Sunday Mr. Poe and I went to Target in the morning to get some new kitchen stuff.  Among other stuff, we are now the proud owners of a springform pan and cheesecake is in our future.   When I got home I washed my truck for the first time in seriously a decade.  Mr. Poe had borrowed a power washer for the decks from our friends Richard and Ron and I went to town on the truck with it.  It's so clean!  I had been concerned that some of it was load bearing grime but thankfully that turned out not to be the case.  The result:

I may bump up the cleaning cycle to TWICE a decade.

My summer of laziness continues.  I rode into work on Tuesday and went home for lunch but took Muni the rest of the week.  Which was probably all for the best because the police were ticketing on Market street all week.  Friday I had a dentist appointment that left me feeling crappy into Saturday so I gave my Different Spokes Jersey ride a miss and slept way in instead.  I got it together mid day and made red chili puree for a party we're having next weekend.  Is it ever a shit load of work.  Here's what you have to do.  Take dried chilis and clean them, wash them, toast them, puree them, strain them, and then package them for freezing.  And every stop past pureeing is fraught with disaster because the puree stains like you wouldn't believe.  The end result is far complete.  It needs to be combined with a roux and seasonings but I can tell you it's already smoky, spicy, and luscious.  I took some pictures:

Purist would sniff at my inclusion of flavors in the reconstituting liquid but that's how I roll.  I also used California chilies because that's all I could find at the Safeway but the result was delicious:

Mr. Poe did the honors of putting the puree into the containers for freezing.  We all agreed I'd make way too much mess.

The finished product:

Rufus was so exhausticated from watching me work that he needed a nap:

Ashley never quite woke up:

Later, Mr. Poe and Rufus cuddled on the bed.  Adorable:

Monday after work I headed off Columbus to Stockton.  I stopped at Washington Square Park for pics.  Lovely:

Sts. Peter and Paul:

I continued on Stockton to North Point to Van Ness to Francisco to Octavia to Chestnut to Lyon and into the Presidio at the Lombard Gate.  I took Letterman to Presidio to Funston.  These are some of the lovely homes now offices on Funston in the Presidio:

I continued on Funston to Moraga to Arguello to Jackson to Cherry to Washington to Spruce to Clay to Fillmore to Pacific to Jones.  I stopped at Jones and California for the view looking southeast:

I continued on California.  This is Huntington Park.  Swanky:

I continued on California.  This is the Financial District as seen from California and Powell:

I continued on California and stopped at Grant for some pics of Chinatown:

Scruffy faced me:

I continued on California.  This is the view looking towards Market from California and Kearny.

I continued on California.  This is the view looking towards Columbus from California and Montgomery:

I got a couple pics as I headed towards Market up Montgomery:

The Palace Hotel:

I took Market to 17th to Ord and home for dinner.  After dinner we went to bed early.  I was beat.

Bike Mileage:

Today 22.6 Week to date 22.6 Month to date 111.2 Year to date 4,301.7 To Goal 3,698.3 Over (Under) plan (520.2) YTD Mileage vs Last Year (878.6) Rolling Year 6,457.1 Since Inception 10/1/07 32,807.2

This morning I saw a cyclist slip and fall on wet pavement while I was coming down Market this morning.  What I found exceptional was that it was at exactly the same spot where I fell before Easter this year.  The city has acknowledged that the painted bike lanes are a hazard and are in the process of repainting them.  I'm puzzled why this stretch of painted pavement is so much more of a hazard than anything else on Market.  Scene of the crime:

I figure it's either the paint itself, somthing sitting on the paint, or whatever the building on that side of the street is using to clean their sidewalks.  I'm also wondering about the big black stripe down the center.  Could it be that there was an oil spill that they sanded but never cleaned up??  I contacted the city via a bunch of means to alert them to the situation.  Let's see what they do. 

