn't a Donette any longer, and I assured her that she could still be my Donette, and that she would get an automatic extension on her membership because she was injured. I like Rosa.

Most of the people that were planning to do the ride home from here had already left long ago. That was Paul Vlasveld, Dennis Uyeno, Jerry Schonewille, Dick Caron, Doug Gillison, and Franz Kelsch. Left over to ride with me was Cora, Fran, Jeff, Guy, and Stu Goodgold. It was 2:30 when we finally got going.

The windy conditions from yesterday had continued today, so we ended up having a nice tailwind almost all of the way home. Going through San Francisco we seemed to have a stop sign at every corner, but once we got through that and over onto Skyline Blvd, we were able to make better time.

Our first stop was the Chevron station in Burlingame, and then we stopped at the store in Woodside. Each of these were about 16 miles apart, so we were ready for a break when we got close to each one. From Woodside it would be about 23 miles more to get to Fran and Jeff's house in Campbell, so we decided to make it there next.

At Fran and Jeff's house, we were met by John and Jim. John is Fran's brother, and Jim is from San Antonio. Both did the Tour with us and then took the bus back. John then brought everybody's bags home with him. From here, Jeff was to give Cora and me a ride over to my house. We were at Fran and Jeff's just after 7:00, and were at my house at 8:00. From my house I loaded up Cora's bike and bag into my car and drove her home to San Juan Bautista. It was 9:45 when I finally got home to stay.

It had been a very long day and all I could think about was going to bed. The next day I made sure that I slept in, and then I just stayed around the house all day, washing clothes, drying out tents, putting stuff away, taking naps. I did manage to find some time and put together the puzzle from Olema and found that there was one piece missing. One piece, after all of that wind, I could live with that. Now that missing piece has a story to tell for next time.

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