Day 15: Oakland, CA – Rest Day!

Approximate daily mileage ~ 10 miles

Approximate total mileage ~ 1,183 miles

Approximate daily elevation gain ~ 0 feet

Approximate total elevation gain ~ 50,000 feet

Day 15 was my one day off during the entire journey down the coast. And what a much-needed day it was! After quickly drifting off to sleep the night before, I didn't move an inch for more than 10 hours. Ida and Chris' luxurious couch was just the right medicine after so many nights outside. If nothing else, this trip provided a huge new appreciation for comfortable sleeping accommodations.

Once I finally got up for the day, Chris kindly made a delicious latte like a well trained barista. He also borrowed a book from his friend who had done some bicycle touring as well. This book was titled, “Bicycling the Pacific Coast: A Complete Route Guide Canada to Mexico”. It is another very popular guide to the route along the coast, and many of the fellow cyclists I encountered were carrying it along their journeys. Reviewing it provided some very helpful tips for the remainder of the trip.

The remainder of the day consisted of a trip to Whole Foods, going for a very short ride to check out a huge and spectacular street mural in Oakland, working some bugs out of my Go Pro mount with Chris, and hanging out with Ida, Chris, and their infamous pug, Mugsy. It was a beautiful sunny day in Oakland, and I couldn't have asked for a better day of rest.

Even if I didn’t make it any further than Oakland, it would have been an immensely gratifying journey. However, I was feeling quite well. Even with taking one day completely off for rest, it seemed there was still plenty of time to complete the journey to Mexico before my already booked flight out of San Diego.