Today we tackled the San Fran hills and they won. Wandering from Nob Hill we went in search of the Golden Gate Bridge. San Francisco definitely has the strongest european echo I have felt in America, the buildings so closely packed, the antithesis of sprawling suburbs, the detailing, the balconies and flowers. Every terrace holds a mystery behind its facade, perhaps a secret courtyard, an attic room, a spiraling outdoor staircase to a rooftop paradise.

Without seeking it out we fell upon the Lombard streets curiosity, the road twirling through planters. Then finally we started the descent to the other side of the bay. The clunk of ball on bat, drew us to what I thought was a baseball game, but was later informed by Dylan was softball, oh well whilst not the “American Game” it was an American game. Customary Sunday sport in the park, people joined together in chants and cheers for their team as each man stepped up to bat.

As lunch approached Dylan surprised me with a glorious park for picnic. A temple like stone building, from the pages of a Greek epic surrounded by a lake. We feasted on pastries we had gleaned from the buffet breakfast (just so Dylan’s dad could be reassured he got his money’s worth of course) and watched people slowly stream by.

The onto the beach and our first view of the famed Golden Gate. By now a fog had begun to amass from the north and everything became as if viewed through gauze.Time was slipping away, we had to get back across town to Pier 40 to collect some hire bikes for an adventure. We began to run, along the coast through swathes of hot pink pigsface and into a forest of pine. 40 minutes in we had admitted defeat, 6 was looming and we were an hour way, then a bus wooshed past. We emptied our pockets, $1 short of a fare, and there was a little convenience store with an atm before us. Cash out, a coconut water and ice cream and we on our way. As sun began setting on San Francisco Bay Dylan began the task of teaching me how to ride like a cyclotourist not a commuter with a basket full of flowers and a baguette in the back. It should be an interesting week on the road.