Thursday, March 20

No fog this morning, but it was cold.  I headed off Corbett to Portola to Fowler to Teresita to Gaviota to Bella Vista to Burlwood to Los Palmos to Hazelwood to Yerba Buena to Saint Elmo.  This beautiful home is next door to the Chinese consulate.  Its' very pretty and likely has both bay and ocean views.  Swank!

The view down Saint Elmo looking towards the ocean:

I took El Verano to Darien to San Fernando to Ocean to Clearfield into 34th to Yorba to 35th to Vicente and down to the ocean.  It was freezing at the coast.  I came up the Great Highway and went into Golden Gate Park at MLK and took it West.  This beautiful tree is in bloom at Elk Glen lake.

Me in front of it:

I took MLK to the music concourse to JFK into the panhandle to Baker to McAllister to Larkin to Bush to Sansome and into work.

Wednesday, March 19

After work I headed off Columbus to North Point to Van Ness to Francisco to Octavia to Chestnut where I got a call from my lovely and talented former Lifecycle tentmate Todd Dameron from Idaho.  We talked for a while and I totally got checked out by a Marina boy.  I continued on Columbus to Lyon and into the Presidio.  I got on Lincoln and took it all the way into Seacliff where it turned into Camino Del Mar.  Then I took 28th to McLaren to 29th to Clement to 34th to Balboa and down to the coast.  I came down the Great Highway and turned into Golden Gate Park at JFK where I stopped to check on the progress on the tulips at the North Windmill AKA Queen Wilhemena's Garden.  I think they're mostly yellow this year with a couple of red.  Kind of boring.  But the garden always looks pretty and today was no exception:

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The North Windmill against the setting sun.  Which you'd be able to see if it hadn't been so foggy.

Me lookin' sassy:

I took JFK all the way to the panhandle and then took Stanyon to Page to Scott to Duboce to Castro to 17th and then home to take the dogs to the park before dinner.  Rufus is really getting into playing fetch and that's a huge relief because it really tuckers him out.  Mr. Poe made taco salad on spinach leaves for dinner.  Tastee!

Bike Mileage:
Today                                    37.6
Week to date                       125.3
Month to date                      762.2
Year to date                      1,747.5
Remaining to Goal             8,252.5
Over (Under) plan              (411.0)

Wednesday, March 19

I had a tough time getting home for lunch because the war protest was still going on.  When I was coming back they had Market blocked off because the protesters were lying in the street.  I just don't get this.  What's the point of direct action against the war in San Francisco, arguably the most liberal large city in America, when most of the residents are against the war already??  When I was doing this stuff in college it was New Orleans where you actually had the potential to change people's attitudes about things.  What is it that they hope to accomplish??  It seems pointless.  I felt sorry for the police, and there were a LOT of them out in riot gear preparing to haul the protesters off to jail.  A nice officer at Market and Kearny advised me to go down Post street to get the best pics of the action.  And I did:

I also got a rare chance to ride down Montgomery Street going the wrong way.  There were two guys tossing around a football on the closed off street.  I think this about sums it up:

Then I headed back to work.

Wednesday, March 19

It was super foggy this morning!  I headed off Corbett to Portola to Woodside to Dewey to Taravel and then down to the coast.  I came up the Great Highway and then got on Geary to 34th and then up to the Palace of the Legion of Honor.  Which, as usual, looked beautiful:

Here's me with that weird Marc Di Suvero sculpture behind me.  It kind of looks like a red Gumby doing aerobics from this angle:

I came down Camino Del Mar to Lake to Arguello to Clay to Fillmore to Pacific and over Russian Hill into Chinatown.  I stopped at Stockton and took a shot of the Pacific looking towards downtown.  You can make out the bridge in the background shrouded in fog:

I came in on Pacific instead of Post because there was a war protest and I figured Market would be shut down because of it.  But the protesters were on California!  I got a couple of shots from Sansome and Sacramento and then turned around and went into work:

Tuesday, March 19

I took a few pics of the dogs when I went home for lunch.  Sweet little Ashley got his very first haircut on Saturday.  He came back with an afro.  I love it except that he keeps calling me a "jive turkey" and a "no good honky".  I hope it's just a phase:

Here's Rufus who still seems to be growing.  He's such a good boy.  He's still taking care of Ashley and fussing over him and cleaning him and playing with him.  By contrast:  Britney was already sick of her kids before the epidural wore off:

Mimi was very tired and slept the whole time I was home.  I think staying out all night dancing at the Poodle Room every night is finally starting to take its toll.  Lindsay Lohan take note!

