Biking is my introverted bliss. I have my thoughts and beautiful scenery to inspire and intrigue me. I started going for long bike rides during Peace Corps. Now that I have a bike again, I’m returning to the habit. A weekend on my own turned into two days of riding.
On Saturday I biked to Ocean Beach, with the intention of hiking the Land’s End Trail. By the time I got there it was pouring rain and Ocean Beach felt more like the North Pole. The view was worth it. I rarely see the ocean in San Francisco. Listening to the stormy waves crash against the damp sand was a song for the soul. I warmed up with a bowl of pho and returned home. First thought: I’m doing this again tomorrow, only bigger.
Sunday, I biked the Tiburon loop. This 47 mile route is full of beautiful views and fun stretches of road for riding. While rain may normally be a deterrent I thought it made the trip more fun. The smell of wet trees made me feel at home. This ride went from incredible to frustrating as soon as the sun set. As much as I had tried to time the ride so that I would get back before dark, that didn’t happen. I was having too much fun in Tiburon to cut the route short. I had underestimated how tired and cold I would be at the end of the trip. Climbing hills in the rain at night was awful. All I could think about was finding the Golden Gate Bridge and biking back into San Francisco. I made it home safe and utterly exhausted.
As fun as my weekend of biking was, my thoughts still circled around to a twinge of sadness. I moved to San Francisco six months ago. That number has bounced back and forth in my mind for the last week. It’s been half a year. I’ve moved enough to know that I am slow to transition, but I still feel like I should have hit my stride a bit more by now, that social situations would come easier, my room would have furniture and I would stop getting lost. Nope, transitions are slow. The truth is after six months, I still completely rely on one person for social connections, my room looks like something from a scary movie and I still make many wrong turns. I know I’m moving forward, I just wish some things would move faster. I came home from an incredible adventure and didn’t know where to share my story. So I thought I’d start here. Hi World, Last weekend was awesome!
4 Comments
Boy, do I feel lazy now!!
Glad you enjoyed your solo biking weekend. I’m a bit slow with transitions too, so I can definitely understand how you might be feeling in SF. You’ll get there though!
Thanks Jill!
Hey, I stumbled across your blog on the pc journals thailand website and I’ve been following it for a while because you take really nice pictures and always have something interesting to say…I am in peace corps thailand group 125, and our staging is coming up…in san franciso (January 11th). lol. Anyway, just wanted to say “hi!” and let you know that I really like your blog.
True that. I have lived in San Francisco for more than 6 years…and I have met so many newcomers to the area that find it hard to transition. It is clique-y here (alumni, work, etc.) But! In tiburon, did you go to Grass Shack? It’s my favorite destination on the Tiburon loop (right before hopping on the ferry exhausted).