Saturday was last Different Spokes ride before the Lifecycle.  We headed back to Point Reyes Lighthouse, this time without any drama.  Peter and Serge joined me with Peter cutting the day just a bit short because of dinner plans.  The weather was perfect and I felt pretty good all day.  The big news is that they are now making burritos at Whale of a Deli in Point Reyes Station.  I had one one the way back from the lighthouse and, although I should probably adjust for hunger and exhaustion, at the moment I emphatically insist that their burritos are the best fucking thing that I’ve eaten.  Ever.  They’re enormous too.  The vegetarian one probably had 1,000 calories and I didn’t want anything else to eat the rest of the way home.   Fabulous.

Peter on the way to the lighthouse:

Peter and Serge:

Viewlicious:

Me–  I’ve been inspired by twilight and have been wearing heavy duty sunscreen all season.  Although I ‘m still pretty tan, I’m much lighter than I’ve been at this time in previous years:

Me at the lighthouse overlook:

Serge:

The lighthouse:

This fabulous home is in Inverness on Bolinas Bay.  I love everything about it:

I got home a little after six.  Mr. Poe did all the shopping for our party on Monday which was awesome.  I’ve got a lot of cooking to do…

Bike Mileage:

Today 121.2 Week to date 233.7 Month to date 1,244.0 Year to date 3,821.6 To Goal 6,178.4 Over (Under) plan (260.6) YTD Mileage vs Last Year (103.6) Rolling Year 7,788.5 Since Inception 10/1/07 24,991.4

I left work a little early and headed off 2nd to Howard to 11th to Bryant to Precita to Mission to College and into St. Mary’s Park.  It’s such a pretty neighborhood but not in the greatest area:

I continued on College to Justin where I got a “hey” from a smoking latino.  I went into St. Mary’s Park and noted that they’d completed construction on a fabulous playground there.  Gorgeous!

I headed across the footbridge to Cambridge to Bacon to University.  This is farmhouse that now is the center of a water reservoir today:

I continued on University to Woolse.  This is the remains of some greenhouses at Bowdoin:

Me:

I continued on Woolsey to San Bruno to 3rd into Bayshore to Guadalupe Canyon into E Market to San Pedro to Washington to 87th to South Park Plaza to John Daly to Lake Merced to John Muir to Skyline to the Great Highway.  The beach looked gorgeous:

I continued on the Great Highway to Sloat.  This is the last remnant of the Doggie Diner which no longer stands:

I continued on Sloat.  I narrowly avoided an accident at 19th.  The red car blew through a red light and plowed into the black car, evidently to avoid me.  We were all at the light and when the light turned green we all started moving.  I got about 10 feet into the intersection and I heard honking and squealing behind me so I started moving faster.  Then I heard crashing so I moved faster still.  When I got to the other side of the intersection I stopped for a pic of the carnage.  The red car is the one who blew through the light.  I don’t even know what my takeaway is for this.  It was just so random:

I got on St Francis to Santa Clara to San Lorenzo to Portola to Corbett to Ord and home for dinner.  Mr. Poe’s at a movie so I’m on my own tonight.  Let’s not tell Mr. Poe about the above photo.

Bike Mileage:

Today 36.4 Week to date 112.5 Month to date 1,122.8 Year to date 3,700.4 To Goal 6,299.6 Over (Under) plan (354.4) YTD Mileage vs Last Year (224.8) Rolling Year 7,667.3 Since Inception 10/1/07 24,870.2

This morning I actually made it out of the house early enough to go for a ride of a reasonable length.  Seriously.  It’s hard to believe.  I headed off Corbett to Clayton to Parnassus to Cole to Haight to Stanyan and into Golden Gate Park at JFK and then out the Arguello Gate and into the Presidio.  I came around on Washington and stopped at Immigrant Point for pics:

This thing has been here for at least a week.  No idea what it is:

I continued on Washington and stopped at Lincoln for a pic of the Golden Gate Bridge:

I continued on Lincoln to the bike path to McDowell and down to Crissy Field.  I headed to Marina Blvd and then went up over Fort Mason.  I stopped for a pic of the view looking west:

I took Van Ness to Beach to the Embarcadero to Washington to Sansome and into work.  It was a great ride.  i really miss riding in the morning.

This morning I actually made it out of the house early enough to go for a ride of a reasonable length.  Seriously.  It’s hard to believe.  I headed off Corbett to Clayton to Parnassus to Cole to Haight to Stanyan and into Golden Gate Park at JFK and then out the Arguello Gate and into the Presidio.  I came around on Washington and stopped at Immigrant Point for pics:

This thing has been here for at least a week.  No idea what it is:

I continued on Washington and stopped at Lincoln for a pic of the Golden Gate Bridge:

I continued on Lincoln to the bike path to McDowell and down to Crissy Field.  I headed to Marina Blvd and then went up over Fort Mason.  I stopped for a pic of the view looking west:

I took Van Ness to Beach to the Embarcadero to Washington to Sansome and into work.  It was a great ride.  i really miss riding in the morning.

