Sunday, May 12

Sunday's weather was a lot nicer than Saturday's and the riders mostly had a great day.  We went out to China Camp which is a gorgeous park near San Rafael and then up Lucas Valley into Nicasio and then out to Point Reyes Station and then home through Lagunitas.  I started out kind of fast because I needed to get to the first big turn in San Anselmo and make sure that riders didn't miss it.  I waited for the sweep and then headed through San Rafael out to China Camp. 

After China Camp the rode wound back through San Rafael where there's this fabulous Civic Center that I believe is Frank Lloyd Wright designed:

It's so fabulously futuristic.  Not the way the future is, but the way the future was going to be fifty years ago.  Love, love, love it.  From there, we continued through suburban sprawl up to Lucas Valley and then up to our first stop which looks like nothing from the outside but seems to produce amazing lunches for our riders.  There was a little black poodle running around hoping somebody would order him a sandwich:

So cute!  Here's Bob
Olszewski and his new boyfriend who's riding for the first time this year:

From there, we began to climb to the top of Lucas Valley.  I got ahead
of some of the riders so that I could get some pictures.  Don't we have
the best looking riders?

We stopped in Nicasio and I viewed a rather astonishing sight that I'd rather not relate on my blog.  From there we were off to Point Reyes Station.  Here's Tia looking lunchtime delighted:

Ben and I were sweeping so we waited at lunch for quite a while before heading down the 1 to Olema and then up over Olema hill into Samuel P Taylor Park.  Then up the bike path into the campground.  There, some of the riders were taking a break:

Then up through Lagunitas and over White's hill and into Fairfax.  A rider not on our ride had a pretty serious accident on White's Hill and some of the riders were pretty rattled by it.  I had Jeff come up from San Francisco to pick up one of the riders who'd had enough for the day so we had to wait around for him to get out to Fairfax.  While we were waiting, this freaky guy who looked like a cross between Jesus and Charles Manson decided to park his nearly naked ass near enough to us that I could take pictures of him.  I had a rider pose for me so that he wouldn't know that I was documenting his freakness:

Yikes!  Jeff came and picked up the rider before out Jesus Manson had removed any more of his clothing and we headed back to San Francisco.  We caught up with Dorothy at Mike's Bike's in Sausalito where she'd had THREE flat tires since Fairfax!  That totally sucks. I found this tiny piece of glass in her tire that she'd missed that was causing them and Ben got her tire fixed and headed back to San Francisco.  She's such trouper.  There's nothing worse than getting flat after flat after flat.  But she was still smiling!  She's my hero!

We made it back to Sports Basement around 6:45 and I was home a little later.  Jeff had made me a huge dinner which I consumed very quickly.  He's been so great during this training season!  I've been riding pretty much all the time and he's been doing pretty much all the cooking, cleaning, and laundry.  He's also been stuck taking Sofi to the dog park this weekend because I've been on training rides the whole time.  AND he came and collected a rider!  He hardly complains about all of this all the time.  After dinner, we went to the dog park with Sofi and I went to bed.  Total Mileage: 94.  Total Mileage for the week: 355

Saturday, May 12

I was a little hung over when I woke up and Sofi wasn't happy when she realized she wasn't getting another hour long walk.  But I was subbing for adorable Michael Petty on a Nicasio Loop ride and I had to get out of the house.  It was cold and windy but I wore a lot of layers and I was in them all day.  I don't know how Steve manged in just a jersey and shorts:

His friend picked up a fleece in Point Reyes because it was windy and cold.

