Getting close to the Big Smoke again!

Can definitely tell that we are close to a big city - people are talking faster, drivers are more impatient, things are more expensive and the air doesn't seem quite so crisp!  Despite that, we are still enjoying ourselves and managing to get 'off the beaten track', so to speak.  We left Downieville a few days ago - was sad to leave as it was a very mellow, slow paced and idyllic town...and had some fab riding of course.  Met lots of people there, including a couple of kiwi riders from Wellington, and felt like we knew half the town!  We ended up doing the Downieville Downhill track for a 2nd time (3rd time for Brent actually), just before we left.  Couldn't resist the temptation - was just too fun the

1st time :-)   After a fresh swim in the glorious Downieville River (see pic at bottom), we drove westwards towards the Californian coast, in anticipation of sandy beaches and having a dip in the ocean.  But, alas, the fog was in full force, and ensured temperatures were at a minimum (13 degrees - what a shock to the system!) and visibility was a mere few hundred feet.  Whizzed down the coast from Point Arena southwards, passing through some trendy and colourful villages full of hippies and organic shops.  Too cold to get out of Albert though!!  Although we did see a big colony of huge seals on the way down.
After driving around in circles for an hour or two, we finally found somewhere to stay in Marin County (one of the downsides of 'winging it' and never

booking anything!!)
Marin County is just north of San Fran, across the Golden Gate Bridge.  This place claims to be the origin of mountain biking - and has a lot of history here in terms of the first races and legendary names in the sport - the innovative people who really initiated the sport.  Today we rode 'Repack Road' - this was the location of the 1st ever mountain bike race back in the 70s.  1300 ft steep-ish descent over about 2 miles, on a  rough fire trail.  It's full of loose gravel, off camber corners and ruts.  The record is still held by famous Gary Fisher, who did it  in the seventies in 4m22sec, on a fully rigid bike with no front brakes, called a 'Klunker' (the 1st ever 'mountain bikes' - would've been scary riding one of those down the track at lightening fast pace, that's for sure).  Impressive!  Was good fun actually.
Did a bit of an explore on the bikes tonight around the local neighbourhood (San Rafael), and we seem to be one of the only people here whose 1st language is English!  This is hispanic territory and Mexican had to be tonight's dinner as a result.   I may be biased, but tostadas/tamals/burritos/fajitas/enchiladas etc all  seem to be variations on exactly the same meal!  Sloppy food and possibly not my favourite meal of choice.  Sorry to any Mexican food fans out there.  Tomorrow, we are going to check out some more trails and then head across the Golden Gate Bridge in to San Fran.  Staying with a friend in Half Moon Bay for a few days before we leave for Ecuador!  Need to clean up the van before we return it to the rental company - now THAT is going to be an epic job.  You can just imagine what it's like after 3 months of living in it... ewwwww.......