Dear Mother Nature– 

Enough with the fucking rain.

–  Love Joseph

I spent Thursday dodging heavy rainstorms but I managed to get some riding in.  I came down Market in the morning right before it started and then made it home for lunch during a break in the weather.  I don’t know who was calling in to the Rush Limbaugh show yesterday, but Mimi was all atwitter about the “Jews who run Bollywood”.  Gosh she’s a cute little thing. 

After work I headed off 2nd to Howard to 11th to Harrison to 23rd.  These murals at 23rd and South Van Ness are recent and very pretty:

This is the view from Mission and 23rd:

I continued on 23rd to Valencia to Tiffany to 29th to San Jose to Wilder to Diamond to Monterey into Santa Clara where I stopped for pics of pretty Saint Francis Wood:

Me:

I continued on Santa Clara to Portola to Claremont to Dewey to Laguna Honda into 7th to Irving to 9th and into Golden Gate Park.  I headed over to the Music Concourse which I haven’t visited in a while.  The De Young Museum looked fabulous as always:

The California Academy of Sciences:

Skaters:

I got on JFK to 8th to Lake to Arguello to Clay to Steiner.  St Dominics looked a little sinister against the blue, blue sky:

I continued on Steiner.  This pretty mural is on Steiner at Post on the Hamilton Recreation Center:

I continued on Steiner and got a pic of some of the fabulous Victorians at Steiner and Golden Gate:

I continued on Steiner to Fulton to Scott to Duboce to Castro to 17th to Ord and home for dinner.

Bike Mileage:

Today 27.6 Week to date 76.1 Month to date 1,086.4 Year to date 3,664.0 To Goal 6,336.0 Over (Under) plan (363.4) YTD Mileage vs Last Year (261.2) Rolling Year 7,630.9 Since Inception 10/1/07 24,833.8

Tuesday we got more rain if you can believe it.  I came down Market in the morning and then snuck home around 3 before the big commute rush started and worked from home for the rest of the day while Mimi watched Nancy Grace on CNN.  Mimi just loves that Nancy Grace but thinks that she takes it way to easy in interviews. 

Wednesday the weather was beautiful.  It was nice in the morning when I went into work and it was gorgeous in the afternoon when I went home for lunch.  I stopped by the comic book store on my way home and there was tons of stuff I’ve been looking forward to.  New Avengers!  Zatanna!  New Legion of Superheroes!  I think the problem that the comic companies have is that they do these massive tie ins that involve most or all of their books and you quickly lose interest in all of the books if you don’t like the main story. 

After work I headed off Sutter to Presidio to Washington and stopped at Spruce for a pic of the North Bay:

I continued on Washington to 8th to Cabrillo to Funston and went into Golden Gate Park at the Rose Garden which is in full bloom and looks gorgeous:

Me:

I got on JFK and stopped at Spreckels Lake for a pic:

I continued on JFK to Bernice Rodgers to MLK to the Great Highway.  I stopped around Lawton for a pic:

I continued on the Great Highway to Moraga to 37th to Noriega to 36th 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 25.5 Week to date 48.5 Month to date 1,058.8 Year to date 3,636.4 To Goal 6,363.6 Over (Under) plan (363.6) YTD Mileage vs Last Year (288.8) Rolling Year 7,603.3 Since Inception 10/1/07 24,806.2

I was a pretty beat Monday morning after the long weekend of riding.  I went down to work on Market and managed to make it home for lunch.  Mimi’s been watching Fox News again and she’s all excited about Rand Paul because she loves some of the comments he’s been making about civil rights lately.  You see,  Mimi’s been wanting to open a restaurant for the longest time but has balked at serving “undesirables”.  But with Mr. Paul, she thinks that she can finally realize her dream of opening a restaurant where only her Daddy, Abuelita, Quela, and Nathan are welcome.  Ashley Jr. and I might get to go periodically but we’ll have to sit at a table in the kitchen and we won’t get any wine. 

I came back from lunch on my road bike because it had to go get a little lovin’ at Mike’s and the store in Sausalito had ominously warned me about how backed up they were.  After work I headed off 2nd to Howard and stopped in at Mike’s.  Thankfully, all my bike needed was a couple of tweaks and I was out of there in a few minutes.  I learned that they take appointments at Mike’s which is genius because that’s much better than every other bike shop I’ve ever been to where you drop off the bike when it needs something and pick it up when it’s done.  I continued on Howard to 11th to Harrison to 17th.  This is the old Mission Police Station.  It was sold a couple of years ago.  I’m not sure what it is now but it’s such a great building:

I saw this great ad for Hendrick’s Gin on a building on 17th.  It’s advertising a cucumber and gin cocktail:

The view at 17th and Mission:

I continued on 17th to Noe to Market to 17th to Ord and home for dinner.  I was pretty beat and we were asleep before 9.

