After work I headed off Market to Geary to Polk to Pacific.  These are some of the pretty homes on Pacific near Webster:

I continued on Pacific to Fillmore to Jackson.  This is the view of the Marina and the North Bay from Jackson and Pierce:

I continued on Jackson to Lyon to Washington to Arguello to Lake to 8th to Cabrillo to Funston to Fulton and into Golden Gate Park at the Rose Garden.  Which is finally coming into bloom.  A month after we had them at my house (cough cough):

Me:

I got on JFK and stopped at Lloyd Lake for pics.  The architectural feature is called “Portal of the Past”.  Which sounds like a Dr. Who episode.

I continued on JFK to Bernice Rodgers to MLK to the Great Highway.  I headed south and stopped at the foot of Sloat for pics of Ocean Beach.  It was very, very windy and I got a free dermabrasion from all the sand blowing in my face.  Ouch:

I took Sloat into Saint Francis.  This is the view looking up at the fountain from Saint Francis and Santa Clara:

I continued on Saint Francis to San Anselmo to Saint Paula.  This is the view looking down San Anselmo from Saint Paula:

I continued on Saint Paula to Santa Monica to San Pablo to Portola to Corbett to Ord and home for dinner.  I loved not getting rained on all day.

Bike Mileage:

Today 28.1 Week to date 93.8 Month to date 980.4 Year to date 2,564.1 To Goal 7,435.9 Over (Under) plan (696.2) YTD Mileage vs Last Year (1,301.9) Rolling Year 6,625.9 Since Inception 10/1/07 23,733.9

No rain today but it’s quite cool this morning.  I’m absolutely not complaining.  I rode 17th to Eureka to 18th to Harrison to Mariposa to Bryant to 17th to Kansas to Townsend to 2nd to Market to Sansome and into work.  It warmed up nicely by mid day.  The boys headed out to the back porch while I ate my lunch.  Adorable:

Mimi was in the house watching Rush Limbaugh on TV.  She thinks he’s got the right idea.  Disgusted, I came back down Market into work.

It was patchy rain all day.  I waited for a dry window in the morning and headed into work Corbett to Clayton to Ashbury to Frederick to Masonic to Waller to Central to Haight where it started raining on me.  Cold and wet.  Miserable.  I continued to Baker to McAllister to Polk to Golden Gate.  By this point is was pouring down freezing rain and I was totally ranting like a crackhead:

Joseph (loudly):  “I’m fucking sick of this fucking rain.  I’m fucking sick of being fucking wet.  I’m fucking sick of being fucking cold.”
Horrified onlooker (to herself):  “That drag queen needs to lay of the pipe!”

I continued on Golden Gate to Market to Sansome and into work.  It stopped raining for a while mid day and I made it home for lunch and stopped by the comic book store.  They’ve got a new puppy at Whatever and she’s so sweet–  sweeter than a cake made out of pie.  Then I stopped by the library to drop off and pick up.  Still haven’t figured out what they’ve got going on there but it can’t be legit.  How could they possibly be making any money when all they apparently do is loan stuff for free??  I tried a variety of winks and secret handshakes to try and fool them into thinking I was in on their game but no luck.  I think they just thought I was epileptic.  Still no closer to figuring out the truth, but I have noticed that there always seems to be a lot of kids milling about so I’m wondering if it’s child trafficking.  What would Batman do??

It started raining again promptly at 5 which I took as an omen not to go on a bike ride after work so I just came up Market after work.  We had dinner a little early as a result which gave me a little extra time to take the dogs for a long walk before bed.  Which they loved.

Bike Mileage:

Today 15.6 Week to date 65.7 Month to date 952.3 Year to date 2,536.0 To Goal 7,464.0 Over (Under) plan (696.9) YTD Mileage vs Last Year (1,294.3) Rolling Year 6,640.3 Since Inception 10/1/07 23,705.8

Ugh.  More rain.  Did I mention that I’m sick of all this fucking rain????  I came down Market in pouring rain in the morning and got more of the same when I went home for lunch.  But it cleared up nicely by the end of the day and I went for a nice ride after work.  I headed off down Sutter.  This is Japantown from Sutter looking down Buchanan:

I continued on Sutter to Fillmore to Clay to Spruce.  This is the bay from Washington and Spruce:

I continued on Washington to Arguello to Lake to 8th and went into Golden Gate Park.  I got on JFK to the Music Concourse to MLK to 9th to Irving to Funston.  This is pretty St. Anne’s from Funston:

I continued on Funston to Kirkham to Lurline to Funston to Aloha to 15th where I stopped at Moraga for a pic of the Sunset:

I continued on 15th to 14th to Pacheco to 15th to Rivera to Cecilia to Santiago to 14th to Taravel to Merced to Hernandez to Laguna Honda to Portola to Corbett to Ord and home for dinner.

