Sunday was my CAT2 ride out to Alpine Dam.  We left from McLaren Lodge to avoid all of the Doyle Drive drama.  This is one of the toughest rides that we do on the CAT series and I thought everybody did really well.  The Alpine Dam ride has a gratuitous amount of climbing and nobody that I saw had a total breakdown over it which was nice.  

Here’s everybody at the beginning of the drop down into Alpine Dam Lake:

David and John:

Patrick:

Buz and Beau:

Alpine Dam Lake:

Alpine Dam:

Beau wasn’t crazy about all the climbing heading up to Ridgecrest and blamed that on me.  Evidence:

Ridgecrest:

The view from the top:  perfect:

Me:

Beau wishing he’d been training harder in April:

We headed down to Mill Valley and had lunch at Cafe Del Soul which was delicious as usual.  We’ll be eating there next week as well.  Then we headed back to San Francisco and I went over to Miss Smith’s to enjoy is five star hospitality.  Here he is reclining in his parlour:

Then I headed home for dinner and got ready for bed.  I was very, very tired.

Bike Mileage:

Today 62.4 Week to date 243.7 Month to date 1,150.4 Year to date 3,063.5 To Goal 4,936.5 Over (Under) plan 411.4 YTD Mileage vs Last Year 754.2 Rolling Year 6,290.0 Since Inception 10/1/07 36,990.4

Saturday I led a Different Spokes ride out to Marshall with a return on Bofax and then seven sisters.  I think it’s one of the most difficult centuries I’ve ever done.  Tons and tons of climbing–  a little under 7,500 feet– it was nuts!  We headed through Fairfax and then Nicasio before we rode up the notorious Marshall Wall.  Here are some pics from the top:

David and Tim:

Jeff, me and David

Then we headed into Point Reyes Station for lunch and then we rode up Olema Valley and then dropped down into Bolinas Lagoon.  The tide was out and it was mostly mud:

Then we rode up Bofax to Ridgecrest and then headed over the famous seven sisters hills:

Bolinas Lagoon from the top of Tam:

San Francisco from Mt. Tam:

Tim and David needed some fundraising pics so we took some glamour shots at the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge:

This is David’s ‘rough trade’ look:

I was so beat but thankfully I managed to make it home without dying.  Mr. Poe’s garden is going crazy.  Check out the roses:

And the trumpet vine:

I’m going to bed early.  I’m beat!

Bike Mileage:

Today 106.6 Week to date 181.3 Month to date 1,088.0 Year to date 3,001.1 To Goal 4,998.9 Over (Under) plan 371.0 YTD Mileage vs Last Year 806.2 Rolling Year 6,227.6 Since Inception 10/1/07 36,928.0

Wednesday was my CAT2 training ride out to Tiburon.  We had a nice group–  four riders and me–  and the weather held up the whole time.  I got a couple of pics at Shark’s in Tiburon.

The weather was changing as we were heading back to San Francisco.  The fog was rolling in over the city but not the Golden Gate which is super unusual.  Check out the pics:

I made it home just as it was starting to sprinkle and it started raining before it got dark.  I managed to pinch something in my back–  very uncomfortable–  and I took Thursday and Friday off of the bike entirely.  I don’t know if it helped.  I think this is one of those “As you get older ….” injuries.

Bike Mileage:

Today 47.8 Week to date 74.7 Month to date 981.4 Year to date 2,894.5 To Goal 5,105.5 Over (Under) plan 330.1 YTD Mileage vs Last Year 699.6 Rolling Year 6,121.0 Since Inception 10/1/07 36,821.4

Tuesday I came into work Market to Laguna to Grove to Polk to Post to Kearny to Bush to Sansome.  I headed home for lunch and noted the enormous protest going on at the company that I work for.  The stockholders meeting was today and there was a huge turnout to protest something or other.   It doesn’t make any sense to me at all.  It seems to me that if all of the occupy people spent their energy getting people elected to public office instead of these ridiculous protests than we could see some get some real change but these ridiculously unfocused protests don’t have a clear message and aren’t gonna lead anywhere.  I hate to sound so negative on them but it seems like the conservative agenda has basically been hijacked by the tea party because they’re organized and getting people elected.  Why can’t the occupy people behave like that??  Here’s a couple of photos of useless:

After work I headed off 2nd to Townsend to Kansas to 17th to Potrero to 23rd to Valencia to Mission to St Mary’s and stopped for some pics of St John the Evangelist’s.  Which seems oddly named since it’s on St. Mary’s street but St Mary’s was a college that used to be in the area and it moved to Moraga in 1890.  The former site became the St. Mary’s Park neighborhood and this church was built on the St Mary’s parish grounds.  I love the iron work on the rectory door:

