I headed off on my commuter bike this morning with it's gleaming new wheel which didn't cause me any problems and whose hearty rim seems to be giving me slightly crisper braking which I'm really happy about.  I took Corbett to Portola to Woodside to Dewey to Taravel and down to the coast.  I came up the Great Highway and then went into Golden Gate Park at MLK.  I followed it to the Music Concourse and then took JFK into the Panhandle to Baker to Fulton.  There's a bunch of beautiful Victorians on Broderick between Fulton and McAllister and they're fabulous:

This one has such beautiful detail.  And it's for sale and would make a lovely gift.

  

The ones across the street are just as pretty:

I continued on Fulton to Laguna to Eddy and into the Tenderloin.  There are a lot of fantastic buildings on Eddy that have probably seen better days:

I think this might be metal which would make it kind of unusual because most of the ornamentation around here is stucco or stone:

The Herald Hotel is a few blocks from Union Square and is really well detailed:

  

I continued on Eddy to Cyril Magnun to Market to Sansome and into work.

I headed off after work Columbus to North Point to Van Ness to Francisco to Laguna to Chestnut to Richardson to Baker and into the Palace of Fine Arts to check out the work they're doing there.  As you can see, the main dome is being worked on extensively:

  

I totally got yelled at by some angry lady for biking on the grounds but I can't walk in my road shoes and I was intent on snooping.  Here I am reveling in my lawlessness:

I headed through Crissy Fields and then got onto Lincoln to Camino Del Mar and up to the Palace of Fine Arts and then down to 34th to Cabrillo to 40th to Fulton and down to the coast.  I went into Golden Gate Park at JFK and followed it all the way into the Panhandle and then Baker to Fulton to Gough to Page to Van NEss to 8th to Bryant and into REI.  They felt really bad about me having to come back with the wheel and gave me a hearty apology and a free set of tire irons which was really nice.  All is forgiven.  I headed home Brannon to 9th to Market to 17th and home where I realized that the skewer on the new wheel had lost it's cap somewhere on the ride home.  Has this wheel been cursed by three witches?  Luckily, one of the caps from an old wheel I had lying around fit it so I didn't have to go back to REI a third time.  Thank god.

Bike Mileage:
Today                                    43.5
Week to date                         43.5
Month to date                       174.9
Year to date                      3,973.1
Remaining to Goal             6,026.9
Over (Under) plan                530.5

I felt great when I got up this morning and wasn't sore at all from yesterday.  My commuter bike continues to be a pain in the ass.  I just picked it up on Friday from REI where it had been for two weeks getting a new wheel and I I pumped it up this morning to go riding only to have the tube explode because whoever at REI put the wheel back on the bike didn't realize that the tube was pinched between the tire and the rim and the reason they didn't realize that is because they only put 40 pounds of pressure in the tire which is completely ridiculous because inflating the tire to a pressure that somebody would actually ride it at seems to me to be a basic level of service that even an idiot would get right.  So I gotta run the wheel back in over lunch for them to look at and then pick it up again tonight which is going to be two visits to REI that I didn't want to make and I'm not very happy about it.  Stay tuned.

So I hopped on my road bike and rode Corbett to Portola to Woodside to Dewey to Taravel and down to the coast.  I came up the Great Highway and then took Dewey to 36th to Clement and up to the Palace of the Legion of Honor and then down Camino Del Mar to Lake to Arguello to Clay to Fillmore to Washington.  I saw this fabulous house on Washington at Webster:

Check out the wonderful detail:

  

I continued on Washington and ran into some massive homes at Lafayette Park:

This one seems really overgrown and is kind of crumbling condition:

I continued on Washington up onto Russian Hill.  This pretty apartment building is on Jones at Washington:

And me in front of it:

I continued on Washington to Powell to Clay.  This is the view north down Grant from Clay.  I love the lanterns:

I continued on Clay to Sansome and into work.

Sunday, May 4

Today was a lifecycle training ride out to Olema Valley. The mileage was only (!) 68 but there was a bunch of climbing and it was a tough day.  I started the day sweeping with Joe Mueller.  Who really loves sweeping.  I mean it.  Here he is looking pissed at the stop in Fairfax:

These riders just started training.  Which kind of scared us but they did great!