We headed out to Point Reyes and I spent a good amount of time at the entrance to Samuel P Taylor park pointing so that people wouldn't miss it.  Then over Olema Hill, North on the 1 and into town.  The sweeps were very late getting into lunch because we had a rider go down on Olema Hill.  She was pretty banged up but she was up and walking around when the ambulance arrived and I think she's going to be OK but I don't know if she'll be able to ride.  I think a lot of riders bailed on Nicasio after lunch and just came back the way we had come because I didn't see a whole lot of riders after lunch and I was going at a pretty good pace.  I did, however, observe some hotness in Fairfax:

I didn't see a lot of riders on my way back to San Francisco which reinforced my notion that they'd cut the day short.  I got home about 5:30 and had a little dinner, went to the dog park with Sofi and Jeff and then went to bed at 7:30.  Total mileage:  81

Friday, May 11

I woke up early and walked Sofi for an hour and then rode for an hour before work.  I went Eureka to 23rd to Diamond to Diamond Heights Blvd to Portola to Twin Peaks up over the mountain and then Clayton to Ashbury to Page to Scott to Post and into the financial district.  I haven't done this one for a while because it's a lot shorter than the morning rides I've been doing but it was lots of fun.  I rode home for lunch and came back on Muni because we had the Team Wells Fargo fundraising party after work.  The glamorous Rachael Frazier spoke and I got all liquored up on wine.  So boozed up, unfortunately, that I neglected to take even a single picture!  Total mileage 12.

Thursday, May 10

Foggy morning.  Finally.  Rode my usual route out to Ocean Beach.  I've been doing this route a lot this season, and I'm starting to see a lot of the same people.  I see these two out jogging a lot:

A lot of time they have her husband riding behind them on a bike.  She's a fast jogger too and that tiny little dog totally hauls ass.  I talked to them once and they said she'd jogged fifteen miles the previous weekend.  Compare that to my Mimi who's idea of exercise is chewing.  I went up to the Palace of the Legion of Honor and then down Lake to Arguello to Golden Gate which stops and starts all over Lone Mountain before continuing down to Market.  I took these pictures of pretty St. Boniface in the Tenderloin:

It seems a little German to me which is unusual San Francisco.  It's hard to photograph as it sits pretty close to the street and is protected by a fortress like series of gates in front of the lot.

I went home for lunch which was pretty uneventful and then went for a ride after work before class.  I went down Geary where I took these pics of the gorgeous ACT theatre:

Very detailed polychrome plasterwork all over the facade.  It's garishly lush.  Then I took Pacific to Steiner to Clay to Arguello and into the park which is still blooming everywhere you look:

And then 9th Ave to Lawton to 16th Ave to Vicente to Ocean Beach and then down to Lake Merced  There were some teams rowing on the lake:

That looks so much fun.  Maybe someday when I do my activities expand beyond biking, working, eating, and sleeping I might try it.  

I had a quiz so I headed over to class and then home for dinner.  Total mileage: 42

Wednesday, May 9

Foggy Foggy Foggy!  I didn't even look outside when I got up because I knew it was going to be ugly and wasn't disappointed.  The fog was hanging very low over the city and it was cold, damp, and low visibility.  I rode out to Ocean Beach, up to the Palace of the Legion of Honor, and then into the Presidio.  This is the 1914 stables in the Presidio.  They were originally built to house the horses that were used to patrol the area.  It's also the sight of the last watering trough in the city.  Wait.  Isn't that south of Market?

 

Then I headed into work.  I went home for lunch and the fog had burned off some but it was a lot cooler than it's been the last couple of days.  After work I headed out Geary to Polk to Pacific to Baker to Washington to Arguello and into the park.  I stopped by the rose garden because I figured that with all the sunny weather we've been having a lot would be in bloom and I wasn't disappointed:

.

Mr. Poe was on TV last night!  And not being wrestled to the ground shirtless in the front yard by the sherriff's deputy on "Cops"!  He was at a conference about "No child left behind" and how it's not really working and how it's forcing the schools to spend all their time and energy training children to take tests at the expense of science, music, art, and sports.  Maybe the president should change the name of the initiative to "No test left behind".  Total Mileage: 42

Tuesday, May 8

I went on a bit of a different ride today.  I headed through the Castro down to Valencia and then went through the Mission then 26th to San Jose Ave to Randall into Glen Park.  Finally I visited the poor house at 149 Mangels Street in the Sunnyside district that had fallen off it's foundations while the owner was attempting foundation repair.  Here is a good reason to leave foundation repair to the professionals:

The house was in terrible shape when the owner bought it, but it was such a pretty house and it's a shame that they couldn't save it.  I shall be dredging out these photos every time Mr. Poe recommends that we move to some wreck in the Mission and renovate.  What a nightmare! 

