This morning was the coolest I’ve had all tour; my fingers started to feel it in the morning riding. The route takes me away from the Pacific towards Sausalito on the bay side of Marin, where the skies start out clear. I climbed up and crossed over Golden Gate Bridge—a ride I’ve done many times before—and entered the cool San Francisco air on the Pacific once again.

I plotted a route to ride home, following the Pacific Coast down and then climbing over the Santa Cruz Mountains on one of my favorite climbs. By this point I had ridden all these streets before, at least once. The climb over into Pacifica was as hard as I remembered it. The afternoon took me down through Half Moon Bay and then up Tunitas Creek. It’s a pretty strenuous climb, particularly in the middle section, but the road has almost no cars and climbs up a valley shaded by redwoods and cooled by the perennial creek.

And so I’m done. I got back home in the afternoon, having cycled non-stop from Vancouver to San Francisco. Tonight I’ll enjoy sleeping in my own bed and all the comforts of my home. I won’t have the pleasure of being gently awoken by the pre-dawn song of the birds from high above in the redwood branches, and of watching the sky change color as the sun crests the horizon from the saddle of my bike. Instead, I’ll lie in, wrapped in my warm sheets, with no agenda for the day.