Monday looked OK in the morning.  I rode 17th to Eureka to 18th to Harrison to 17th to Kansas to Townsend to 2nd to Market to Sansome and into work.  It started raining around 11 and persisted all day.  Aren't we supposed to be done with rain for the year?? I didn't go home for lunch and instead went for a Chipotle Burrito which was delicious and then I headed home a little early to free the dogs.  Mimi had been watching Fox News all day and she's all fired up about what's going on in Arizona.  She thinks that the Mexicans should go back to Russia with the rest of the Scientologists because she's sick and tired of Obama's death panel.  It goes without saying that Mimi's a big Sarah Palin supporter.

Bike Mileage:

Today 8.5 Week to date 8.5 Month to date 778.6 Year to date 3,356.2 To Goal 6,643.8 Over (Under) plan (397.2) YTD Mileage vs Last Year (569.0) Rolling Year 7,323.1 Since Inception 10/1/07 24,526.0

Sunday was my Lifecycle training ride.  The ride is nearly here and everybody's getting very excited about it.  Many of the riders have made spectacular improvement and have gone from riders we sweep every week to riders I don't see all day because they're near the front of the pack.  Others are really struggling and I wonder how much fun they're gonna have on the Lifecycle.  I was tired from my ride the day before but I kept eating and drinking and I did pretty well all day.  I pointed directions in San Anselmo and then moved forward from the back of the group.  I stopped at China Camp for pics.  These were taken while I was standing in a parking lot next to a 70's leisure van that contained one reasonably good looking man who was singing along to death metal and smoking up.  Rock on!

I stopped for pics a couple more times as I made my way through China Camp:

We had lunch at Lucas Valley at Big Rocks.  Here are James, Grady, and Crispin with their new favorite sign:

Then we climbed up to the top of Lucas Valley.  Check out this view:

Shelby:

Me:

Edna--  who I haven't seen all season and it was such a treat to have her on our ride.

Diana and Jen--  the glamorous women who ran a sweep vehicle for us which is such a luxury so much appreciated.  They have me on video delivering my trademark phrase for this training series which I ripped off of Rupaul from the Starbooty movie where she plays a secret agent super model of the world who has to go undercover as a prostitute to rescue her kidnapped adopted daughter Cornisha --  "Come on girls, lets get out there and make some CASH MONEY!"  Likely not the last I will see of that video.

Beau and Delfino:

Then we headed down to Point Reyes Station.  I saw a little waterfall and a bunch of ferns a few miles out of town:

It was a long slog back to San Francisco.  We were very grateful we had the sweep vehicle because some of the riders were exhausted and had to be swept.  I finally made it home around 7PM.  It was a very long day.

I took the day off work on Friday and lazed around the house and got my hair done.  Mr. Poe requested that I run a bunch of errands after my hair appointment but I was completely unproductive after my appointment and got none of them done for some reason.  So sorry!

I led a Different Spokes ride out to Sonoma on Saturday.  It was the longest ride that I've done this season and it was lots of fun.  I'd had an unusually large dinner the night before and I felt great all day.  The route was mostly familiar.  Through Cheese Factory and then the short way to Petaluma and then the 116 into Sonoma.  Parts of highway 116 are terrifying even though it's a bike route.  It looks like they're working on it and hopefully it will be more bike friendly soon.

Serge at the Cheese Factory:

Joe and Wanderson:

We ate lunch in Sonoma on the Plaza.  Sonoma is a beautiful little town that reminds me very much of Santa Fe:

We came back the same way we came.  Here's everybody at the Golden Gate Bridge:

Me:

I made it home around 7.  Mr. Poe had made me dinner despite my failure to do any of the things he told me to do on Friday.  What a champ.