Bike Mileage:

Today 15.0 Week to date 15.0 Month to date 1,025.3 Year to date 3,602.9 To Goal 6,397.1 Over (Under) plan (342.3) YTD Mileage vs Last Year (322.3) Rolling Year 7,569.8 Since Inception 10/1/07 24,772.7

Sunday was my Lifecycle training ride out to Marshall.  This is the longest, hardest ride that we do and it was an incredibly long day.  I think everybody did pretty well and I’m really proud of our riders.  I didn’t see anybody cry which was nice and we didn’t have any bonking like we did last week.  I was pretty tired in the morning but I kept eating and ended up having a really good day.

This sweet Lab came with one of the riders.  How cute!  He was very friendly and wanted to play with everybody:

Kurt showed up for our ride.  He must have had a good day because I was at the back all day and I didn’t see him at all:

On the way to the Cheese Factory:

Jenn and Diana drove a sweep vehicle again for us this week which was a godsend.  They parked themselves at the bottom of the main hill before Marshall:

Goats!

The view from halfway up the Marshall wall:

Me:

The view from the top:

Pretty farm on the way down:

There was so much Spanish moss on these trees at the bottom of the hill that they looked like an Impressionist painting:

Beautiful Bolinas Bay:

I made it home around 6:30.  Mr. Poe had made me some pasta for dinner.  I watched Dr. Who (which was fucking awesome) and got cleaned up and then went to bed.  What a weekend!

Bike Mileage:

Today 103.3 Week to date 240.2 Month to date 1,010.3 Year to date 3,587.9 To Goal 6,412.1 Over (Under) plan (329.9) YTD Mileage vs Last Year (337.3) Rolling Year 7,554.8 Since Inception 10/1/07 24,757.7

Saturday I led a Different Spokes ride out to Petaluma and then to Novato.  I’d only done the route once before and I was a little nervous that I was going to get lost in Novato but we followed the well marked bike route and didn’t have any problems.  The weather was pretty crazy.  It was very, very windy and I pitied the Lifecycle riders that were heading out to Marshall.  We got a little wind in Nicasio but other than that it wasn’t too bad.  It was a really good ride and I’m going to work with Beau and see if we can shorten it into a Lifecycle ride for next season.  I felt pretty good all day.  I definitely think I’m ready to ride to LA.

This is the view looking north from the top of Wilson Hill:

Serge:

When started heading into Petaluma we came across these sheep that had busted loose from their pen and were making a break for it.  Sheep are herd animals so every time a bike passed them they took off in the direction the bike was going.  I think that they might have been heading out for cigarettes as one of them had a Zippo lighter.  So adorable.  I hope they’re sweater sheep and not eating sheep:

Here they are making a break for it.  I ended up chasing them up a long driveway and hoping that they’d end up where they needed to be.

We went and had a snack in Petaluma and then headed for Novato.  This is pretty Stafford Lake on the way:

Serge on the bike path at Stafford Lake:

We headed through Novato and then made our way to San Rafael.  We stopped at Northgate Center for lunch at Chipotle.  I’d been looking forward to it all day but Serge thought it was pretty nasty, still more of a quelle domage then a quelle horreur.  Then we headed over to China Camp:

Serge in China Camp:

We headed home.  It was incredibly windy on the bridge and I was very tired when I got home.  I had some dinner and got cleaned up and we went over to Joel’s 40th birthday party where I lasted about an hour.  It was a really good day.

Bike Mileage:

Today 114.4 Week to date 136.9 Month to date 907.0 Year to date 3,484.6 To Goal 6,515.4 Over (Under) plan (405.8) YTD Mileage vs Last Year (440.6) Rolling Year 7,451.5 Since Inception 10/1/07 24,654.4

I was pretty lazy for the rest of the week.  I only went to work and home on Tuesday and then I worked from home on Wednesday and Thursday.  Friday I had a dentist appointment mid day so I just went to work and back on my bike.  I probably needed the rest.  I took Mr. Poe to Bender’s in the Mission for dinner and he hated everything about it.  He hated his sandwich.  He hated the tater tots.  He hated all the hipsters.  I loved all of it.  Especially the little dog that came marching up to us when we got our food because he knew that tater tots came with every sandwich.  Smart dog.  They make a solid vegan black bean burger.  I’ll be back.

Bike Mileage:

Today 7.0 Week to date 22.5 Month to date 792.6 Year to date 3,370.2 To Goal 6,629.8 Over (Under) plan (492.8) YTD Mileage vs Last Year (555.0) Rolling Year 7,337.1 Since Inception 10/1/07 24,540.0