After that, I headed up Monterrey Blvd and up through St Francis Wood and then out Vicente to pretty Saint Cecilia's with it's beautiful terracotta topped tower:

Then I took 17th Ave through to Kirkham to 9th Ave into the Park and then through the Panhandle to Golden Gate and to Market and then down to work. 

Went home for lunch and Mimi was too hot and tired to go to for a walk.  She'd been watching an infomercial for the CarnyComp 3000.  It's the first personal computer that can also make corn dogs. 

After work I basically did my morning ride in reverse.  Here's Saint Cecilia's in the afternoon light.  You can make out the roof of the tower a little better:

And here's me in front of some pretty Rhodedendrums that are growing next to the church:

Then I headed back to 149 Mangels to see the damage.  The city had brought in a backhoe to clear the wreckage because it was sliding down the hill putting more homes at risk.  I saw a u-haul in front of the lot but they don't let you go into the rubble to salvage too much because you could be killed and basically all they were able to save was a grill and a hose.  Which was a terrible shame. 

On the way home, I thought I'd stop by another architectural shame.  We'd looked at this house on 21st street when we were looking to move out of our previous place and I really liked it.  It was already in escrow when we saw it and they were just looking for back up bids and I was a little disappointed because the house had such a great feel and such beautiful views.  I was glad we didn't get it when I found out that the new owners had to put $300,000 in foundation work in on the house.  How do I know this?? 

As part of the foundation work, they were adding a garage where a small basement apartment had been.  But since they wanted to be able to have two car parking and the garage wasn't going to be able to be big enough for two cars tandem, they moved put the garage door half way under the living room so they could create a driveway so that once car could be in the garage and one car in the driveway:

I think it looks terrible and described it and the accompanying tacky fence as "a big shame" when Nick and I were going past on a walk one night.  It was a warm evening and the owner had his window open and heard my comment and proceeded to chase me down three blocks away and curse me out for criticizing his $300,000 renovation.  Then he accused me of being a renter (WTF???).  I kept my mouth shut because I wasn't going to let renovation criticism devolve into fisticuffs.  How castro fag would that be??  I kind of felt sorry for the guy.  How big of a mistake do you realize you've made that you're chasing down strangers on the street and yelling at them for pointing out the obvious?   For the record I don't like the recent paint job either.  I hope he doesn't have a gun.

Next door to that house are the most beautiful roses that are so brightly colored that they're almost fluorescent.  Around the same time as the above house was for sale there were two signs in front of the house.  One said "Please don't pick the roses.  The roses are for everyone to enjoy."  Below it, scrawled in angry letters the other sign said "You Bitch!  Don't think I don't know who you are you'll get yours some day!"  I still kind of wish we'd moved in next to them.  Pretty flowers, crazy people:

I went home where Mr. Poe had dinner waiting for me.  Total mileage: 34

Monday May 7, 2007

I was pretty wiped out when I woke up because Sunday had been such a very long day but I eventually got moving and headed out the door.  I took the familiar Corbett to Portola to Woodside to Dewey to Taraval and then out the the beach where it was unbelievably gorgeous.  We don't get weather like this very often and it was a treat.  I headed up the coast and then up Geary up to the Palace of the Legion of Honor and then down to Lake to Arguello to Clay to Post and then into work.

I went home for lunch and man was it every hot.  And Civic Center was a freakshow.  I've noticed that a hot day in San Francisco makes the angry people angrier and the crazy people crazier and when those two groups overlap.....

After work I did Marian Headlands which was really fun.  There were a lot of people up there because it was such a nice day so I was super careful. 