Thursday was Bike to Work Day in San Francisco and is an annual nightmare for regular bike commuters because tons and tons of people who aren't used to riding in traffic are on the road and they're usually in a hurry because it's taking them longer than they had planned.  Add to this multiple well meaning recovery stations that have volunteers standing in the bike lane trying to give you gift bags and I tend to wish I'd come in on the subway every year.  I went down Market into work without too much fuss and then headed home over lunch.  After work I wasn't even gonna try on Market street so I took 2nd to Howard to 11th to Harrison to 15th to Church to 16 to Market to join up with a Different Spokes ride.  I saw a bunch of people I haven't ridden with in like forever.  I've only been posting super long rides because I'm training for the lifecycle and there's only a couple of people crazy enough to join me on them so it was really nice to see the folks I've been missing.  We went through Golden Gate Park and rode around Lake Merced and then back through the park again.  Traffic was a fucking zoo for the first five miles or so with the bike to work people but we didn't have any serious issues.  The weather was very windy but sunny and about what you'd expect this time of year.

Here's the gang on the bike path at Ocean Beach:

Ocean Beach:

Me:

I made it home around 8PM and had dinner and then went to bed.  Fun day.

Bike Mileage:

Today 35.1 Week to date 101.5 Month to date 546.2 Year to date 3,123.8 To Goal 6,876.2 Over (Under) plan (520.0) YTD Mileage vs Last Year (801.4) Rolling Year 7,090.7 Since Inception 10/1/07 24,293.6

After work I headed off Sutter to Octavia to Jackson.  This is the allegedly haunted Whittier Mansion at Jackson and Octavia:

I continued on Jackson.  This is the view down Pierce from Jackson looking towards the Marina and the North Bay:

I continued on Jackson to Presidio to Washington to Arguello to 23rd to Cabrillo to 47th to Fulton and down to the coast.  I stopped at Ocean Beach for pics of the pretty afternoon:

I took the Great Highway to Noriega to 36th to Pacheco to 34th to Santiago.  This pretty building on Santiago at 27th justs screams California to me:

Me:

I continued up Santiago. This is the view up pretty Cecilia Street from Santiago:

I continued on Santiago to 14th to Taravel to 12th to Magellan.  There are some lovely homes on Magellan in Forest Hill:

I continued on Magellan to Pacheco to Dewey to Laguna Honda to Clarendon to Twin Peaks.  This is the view looking towards Marin from Twin Peaks and Villa:

I took  Villa to Graystone to Corbett to Ord and home for dinner.  Nice ride.

Bike Mileage:

Today 28.5 Week to date 66.4 Month to date 511.1 Year to date 3,088.7 To Goal 6,911.3 Over (Under) plan (527.7) YTD Mileage vs Last Year (836.5) Rolling Year 7,055.6 Since Inception 10/1/07 24,258.5

The weather was quite a bit warmer this morning.  I rode 17th to Eureka to 18th to Harrison to 17th to Connecticut to 16th to 3rd.  I love Mission Bay.  I love everything that they've put in there and it's slowly turning into an amazing, vibrant neighborhood.  Likey:

Cool helix sculpture at the Mission Bay muni stop:

The bridge over Mission Creek:

I took 3rd to King to the Embarcadero.  This is the Bay Bridge from below:

I continued on the Embarcadero to Market to California.  This is the view looking up California from Front:

I continued on California to Sansome and into work.

Tuesday was cool but sunny in the morning. I came down Market into work and made it home for lunch.  After work I headed off 2nd to Howard to 11th to Harrison to 20th to Treat.  Treat Street has many showstopping Victorians in various states of repair.  Parts of Treat are a little tough and the proximity of a couple of sketchy housing projects doesn't make me want to live there, but I can still ogle the architecture.  The dates of construction range from the 1870's (I think) to modern stuff.  This part of the Mission has some of the oldest surviving architecture in the city. 

How glamorous/fabulous is this??

I couldn't tell if this mural has a pale color palette, is faded, or both.  It's very pretty:

I took Treat to 25th to Folsom.  Folsom also has a wide array of spectacular homes:

I took Folsom to 26th to Mission to Silver to Alemeny to Sagamore to Brotherhood Way to Lake Merced to John Muir.  Check out how gorgeous Lake Merced looked:

I took John Muir to Skyline to The Great Highway.  the beach looked glorious:

Me:

I continued on The Great Highway to Taravel to Dewey to Laguna Honda into 7th to Hugo to 3rd to Frederick to Ashbury to Piedmont to Masonic to Loma Vista to Roosevelt to 17th to Mars to Corbett to Ord and home for dinner.  Mimi did not want to go on her walk after dinner at all and had to be coerced.

