Flying Through The Fog

It has been over a month since I blogged, because I left the bike trip for a while to work for SWAE in our home town of Boulder, CO. While I was back in the homeland, I missed working on the road, going from town to town on my bike, only staying in places for a few days at a time. After a week in the big city of San Fran, I still am missing the road… There is just so much work to do here, so we are staying put until it is done.

Although the SWAE team has been met with mixed reviews from outfitters in SF (it’s been tough to get companies to meet us in person), we have all had some of our best meetings of the trip in this city. For example, I had an absolute blast with Adnan of lifecycle adventures.  After our meeting in Sausalito, I needed to ride north to a surf school in Bolinas. As an avid cyclist, Adnan was not only happy to ride with Jesse and I, but he showed us a route that only locals know about, taking us through the “Ewok Village” to the summit of Mt. Tamalpais.  Simply put, it was the best road I have ever ridden my bike on.

Looking down towards Bolinas, on the most awesome road ever.

The road climbed steadily up the mountain to insane views of the coast, the whole time in perfect sunshine (which is non-existent in SF this time of year). The descent into Bolinas was cut short however when Jesse went down on a sharp curve. And damn did he ever go down… As he fell, time shifted into slow-motion for me, as I was no more than 10 feet behind him during the accident. I had an image pop into my head (as he smacked the pavement) of the Tour de France, when a crash happens and multiple riders are taken out when they hit bikes already on the ground. I envisioned myself endo-ing over my handle bars are eating it. Somehow my reflexes saved me, and I missed Jesse’s bike by no more than a couple of inches.

Thankfully though, Jesse only suffered a severe gash on his elbow and a broken wheel… No broken bones.

The next day again showed me why working for SWAE is amazing. I rode down to Fort Funston (sounds fun, right?) which was south of the city about 12 miles.  I peddled along the coast and saw dolphins surfing through the waves, and once again felt content by being out of the concrete jungle.  I was meeting Mike with Bay Area Hang Gliding, and as I rode into the state park, I saw about 10 hang gliders ripping through the air… I rolled into a mass of hang gliders, sitting on the ground, with all sorts of people mulling around and laughing.

Gliders ready to fly, where the pilot who missed the landing area went down.

The Bay area gliding community seemed tight-knit and relaxed. As soon as I met Mike, we heard shouts above us and one of the best pilots in the area (or so I was told) crashed into the mass of gliders on the ground. Like Jesse, he was ok, but broke his wing and the one that he landed on. I suppose a few thousand dollars of repairs is better than injuries…

As I said before, SF has been slightly tough for SWAE. Maybe it’s the incessant fog, or the fast-paced big-city vibe, but not as many companies have welcomed us with open arms, like they did in the relaxed Northwest, or even in Colorado. This, combined with the fact that I just don’t like cities, was sort of bringing me down.

Meeting with Mike really helped bring my spirits up because he was so psyched about SWAE, and he truly saw the value of how we can help his company to get more people out flying. He also was nice enough to give me a complimentary flight… Needless to say, this also helped my stoke-level.

After a brief (I mean very brief) instruction on what I was to do and not do, we strapped into the glider and ran off the edge of the cliff which bordered the ocean. Before we even ran, the wind was pulling us off the ground, and I was amazed by how we were practically flying with only a few forward steps. Almost instantly, we were 400 feet above the ocean, and we were flying.

View from the glider, flying over the coast.

As we flew, We passed other gliders above and below us, did some crazy divebombs and wing-overs (SHARP turns) and watched as gliders with faster wings did loops (I’m talking upside down).

As we flew by a fellow glider at our height level, we would feel a bump just after passing due to the wake the wings create in the air. Think a wake from a boat, but airborne…nuts.

I spoke with Mike about how hang gliding felt like the closest thing to true flight for humans, because unlike skydiving or BASE jumping with a wingsuit (although I haven’t  done that yet) you can stay in the air pretty much as long as you want, as long as there is wind. We flew for about 30 minutes, making passes along the cliffs, and looking down on dolphins before we gently landed on the “runway” below… Although I can attempt to explain how it felt, it’s one one of those things you just have to experience to truly understand just how incredible it feels.

Ear to ear grin after the flight

Feeling reinvogorated, I rode quickly back to the city.

Today I write from the beautiful town of Sausalito, across the Golden Gate Bridge from SF. I look forward to clipping my BOB trailer back onto my bike and riding south to Half Moon Bay tomorrow.

I’m hoping to find us more hang gliding outfitters, because I really want to do that again. Or maybe I’ll go for paragliding.  If that doesn’t work I’ll just find some time away from the computer to go surfing… options, options.