Alright! First day on the road. So much happened, but in a sense, so little did as well. We made it out of the city at about noon after packing up the bikes, informing various social media channels of our departure, trying to figure out a last second radiator leak, and finally hitting stop and go traffic from 19th avenue to Marin City. Our first stop was the two-building town Olema, where we grabbed a quick lunch of crackers, sardines, spam, and wild plums and discussed the ride so far.

Marin, Sonoma and Mendocino county all have great riding so far. The roads are smooth and twisty with enough straights to let us relax for a moment in between twists. We all had a good amount of time of self-reflection to think about how far we’ve come to make it to this point and, conversely, how long we have yet to go.

We were aiming for Fort Bragg, but after finding they were at capacity for camping (and, according to a Park Ranger, a bit like Night of the Living Dead), we decided on camping at Manchester State Beach right outside of the small town of Port Arena. Some people we met at the general store in Point Arena told us about their 7th of July parade and convinced us to come back the next day before taking off further North to Arcata.

California is a truly amazing state. Though we’ve all lived here our whole lives, it’s a state that holds so many new experiences. Within a 10 minute period we went from rolling to coastal bluffs, to redwood groves and back to cattle ranches. The people are as varied as the scenery. In one day we met or interacted with everyone from the frigid city-dweller,  to the bubbly country folk, to the jaded old hippy of southern Mendocino. This trip holds so much opportunity for seeing different scenery and meeting varied folks. California, in this sense is the perfect place to start. We can hardly wait to get back on the road. Oh, p.s., we found the first Main Street of the trip in Point Arena.