Bike Mileage:

Today 29.4 Week to date 37.9 Month to date 482.6 Year to date 3,060.2 To Goal 6,939.8 Over (Under) plan (528.8) YTD Mileage vs Last Year (865.0) Rolling Year 7,027.1 Since Inception 10/1/07 24,230.0

Monday looked so promising.  Cloudy but warm in the morning.  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.  The trouble started mid day when it started raining.  I didn't go home for lunch because of it.  By the time I headed home it was cold and blustery with more rain on the way.  Fail!  Here's hoping that's the last storm of the year.

Bike Mileage:

Today 8.5 Week to date 8.5 Month to date 453.2 Year to date 3,030.8 To Goal 6,969.2 Over (Under) plan (530.8) YTD Mileage vs Last Year (894.4) Rolling Year 6,997.7 Since Inception 10/1/07 24,200.6

Sunday was my CAT2 training ride out to Olema Valley.   The Pos Peds were on a retreat so it was just Buz and I.  We didn't have a huge turnout and it started raining just as we were leaving.  And it rained and rained and rained some more.  About half of the riders turned back but the remaining riders were in for a huge treat because the weather cleared up completely by the time we got to Olema and the rest of the day was gorgeous.

Olema Valley:

Me:

This is highway 1 north of Bolinas Lagoon:

Dogtown:

Bolinas Lagoon:

At first I thought I was witnessing something gruesome on the mud but then I realized that it was a pack of sea lions sunning themselves on the tidal flat and sleeping off a heavy lunch.  You can see that some of them have loosened their belts a notch:

It turns out there were sea lions all over Bolinas Lagoons.  They must have had a circuit party or something.  Many were still wearing wristbands and some of them had glow sticks:

I finally made it to Stinson.  I got a pic of the beach.  It was practically empty and just gorgeous:

I had lunch and then headed up the hill towards Mill Valley.  The views were amazing.  It's probably the beast weather I've ever had on this route:

I met the tail end of the ride at Cafe Del Soul where I had a nourishing, healthy lunch.  Which was good because when I got home, over Mr. Poe's objections, dinner consisted of wine, potato chips, and cupcakes.  The dinner of champions. 

Bike Mileage:

Today 76.0 Week to date 226.1 Month to date 444.7 Year to date 3,022.3 To Goal 6,977.7 Over (Under) plan (511.9) YTD Mileage vs Last Year (902.9) Rolling Year 6,989.2 Since Inception 10/1/07 24,192.1

Saturday was our monthly club ride out to Tiburon.  We had a lot of people show up which was really nice.  And I got see a lot of people I haven't seen in a while.  This time of the season all of my rides are very long and many people just aren't interested in doing them.  I feel like I've got to get a lot more training in before the Lifecycle so it's been one long ride after another for me since March. 

Here we are at Peet's before the start.  How cute is this dog??  He's got on a smart spring sweater that makes him look very distinguished. 

Wanderson on the bike path:

Roger and Ben:

Then we rode around Belvedere Island which has quickly become a required after lunch activity because of the astounding views of the bay from the overlook:

I could tell my tire was going flat on the way home.  I could have gotten it changed at Mike's but they carry Specialized Armadillo's and I really prefer Continental Gatorskins.  They're a little cheaper and I think I get better wear out of them.  Which necessitated a trip to REI.  I went home and got cleaned up and then we headed over to REI and then picked up the dogs who'd been in getting their hair done.  Everybody looks great.

Bike Mileage:

Today 49.1 Week to date 150.1 Month to date 368.7 Year to date 2,946.3 To Goal 7,053.7 Over (Under) plan (560.5) YTD Mileage vs Last Year (978.9) Rolling Year 6,913.2 Since Inception 10/1/07 24,116.1