It was in the mid forties in San Francisco which is incredibly cold when you figure in the damp.  I added another layer and I was still cold.  Brrr.  If it gets much colder than this I'm going to have to start going into work very early and then getting a longer ride in at lunch.  I headed off Corbett to Portola to Woodside to Dewey to Taravel and down to the coast.  I came down the Great Highway and stopped just north of Lake Merced for a pic of the ocean at sunrise:

I continued on the Great Highway to Skyline to Lake Merced to Font to Holloway to Lunado to Mercedes to Paloma to Ocean to Santa Ana to Saint Francis to Santa Clara to Portola to Claremont to Ulloa.  I love the juxtaposition of St. Brendan's with the Radio Tower:

Saint Brendan's has such a pretty tiled bell tower:

I continued on Ulloa to Sydney to Portola to Twin Peaks and up to the viewing platform.  It was a gorgeous clear morning:

Sunrise

Downtown

North Bay

Golden Gate Bridge:

Marin:

Ocean:

I came down Twin Peaks to Clayton to Ashbury to Haight to Buchanan to Page to Laguna to Golden Gate to Market to Sansome.  This is the view looking up California from Sansome:

Me:

I continued up Sansome into work.

I headed home over lunch and then to the comic book store because it's Wednesday and that's the day new comics come out.  I go to Whatever Comics on Castro.  It isn't a big store but it's in the neighborhood and they're really, really nice.  I got Mighty Avengers #31 which I really liked, Dark Avengers #11 which I liked more than I thought I was going to (they've dusted off Molecule Man!), Inhumans #1 which was really awesome and Adventure Comics #4 which was kind of a meh.  I don't know how crazy I am about the Blackest Night crossover but the second feature was Legion of Super Heroes and I really liked that.  Here's a pic of the store:

It was sunny and gorgeous in the Castro:

When I got to Market and 17th I saw this red hot mess pole dancing on a no parking sign.  This is actually the third time I've seen him here around lunchtime.  He's either advertising something or a workin' girl.  Or a little of both.  Nomi Malone's got nothing on this:

After work I headed off down Sutter Street.  So pretty right around sunset:

I continued on Sutter to Fillmore to Clay to Maple to Washington to Arguello to Lake to 27th to Cabrillo to 47th to Fulton to the Great Highway and then down the coast to Taravel to Merced to Hernandez to Laguna Honda to Portola to Corbett to Ord and home for dinner.  A certain little Poodle named Ashley got in a lot of trouble for pooping on my bathroom floor.  Sadly, so much like Ashley Senior. 

Bike Mileage:

Today 36.7 Week to date 103.2 Month to date 623.4 Year to date 7,422.6 To Goal 2,577.4 Over (Under) plan (1,399.3) YTD Mileage vs Last Year (2,519.9) Rolling Year 8,238.3 Since Inception 10/1/07 20,700.3

I had a hard time getting moving this morning, probably due to my junk food orgy from the night before.  When I finally got my ass out of the house I headed off Corbett to Portola to Woodside to Dewey to Taravel and down to the coast.  Man, was it ever cold.  I came up the Great Highway and went into Golden Gate Park at MLK.  I followed that to Stow Lake.  Which I nearly fell into because I slipped on the slick wood on the dock that I stopped on to take this picture:

I headed over to JFK and followed that to the Panhandle to Baker to Fulton.  This is the view looking down Fulton from Scott.  Perfection:

These pretty Victorians are on Scott at Fulton.  Swanky:

Closer up:

I took Scott to McAllister.  This is a superfantastic apartment building on McAllister at Scott:

I took McAllister to Polk.  This interesting apartment building is on Polk at O'Farrell.  I've never really noticed it before but it has all these nice angles.  It doesn't blow me away but it's interesting:

I continued on Polk to Post.  This is a fabulous sign for the Starlite Room in the Sir Francis Drake Hotel.  Likey:

I continued on Post.  This is Post from Powell to Grant:

I continued on Post to Kearny.  This is the view looking down Kearny at the Bank of America building:

I took Kearny to Bush to Sansome and into work.

