Monday I slept in and didn't go riding despite dry weather and I repeated that this morning.  It's true I've got the allergies and have been feeling kind of crappy but there really is no excuse.  I did attempt to redeem myself by walking home from work. 

First I had to stop by the Sephora in Union Square.  I got Mr. Poe this thing for Christmas that had ten fragrance samples and a coupon and you choose from among the samples you trade the coupon in for a full size bottle.  Mr. Poe initially treated this gift with suspicion.  I think he thought there was only one correct answer from among the ten options and any other choice would lead to humiliation.  Not so! Once he realized that it wasn't an elaborate trap I think he really enjoyed playing with them.  He finally made his fragrance selection-- Acqua di Gio (OMG it's 1996!  Wait-- maybe that gift was an elaborate trap)--  and I had to go pick it up.  Sephora in Union Square is in a terrible location.  On Powell by the cable car stand next to Burger King.  Such a shitty location they have to lock up some of the more popular selections.  Like it's the fancy liquor at Safeway.  Occasionally they even get homeless meandering through the store which has led me to avoid touching anything in the Sephora on Powell.  The one on Union Street is much nicer and worth the trip.

Then I headed home O'Farrell to Franklin to Hayes to Buchanan to Market and home.  I got a few pics before the sun went down.

Union square:

Powell Street:

Cyril Magnin:

The Cathedral at dusk:

I went home for dinner, walked the dogs and went to bed.  It was a long ass day.

Sunday rolled around and it was time for my Lifecycle training ride.  We tried to have ride#1 two weeks ago but it was raining so we rescheduled it for today.  We had a great turn out and everybody had a good time.  It was a little cold but the weather more or less cooperated.

David and Bob at the start:

Buzz:

Jim:

All the ride leaders less me:

I had pointing duty at the corner or Miller and the bike path.  It was a little cold but pretty:

The ride went pretty well.  I changed a few tires.  People held up really well.  I think everybody had a good time.  We had to hurry the last few people away from stop in Mill Valley because the tide was super high and the bike path was flooding and we had to get back.  When I got home I had a snack and then Mr. Poe took me to REI to get the tape redone on my bike.  Photos to follow.  I was really beat when I got home from that.  Too many allergies and a lot of time outside.  I went to bed at about 5:30 and slept through the night.  Yes, 5:30.  Don't judge.

Bike Mileage:

Today 31.7 Week to date 168.5 Month to date 355.5 Year to date 355.5 Rolling Year 7,291.8 Since Inception 10/1/07 21,525.3

Saturday I had a ride with Different Spokes.  We headed out to Lucas Valley and it was a lot of fun.  the weather cooperated mostly although we saw some rain in Fairfax although thankfully we were inside when it was raining. 

Larry, Doug and Wanderson at Oak and Scott:

We  headed over to San Rafael and then to China Camp State Park.  I didn't stop for pics but it looked gorgeous there as usual.  I did stop to get a few shots of the spectacular Marin County Civic Center:

Which has this curiously named bail bond place across the street from it:

We stopped at Big Rocks Deli on Lucas Valley fro lunch where this little dog was sitting in his truck barking his head off.  "Where the hell's my lunch??"  I think he was saying:

From there we headed back towards San Francisco.  Larry went around Nicasio Reservoir to add a few miles but I had dinner plans and had to get back to the city.  I stopped at the Golden Gate Bridge for pics:

Me:

Wanderson and Peter:

I headed home and had a snack and then we headed over to Mr. Chris' for dinner.  He made all sorts of fancy french things and we all had great time.

Bike Mileage:

Today 79.6 Week to date 136.8 Month to date 323.8 Year to date 323.8 Rolling Year 7,260.1 Since Inception 10/1/07 21,493.6

I was supposed to go for a long walk with Nathan after work but mean old Mr. Rain decided to give us yet another rainstorm mid day and it was still raining when I left work so I headed over to Nathan's house.  He had a beautiful view of the sunset from his kitchen:

The rain passed and so we went on a shorter walk.  We got on a bus to Japantown and then walked to my house from there for dinner.  Japantown is so awesome-- especially at night:

Me in front of whimsical umbrellas:

Miss Smith in Japantown center:

We headed home and I made dinner where I managed to make a huge mess in the kitchen frying up eggplant.  Mr. Poe was not amused.