This is a little idea of what each day looked like!!
![Picture](/uploads/5/2/1/4/52148477/published/bike36_1.jpg?1511556249)
The only way to describe a bike trip across America is State by State. Heather and I crossed 9 states (3787 miles). We arrived in San Francisco midafternoon thinking we would simply spend the night somewhere in the city a nice campsite or something. On investigation, we found that a campsite would cost the same as a decent hotel anywhere else. The western express trail we were taking from San Francisco to Pueblo CO starts at the iconic Golden Gate Bridge. I was incredibly excited to start here because the landmark it is in our great country but sadly it was kind of a letdown. It was cool to see that big red monument and see Alcatraz in the distance. But we could only see a hundred-yard section of the bridge because it was so foggy not to mention how cold it was. The rest of California was having a heat wave while a 2-mile circumference around the bridge felt like a winter storm. It was pretty cold. We left the bridge cold optimistic for the whole trip but knew that we were about to miss our 6 o'clock ferry time. We started at the bridge and it was 6 miles to the bay ferry. We caught the boat literally while the nice attendant was closing the gate but he still let us on. The sunset was beautiful on the back of the boat and it really helped me to think about the vast journey we had ahead of us.
The cold day at the bridge might have done our third compadre in for it. Ethan was struggling with a respiratory problem for the next few days and he decided that he should not continue once we got past Sacramento. We met a really nice man named John while on the bike path in Sacramento seeing our bags and hearing about our lofty goals said: "if we needed anything to give him a call". John came through huge because when we were deciding on how to get Ethan home. John volunteered to take pick up Ethan and his gear and take him to the train station it was pretty amazing. Ethan made it home and we see him again later.
The next challenge was going to be getting over Carson pass. From sea level to 8000+ ft over 3 days was not easy. Not to mention it was 105 until we got to a higher elevation. Getting over Carson Pass was not just a great early victory it was one of my first and favorite highlights of the trip. The higher elevation was way prettier and a lot cooler in temp. But seeing heather persevere through two whole says of climbing it was the first sign that I knew she could handle this trip.
The cold day at the bridge might have done our third compadre in for it. Ethan was struggling with a respiratory problem for the next few days and he decided that he should not continue once we got past Sacramento. We met a really nice man named John while on the bike path in Sacramento seeing our bags and hearing about our lofty goals said: "if we needed anything to give him a call". John came through huge because when we were deciding on how to get Ethan home. John volunteered to take pick up Ethan and his gear and take him to the train station it was pretty amazing. Ethan made it home and we see him again later.
The next challenge was going to be getting over Carson pass. From sea level to 8000+ ft over 3 days was not easy. Not to mention it was 105 until we got to a higher elevation. Getting over Carson Pass was not just a great early victory it was one of my first and favorite highlights of the trip. The higher elevation was way prettier and a lot cooler in temp. But seeing heather persevere through two whole says of climbing it was the first sign that I knew she could handle this trip.