Day 1: a cold, a hot day, and stolen shorts

So, not to give away all the thunder of an eventful first day on the ride right in the subject line, but it pretty much sums it up, or most of it anyway.

unfortunately I woke up this morning with a nasty cold. Damn it - I thought - getting sick after all this training. I felt pretty miserable, admittedly, but there was no way i could let that stand in the way, could I? So I did what had to be done: packed an extra supply of most drugs known to man to battle cold, congestion, cough, sore throat, allergies, and set off to the Cow Palace where the opening ceremonies were taking place.

The opening of the Alc06 was every bit as emotional and charged as i expected it to be. We left SF at around 7 and biked up through Daly City, Pacifica up through the hills and down to Half Moon Bay and biked overall about 85 miles until we set up camp in Santa Cruz.

The day was overall quite warm... Well if you discount the nasty wet cold fog that accompanied us until past Half Moon Bay... But after that, wow! Who knew the California coast could be that beautiful.... We coasted on highway one all the way to SC, took photos of the ocean and of all the kite surfers that seemed to enjoy the breezy weather and warm temperatures....

When we got to camp, we set up our tent, collected our gear bags, and headed right for the showers... And of course, someone stole my biking shorts! Well most likely they picked them up by mistake, I'll check with Lost&Found again in a little bit...

Overall a great first day. Tail winds and breeze all the way. Only 506 miles to go....