We’ve got a storm moving in today.  It was dry this morning, but it’s supposed to get rainy mid day.  But I went biking this morning.  Three days in a row!  Which hasn’t happened in I don’t know how long and felt great despite the spring allergies that I’ve got that are killing me.  I headed off Corbett to Clayton to Parnassus to Cole to Haight to Stanyan and into Golden Gate Park at JFK.  I came out of the park at 8th and took Cabrillo to 47th to Fulton to the Great Highway and down the coast.  The Great Highway is currently closed from Sloat to Skyline.  I think some of the roadway has been eroded by the recent storms and is being reinforced.  I went around the barriers and continued to Skyline to Lake Merced to Font to 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 15th to Market to 17th to Ord and home to get ready for work.  I didn’t get any pics on my ride this morning because it was super gloomy and just too dark.  I got his one on my way to muni.  This is 8:30 in the morning:

Me:

Mr. Poe is going to a movie tonight and I’m supposed to go walking with Miss Smith after work.  I’m concerned about the weather.  I hope we get to go!

Mr. Poe and I both got home late last night.  He had a meeting and I had to stop by Kaiser on the way home.  Do I ever hate the Divisadero Bus.  There was some guy sitting next to me who was chewing tobacco and spitting it into a cup.  Sadly, the spit improved his odor.  I tried to focus on my book–  1972 Isaac Asimov classic “The Gods Themselves“.  Which has some very graphic alien sex scenes in it.  Caliente! 

We were halfway through dinner before Mr. Poe got home and we all went to bed as early as we could.  And I slept like a rock.  I love it when I’m getting enough exercise.

This morning I got up and headed out on the bike.  Two days in a row!  Unbelievable!  I took 17th to Eureka to 18th to Valencia to Mission to Sagamore to Brotherhood Way to Lake Merced to John Muir to Skyline to The Great Highway and up the coast.  I stopped at the Cliff House for a pic of the beach at sunrise:

I headed up to Geary to 34th and up to the Palace of the Legion of Honor.  Today’s pic has Pax Jerusalemme in it:

Me:

I got on Camino Del Mar to Lake to 8th and into Golden Gate Park.  I headed over to the Music Concourse where I got an unusually gauzy view of the copper cladding of the De Young Museum:

The sun peeking through the clouds at the California Academy of Sciences:

I got on MLK to Middle to JFK to Stanyan to Page where I saw the first signs of spring.  Huzzah!

I continued on Page to Baker to Buena Vista East to Upper Terrace to Roosevelt to 17th to Mars to Corbett to Ord and home to get ready for work.  The fog was all burned off by the time I left the house for work.  It’s gonna be a beautiful day.

Bike Mileage:

Today 21.9 Week to date 39.2 Month to date 226.2 Year to date 226.2 Rolling Year 7,243.8 Since Inception 10/1/07 21,396.0

It’s comic book Wednesday as most Wednesdays are.  I got five books.  Mixed reviews.

Guardians of the Galaxy #22 - I must have missed #21 which pains me because it’s my very favorite book.  This issue didn’t disappoint.  Tons of action!  Surprises!  Confusion!  I can’t wait to see what happens next.  Plus some of my favorites who they killed off a couple of issues ago turned out to be still alive.  Also hottie Adam Warlock who’s all evil now but I know he loves me.

Amazing Spider Man #619 -  Was confusing but in a good way.  The plot is very, very intricate and it’s starting to come together and it’s crazy but it’s awesome.  Likey!

Avengers:  The Initiative #32 – Didn’t like.  I’m already sick of the Siege event.  I think I may pass on some Avengers titles until it’s over. 

New Avengers #61 –  Was pretty weak for the same reasons I didn’t like Avengers:  The Initiative.  At least they got Captain America back.

Captain America Reborn #6/6 — Was weak.  Originally this was supposed to be a five issue series and they stretched it to 6.  It seemed a little padded and a little weak on plot.  Menacing forshadowing.  Ugh.  I probably should have gotten something else.

So I wasn’t crazy about three of the five books I got which is not good.  I’m hoping I’ll like next week’s better.

