April 15, 2007

  • I rode almost 90 miles today! We met bright and early at the sports basement in the Presidio for a 7:30 departure for the CAT2 series ride. We had to make sure we got an early start because there was an MS walk and they were closing the bike lane on the bridge at 8:30. We went Fairfax to Nicasio to the Cheese Factory to Point Reyes Station to Lagunitas and then back through Fairfax. It was a beautiful day, but a little cool. Once again I was glad I was in many layers.

    I didn't have to direct traffic until after lunch so I was able to ride with the main pack for a lot of the day, which was a treat. Here's Tia in Fairfax

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    Here's a pic of a demure me lounging at the pond at the Cheese Factory:

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    And some of the boys getting ready to head off:

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    One of the riders had an especially unlucky day because his chain broke right before the Cheese Factory which was pretty much the most remote place on the ride. Ben tried to fix it by removing the broken link and then reassembling the chain.

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    I was totally impressed by his mechanical ability. My response would have been to stare forlornly into the distance and mutter "Can't someone help that poor man??" Unfortunately, Ben's mechanical wizardry was for naught because the deraileur was also damaged and he couldn't fix that. That sucks.

    I spent several hours pointing at the turn onto the bike path in Samuel P Taylor park. It was kind of tricky because it was at the bottom of a hill and there was a little gravel at the turn so we had to get the riders to slow way down so they could make the turn without wiping out. At first, the lovely and talented Stephen Billars was helping me direct traffic but he hadn't eaten, so after a while Bob Katz took over so Stephen could go get some grub. Here's Bob hard at work:

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    I didn't have to sweep today (thank you Sandra and Michael!), so I headed home at a pretty rapid pace. Coming down White's Hill is always a challenge because the road isn't graded correctly, there's road debris in the shoulder, it's a steep hill, and there's a lot of traffic. I grabbed the whole lane as I came down which was the safest option for me but outraged the minivan behind me and the driver honked at me repeatedly. When I got into Fairfax Ben told me that one of our riders had wiped out on that hill , but likely wasn't seriously injured although they had taken him to the hospital. Minivans can honk at me all they want .....

    Helped a nice couple who wasn't on our ride fix their flat and the girl with the flat had THE DIRTIEST bike. I was filthy when I made it into fairfax. Apologies again to the girl who I forgot to call out "On your left" when I passed her on Camino Alto. When I was heading up out of Sausalito, I saw this cool ship in the bay. I think it's a Junk:

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    Then I went home through the Presidio, down Arguello, and through the park. I went through down Haight (Caution: Hippies) and then up over Ashbury to Clayton to 17th and then down to Ord. Jeff made me an enourmous dinner (fried tofu with sassy sauce and chow mein noodles and a green salad laden with beets) which was really, really good. I'm pretty beat so I'll be going to bed early. I'm looking forward to getting up early so I can go riding before work.