Here's Joe and I:

We left Fairfax and headed through San Geronimo Valley and then into Olema where we stopped again.  Here's Mr. Armstrong looking fresh and girlish:

And Joe looks a lot happier when you feed him.  I've made a note of that.

This is Marvin who's been training with us all season and is getting stronger every week:

We climbed to the top of Olema Valley and then headed for Stinson Beach.  A rider had a flat but was lucky enough to have FOUR ride leaders on tap to fix it.  Ben did most of the work.  I had the CO2 cartridge.  Joe held stuff.  Chuck smiled and looked pretty.

We headed down to the Bolinas Lagoon and the tide was in and it was gorgeous:

We headed into Stintson and stopped for lunch.  We have the hottest riders ever:

We left Stintson and proceeded to do a lot of climbing on the 1 as we headed for Mill Valley:

But the views were fantastic:

Here I am enjoyin' it:

And Joe photographin' it:

Not to Joe Mueller:  don't argue with Mr. Armstrong, who is English, about what traditional English dancing is.  Here is some of it at a May Day celebration at the Pelican Inn in Muir Beach.  I thought they were supposed to be German:

We made it to Mill Valley and then back to San Francisco without any fuss.  I got home and we took the dogs to the park.  Ashley was so beat when we got back.  Look at how bleary eyed he is:

I managed to stay up until 9 and then I went to bed.

Bike Mileage:
Today                                    76.8
Week to date                        249.0
Month to date                       131.4
Year to date                      3,929.6
Remaining to Goal             6,070.4
Over (Under) plan                514.3

I had to go run errands over lunch.  OK it was the comic book store and the burrito place.  But they were still errands.  I went for a little walk as well.  I stopped by St. Mary's in Chinatown for some pics.  It was the first cathedral in San Francisco. 

  

This, apparently, is the only wood bridge in Chinatown.  Yes I asked.  I'm that nosey.

  

Some other pics of Chinatown:

  

  

I saw this little dog at union square.  I hear you're not supposed to dye a dog's hair.  I think he looked happy with his glamorous do and I when I pet him his skin seemed fine.  Take that, PETA.

Mr. Poe calls these Italian Lily trees and says we can't have one in our yard because they attract ants.  Which doesn't stop me from wanting one:

Here's the front of the statue on top of the column in Union Square.  I got a shot of the back this morning:

And, finally, a wide shot of Union Square.  Gorgeous!

After work I had to got to REI to pick up my commuter bike so I just rode up Market home.

Bike Mileage:
Today                                    17.9
Week to date                        172.2
Month to date                         54.6
Year to date                      3,852.8
Remaining to Goal             6,147.2
Over (Under) plan                492.1

I headed off this morning Corbett to Portola to Woodside to Dewey to Taravel and down to the coast.  I came up the Great Highway and then went into Golden Gate Park at MLK.  I followed it to the Music Concourse and then took JFK to the Panhandle and then Baker to Grove to Fulton to Steiner to Mcallister to Polk to O'Farrell to Powell.  I stopped at Union Square for a few pictures:

I like these hearts that are all over the city.  There.  I've said it.  I think a lot of people are very critical of them and find them ugly or even worse un-artistic but I they're cheerful and a lot of the are pretty and coming across them in unexpected places makes them worthwhile.  This one's in Union Square:

This is the back of the sculpture on Union Square.  Baby's got back:

The view down Post St:

Me with Post Street in the background:

I took Post to Kearny to Bush to Sansome and into work.

I headed off after work Market to Turk.  This incredible building is on Market Street but you can't get a good shot of it there.  It's not in the greatest condition, and I'm hoping someday it will be renovated into something fabulous:

And then I came across the Oasis apartment building.  It was built in 1928 and it's really detailed.  Unbelievably detailed.  I love it:

I continued down Gough and saw this building at Turk and Gough.  I'm not sure if I love it but it's interesting and it's got me thinkin'

I continued on Turk into Balboa to 5th to Fuilton.  This strange little structure is on Fulton at 7th Ave.  I don't know anything about it but it's interesting and I like it:

I then headed over to the Rose Garden which is coming into bloom all over the place:

And me in the garden:

The de Young looked spectacular as usual in the late afternoon sun:

From there I headed over to Stow Lake to look at the Chinese Pavilion.  Which I love:

Check out the detail on that:

I headed over to MLK to the Great Highway and headed down the coast. I turned in on Santiago and headed home.  This multi unit dwelling is on Santiago in the 20's I think and it's so California. 