It was raining when I left work so I came up Market home.  It wasn't raining very hard so everything was very slick and very hazardous.  In addition, there was a muni meltdown which led to a large number of pedestrians on Market Street.  It was terrifying.  I almost hit some stupid woman who ran into the street at Van Ness and Market trying to catch a streetcar.  She was completely oblivious to the fact that wet bicycle brakes don't work very well.  I made it home without further incident and proceeded to stress eat a huge quantity of junk food.  I went to bed with an upset stomach.  It was probably worth it.

Bike Mileage:

Today 27.5 Week to date 66.5 Month to date 586.7 Year to date 7,385.9 To Goal 2,614.1 Over (Under) plan (1,408.6) YTD Mileage vs Last Year (2,538.1) Rolling Year 8,208.6 Since Inception 10/1/07 20,663.6

It was freezing cold again this morning.  I wanted to go through the Mission to get some extra mileage in but I was afraid I'd never warm up if I did that so I took Corbett instead.  I took Corbett to Portola and stopped for a pic of the chilly sunrise:

I continued on Portola to Woodside to Dewey to Taravel and down to the coast.  I came up the Great Highway and then got on Geary to 34th and up to the Palace of the Legion of Honor.  I noticed that the Pax Jerusalemme sculpture looked a little different in the cold, clear light.  Much more vivid:

The Palace of the Legion of Honor:

I got on Camino Del Mar and headed into the Presidio.  I continued into Lincoln to Cowles and down to Crissy Field and then Mason into Marina to Fort Mason and then Van Ness to Beach to Columbus.  This was the view looking down at the Financial District from Columbus and Kearny:

Me:

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

It didn't warm up much all day but it was sunny so it was nice on the way home for lunch.  After work I headed off Sutter to Fillmore to Clay to Spruce to Washington to Arguello to Lake to 27th to Carbrillo to 47th to Fulton to the Great Highway and down the coast to Taravel to Merced to Hernandez to Laguna Honda to Portola to Corbett to Ord and home for dinner.  I took the dogs on a very short walk because it was very cold and I was tired AND Mr. Poe's back in town and I couldn't wait to get back to him.

Bike Mileage:

Today 39.0 Week to date 39.0 Month to date 559.2 Year to date 7,358.4 To Goal 2,641.6 Over (Under) plan (1,408.7) YTD Mileage vs Last Year (2,558.6) Rolling Year 8,181.1 Since Inception 10/1/07 20,636.1

I slept better last night than I have in a week because Mr. Poe is back in town and all is right in the world once again.  The dogs raised a bit of a fuss when Mr. Nick and Jeff headed off for the airport around 4:15 but I was getting up a few minutes after that so it was OK.  It was very cold this morning--  in the forties!  I headed off Corbett to Portola to Woodside to Dewey to Taravel and down to the coast.  I went down the Great Highway and stopped at the foot of Sloat for pics of the coast.  People were surfing in this weather.  Crazy, crazy people:

The view south:

The view north:

I continued on the Great Highway and stopped a little north of Lake Merced for more pics.  So pretty:

Me:

I continued on the Great Highway to Skyline to Lake Merced to Font to Holloway.  This is the view of Ingleside Heights with the Twin Peaks radio tower in the background from Holloway and Junipero Serra:

I continued on Holloway to Harold to Ocean to Phelan to Judson to Foerster to Hearst to Edna to Monterey to Diamond to Wilder to Arlington to Randall to San Jose to Duncan to Valencia to Market to Sansome and into work.  It was still very cold when I got to work.  Ahhh, winter.