I swapped out bikes while I was home because I'm still a little squeamish on my commuter bike because if the whole exploding tube issue and I want to get another couple hundred miles on it before I'm comfortable taking it on a fast descent.  After work I took Columbus to North Point to Van Ness to Francisco to Octavia to Chestnut to Lyon and into the Presidio and then I took Lincoln over to the Golden Gate Bridge and went into Marin.  I headed up Conzelman all the way to the top.  Here's a view of the city from the top:

I came down the big scary descent and got a few shots of lovely Rodeo Lagoon and Beach:

And me with the hills behind me.  You know it's still winter because they are so green:

I came down Bunker Road and went through the tunnel at the end which is kind of freaky and then headed down into Fort Baker.  It has such a great view of the bridge:

There's an access road that goes underneath the bridge that cars can't use but bicycles can and I took that back to the bridge and I headed over.  I stopped at the pier on the San Francisco side for a shot of the fading sun:

And also a shot straight down.  Which totally gave me the willies because it's so high up:

I came back over the bridge and took Ralston to Kobbe to Washington and got a shot of the sunset from Immigrant Point:

Then I followed Washington to Arguello to Jackson to Cherry to Clay to Scott to Duboce to Castro and then home.  Mr. Poe had gotten home from class early and had made me dinner.  Huzzah!

Bike Mileage:
Today                                    49.4
Week to date                         87.7
Month to date                      724.6
Year to date                      1,709.9
Remaining to Goal             8,290.1
Over (Under) plan              (421.2)

Tuesday, March 18

I didn't get a good nights sleep because Rufus and Ashley were at war at 2:30 in the morning.  I hate to complain because the alternative would be a sneak attack from Ashley on us at 2:30 in the morning and his little teeth are like razors.  I managed to drag myself out of bed and headed off Corbett to Portola to Woodside to Dewey to Taravel and down to the coast.  I'm still a little worried about my rear wheel so I'm taking descents kind of slowly.  I'm figuring that if I don't have any issues with it but Friday then it's not going to happen again.  I came up the Great Highway and went into Golden Gate Park at MLK and checked out the progress on the South Windmill.  Mr. Poe was just asking me about the progress on its repair.  It was supposed to be reinstalled in 2006.  It hasn't been, but I saw definite signs of activity at the site.  It no longer looks like a location for a pivotal scene in a Nancy Drew mystery:

The building attached to it looks to me like it's been painted.  I'm hoping that soon the windmill will be back and this site will be accessible to the public again.

I continued on MLK and then headed over to Stow Lake which always looks so pretty in the morning:

There's this odd German-ish building at the lake that always leaves me scratching my head:

Here's me in front of it:

I headed over to JFK and came out of the park at 8th Ave and took it to Lake to Arguello and into the Presidio.  I came out of the Presidio at the Lombard gate and noted that they're finally working on the Palace of Fine Arts which has been in dire need of stabilization since I moved here.  It's so beautiful and I'm hoping they'll be able to take down the big metal nets on the inside of the dome that was keeping pieces of the decoration from falling on people:

I took Chestnut to Van Ness to North Point to Embarcadero to Washington to battery to Sacramento to Sansome and into work.

Monday, March 17

I headed off after work Columbus to North Point to Francisco to Octavia to Chesnut to Lyon and into the Presidio.  It was a glorious afternoon and the bridge looked gorgeous rising behind the Presidio:

As did I:

I headed over to Arguello and took Arguello to Lake to 23rd to Cabrillo to 30th and into Golden Gate Park.  I stopped by the North Windmill to check out the progress of the tulips. 

They're starting to bloom!  But they all seem to be either red or yellow.  Tell me that's not the best they could do:

I came out of the park and went down the Great Highway to Kirkham to 6th to Judah to Cole to Carmel to Clayton to Corbett and then home.  I took the dogs to the park and then had dinner with Mr. Poe and then we went to bed early. 

Bike Mileage:
Today                                    38.3
Week to date                         38.3
Month to date                      675.2
Year to date                      1,660.5
Remaining to Goal             8,339.5
Over (Under) plan              (443.3)

Monday, March 17

I was a little concerned as I headed off because I'm on that new wheel and I'm afraid my tube explosion issue is not completely behind me.  Because if that is the case then I both still have that problem and am a bitch for forcing them to take the old tire back.  I headed off Corbett to Portola to Fowler to Teresita to Gaviota to Bella Vista.  How gorgeous does the bay look from there??

I continued on Bella Vista to Burlwood to Los Palmos to Hazelwood to Yerba Buena to Brentwood to Maywood to Darien to San Fernando to Ocean to Clearfield into 35th to Yorba to 34th to Vicente and down to the coast.  I came up the Great Highway and went into Golden Gate Park at MLK.  I came up to the Music Concourse and stopped for some pics.

The mysterious De Young with its many angles:

Me-- not so mysterious:

 

I continued to JFK to the Panhandle to Baker to McAllister to Larkin to Golden Gate to Market and into work.  No explosions, lookin good.

Sunday, March 16

We had a great training ride on Sunday!  We headed out to Nicasio Resevoir.  It was cool and windy but a gorgeous day.  Here's sunrise over the Golden Gate Bridge:

And some of our great looking riders:

I started out at the front of the riders because I had pointing duties.  I stopped in Fairfax and the riders trickled in. I never get to hang out with the fast riders because I'm usually so far back. They're hot!

