Day 1: SF to Vallejo -- As good as it gets:

Miles: 77; time: 5:30 avg speed: 13.9; weather: 50's at the pacific and warming to high 70's inland. Blue skies and a good breeze from the west. Picture of today's ride are here.

What a start to this adventure! We did our mass start sandwiched by the two AbB SAG vans and rode two miles in procession until we came to the day's HILL -- a 600' gain over a mile or so. That strung the group out.

From that wake-you-up-fast start we got every kind of riding experience possible packed into one 75 mile day. The cue sheet boasted one entry for every mile ridden so we got lots of practice deciphering them. We rode the hills of China Town to the delicious odor of stir fry wafting from the many restaurants we passed. We rode scenic roads above the SF Bay craning our necks in every direction to take in spectacular views framed by rugged hills, blue skies and the Pacific. We rode the Bayshore Highway with wide beaches off our left shoulder. We rode very busy streets with a Summer Sunday's life of skateboarders, strollers, motorcycles, picnics in the park and tourist buses sharing the road with us. We rode 4 lane highways with heavy traffic, rumble strips and the usual roadside debris -- but also with a stiff tailwind that teamed with the passing semis to push us along at 25 mph.

At one point as I was gliding down toward the ocean effortlessly propelled by gravity I was so overcome with gratitude to God that I could still so enjoy a trip as this that my vision became blurred -- not just from the wind in my face.

And in the midst of all that my new roommate Zero Shim from Korea had his own personal two man film crew relentlessly pursuing him to take endless video footage that will make up a special feature to promote the Korean Cultural Center. Zero has raised $30K in support of this center already. And if the footage shot just today by these two smiling camera guys is at all proportional to what is yet to be raised it will be in the millions. They were THERE; at every turn and stop, at every vista and up hill, at every food stop and in places you least expected to see them. Finally, they followed Zero right into his (our) room when he arrived at the motel -- just about the time I was stripping off my sweaty riding gear to shower. Not sure what they will do with that footage.

Just a quick note on AbB -- they have been great so far. They seem to be in several places at once, always courteous to answer questions. Always there to solve problems. We had one injury today that required a hospital run when one rider ran into a parked truck and injured his shoulder -- no word yet on how severe. They handled all of that with seasoned grace and competence.

Tomorrow it's off to Sacramento - and a relatively short day.