May 15, 2007

  • Monday, May 15

    I woke up to terrible weather.  Cold, damp, dismal, with a gloomy fog hanging low in the trees.  This can mean only one thing:  summer has arrived in San Francisco.  I rode anyway out my usual route to the beach then up to the Palace of the Legion of Honor and then down Lake to Clay to Broderick to Post and into work.  I went home for lunch and the sun was out but it was cold and windy and then came back to work via REI south of Market.  After work, I headed over the bridge and up Conzelman.  The fog was just rolling in and it was incredibly windy--  they should change the name to Marin HeadWINDS.  I almost turned around because I was afraid of what that wind could do on my way down but I continued.  This picture was taken by an incredulous woman who couldn't believe people were riding their bikes up such a steep hill in such crazy wind:

    Amazingly, the wind was much less of a bother on the ocean side than the bay and when I started descending down to Point Bonita I didn't have any problems at all.  The view of Rodeo Beach was stunning:

    Then I headed up the valley, up Ike Turner Hill, back down Conzelman and then I went down to Fort Baker where you get the coolest view of the bridge:

    Then it was up to the bridge and then back to San Francisco.  Then I went down to Crissy Field, through the Marina where that headwind which had hammered me the whole way out was now at my back and propelling me along at 20mph with no effort.  Then up over Fort Mason and down to the Embarcadero.  There was an enormous cruise ship docked there:

    Cruise ships are really cool looking because they are so massive which is something it's hard to grasp when you're on one.  I totally got hooted at by a carload of hot women who not coincidentally received the "Barking Up the Wrong Tree" award for May 14, 2007.  I continued along Embarcadero to Howard and then 5th to Market and then up Market back home. Total Mileage 50.8