Apparently, Poodles were pouting all day over their not getting to go for the walk in the morning with Rufus and I.  I didn’t feel too bad about it because we walked about six miles and neither of the little ones can go even remotely that far.  I think at about mile 2 Ashley would be demanding to be picked up and Mimi would be hailing a cab.  But just so there were no hard feelings, last night I took all three of the dogs for a long walk after dinner.  I walked up Caselli which is always fun. Mimi was totally wiped out at the end of it and everybody slept through the night. 

This morning I went off on the bike.  No, seriously.  On my bike this morning.  And it wasn’t raining and it wasn’t 35 degrees.  Unbelievable!  I headed off Corbett to 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.  Which looked gorgeous just before sunrise:

I got on Camino Del Mar to Lake to Arguello to Clay to Fillmore to Jackson to Gough to Pacific to Polk and headed towards Civic Center.  I stopped and got a nice close shot of fabulous City Hall–  site of all of my weddings:

The view looking towards UN Plaza from City Hall:

Me:

I continued on Polk to Market.  I love this fabulous deco-licious apartment building at Market and Laguna:

Gorgeous detail:

I continued on Market to 17th to Ord and home to cleaned up for work.  It felt great to be on my bike in the morning again!

Monday was rain all day.  Again.  It was raining when I went to work and raining when I came home.  And it rained all night.  Did I mention I’m over the rain???  I woke up this morning and–  wait for it–  it was not raining.  Completely soaking wet but not raining.  I thought about riding but concluded it would be more fun to walk Rufus in weather like that.  Rufus agreed.  He seems to have figured out the difference between bike and street clothes and when he sees me getting up early and putting on regular shoes he gets very excited.  We headed off for Golden Gate Park.  This is the California Academy of Sciences by night:

Then we went over to the University of San Francisco and then over to Alamo Square.  The sun was just starting to come up:

Rufus loves to go!

From there we headed back over to Corona Heights.  This is Corona Heights as seen from the Vulcan Steps:

Me:

I went home and got cleaned up and, predictably, it was pouring down rain when I walked out of the house to go to work.  When will it end???

The weather Sunday was OK in the morning and I went riding.  My friend Peter and I managed to do Tiburon look pretty quickly before the rain started.  It was lots of fun.  I went home and got cleaned up and then Mr. Poe and I headed over to the ALC kickoff party that was held at the Mezzanine.  I hadn’t been there in years.  And certainly never in the daytime or even partially sober.  I saw tons of people I knew.  Here’s cute Bill Henry modeling a Mike’s Bikes bag they were giving away:

Mr. Poe coming menacingly close to the “No Admittance” door:

Kate and Courtney with an “Oral Sex–  Using Your Head” pamphlet.  I was kind of hoping to be discovered by the SFAF and to be the new face of Chlamydia.  I figured it was an easy stepping stone to being featured in a Tom Ford fragrance ad:

I didn’t win anything.  Again.  After we left the party I sent Mr. Poe home and went walking with Miss Smith.  We took Taylor to Vallejo.  I love the view of the Financial District from the Vallejo Steps:

Adorable!

 
Then we headed over to Saint Brigid’s on Van Ness.  This beautiful church has nearly been torn down a bunch of times.  I don’t think it’s an active church anymore.  I wish the city would buy it, renovate it, and use it for concerts or exhibitions or something.  It’s so pretty!   You can read more about it here:

Pretty Victorians we saw along the way:

The view from Lafayette Square:

Me in Lafayette Square:

The supposedly haunted Atherton House:

I left Nathan at Polk and Bush and headed down towards Civic Center Muni.  I had to run the gauntlet of extremely aggressive panhandlers.  It was kind of an ick.  I made it home just as it started raining.  We had dinner and I went to bed early.  I was beat!

Bike Mileage:

Today 48.2 Week to date 126.8 Month to date 187.0 Year to date 187.0 Rolling Year 7,329.3 Since Inception 10/1/07 21,356.8

I led a Different Spokes ride out to Nicasio Reservoir today.  The weather’s been so crappy all week it’s been killing me and I was hoping I wasn’t going to regret getting a ride in.  The weather was a little rainy in the morning but we didn’t get very wet and the afternoon was pretty nice.  Here’s the gang at the Golden Gate Bridge.  Larry, James, Peter, and Wanderson:

We got a little wet on the way to Fairfax but we didn’t get rained on again for the rest of the day.  Nicasio Reservoir is almost full, but also very cloudy because it’s got so much water flowing into it right now and I didn’t stop for pics.  We did stop at the beginning of the bike path in Samuel P Taylor park for a few pics.  James:

Swollen creek:

Me.  I can’t wait until my hair is long enough to go back.  Right now, I totally have lesbian hair.  Note the number of layers I’m wearing.  It was kind of cold today.

