Day 25: Daly City to Half Moon Bay, 24 miles

After a warm evening conversation with Russell, Sarah and their daughter Erin, who is now graduating from high school, choreographing her own dance pieces and applying to maybe 10 BFA dance programs… phew! … I rode this morning for a quick visit to the Lake Merritt Gardens with Russell.

Then I hopped the BART to Daly City,  back on my wheels, over the bluffs, down to Pacifica, and then up and over the treacherous Devil’s Slide!  To my surprise, the tunnel is almost finished, after 7 years and $342 million in an ever expanding budget. I read up on the tunnel, finding a tale of citizen involvement which ultimately scrapped plans for a freeway bypass via a Ballot Measure T (for “tunnel”?) Seems the folks didn’t want the inevitable sprawl which would follow a freeway, instead opting for a 4200 foot twin tunnel through the mountain.

Caltrans is donating the old portion of sliding highway to be converted into a hike and bicycle trail.  Wonderful!  Still, I will miss the descent over the slide, one of the thrills of the tour.  Here’s a video, so you can see what I’m talking about. (BTW, it’s not as dangerous as it seems!)