Then I headed up Ike Turner hill and then back down towards the bridge.  Why do I call it Ike Turner Hill??  Because it smacks you the whole way up but when you're done with it you've got million dollar legs.  Instead of heading onto the bridge I went down to Fort Baker and then came up to the bridge from underneath.  Such a great view of the city from down there:

It was starting to get dark when I got back into the city but I couldn't resist riding around the Presidio and the Marina.  Here's Crissy Field in the dwindling light:

Then I headed up Scott to Eddy to Polk to Market and then home.  Total mileage:  50

Sunday, May 7

I'd been looking forward to today's ride for a long time.  Over the bridge to Fairfax, through Lagunitas to Olema, and then South the Stinson Beach before heading back into Mill Valley.   A whole lot of climbing but it was going to be a fun fun day.  And it was hot!  I like to be prepared, so I had arm warmers, leg warmers, a fleece and a wind breaker and I'd shed all of those before we left the parking lot at the Sports Basement.  Here are Michael and Sandra who have been doing a lot of sweeping during this series.  Also pictured:  Kurt who's been leading the CAT2 rides on Saturdays and sassing it up on our rides as well:

We had a very late start because one of the riders showed up with a flat tire.  Which isn't all that unusual if you ride the day before as she had.  Also present: super cute Nan and Ed:

I finally got to be at Saint Anselm's when it was sunny and the sun wasn't behind the building.  How fabulous is this place???

I continued into Fairfax where a lot of the riders had already departed.  I waited for the sweeps to show and hung out with the riders.  If this group is Charlie's Angels then I guess Kurt must be Bosley.  Bosley's gotten hotter over the years.

We had a bunch of flats coming out of Fairfax because some asshole(s) placed tacks in the bike lane.  Poor Max of the two flats last week was one of the recipients:

He's got a really good attitude about all of it which helps a lot because nothing sucks more than repeated flats.  I helped another rider fix a flat and then I continued on.  I made it over White's hill and then down into Lagunitas and then into Samuel P Taylor Park.  Where I saw Max again!  This time he'd broken a spoke.  I advised him to turn around because the rest of the ride was kind of a bike shop dead zone and if he started breaking other spokes he'd be screwed because there wasn't much cell phone service either.  Poor baby!  It turned out that he completely ignored me but didn't have any other problems that day and I'm glad he was able to finish the ride because it was so pretty and so much fun and he did exactly what I would have done which proves that there can be a difference between the advice we give and the advice we take. 

I continued over Olema hill and then headed south on the 1 towards Stinson.  That's a tough stretch of highway.  It was hot and had all these rolling hills that were cleverly disguised so that you didn't realize the only direction you were really going was up.  But I have an Altimiter on my watch so I was able to see how much climbing I was doing and it was a lot.  I finally made it to Stinson where Stephen and Ben were really concerned about my lateness but without cell phone service they hadn't been able to call me.  Between our late start and all the flats it had been a looong day,  But Stinson was very pretty apart from some of the locals who evidently had decided it was "Hoochie Mama" day and dressed accordingly.  And Lord, it wasn't pretty.  I made a wrong turn and ended up heading halfway up Tam instead of taking the 1 back to Mill Valley which got me to the same place but only after a whole lot more climbing.  Notice the gain in altitude:

And finally one with me in it.  The glamour!

I made it back to Mike's Bike's and waited for the rest of the riders and then headed back to San Francisco.  It was a tough day and not everybody had a good one because of the climbing and the heat.  But everybody should be super proud of themselves and I'm sure they'll give themselves a pat on the back as soon as they come out of the coma.  My hero for the day??

Dorothy -  Man she hauled ass!  I only saw her twice all day.  I don't think anybody has shown as much progression on the cat2 rides as Dorothy.  She was moving so fast I couldn't even get a picture of her!

I stopped by the Quickly in the castro and got one of their frozen Sugar-Soy-Blueberry drinks that was super cold and very delicious.  It's like a Jamba Juice but with twice the sugar and none of the nutrition.  I like!  They also serve a suprising range of asian snack foods and I brought Jeffery some fried Calimari rings.  I don't know how much I like the idea of Jeff being able to get fried Calimari rings right down the hill for $2.99.  I had visions of that Simpons where a future Marge was weeping at Homer's funeral sobbing "I wish they'd never invented fried cheese!".  Stay tuned.  Total Mileage: 75.  Mileage for the week:  362!

