What A Birthday!

Yesterday I gave Diana and me a belated anniversary present, and today I gave myself a birthday present. I had planned to ride 78 miles from Bodega Bay to San Francisco. Instead I slept in a little later and drove with Diana about 30 miles to Olema, CA and got on the bike there. The shortened rides on three of the last four days has helped a lot, and today's ride went very well. I felt good, even in the saddle, all the way to the end. With God's help I should be able to resume my full distances tomorrow.

Today's ride was a study in contrasts. It started in the golden hills of farmland and pasture, and continued on through Redwood forests into the suburbs of San Francisco, and finally into the busy traffic and hills of San Francisco itself. Everything from winding country roads with a wide shoulder, to no shoulder winding through the woods, to fighting buses, traffic, stoplights and hundreds of other cyclists in the city.

The highligt of today's ride was crossing the Golden Gate Bridge. What a thrilling birthday celebration. It was a glorious, sunny day, with temps over 100 out in the hills, 90 in the city, and in the 70's over the bridge. I asked a tourist from England to take this picture of me on the Golden Gate Bridge.

As I crossed the bridge I thought about having seen a bridge under construction farther north on 101. It was amazing to see what those men had to go through to build that bridge. I thought of the sacrifices of the men who built the Golden Gate so that I could so easily ride my bike straigth across San Francisco Bay. It made me think about our spiritual forefathers and mothers who paved the way for our faith by their sacrifices. They are like a great cloud of witnesses cheering me on as I ride, and cheering on our faith as we go through life (Hebrews 12:1).

Diana arrived safely at the hotel ahead of me, and I wound my way through the up and down streets of San Francisco to join her. We enjoyed a wonderful birthday dinner at Outback Steakhouse, and are praising God for the great day he gave us.


Tomorrow I will be riding along the coast to Santa Cruz. Here is a map of the planned route tomorrow. It should be about 70 miles. Sorry for two postings on one day, but we didn't have internet to post yesterday.


Please keep us in your prayers. So far all driving and riding has been safe, but we are aware of the dangers everywhere and need your prayers to keep God's angels busy. We love and miss you all. God bless each of you.