I was raining an 47 degrees when I got up this morning so I had breakfast and went back to bed.  Cue applause from dogs.  It had dried out quite a bit when I eventually managed to leave the house.  I headed off 17th to Eureka to 18th to Harrison to Mariposa to Bryant.  I got a bunch of pics of Bryant Street as I headed downtown:

The County Jail and Criminal Courts:

Lovely One Rincon Plaza:

The Bay Bridge:

Another shot of One Rincon Plaza:

Me:

More Bay Bridge:

I took Bryant to the Embarcadero to Washington.  I got a few pics of the Financial District from there.  This is the Embarcadero Center:

You can see the Transamerica Pyramid behind the apartment buildings:

I took Washington to Sansome and into work.

It stopped raining in the afternoon and was gorgeous when I left work although a little cold and windy.  I headed off Sutter to Fillmore to Clay to Spruce to Washington where I stopped for a pic of the unsettled weather over the bay:

I took Washington to Arguello to 23rd and stopped for a pic of pretty St. Monica’s at 23rd and Geary:

I continued on 23rd to Carbillo to 47th to Fulton to the Great Highway.  Ocean Beach looked gorgeous:

Me:

I came down the Great Highway and got a few more pics of Ocean Beach from the walkway that goes from Noriega to Sandoval:

Lucky Dog:

I continued on the Great Highway to Vicente and stopped for a pic of St. Cecelia’s

These are some of the pretty homes on Vicente.  Such a pretty neighborhood:

I continued on Vicente to 16th to Taravel to Merced to Hernandez to Laguna Honda to Portola to Corbett to Ord and home for dinner.  The rain started up again around 8PM.  I had pretty good weather luck all day.

It’s going to be raining all week.  It was pouring when I got up this morning so I went back to bed, an action which was met with thunderous applause from the dog community.  It looked like it was clearing up a bit around 7:30 so I decided to come in on the bike.  I just couldn’t face a crowded muni train this morning and I’m hoping that the weather’s going to clear up so that I can ride after work.  I just came down Market.  I stopped at Octavia for pics:

Me:

This is the view from Market and Montgomery up Montgomery:

This is the view up California from Sansome.  You can see another storm moving in.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the weather’s going to improve this afternoon.

It rained most of the day Monday.  I’ve still got a cold and I don’t sound very good.  I thought that I’d progressed to the point where I sounded husky, sexy and mysterious but my hopes were dashed when Mr. Chris informed me that I sounded like Bea Arthur.  Not good. 

I took Muni home for lunch, which was nice, and stopped by the library on the way.  Did you know that you can just stop in whenever you want and just borrow things from them for free??  I don’t see how they make any money.  It’s gotta be a scam. 

I rode up Market home after work.  I had to go home a little early yesterday to meet PG&E who was showing up to relight the pilot light on our oven.  The sad news from them was that it isn’t the pilot light and now we need to get the oven repair people to come and replace a part on it.  I’m a little concerned because we have a commerical range and oven and it came with the house and we have no idea how old it is and we really, really don’t want to have to buy a new one if the part is not to be found.  Stay tuned.

Bike Mileage:

Today 3.5 Week to date 12.4 Month to date 835.0 Year to date 1,545.4 To Goal 8,454.6 Over (Under) plan (893.0) Rolling Year 6,812.6 Since Inception 10/1/07 22,715.2

I slept in til 6:30 this morning.  My body had a hard weekend and wasn’t going anywhere.  When I finally managed to get out of the house and hour later it was raining.  Raining!  Which wasn’t supposed to start til late tonight.  We are not amused.  I headed off 17th to Eureka to 18th to Harrison to Mariposa to Bryant to the Embarcadero where I stopped for pics of the soggy morning:

Me:

I continued on the Embarcadero to Market to California to Sansome and into work.  Note to weather:  knock it off!

Sunday was my Lifecycle training ride.  We headed out to Nicasio.  It was another gorgeous day and everybody had a really good time.  I was pretty creaky from the day before but I’m feeling a lot better and I didn’t have any issues.

Here’s some pics I took at the Sports Basement before we left:

Stretching:

I was on pointing duty and didn’t have time to linger at the stops.  I did stop for a few pics of Nicasio Reservoir.  Beautiful: 

Here is the turn where I was positioned for much of the day.  It was pretty and sunny and not a bad place to hang out:

Me:

One of the riders had some mechanical issues and another was bonking and had to rest and eat but we didn’t have any other problems and we got back into town at a reasonable time.  I stopped and got some maintenance done on my bike at Mike’s in Sausalito and then headed home over the bridge.  I stopped at Immigrant Point for pics of the gorgeous spring afternoon:

I got home a little before 6PM.  Thanks again to Nathan who looked in on the dogs all weekend while I was riding AND managed to open a large jar of artichoke hearts than had stymied me for several days.  I managed to cook myself dinner last night without setting off any smoke alarms.  I made something called Vegan Corned Beef Hash.  The recipe can be found here.  It’s an interesting recipe that looks completely unappetizing until it’s done but was surprisingly tasty and is something I’ll make again. 