Bike Mileage:

Today 21.9 Week to date 50.1 Month to date 936.7 Year to date 2,520.4 To Goal 7,479.6 Over (Under) plan (685.1) YTD Mileage vs Last Year (1,267.4) Rolling Year 6,655.1 Since Inception 10/1/07 23,690.2

I was pretty beat all day after all that climbing over the weekend.  In the morning I rode to work 17th to Eureka to 18th to Harrison to Mariposa to Bryant to 2nd to Market to Sansome and into the office.  I limped home over lunch and then decided that I’d do a pretty flat ride after work to stretch out my legs.  I rode 2nd to Howard to 11th to Bryant to Precita to Mission to Silver to Alemeny to Sagamore to Brotherhood Way to Lake Merced to Higuera to Arballo where I stopped to get a couple of pics of Park Merced.  This neighborhood has never really done it for me.  It all seems too planned, too suburban, almost New Jersey:

I continued on Arballo to Font to Holloway where I stopped to look at the construction at the J. Paul Leonard Library in San Francisco State.  I’m reserving my judgement but I’m concerned that they integrity of the 50′s original structure is going to be lost completely and I also question the need for such a large addition because libraries will almost certainly stop being primary repositories of information in my lifetime as everything goes online.  Maybe they forsee a archival use for this massive structure:

The first three floors of this building are original and the rest of it is a sad addition:

Me:

I continued on Holloway to Junipero Serra.  I stopped and got a bunch of pics of the pretty homes and entrances that I saw as I headed north:

I continued to Moncada where I got pics of more pretty homes:

I took Moncada to Paloma to Ocean to San Benito.  You can tell you’re heading into Saint Francis Wood because you see all these ginormous trees:

I continued on San Benito to Saint Francis to Santa Clara to Portola to Claremont to Dewey to Laguna Honda into 7th to Hugo to 3rd to Frederick to Ashbury to Masonic to Loma Vista to Roosevelt to 17th to Mars to Corbett to Ord and home for dinner. 

Bike Mileage:

Today 28.2 Week to date 28.2 Month to date 914.8 Year to date 2,498.5 To Goal 7,501.5 Over (Under) plan (679.6) YTD Mileage vs Last Year (1,258.9) Rolling Year 6,692.6 Since Inception 10/1/07 23,668.3

Sunday was my Lifecycle training ride.  I was very proud of how everybody rode.  We headed up to Alpine Dam Lake and then Mount Tam.  Again!  Everybody took their time and had a great day.  There were a few tears, but nobody totally lost their shit like I’ve seen in years passed.  Afterwards a bunch of us had lunch at Cafe Del Soul in Mill Valley and that was wonderful as usual.  Then I headed home to get cleaned up.  Sadly, my previous evening’s cuntery left Mr. Poe not in the mood to go get me cupcakes so there were no sweets waiting for me when I got home. Mr. Chris came and picked up Sofi afer dinner.  We’re all gonna miss her.  Even Mimi!

Beau and Buz on Bofax Road:

Grady:

Meadow Country Club for above.  Swank:

Grady:

The gang:

Me.  Note that the high temperatures necessitated me breaking out the he-cleavage:

Alpine Dam Lake:

The Dam–  still releasing water!

The view from the top:

Pics from Pan Toll Station.  Everybody was very happy to be done with the climbing:

Jim:

Jim and Buz:

Next week features high mileage days on both Saturday and Sunday.  I can’t wait!

Bike Mileage:

Today 59.2 Week to date 176.1 Month to date 827.3 Year to date 2,411.0 To Goal 7,589.0 Over (Under) plan (712.3) YTD Mileage vs Last Year (1,169.0) Rolling Year 6,753.5 Since Inception 10/1/07 23,580.8

Saturday I led a Different Spokes ride up Mount Tam and out to Alpine Dam Lake.  The route was different from the one I’d led the week before in that we did it in the reverse direction–  Mill Valley then seven sisters then Alpine Dam Lake.  I haven’t ridden it in this direction and a long time.  I vastly prefer this route in the other direction because the pavement on the descent into Alpine Dam Lake and then into Fairfax pretty much sucks and makes for a very difficult ride.

Here are Joe and Wanderson at the parking lot before the seven sisters:

Pretty Bolinas.  What a gorgeous day!

Me:

Joe, Wanderson, and Jeff at Alpine Dam Lake:

I ran into Ben at the dam.  He and his impossibly good looking biking friends were on their third pass through Alpine Dam on their ride today.  I’m used to how crazy athletic he is but the guys with me were totally deflated.  I made it worse by pointing out that Ben is also highly intelligent, ridiculously successful, and marrying his smoking hot girlfriend on New Years Eve. 

