I had planned to taking Friday off of the bike but I ended up cancelling my Saturday ride as well so I could rest up.  Saturday the most active thing I could manage was shoe shopping.  But I was feeling a lot better by Sunday and we had a great ride on the CAT2 series out to Lagunitas.  It was cold but sunny when we started off in the Presidio:

We had a late start because of some equipment issues but we eventually made it to Fairfax and then we headed to Lagunitas.  Here are some pics from the start:

Rob:

Workin’ it:

Alic changing his first tire.  Well done:

I made it home about 4PM.  I got cleaned up and had dinner and we watched the Oscars.  Which were pretty boring which is why Oscar parties usually involve so much drinking.  I barely made it to the end before I dropped off to sleep.

Bike Mileage:

Today 60.4 Week to date 174.6 Month to date 887.0 Year to date 1,302.4 To Goal 6,697.6 Over (Under) plan 31.2 YTD Mileage vs Last Year 588.3 Rolling Year 6,009.7 Since Inception 10/1/07 35,229.3

Thursday I came into work Market to 14th to Folsom to 2nd to Market to Sansome.  I headed home for lunch but I was feeling really worn out by the end of the day so I went for a much shorter ride.  I headed off Sutter to Steiner and stopped at St. Ignatius for a pics:

I continued on Steiner to Clay to Spruce and stopped for a pic of the pretty north bay:

Me:

I took Washington to Arguello to Lake to 8th and into Golden Gate Park.  I rode past the Music Concourse and then came out of the park at 9th and took it to Judah to 7th into Laguna Honda to Portola to Corbett to Ord and home for dinner.  After dinner we went to bed early.  I was beat.

Bike Mileage:

Today 21.1 Week to date 114.2 Month to date 826.6 Year to date 1,242.0 To Goal 6,758.0 Over (Under) plan 36.5 YTD Mileage vs Last Year 534.9 Rolling Year 5,970.3 Since Inception 10/1/07 35,168.9

The weather was gorgeous in San Francisco on Wednesday!  I worked from home in the morning while the dogs lounged in the sun on the front porch.  Mid day I headed over to the Golden Gate Bridge for my ALC training ride to Mill Valley.  I had four riders show up and we had a really good time.

Jordan and Pepe at the bridge:

Larry on the Golden Gate Bridge:

The beautiful view of downtown from the Golden Gate Bridge:

Larry and George in Mill Valley:

Pepe and Jordan:

We got back to the city at about 4:30 and I said goodbye to my riders and headed off on my own.  I made my way over to Lincoln and stopped for some pics of the pretty World War II memorial:

The Marin Headlands from a little farther down Lincoln:

Me:

I continued on Lincoln  into Camino Del Mar and headed into Lincoln Park.  This has got to be the most amazing view from a golf course that I’ve ever seen.  With one hell of a water hazard:

I continued up to the Palace of the Legion of Honor:

Pax Jerusalemme:

This is the view of downtown from the Palace of the Legion of Honor:

I headed down to 34th to Cabrillo to 36th and into Golden Gate Park.  I got on JFK and headed down to the North Windmill.  The tulips are coming up in the Queen Wilhelmina Tulip Garden!:

 

I continued to the Great Highway and stopped at the foot of Sloat for pics of the beach at the end of a fabulous day:

I continued on the Great Highway to Skyline to John Muir to Lake Merced to Brotherhood Way to Alemeny to Lyell to Bosworth to Milton to San Jose to Duncan to Valencia to 24th to Potrero to 17th to Kansas to Townsend to 7th to Market.  I stopped for a pic of City Hall:

I continued on Market to 17th to Ord and home for dinner.  We had vegan paella I’d made earlier in the day and it was dee-licious.  After dinner I got cleaned up and we went to bed.  I was beat.

Bike Mileage:

Today 46.2 Week to date 93.1 Month to date 805.5 Year to date 1,220.9 To Goal 6,779.1 Over (Under) plan 37.3 YTD Mileage vs Last Year 527.8 Rolling Year 5,956.2 Since Inception 10/1/07 35,147.8

Tuesday I came into work Market to Laguna to Post to Kearny to Bush.  I headed home for lunch and made the unfortunate discovery, likely not for the first time, that the comic book store was closed on Tuesdays.  Drat!  So I headed down Market downtown and got a flat tire at Market and Gough.  I must have missed the meeting where the sketchy corner on Market moved uptown because it was a whole lot of freakshow while I was trying to change the tube.  I was afraid to put anything down less it walk away so I had to hold everything I needed the whole time I was changing it.  Very annoying.  But I had some practice over the weekend so I was on my way in a couple of minutes.