The old bridge at the beginning of the bike path:

We stopped again for pics in the park.  It’s ridiculously beautiful in Samuel P Taylor park:

James:

We headed back to Fairfax and stopped once again at Perry’s for snack.  James, Larry, and Wanderson:

We got a nice group pic at the Golden Gate Bridge on the way back:

I got a little ahead of everybody once we got back into the city and stopped at Immigrant Point for a few pics:

Then I got glamor shots of all the boys as they came past.   Doug:

Larry:

Wanderson:

James:

Peter:

I headed home.  Mr. Poe had been cooking all day.  And in my second geekiest shirt!  Here he is angrily shaking his fist:

Here he is modeling it.  Hello gorgeous!:

It was a long day.  We’re going to bed early.  Which shocks no one.

Bike Mileage:

Today 78.6 Week to date 78.6 Month to date 138.8 Year to date 138.8 Rolling Year 7,308.6 Since Inception 10/1/07 21,308.6

Torrential rains continued for the rest of the week.  Thursday I didn’t even make it into work because a water main broke in my neighborhood and I didn’t have water for most the day.   I’m working from home if I can’t get a shower.  It’s my gift to the nation.

Friday after work I walked home.  The rain had mostly fizzled out by then but there were still patchy sprinkles.  I started off in Chinatown:

This building is at Van Ness and Washington:

Some of the super fantastic apartment buildings on Washington opposite Lafayette Park:

The view looking west from Lafayette Park:

There are a lot of fabulous homes on Washington.  Here are some of them:

Topiariffic:

The view down Steiner from Washington:

Pretty Saint Dominic’s

I headed home and had dinner and went to bed.  Very long week.  And it was only four days!

This week has pretty much been a disaster for working out outside.  We’ve even been having thunderstorms which are very unusual in the bay area and have caused the dogs in my house to raise the terror alert level at my house to red.  I did manage to make it up to the pretty roof garden at the top of my building to get a couple of pics.  It has a pretty obelisk:

The view looking towards Maritime Plaza.  You can see a sliver of Treasure Island between it and one of the Embarcadero Buildings:

The view looking up Sansome towards Market:

Storms a brewin’

Transamerica Pyramid snippet:

Me–  with an enormous wig that isn’t liking this rainy weather one bit.  Thankfully, it will soon go back in a pony tail.

I did manage to make it to the comic book store over lunch.  I got five books:

Nova #33 — Liked it.  It’s a very interesting book and it’s got great art and a good storyline.  This wasn’t the kick assiest Nova that I’ve read but it’s a good one.

Avengers vs Atlas #1/4 — I really liked the Agents of Atlas book and was sad when it got canceled.  This wasn’t incredible but it wasn’t awesome.  I like it just enough to want to see what they do in #2.

The Mighty Avengers #33 — Was good.  I’m getting really sick of Norman Osborn being the only villian in every book I read and them all having similar story lines because of it.  I’m hoping that these books start moving in a different direction soon.

The Amazing Spider Man #618 — Was incredible.  I love Mr. Negative and think he’s an great villian.  Plus Mysterio!  An evil Aunt May! 

Dark Avengers #13 –  Was disappointing.  The Sentry story line has been very intriguing for a long time but I’m pretty much over it. 

I’m hoping the rain dies down by the weekend so I get can some riding in.  I’m way behind and that’s disappointing.

Today was the start of the cat2 series on Sunday.  We called it because of rain.  We had to cancel so many last season I’m hoping it isn’t going to be a repeat of that this year.  We had two riders and four ride leaders (including me) show up.  Our next ride is in two weeks.  I sure hope we have better weather for that.

A girl whose name I didn’t get, Buzz,  Deyon, Bob, and Mark:

Bob gave me ride home.  I plan on working on the house today with Mr. Poe.