New Bikes in San Francisco

5/22,23,24 - San Francisco (50 miles)
Well actually that's looking at the glass half full. Our bikes were actually stolen one night when we were camping on top of a downtown rooftop. It was a nice neighborhood and the guy who showed us our dwelling thought our bikes would be safe... but alas the lock was snipped, the bikes gone, but thank God BOB remained. We spent the next day shopping for bikes, which if there ever is a place to buy a bike, San Francisco is it. We visited 8 bike shops all in walking distance. We found 2 older touring bikes (2003 & 2004) which were sold to us at cost from some sympathetic bike shop owners. You can see them in the pictures above: Rachel => KHS "tour montan~a " ~600$ european style complete with fenders, front light (fueled by front hub), kick stand, and bell; Scott => Cannondale T800 ~800$ sherman tank. Both bikes have mtn. bike rear derailleurs which means we are geared for the hills to come.

So now we are much poorer :( , but we probably have the right bikes for the 4000 miles in our future. One of the best things to come out of the San Francisco fiasco was meeting and befriending Hector, bike mechanic extraordinaire, world traveler, compassionate being. We stayed at Hector's place 2 nights (the nights our bikes were not stolen) and shared stories of bicycle touring. We are hoping to tour w/ Hector someday soon in Mexico and Central America. Hector is in the picture w/ Rachel above.

Other San Francisco Highlights:
*Haight Ashbury Free Medical Clinic Hep. A & B vaccination completions for free!! (cuz technically we are homeless and live in shelters w/ 0$ income)
*Haight Ashbury people watching => some of the craziest people and attire in the world (or at least the world i've seen).
*Riding across the Golden Gate