After work I headed off Sutter to Fillmore to Clay to Spruce to Washington.  I stopped for some pics of the view:

I noted the wall of fog coming into the city:

Me:

I continued on Washington to Arguello to 8th and into Golden Gate Park.  I headed over to the Music Concourse for pics.  The DeYoung looked super pretty against the sunset:

Sutro tower:

The Japanese Tea Garden:

I came out of the park at 9th and took Judah to 7th into Laguna Honda to Dewey to Claremont to Portola to Santa Clara to Monterey to San Jose to Duncan to Valencia to 18th to Douglass to 17th to Ord and home for dinner.

After dinner Mr. Poe and I worked on getting some travel plans for our trip to Hawaii in November.  We’re trying to do it on miles and we need to wait for some miles we bought to post and the customer service guy promised up and down it was gonna work but my quality expectations for airlines are very, very low.  Let’s see how it works out in a couple of days.

Bike Mileage:

Today 25.3 Week to date 46.9 Month to date 759.3 Year to date 1,174.7 To Goal 6,825.3 Over (Under) plan 13.1 YTD Mileage vs Last Year 488.6 Rolling Year 5,917.0 Since Inception 10/1/07 35,101.6

Monday was Presidents Day and my office was pretty much empty.  I came into work for that reason and got a lot of stuff done.  Mr. Poe was also off that day so I didn’t have to worry about heading home for lunch to check on the dogs.  Instead I went and visited Mr. Chris and David and we headed over to Union Square for lunch and then shopping.  We started off at Westfield Center where I ate at Sorabol and then we headed up to Bloomingdale which I do not like.  It’s the ambiance.  They have stuff I like there but I don’t like the space and don’t like shopping there for that reason.  That and their shoe department sucks.  Then we headed over to Neiman Marcus where I identified a pair of Lanvin sneakers that will be mine (so shiny!) and failed again to find a Tom Ford fragrance that I loved long time.  Then I dragged Mr. Chris and David up to the viewing deck at 1 Kearny.  I’d read about new public access spaces in SFGate.com here and I wanted to check this one out.  There’s a map of them here.  It’s a little hard to find the entrance (it’s on Geary) and you have to sign in at the desk and deal with the zombie like security guard but once you get up there the views are amazing:

David:

Check out this fantastic Mansard Roof.  I had an architecturgasm!

Me:

Mr. Chris and David:

Then we headed over to Ralph Lauren.  I’m not crazy about a lot of the stuff there.  They had some acid-flashback-bright colored ties that would have only really worked on somebody at clown college and some of those horrible knit ties from the 80′s that they keep trying to bring back but need to stay in the 80′s where they belong.  Here’s Mr. Chris lounging:

I headed back to work and finished up the day.  After work I headed off 2nd to Howard to 11th  This is the Jackson Brewery building at 11th and Folsom which I am very fond of.  You don’t see a lot of masonry in San Francisco because of the whole earthquake thing:

I continued on 11th into Bryant and stopped at Sports Basement for tubes and inflation cartridges.  I continued on Bryant to 20th to Florida and stopped at 24th for a pic of this sign I love so much:

Across the Street is one of the building attached to St. Peter’s church.  It has some amazing murals on the facade:

Gorgeous if a bit frowny-faced:

I continued on Florida to 25th to Valencia to Tiffany to 29th to San Jose to Monterey.  I stopped near El Verano for pics of the sunset:

I continued on Monterey into Santa Clara to Portola to Claremont to Dewey to Laguna Honda into 7th to Judah where I stopped for a one last pic of the sunset:

I continued on Judah to 7th and into Golden Gate Park.  I headed over to the Music Concourse and got a pic of the De Young against the last bit of light of the day:

I came out of the park at 8th to Lake to Clay to Laguna to Market to 17th  to Ord and home for dinner.  After dinner we went to bed early.  I was beat.