I continued on Santiago to 14th to Taravel to Merced to Hernandez to Laguna Honda to Corbett and home.  Mr. Poe had a meeting so I took the boys to the park and then we all had dinner.  I was just walking Mimi when he got home. 

Bike Mileage:
Today                                    36.7
Week to date                        154.3
Month to date                        36.7
Year to date                      3,834.9
Remaining to Goal             6,165.1
Over (Under) plan                501.6

It was still pretty cold this morning, but the wind had died down which was a nice change.  I headed off Corbett to Portola to Woodside to Dewey to Taravel to 14th to Ulloa and down to the coast.  I came up the Great Highway and went into Golden Gate Park at MLK.  I took MLK to Bernice Rodgers to JFK to Spreckels Lake which looked beautiful in the cold morning light.

There was, however, an army of zombies screaming for brains, delicious brains:

I came out of the park at 36th to Cabrillo to 8th to Lake to Arguello to Washington to Lyon to Broadway.  This is the view looking north over the Marina from Lyon and Broadway.  Can't beat this:

I came down Broadway and got a couple of pics of some of the extravagant houses on San Francisco's "Gold Coast":

This is the view looking northeast from Broadway and Divisadero:

I continued on Broadway to Scott and stopped at Green Street for some more pics.  Here's me:

And these are the fabulous homes at Green and Scott:

I continued on Scott to Union and followed it to Russian Hill.  This fantastic deco building is on Union at the top of Russian Hill.  It's wonderfully detailed and decolicious:

  

  

I continued on Union to Columbus to Clay to Sansome and into work.

I headed off after work Sansome to Sutter and headed West. This fantastic building is on Sutter west of Powell.  It's incredibly detailed:

  

I continued on Sutter to Octavia where I saw Saint Francis Xavier Catholic church.  I'm not sure if it's a Catholic church in a Japanese Style of if it's a Catholic church for Japanese Catholics.  Either way, I likey:

I continued on Octavia and got a shot of a couple of the fabulous homes there that must have been just a little bit more fabulous before they put up the ginormous building next door:

This mansion is at California and Octavia is the famous 1881 haunted Atherton house which you can read more about here.  It's richly detailed:

  

I continued on Octavia to Sacramento to Buchanan.  There's a bunch of beautiful homes on Buchanan down the street from the hospital:

  

I turned on Jackson to Divisadero to Washington to Arguello to Lake to 8th.  Here's a shot of me riding down 8th Street.  I had a comment a couple of days ago questioning the safety of my "action shots".  I never take them when I'm in traffic and I always have one had on the brakes when I take them.  And besides, I'm a professional.  Also, let me point out that the guy who made the comment is known for hiking across very narrow ledges with very heavy packs with huge you're-gonna-die dropoffs and really shouldn't be throwing stones.  We'll call him Nick S.  No, no.... I think we should go with N. Sroka.

I continued on 8th Street into Golden Gate Park and then took JFK to Bernice Rodgers to MLK to the Great Highway and down the coast.  I came up Taravel to Merced to Hernandez to Laguna Honda to Portola to Corbett where I almost met my end by some crazy woman on roller skates who came out of nowhere on a steep hill and wasn't paying any attention whatsoever.  Roller skates, steep hills, and bike routes don't mix.  I continued on Corbett on home.

My friend Nathan sent me some pics he'd taken from dinner on Saturday night.  Here I am with my little baby:

How cute is Ashley??  And how fabulous do my toenails look?

Mimi was sick of all of us by this point:

Hello gorgeous!

Bike Mileage:
Today                                    38.2
Week to date                        117.6
Month to date                    1,486.8
Year to date                      3,798.2
Remaining to Goal             6,201.8
Over (Under) plan                492.2