Some pics of the pretty church.  I’ve never been inside, but I love the exterior especially the towers:

Me:

I took Marsilly to Bosworth to Lyell to Alemeny to Brotherhood Way to Lake Merced to Higuera to Arballo to Font to Holloway to Junipero Serra to Mercedes to Cerritos where I got a few pics.  I love the purple flowers that are all over these hills:

I continued on Cerritos to Ocean to Aptos to Darien to San Benito to San Anselmo to Santa Clara to Portola to Corbett to Ord and home for dinner.  Mr. Poe is working late tonight so I’m stuck feeding myself and the dogs.

Bike Mileage:

Today 26.9 Week to date 26.9 Month to date 933.6 Year to date 2,846.7 To Goal 5,153.3 Over (Under) plan 304.2 YTD Mileage vs Last Year 651.8 Rolling Year 6,073.2 Since Inception 10/1/07 36,773.6

Monday after work I went and met Miss Smith and we went for a walk to see how the construction is going in Mission Bay.  Here she is at South Beach Harbor:

This is sparkling new Mission Bay Commons Park.  I love it long time:

We spent the rest of the walk looking at the stuff that hasn’t been built up in Mission Bay.  There isn’t much left and it’s pretty sketchy.  Then we headed over to Costco to meet Daniel.  He drove me home–  which made me feel like a classy piece of ass–  and then I had dinner and went to bed.

I’m staying off of the bike today because it was a big weekend and I’m pretty beat.  I came downtown on Muni this morning and attempted to get home for lunch.  Somebody had a terrible accident and died at Muni Civic Center and the whole system was down for several hours.  I took BART to 16th and walked to the Castro to pick up contacts and visit with the accountant and then I headed home only to realize I’d left my keys at work.  Fuck!  Muni was still down when I was heading back downtown so I got stuck on an F train.  Don’t I look delighted??:

At least I’m wearing fabulous shoes:

It took forever to get downtown but it wasn’t too bad.  I watched scooby doo on my phone and tried not to grumble.

Sunday I had yet another Different Spokes ride on the calendar– Alpine Dam Lake + Bofax + Muir Beach.  I felt pretty crappy when I got up and I don’t think I would have ridden at all if I didn’t have a ride on the calendar which is kind of why I put them there in the first place.  I headed down to Peets but nobody showed up.  Why is there such limited interest in my crazy ass rides late in the season??  But I was out of the house and ready to go so I headed over to Marin and a nice and easy pace.  The fog had rolled in which felt fantastic and I felt stronger as I rode which was nice.  I stopped in Fairfax and then made my way up to Alpine Dam Lake.  It was pretty warm on the ascent but not anything like Saturday so I wasn’t gonna complain.  I hadn’t been up to Alpine Dam Lake in a year and I’d missed it.  It didn’t disappoint:

The view looking down from the dam always gives me the willies:

Me:

I climbed up to Ridgecrest and then dropped down to the coast on Bofax.  That road pretty much sucks the whole way down with surprise potholes and lots of turns.  My hands were sore from braking by the time I hit Bolinas Lagoon.  It was cool and foggy–  what a change from yesterday:

I made my way down to Stinson and stopped for snack where I saw this classy piece apparently thumbing a ride.  Hitchhiker or prostitute–  you decide:

I headed home on the 1.  There was a lot less traffic then there had been on Saturday because the fog had rolled back in.  I stopped for a pic of the beach that was still full of people despite the cool, foggy, windy conditions.  Why?:

I continued on the 1.  I stopped for another pic a little further along.  It’s so pretty even with all the fog:

I headed down to Mill Valley and stopped for lunch at Cafe Del Soul.  Their food is fucking amazing.  This was my lunch:

I headed back over the bridge into San Francisco.  Mr. Poe wanted me to go straight home but I needed about fifteen more miles to put me at 300 miles for the week so I rode around Lake Merced before making it home at before six.  I made a terrible mess in the kitchen trying to flip hash browns while doing my julia child impression.  But you can always put it together and if you’re alone in the kitchen, who’s to see??