Saturday I led a ride for Different Spokes and we headed up to the top of pretty San Bruno mountain.  It was a nice ride but sadly we were socked in with fog at the top and there wasn't any view.  Here are triple cute Brian and Joel:

Me:

When I got home the dogs were exhausticated.  Likely from lunch.  Poor Rufus couldn't even lift his head:

Bike Mileage:

Today 28.2 Week to date 88.6 Month to date 88.6 Year to date 4,279.1 To Goal 3,720.9 Over (Under) plan (499.0) YTD Mileage vs Last Year (901.2) Rolling Year 6,434.5 Since Inception 10/1/07 32,784.6

Wednesday I spent the day off of the bike.  I took Muni into work and then got my hair cut after work.  I got it all cut off.  All of it.  I went from longer than shoulder length hair to short hair.  And I went a lot darker.  I almost look classy.  Case in point:

Thursday I managed to finagle Mr. Chris and David to take me to Benders even though I informed them well in advance of how squalid it is.  Benders has two things going for it:  loads and loads of fried food and a hipster clientele I find very attractive--  even some of the women.  Here's Chris putting up with it:

Here are the fried pickles we were eating.  That's right, fried pickles.  You wanna make something of it??

We headed off to Osaka Sushi so Mr. Chris could have a dinner that didn't involve deep fryin' and then they took me home. Dee-licious.

The fabulous weather continued on Tuesday and it was warm and sunny by lunchtime.  I came down Market into work and headed home at lunchtime.  On my way back to work I was riding in the bicycle lane behind this mid twenties scruffy bicycle messenger type.  I noticed at about 12th st that he was slowing down and I finally passed him at about 9th.  I realized as I passed him that the cause for his deceleration was likely the enormous joint that he was smoking.  I thought about it for a minute and then concluded that if his rate of deceleration continued at the rate I'd observed, his speed would hit 0 exactly at the donut shop on 6th and Market.  Was this a happy coincidence for him or is it further evidence of the existence of God.  I'd like to believe the latter.

After work I headed off 2nd to Howard to 11th to Bryant to 25th to Valencia to Tiffany to San Jose.  This is the view down 30th.  Viva La Lengua!

I continued on San Jose to Monterey and stopped at Sunnyside Conservatory for pics:

Me:

I continued on Monterey to Ridgewood to Flood to Hazelwood to Greenwood to Plymouth to Wildwood.  I stopped at Miramar for pics of pretty Westwood Park:

I continued on Wildwood to Faxon and stopped at Ocean for a pic of the old Ingleside Library branch.  They opened up a new one across the street and this space is currently empty:

I continued on Faxon to De Montefort to Ashton to Pico to Urbano to Moncada to Cerritos to Winston.  I stopped for a pic of the the view looking west towards the ocean:

I continued on Winston to 20th to Ocean to Clearfield into 34th to Yorba to Crestlake to Wawona to 33rd to Vicente to 16th to Taravel to Merced into Laguna Honda into 7th to Hugo to 3rd to Frederick to Cole to Waller to Clayton to Page to Scott to Duboce to Castro to 17th to Ord and home for dinner.  I stayed up late watching movies and then went to bed.

Bike Mileage:

Today 27.4 Week to date 53.4 Month to date 53.4 Year to date 4,243.9 To Goal 3,756.1 Over (Under) plan (446.5) YTD Mileage vs Last Year (929.4) Rolling Year 6,406.3 Since Inception 10/1/07 32,749.4

Monday was a gorgeous day.  It was sunny and warm but not too hot. I'll take it!  I came down Market into work and then headed home for lunch.  After work I went for a nice ride.  I headed off Sutter to Fillmore to Clay to Cherry to Washington to Arguello to Lake to 8th to Cabrillo to Funston to Fulton and into Golden Gate Park at the Rose Garden.  Which looked beautiful:

Me:

I headed over to JFK and then to Stow Lake where I stopped for pics:

The Chinese Pavilion:

I got on MLK and headed over to the South Windmill to check on the progress.  I wonder when it will be done:

I took the Great Highway to Taravel to Merced to Hernandez to Laguna Honda to Portola.  I stopped at Corbett for a pic of the city:

I took Corbett to Ord and home for dinner.  Mr. Poe had already walked the dogs so I lounged around a bit and then went to bed early.  Good day.

Bike Mileage:

Today 26.0 Week to date 26.0 Month to date 26.0 Year to date 4,216.5 To Goal 3,783.5 Over (Under) plan (452.0) YTD Mileage vs Last Year (956.8) Rolling Year 6,424.9 Since Inception 10/1/07 32,722.0