I made it home in time for dinner and then pissed Mr. Poe off by relentlessly demanding to be taken out for more of the expensive, crappy ice cream that I had sort of enjoyed the night before.  To no avail I might add.

I went home for lunch to check on the dogs.  We all love Sofi and have so much fun when she stays with us.  I got some pics of them lounging around the house:

Sofi on the front porch:

Ashley resting up for mayhem:

After work I headed off Columbus to North Point to Van Ness to Francisco to Laguna to Chestnut to Lyon and into the Presidio at the Lombard Gate.  I came around on Lincoln and followed in into Camino Del Mar and up to the Palace of the Legion of Honor.  First time I was up there all week!

I headed down to 34th to Balboa and down to the Great Highway.  It was windy but otherwise gorgeous on the beach:

This big sail will soon be used for surfing:

Me:

I went into Golden Gate Park at JFK and followed that to the Music Concourse and got a couple of pics of the De Young with the sun behind it:

I continued on to MLK and came out of the park at 9th and took that to Judah to 7th into Laguna Honda to Woodside to Corbett to Ord and home for dinner. 

After dinner Mr. Poe took me to St. Francis Fountain so I could get a vegan milkshake that’s getting pretty good reviews on the internets.  It was OK but it cost $9 which seemed a little steep and it wasn’t terrific which I would expect at that price point.  I thought it only moderately tasted like ice cream and I haven’t had ice cream in years.  I don’t think that people who were used to eating ice cream wouldn’t have liked it very much at all.  It kind of tasted like vaguely creamy frozen canned frosting.  I’m hoping that my Millions of Milkshakes visit in LA after the Lifecycle fares a little better.  Plus they use paper straws.  What the fuck??

Bike Mileage:

Today 27.5 Week to date 116.9 Month to date 768.1 Year to date 2,351.8 To Goal 7,648.2 Over (Under) plan (744.1) YTD Mileage vs Last Year (1,197.8) Rolling Year 6,698.6 Since Inception 10/1/07 23,521.6

After work I headed off 2nd to Howard to 11th to Harrison to 20th to Capp.  There are a number of beautiful buildings on Capp Street in the Mission, many of them in various stages of decay:

I love this apartment building!  The architecture is just OK but I love the lettering of the name of it. Fabulous:

This Buddhist Temple on 22nd and Capp was St. Johannes’ German Evangelical Lutheran Mission once upon a time:

I love this fabulous mural on this Deli:

I continued on 22nd to Treat.  This is pretty Garfield Square at 25th and Treat:

This is the fabulous McCarthy Mansion that’s on Treat between 25th and is currently for sale.  It’s all masonry which is pretty unusual in the Mission. It reminds me of New Orleans because it’s so fabulous/run down.  Alas,  it’s in the most violent part of the Mission and a block from the projects.  I’d never want to live in that neighborhood regardless of how fabulous the house was.  You can visit the web site here:

I did appreciate all the white hot latino soccer fans milling about.  Caliente!

I continued on Treat to 26th to Harrison to Precita to Mission to Silver to Alemeny to Sagamore to Brotherhood Way to Lake Merced to John Muir.  Lake Merced looks gorgeous in the sun:

Me:

I continued on John Muir to Skyline to the Great Highway.  It was gorgeous at Ocean Beach:

I continued on the Great Highway to Wawona to 30th to Vicente to 18th to Ulloa to 17th to Taravel to Merced to Hernandez to Laguna Honda to Portola to Corbett to Ord and home for dinner. 

Mr. Poe reported that Sofi and Rufus inadvertently romped on poor little Ashley and made him cry and Mimi came tearing after them and chased both of them out of the house.  Evidently, if anybody’s gonna kick Ashley’s ass, it’s gonna be Mimi.  Luckily, nobody was hurt.

Bike Mileage:

Today 29.0 Week to date 89.4 Month to date 740.6 Year to date 2,324.3 To Goal 7,675.7 Over (Under) plan (744.2) YTD Mileage vs Last Year (1,221.0) Rolling Year 6,702.7 Since Inception 10/1/07 23,494.1

Nobody slept too well last night.  Sofi’s a bit of a pacer for the first couple of nights when she stays with us and the little ones growl at her every time she passes the bed.  Eventually she slept at the foot of the bed and was most happy there.  I slept in a little this morning and just came down Market into work.  I ran home for lunch to check on them and feed them a little lunch.  I made them quesadillas which made everybody happy.  Here’s Sofi in here favoritest room of the house:

I stopped by the comic book store on the way back to work and got all sorts of awesome stuff.