Bike Mileage:

Today 75.7 Week to date 301.5 Month to date 906.7 Year to date 2,819.8 To Goal 5,180.2 Over (Under) plan 321.2 YTD Mileage vs Last Year 624.9 Rolling Year 6,046.3 Since Inception 10/1/07 36,746.7

I could tell when I woke up on Saturday that it was gonna be hot and I was right.  It was roasting hot inland mid day and the heat is not my friend.  But I still managed to get in a fabulous ride.  I got a pic of Mr. Poe with his prize winnin’ wisteria on my way out of the house in the morning:

I led a Different Spokes ride out to Mashall and then home through Pan Toll.  We headed off to Fairfax and then to Cheese Factory where I ran into the end of the Lifecycle ride headed for Petaluma.  I felt super sorry for them as it was gonna be even hotter where they were heading as where I was.  I hadn’t seen Annette in forever so it was a special treat:

I also hadn’t seen Tomas as he’s been TRLing the Saturday rides.  It was great to see him!:

Gordon was with me:

As was David:

We left the Cheese Factory and started heading for Marshall.  There’s a huge ass climb and it was very, very hot.  I don’t do well in heat at all.  I much prefer cool weather because you can always add a layer.  It was a really tough slog up the hill.  So hot.  So miserable.  I started thinking what I wanted on my urn when I died it was so hot.  I came up with:

Joseph Collins was a classy piece of ass

And I started to think about all of my life’s unfinished business.  I hadn’t finished destroying all the evidence that implicates Mimi in various acts.  I hadn’t concluded my vendetta against Linda Lavin (she knows why).  And my quest for the legendary horse hung Asian continued.  Thankfully, as I neared the top of the hill I started to feel cool ocean breezes and I was no longer concerned about or praying for death.  David and Gordon didn’t seem bothered by the heat at all which pissed me off:

3

The view from the top of Marshall wall:

We from there we headed down to Tomales Bay which was like 20 degrees cooler.  Heaven.  I started feeling a lot better as we headed south towards Point Reyes Station.  I stopped for a pic of pretty Tomales Bay:

We made our way to Point Reyes Station for lunch.  I ate a huge burrito in record time.  Me:

After lunch we continued up Olema Valley and then down to Bolinas Lagoon where we stopped for pics:

Gordon and David:

We made our way to Stinson which was FUCKING CRAZY.  I do not for the life of me understand why people go to the beach in Northern California.  The water is like 55 degrees or something and it’s completely miserable.  Nevertheless, it seemed like everybody in the bay area was trying to get to Stinson.  Traffic was backed up on the 1 halfway to Muir Beach.  Crazy.  We had a snack and then ehaded up Panoramic towards Pan Toll Station.  I stopped for a pic a little ways up:

It was roasting hot on the way to Pan Toll once we got above the marine layer but then we got into some trees so there was shade.  We stopped at Pan Toll for a break and then headed down the mountain and then stopped again in Mill Valley before heading home.  I made it home a little after six and Mr. Poe had dinner waiting.  It had been a very, very long day.

Bike Mileage:

Today 105.1 Week to date 225.8 Month to date 831.0 Year to date 2,744.1 To Goal 5,255.9 Over (Under) plan 267.4 YTD Mileage vs Last Year 549.2 Rolling Year 5,977.6 Since Inception 10/1/07 36,671.0

It warmed up quite a bit mid day.  The hottest day of the year!  When I went home at lunch I took Ashley Jr.’s sweater off and he was running around starkers.  After work I headed off California to Market to Spear to go see Mr. Chris and then headed home Folsom to Beale to Howard to 11th to Harrison to 17th to Ord and home for dinner.  Mr. Poe was at a movie so I had to feed myself.  I’d left my phone at Mr. Chris’s, but luckily he was having dinner in the Castro so I ran down to retrieve it and then came home and got ready for bed.

Bike Mileage:

Today 37.9 Week to date 120.7 Month to date 725.9 Year to date 2,639.0 To Goal 5,361.0 Over (Under) plan 184.2 YTD Mileage vs Last Year 451.1 Rolling Year 5,898.0 Since Inception 10/1/07 36,565.9

I managed to drag my as out of bed early this morning and I met my friend Alic for a ride up Marin Headlands.  The fog was crazy gorgeous this morning.  I took this from Immigrant Point in the Presidio on my way to meet Alic at the Golden Gate Bridge:

The bridge was super wet which scares me because that means it’s also super slick but we got across without too much drama and then we climbed Conzelman.  We stopped at the top for pics:

Alic:

We took the scary way down to Rodeo Beach.  I stopped on the way down for one more pic of the fog:

We headed down to Rodeo Beach which was too fogged in to be too fabulous:

  Alic:

Me:

We headed back over the bridge and I headed into the office Lake to Arguello to Clay to Fillmore to Pacific to Powell to Jackson to Columbus to Clay to Sansome.  It’s gonna be a beautiful day!