We made it!!!! I’ve talked a lot about our Street Soccer USA skills and values a lot and today is no different. It was hard for me to accept the fact that we were going to finish the ride a day early and push ourselves for another 80 mile day from Santa Cruz to San Francisco. The original plan was to just do 45 to Half Moon Bay and save the rest for Friday making it a nice and easy final two-day stretch to the finish line at 5pm on Friday. Once we heard there was a 100% chance of rain on Friday and with the San Francisco Giants World Series Parade happening on Halloween we “Adjusted Our Play” (Street Soccer USA skill) and rode with whatever bit of energy our bodies had left to complete this journey a day early!

We made it to San Francisco around 7:30 pm just in time for the Bay Area Street Soccer game! I can’t think of a better way to finish this journey than getting play a soccer match with our Street Soccer family. Even though they are on the compete opposite side of the country from our NYC program, the familiar sense of community and support felt among the team was so refreshing and rejuvenating. It was great to see some familiar faces and be welcomed with hugs and cheers by the whole team. They let me and Dave share the field with them and everyone played with heart, even though I caused a goal by missing a trap! My legs were still adjusting to being on land. Nobody got upset or frustrated with each other the entire game and we ended up in a 2-2 draw.

Players signed the ball which we used during the game and almost lost it to a huge SF hilly street when someone took a shot over the fence! After the game my message to the team was for everyone to set their goals high off the field knowing that through hard work and support from others you can achieve the impossible. We are living proof of this as we have accomplished a once-in-a-lifetime goal of riding 3900 miles across the country on a bicycle!

Big thanks Rob Cann and his lovely wife Elyse for taking care us this weekend and putting a roof over our heads. Thanks to Sherif at Team Fund Up for surprising the triangle with a our first Bike Crusiade commemorative apparel! Thanks to all of you for reading this blog and liking the photos! It means so much to hear from you in the comments so keep them coming! There are so many more people to thank which I’ll save for another post when I return to NYC next week. For now we are going to enjoy SF for long weekend full of sight seeing and Street Soccer action!

If you want to see us we will be at the Golden Gate Bridge around 5 pm for photos today, if the rain isn’t too bad. We will be playing soccer at the Street Soccer court on Saturday in the early afternoon. Sunday we have no plans and Monday we have an end of season pizza party celebrating all of the team’s hard work on and off the field this season. Hope to see you soon!