Saturday, May 5

I went down to Palo Alto to do a 94 mile ride down there.  Palo Alto to Calaveras Dam to Pleasanton and back.  I was really excited about it because it involved a trip across the Dumbarton Bridge and I'd never even been over that in a car.  I was a little late getting there because I got a little lost and then the high school we were starting from was hosting an SAT exam that day so there was a ton of traffic.  But I managed to get there eventually and we delayed the start so that everybody had time to show up.  It was a small ride, only 17 riders.  The ride organizer was good enough to bring snacks which amazed me to the point that I made one of the riders pose next to them:

Instead of donuts all we get on Ben's CAT2 rides are more hills.  Not that I'm complaining.  Because I don't eat donuts and I do like hills.  Here's our ride organizer Chris explaining the route:

We set off heading east.  The ride was totally flat for the first twenty miles so we moved along at a pretty good pace although we had a few mechanicals.  Here's Jerry fixing his flat in record time:

After the first stop we started to climb and climb and climb up to a ridge overlooking Calaveras reservoir.  it was so beautiful up there because since we had rain on Thursday and Friday it was pretty green:

But you could tell the water level was down a little bit which is a bad sign at the beginning of the season.  From the Dam, we dropped down into pretty Sunol and then continued up to Pleasanton for lunch.  From there we went to Dublin and began to climb again before dropping into Hayward.  Hayward was very, very pretty but I heard two distinct gunshots as I was biking through followed by screaming tires and gunshots.  Here's some pics from the top:

Jerry coming up the big hill on Crow Canyon

Here's Nancy coming up behind the guy whose name I didn't get. 

We stopped again in Hayward and then started heading back to Palo Alto.  One of the riders was having some pretty serious knee pain, which is a very very bad thing so I stayed behind and rode with him as the others continued.  He didn't want to stop, so we got some Advil in him and very slowly made our way back to Palo Alto.  Ever wonder what it's like being a sweep??  Here's the view from the back:

There are all these beautiful marshlands around the Dumbarton Bridge.  It's really pretty down there.

And the bridge is a lot easier to cross than the Golden Gate Bridge because it doesn't have enormous piers you have to go around.  Here's a view from the top looking South:

We finally got back to Palo Alto around 6.  I hope the rider with the knee problems heals up quickly because that's not a good injury to get this close to the ride.  Jeff made me an enormous dinner and I went to bed very early. Cinco de Mayo is a bittersweet holiday for me because it made me miss my poor departed poodle Ashley and his very favorite holiday "Cinco de Meatball" which was the day he got eat five meatballs.  Also known as "Tuesday".  His other favorite holidays included  "Ham Days" and "Porksgiving".  Total mileage: 93

Friday, May 4

When I woke up at 5am I didn't even want to know how wet it was outside so I didn't watch the news.  I was going to leave the house prepared for bad weather anyway and I figured the news wasn't going to tell me anything I wanted to hear.  And I was right.  It was rainy to the top of Corbett, then rainy AND foggy, and then when I finally got under the fog on Taravel at Sunset, the rain started back up.  It was also cold.  I poured on me the whole way up ocean beach but finally started to let up a little but when I got to the top of Geary.  I headed up to the Palace of the Legion of Honor and then headed down to Lake Street and then Arguello to Clay to Steiner where I got some sinister looking pictures of St. Dominic's church:

I also found this beautiful mural at Steiner at Post:

By the time I got to the financial district the weather had definitely passed.  I went for a walk with Nick over lunch and it was beautiful outside.  Here's a smiling Nick basking in his last day of work at Maritime Plaza.  I call the jacket "Mustard Mistake":

Although the jacket certainly is a help because without it his hat-sweater-pants combo was very "Oliver Twist played by a Vidal Sassoon stylist circa 1988" without it.  Zing!

We walked through Justin Hermann Plaza and saw yet another dog hard at work at one of the booths:

I believe he's on his coffee break.  Then we walked out the new pier that they built by the Embarcadero.  Pretty!

I went home after work and did some bike maintenance and then had dinner and went to bed.  Total Mileage:  18.5.