Mr. Poe got home at a little before nine too much fanfare from the dog community.  I’m very happy to have him home as well.  We all slept wonderfully.  Nobody sleeps well when he’s out of town.

Bike Mileage:

Today 77.1 Week to date 199.8 Month to date 822.6 Year to date 1,533.0 To Goal 8,467.0 Over (Under) plan (850.6) Rolling Year 6,982.5 Since Inception 10/1/07 22,702.8

I’d been looking forward to today’s Different Spokes ride for a long time.  I hadn’t ridden Marshall Wall in almost a year.  I had scheduled to go in November, but the Thursday before I was tossed off my bike and landed on my face and knocked out my front teeth and was in no shape to do any long bike rides.   Today was a gorgeous day, perhaps a little warm.  I’m still a little under the weather with a cold but I think I did pretty well.  I ran out of energy towards the end of the day but I don’t think I ate enough because of the heat.  Next Saturday I’ve got a 120 mile death march planned that I’m very nervous about.  Nervous!  Isn’t that what life is all about???

Wanderson, Brian and Joe at the Cheese Factory:

We ran into another Different Spokes ride.  Here are David Gaus and Goldsmith:

This is the view from the top of the hill that goes into Marshall.  It’s unbelievable:

Me:

This is one of the ranches in the hills above Marshall.  Bucolic:

Views from the town of Marshall:

I got home and sadly was responsible for my own dinner once again.  Don’t ask.  I ironically burned a plate of french fries beyond recognition in the toaster oven because I forgot about them while I was watching Julie & Julia.  The dogs liked their dinner a little better than me.  Luckily Mr. Poe gets home tomorrow night so I’m not likely to starve either emotionally of physically. 

I took everybody out for a long walk after dinner and we went and visited Ben and Courtney and Kate was there as well.  I haven’t seen them in a while and that was a treat.   Then back home for bed.  I’m beat.

Bike Mileage:

Today 105.0 Week to date 122.7 Month to date 745.5 Year to date 1,455.9 To Goal 8,544.1 Over (Under) plan (900.3) Rolling Year 6,934.4 Since Inception 10/1/07 22,625.7

After a full week of feeling miserable I finally started feeling better on Friday.  I took muni into work in the morning and then picked up my commuter bike at REI over lunch and took it back to work.  After work I headed off Market to Geary to Polk to Pacific.  I stopped at Lyon and got a pic of the view looking west down Pacific.  Gorgeous:

This is the view looking down Lyon towards the Haight:

The view looking north towards the bay:

I took Lyon to Washington and stopped at Spruce for a shot of the bay.  I love this view:

I continued on Washington to Arguello to Lake to 27th to Clement to 34th to Balboa and down to the coast.  I stopped at Ocean Beach.  Unbelievably fabulous:

Me with my new helmet and sunglasses.  Thank you REI dividend.  They’re repeats of my last helmet and sunglasses but in different colors.  If it ain’t broke….

I came down the Great Highway and went into Golden Gate Park at JFK and followed that to the Music Concourse and then took MLK to 9th to Judah to 7th into Laguna Honda to Portola to Corbett to Ord and home for dinner.  Mr. Poe is out of town for the weekend visiting his friend Megan in Idaho.  I hate it when he’s out of town.  I was responsible for my own dinner which, predictably, was horrible.  Oh well, at least the dogs liked what I made them.

Bike Mileage:

Today 17.7 Week to date 17.7 Month to date 640.5 Year to date 1,350.9 To Goal 8,649.1 Over (Under) plan (977.9) Rolling Year 6,862.4 Since Inception 10/1/07 22,520.7

I’ve been sick with a cold all week.  It’s hard to tell what’s worse–  the cold itself or the horrible daytime cold reliever that leaves me dehydrated and jittery.  The nighttime stuff is a little easier to deal with but even then I’m like a zombie til I go to bed.  I finally ventured back into the office today and I”m planning on being back on my bike tomorrow.  I’ve got rides scheduled all weekend and I’m hoping I’ll be over it.  An adorable puppy peed all over my Prada boots on the way home from work.  I pet every puppy I see and have no intention of stopping doing so but wish that I had been wearing cheaper shoes.  I sponged them off and there’s no harm done.  It’s been that kind of a day.

I didn’t sleep very well and my cold was a bit worse on Sunday.  But I had another ride and the weather was holding up so off I went.  I got some pics of my riders stretching before we headed off:

We headed off to China Camp which was gorgeous.  I love it there.  Check it out:

We headed home and I went to REI to have my bike worked on and then home for bed.  I felt awful.

Bike Mileage:

Today 71.7 Week to date 338.2 Month to date 622.8 Year to date 1,333.2 To Goal 8,666.8 Over (Under) plan (858.6) Rolling Year 7,026.1 Since Inception 10/1/07 22,503.0