Mr. Poe's flight got in a little early on Saturday night.  We all went home and promptly went to bed.  It had been a very long day and I was beat.  Sunday I got up nice and early and took the dogs for a walk while he slept in.  We did Collingwood and Liberty Hills.  The sun was just coming up on 22nd and Noe:

Mimi was having more fun than appears in this photo:

Sunrise over the Mission from Sanchez and Hill:

Superfantastic house on 21st:

Ashley wanting something.  Likely supremacy:

I went home and finished making the cinnamon rolls I had started the night before.  I'm getting pretty good at them-- they looked great:

Mr Nick and Jess had a wedding to go to that day so Mr. Poe and I were pretty much on our own.  We headed off to the grocery store and got the house cleaned up, had dinner and walked the dogs again  Mr. Nick got back from the wedding around 9 and we went to bed soon after.  I was beat.

It was freezing cold and pouring down rain when I got up.  I almost didn't go to the Different Spokes monthly Jersey Ride but TV said that it was gonna be nice and why would TV lie??  That and I was such a hot mess the day before I needed to suffer a little.  There were only couple of people at Peets when I got there.

Doug, Michael, and Larry:

Jeff, Cameron, and Brian:

Chris with Joel and Brian's adorable dog:

We headed off and I could tell right away that the grey wet weather was only in the city and that it was sunny in Marin. 

Cameron, Jeff, and David at the Golden Gate Bridge:

David, Larry, and Doug:

Sausalito was sunny and the rest of the ride was gorgeous.  Score!  We had a nice ride to Tiburon.  I felt pretty good.  A little hung over for some reason.  But pretty good.  We stopped at Shark's in Tiburon for lunch.

Cameron and Jeff:

Larry looking all secret agent:

From there we headed over to Belvedere Island.  We stopped at the pretty lookout for pics.

Larry, Jeff, and Doug:

The view of the Golden Gate Bridge from Belvedere:

The view towards Tam:

From there we headed back to Sausalito and then I did Marin Headlands.  Nobody else wanted to go.  Their loss.  It was gorgeous.  This was the view from the top:

Me:

I headed down towards Rodeo Beach and stopped for an unusual view of the bridge with the pretty beaches thrown in:

I'm pretty sure this would have been a firing range back when this was a military base based on the way it's been excavated.  Now it's chomping central for these adorable deer:

Nom, Nom, Nom.

I headed back home and got cleaned up and then Mr. Nick and Jess came back from Napa and we took the dogs for a long walk and had dinner.  Then I hung out and waited for Mr. Poe's flight to land.  I can't wait!  Baby's back in town!!

Bike Mileage:
Today                                                  59.1
Week to date                                      221.5
Month to date                                     520.2
Year to date                                     7,319.4
To Goal                                           2,680.6
Over (Under) plan                          (1,392.9)
YTD Mileage vs Last Year             (2,597.6)
Rolling Year                                    8,149.1
Since Inception 10/1/07                  20,597.1

I took the day off on Friday because Mr. Nick and his girlfriend Jess were visiting from New York.  I made them a lavish brunch and Nathan and Mr. Chris came.  I made donuts!  And apparently they were very good.  I made one batch of dough and four different kinds of donuts:  chocolate, maple pecan, rasberry, and cinnamon sugar (the holes).  Donuts are not easy to make.  The hardest part for me was keeping the oil the right temperature.  If it's too high then the donuts get too brown before the interior is cooked.  Too low and you get a greasy mess.  I think I did pretty well:

I anticipated I was going to have a lot of frosting left over so I baked sugar cookies on Wednesday and filled them when I was done frosting the donuts.  I should have used a bag and piped the filling in.  It got kind of messy:

After brunch we headed out to the Sunset.  Thanks for the lift Mr. Chris!  Poor Joseph had waaaay too much champagne with brunch.  I'm not a heavy drinker and it all went quickly downhill.  I think we can all see where this is leading:

Leading straight to fail!  At least my hair looked good:

That was pretty much the end of the day for me.  I spent the rest of it sleeping it off.