Bike Mileage:

Today 21.6 Week to date 21.6 Month to date 734.0 Year to date 1,149.4 To Goal 6,850.6 Over (Under) plan 9.7 YTD Mileage vs Last Year 470.3 Rolling Year 5,939.0 Since Inception 10/1/07 35,076.3

Sunday was my CAT2 ride up Marin Headlands and then out to Tiburon.  It was a little cooler than Saturday but dry so I’m not complaining.  I felt better than I thought I’d feel after Saturday’s ride, but I was still pretty happy to be sweeping.  Here’s the hotness stretching at the Sports Basement:

First stop was the top of the Headlands.  It was a whole lotta climbin’.  Some of the riders weren’t so delighted about it but we all did OK:

Fantastic view:

Me:

The map had the riders heading down to Rodeo Beach using a less terrifying route than I took.  The coastal route is narrow, steep, and you feel like if you make a mistake you’re gonna end up in the ocean.  But check out he views:

We headed down to Rodeo Beach where there were sadly no surfers.  Still, it was a gorgeous day there.  Here’s Beau posing for us:

Me:

From there we headed to Tiburon.  A bunch of the riders were really wiped out from all the climbing and they didn’t do Paradise Loop.  I swept the last part of the ride by myself.  This is Paradise Cay which is brazenly built right into the bay.  “Out of my way, nature!”:

I got a flat tire around Marin County Day School.  I changed the tube, put the wheel back on my bike and inflated it with a cartridge and then proceeded to pull the valve out of the stem of the tube.  Fuck!  The second tire changing went a little faster and soon I was back on the road.  I ran into the riders at the Golden Gate Bridge and we headed back to San Francisco.

I got home at a little before 3PM.  I had lunch and then we took my road bike down to Mikes in SOMA.  It’s making a noise that is probably bottom bracket related.  They’re pretty backed up and they’re gonna need two weeks before they have it ready.  Thankfully, I have two road bikes.  We headed home and I cleaned my other bikes and then got cleaned up myself.  After dinner, I actually made it until 8:30 before I went to bed.  It must be a record.

I started keeping track of my mileage on 10/1/7 and today it hit 35,000.  Which is a shitload of miles.  I don’t really have any idea how many miles I rode between when I started riding a lot in 2000 and when I started tracking it in 2007 but I think conservatively it’s somewhere around 15,000.  Sadly, I didn’t purchase the extended warranty on my body because that would have been a good idea especially since I’m an American made model from the early seventies.

Bike Mileage:

Today 56.9 Week to date 265.7 Month to date 712.4 Year to date 1,127.8 To Goal 6,872.2 Over (Under) plan 10.0 YTD Mileage vs Last Year 496.0 Rolling Year 5,917.4 Since Inception 10/1/07 35,054.7

Saturday I led a Different Spokes ride out to Petaluma.  It was just my fried David and I and we had a really good ride.  The weather report on Friday night warned that it might be drizzly but that didn’t seem to materialize.  It was cool and a little clammy and with a crazy headwind for a part of the ride but I wasn’t complaining.  We went the long way to Petaluma up Wilson Hill which I hadn’t done in a very long time.  We stopped at the top for pics.  They turned out a little cloudy because the camera had been in my pocket and the lens fogged up but you can see how gorgeous it was:

David:

We headed into Petaluma and I stopped for some pics of the picturesque downtown:

We had lunch at High Tech Burrito in Petaluma and then headed home through Novato.  I got home a little before 5PM and sadly I had to clean my bike before I could begin lounging because it’s making a funny noise but I can’t take it to the bike shop until after I cleaned it or I’d get a lecture.  And that I don’t need.

Bike Mileage:

Today 104.3 Week to date 208.8 Month to date 655.5 Year to date 1,070.9 To Goal 6,929.1 Over (Under) plan (25.0) YTD Mileage vs Last Year 439.1 Rolling Year 1,702.7 Since Inception 10/1/07 34,997.8

Thursday I came in to work Market to 14th to Folsom to 2nd to Market to Sansome.  I had lunch downtown and headed home up Market after work because we had Nathan over for dinner for his birthday.  I prepared ‘A Salute to Carbs’ which included mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, pork tenderloin, and carrot cake.  Thankfully nobody was either in a coma or diabetic by the end of the meal.

Friday I came into work Market to Laguna to Grove to Polk to O’Farrell to Post to Kearny to Bush to Sansome.  Mr. Poe had the day off of work and had a dentist appointment at Union Square and he took me out for a moderately priced lunch of my choosing after.  We went to the recently opened SC Asian at Macy which took the place of the Wolfgang Puck restaurant.  The food was pretty good and they seem to have mitigated the two things I didn’t like about the Wolfgang Puck place–  the chaotic ordering process and the messy dining area.  You now order at a register and they bring you your food and it was a whole lot cleaner than I remember.  Likey!