I pointed at the corner of Sir Francis Drake and Nicasio Valley Rd for a couple of hours.  It got a little cold.  But then the last riders went through and I got back on my bike.  We headed through the village and then around the reservoir.  We've had a lot of rain so it was pretty full:

Then we came down into Samuel P Taylor Park and then into Lagunitas for Lunch.  Here's Ben and Marvin at lunch:

Then we headed back towards Fairfax.  We got the bad news that one of our riders had a bad fall on White's hill and broke a couple of ribs and maybe her shoulder.  Not good.  I hope she'll be OK.  We headed back through Fairfax and then into Sausalito.  Where another one of our riders was getting picked up because he had bronchitis and couldn't breath.  Yet he came on our ride anyway.  HARD TO BELIEVE. 

One of our riders got a flat in the parking lot before the bridge.  I pulled out a tube and it had a depression era reminiscent FIVE patches on it.  And then it didn't hold when we filled it.  SHAME!  So Ben produced a new tube and we got her rolling again without any more fuss.

We headed back over the bridge and into Sports Basement and then I went home for dinner and I went to bed early.  And that tube went into the garbage.

Bike Mileage:
Today                                    77.3
Week to date                       311.4
Month to date                      636.9
Year to date                      1,622.2
Remaining to Goal             8,377.8
Over (Under) plan              (454.3)

Saturday, March 15

I watched cartoons all morning and then ran errands with Mr. Poe.  After lunch, I headed down to REI to see about this wheel of mine.  It's been a slightly frustrating experience.  My technical knowledge of bicyles is a lot lower than you might think given how much time I spend on them.  Suffice it to say I'm a lot more bikey-bikey than thinkey-thinkey.  About a month ago I got a new tire for my commuter bike and I blew two tubes trying it get it on the rim.  It would go on and I'd start inflating and at about 80 pounds of pressure there would be a gunshot like sound as the tube exploded.  This had never happened to me before and I've changed a lot of tires between the ones on my bike and the ones on other people's bikes when I've led training rides.  I'd bought that kind of tire before and the one I'd gotten didn't seem right.  So I took it back to the store where one of the mechanics, we'll call him Noel, basically called me an idiot who didn't know how to change a tire and he managed to get it on and inflated without any explosions so he must be right.  I'd been taken down a notch.  A whole notch!  So I was surprised a week later when I went to go home over lunch and found that the tube had exploded yet again this time without me even being on the bike!  Yes, it scared the heck out of the guys in the parking garage where I keep my bike.  So I changed it out and went on my way.  And then a week later it happened AGAIN.  Very troubling.  Because if had happened on a descent I might have had a lot of problems stopping which could be catastrophic.  So I took it in and another mechanic, we'll call her Erin, went over my tire and tube with a fine tooth comb and told me that she thought it was a coincidence.  Coincidence??  How on earth could that possibly be??  But she's worked on my bike a bunch of times and I didn't have another explanation handy so I went with that.  And then my tire exploded AGAIN.  At this point I was pissed.  So I took the bike down to REI and spoke to another bike mechanic.  We'll call him Joshua.  And we talked about what had been happening and I brought in one of the exploded tubes and I told him that the only thing it could be is a tire defect that wasn't showing up until the tire was at pressure because so many people had looked at it without any useful solutions.  Joshua was not helpful.  First he told me that it was because I didn't have rim tape on my wheels.  The wheels that were two years old.  That had never had rim tape.  I told him that wasn't a good explanation.  Then another bike mechanic, we'll call him Larry, had a nice hard look at my tire and noticed some exposed beading (wire) which would have been causing the tube explosions I was experiencing.  Then Joshua said to me that he thought the damage on the tire was caused by my brakes rubbing against it.  I said to him "How can that possibly be the damage is on the part of the tire that goes inside the rim.  It's impossible that the brake pad could have ever touched it."   He looked at me and agreed and then I returned the tire that had been giving me so much trouble and exchanged it for a new one.   I'm not really sure what to make of all of this.  I have limited knowledge of bicycle mechanics and I need to rely on the mechanics at my shop but I wasn't given good advice.  And I can't help but thinking that if I had trusted my instincts and returned the tire when it first started giving me problems than I wouldn't have all of this drama.  And I'm likely to be a little leery about having any of the mechanics who worked on this issue with me except for Larry do anything complicated on my bike again.  I think I deserved better.  And boy won't my cheeks be red if a tube explodes on the new tire and it turns out to be the rim!

After all that I headed out Valencia to Tiffany to 29th to San Jose to Wilder to Diamond to Monterey to Circular and into City College and then I headed over to Geneva to Bayshore to Guadalupe Canyon Parkway.  It was a gorgeous day up there and I loved it:

This is Brisbane from above:

I came out of the canyon and took East Market to San Pedro to Eastmoor to Westmoor to Skyline to the Great Highway where it was super windy with sand blowing everywhere to Taravel to Dewey to 7th Ave to Hugo to Arguello to Frederick to Cole to Carmel to Clayton to Corbett and then home.

Bike Mileage:
Today                                    28.3
Week to date                       234.1
Month to date                      559.6
Year to date                      1,544.9
Remaining to Goal             8,455.1
Over (Under) plan              (504.3)