After work I headed off 2nd to Townsend and stopped at the foot of Division for a pic of the pretty sculpture that reminds me of Ashley Junior:

Stay away from my dinner!

Me:

I took Kansas to 16th to San Bruno to 17th to Potrero.  I stopped for pics of San Francisco General:

Such lovely detail:

I continued on Potrero to 24th to Bryant to Precita.  I stopped for a few pics of the murals on pretty Flynn Elementary:

I continued on Precita to Mission to Silver to Alemeny to Geneva to Ocean to Lee to Holloway to Borica to Moncada to Urbano to Moncado to Cerritos to Winston to 20th to Ocean to Clearfield to 34th to Yorba to Crestlake to Escola to 33rd to Vicente to 17th to Taravel to Dewey to Laguna Honda into 7th to Hugo to 3rd to Frederick to Shrader to Page to Scott to Duboce to Castro to 17th to Ord and home for dinner.  The news says it might be wet in the morning.  Here’s hoping it isn’t. 

Bike Mileage:

Today 22.2 Week to date 104.5 Month to date 551.2 Year to date 966.6 To Goal 7,033.4 Over (Under) plan (107.4) YTD Mileage vs Last Year 334.8 Rolling Year 1,598.4 Since Inception 10/1/07 34,893.5

I worked from home on Wednesday morning and then led a Lifecycle training ride in the afternoon.  I only had one rider show up but we had a great ride out to Mill Valley and then we tacked on Rodeo Beach.

Here’s Pepe in Mill Valley:

Me:

Rodeo Beach was incredibly beautiful.  Sunny and warm and awesome:

Pepe:

The lagoon at Rodeo Beach:

We headed back to San Francisco and I headed off on my own.  I took Lincoln and stopped for a pic of Land’s End:

I continued on Lincoln into Camino Del Mark to 25th to Lake to 27th to Cabrillo to 30th and into Golden Gate Park.  I took JFK to Bernice Rodgers to MLK and stopped for some pics of the beautiful new South Windmill:

I took the Great Highway to Wawona to 47th to Sloat to Sunset to Lake Merced to Font to Holloway to Harold to Ocean to Geneva to Cayuga to Lyell to Bosworth to Milton to San Jose to Duncan to Valencia to 18th to Eureka to 17th to Ord and home for dinner.  After dinner I got cleaned up and went to bed.  It was a great day!

Bike Mileage:

Today 48.2 Week to date 74.8 Month to date 521.5 Year to date 936.9 To Goal 7,063.1 Over (Under) plan (93.2) YTD Mileage vs Last Year 305.1 Rolling Year 1,568.7 Since Inception 10/1/07 34,863.8

Monday night I made Mr. Poe an anniversary dinner.  I got him some ribs from Mollie Stone and made him blue cheese mashed potatoes, cole slaw, and shrimp cocktail.  He was delighted and stuffed by the time he stopped eating.  He got me a couple of vegan cupcakes which I enjoyed very much. 

Tuesday I came into work Market to Laguna to McAllister to Polk to Post to Grant and into Chinatown.  I stopped at California for a pic looking up Grant:

Old St. Mary’s:

I continued on Grant to Clay to Sansome and into work.  I headed home for lunch and then went for a nice ride after work.  I took Columbus to Stockton to North Point to Van Ness to Francisco to Cervantes to Marina and into the Presidio.  I stopped at Crissy Field for pics.  Sadly, my pic of the bridge didn’t turn out but happily the one of me did:

I headed over to Lincoln and stopped for a pic of Lands End at sunset:

I got on Camino Del Mar to 25th to Lake to Arguello to Clay to Fillmore to Pacific to Jones to California to Mason which was a terrible idea.  I thought Mason to Clay would be less drama than coming down California but it’s even steeper and there isn’t a stop sign for oncoming traffic at the bottom.  Yikes!  I took Clay to Montgomery to Market to 17th to Ord and home for dinner.  There was no chance of us going out for dinner on Valentines Day because Mr. Poe had to work late so he ordered Chinese food from Big Lantern and got me more cupcakes.  Deelicious.

Bike Mileage:

Today 26.6 Week to date 26.6 Month to date 473.3 Year to date 888.7 To Goal 7,111.3 Over (Under) plan (119.5) YTD Mileage vs Last Year 263.9 Rolling Year 1,513.5 Since Inception 10/1/07 34,815.6