Thursday I came into work Market to Laguna to Grove to Polk to Post to Kearny to Bush.  I headed home for lunch and got a nice pic of Mr. Poe's garden as I was heading home.  It looks fantastic this year:

After work I headed off Columbus to Stockton to North Point.  I stopped for a pic of pretty Ghiradelli Square:

I continued on North Point to Van Ness to Francisco to Laguna to Bay to Cervantes to Marina into Old Mason.  I stopped for a pic of the Golden Gate Bridge behind the Crissy Field Lagoon:

Me:

I headed up to Lincoln and then Washington and stopped at Immigrant Point for a pic.  The fog was starting to roll in:

I came out of the Presidio at the 15th Ave gate and took Lake to Arguello to Clay to Lyon to Broadway.  I stopped for pics looking down towards the Marina:

I got some pics of the MASSIVE houses that dot the gold coast of Broadway:

This is the view looking down Divisadero towards the Marina:

I Divisadero to Pacific.  These are some of the fabulous homes on Pacific:

I continued on Pacific to Jones to Sacramento to Polk to Grove to Laguna to Market to 17th to Ord and home for dinner.  A lovely tax bill from the state of California was waiting for me when I got home.  Fuck!  It has something to do with the way we had to file in 2008 because of the marriage and it's very complicated and I don't understand it but luckily somebody else prepared it and they need to figure it out.  Here's hoping the state is in err!  We had dinner and then I went to bed.

Bike Mileage:

Today 25.1 Week to date 82.8 Month to date 688.0 Year to date 2,601.1 To Goal 5,398.9 Over (Under) plan 168.2 YTD Mileage vs Last Year 438.7 Rolling Year 5,875.2 Since Inception 10/1/07 36,528.0

I've been working from home this week.  It's easier with the dogs if I do that when Mr. Poe is out of town to avoid lawlessness.  Thankfully, he finally came home on Monday night to much fanfare both from the dogs and from me.  This came in the mail on Monday:

Mr. Poe's been pining for muffaletta sandwiches so I had this sent from New Orleans.  It's not the same but it's a start.  I guess I'll have to learn how to make the bread.

Mr. Chris came over for dinner on Tuesday night and I cooked up a bunch of stuff.  I made cheese puffs and canapes with the olive salad and this fantastic sauteed spinach served over saffron rice for the main.  Mr. Chris and Mr. Poe had shrimp I cooked in butter over their spinach.  I can report that Mr. Chris can shell a shrimp using a fork and knife which is an act of ladyship I'd never seen before.  Dessert was chocolate bread pudding which turned out very, very well.

Mr. Chris was back over on Wednesday morning, this time with the dogs as he was escaping the housekeeper at his place.  I love it when Sofi and Tonisha come over.  Rufus loves to play with them and Mimi loves bossing them around.  Ashley feels a little underfoot because they're so much bigger than him but once everything calms down it's OK.  Rufus had the best time romping with the girls.  At one point he was running around with one of my shoes in his mouth-- something he's never done before--  and I was chasing after him screaming "Rufus put that down!  It's LIMITED EDITION!".  Thankfully my Tom's for Neiman Marcus SS2010 camouflage print shoe escaped unscathed.  Mid day I got myself together and headed out for my CAT2 ride out to Tiburon.  I started by taking a few pics of the garden which is fully in bloom now and looks fantastic.  Check out the Wisteria:

This tree is called Angel's Trumpet and the enormous blooms smell incredible and last forever.  I'd been asking Mr. Poe to plant one for years and he finally did last year.  Mr. Nick points out that it's also used to make the poison that turns people into zombies in South America.  You can read more about it here.  I'm picturing Mimi zombifying me into a drooling bacon making slave.  Still, it's beautiful:

I had three riders show up for my ride to Tiburon.  The weather was gorgeous and we had a fabulous time.  Here's John on the Golden Gate Bridge:

Here's everybody at Sharks:

We were done about 5:30 and I headed over to Immigrant Point where I stopped for pics:

Me:

I came out of the Presidio at the 15th Ave gate and took Lake to 23rd to Cabrillo to 47th to Fulton to the Great Highway where I stopped for pics of the beach:

I headed south on the Great Highway to Ulloa to 45th to Sloat to Skyline to Lake Merced to Font to Holloway to Harold to Ocean to Geneva to Alemeny to Lyell to Bosworth to Milton to San Jose to Duncan to Valencia to 18th to Douglass to 17th to Ord and home for dinner.  I got cleaned up after dinner and we all went to bed. 

Bike Mileage:

Today 57.7 Week to date 57.7 Month to date 662.9 Year to date 2,576.0 To Goal 5,424.0 Over (Under) plan 165.0 YTD Mileage vs Last Year 428.7 Rolling Year 5,878.3 Since Inception 10/1/07 36,502.9

Sunday was my CAT2 ride out to Petaluma.  The weather was really nice--  neither too hot nor too cold once the fog burned off-- and we had a lot of fun.  We've got some great riders this season and I think everybody had a good time.  I was home by 6PM which was a bit of a miracle as in years past the Petaluma ride has seen me getting home at almost 8:00.  Miss Smith was kind enough to come and visit the dogs mid day so there wasn't a general revolt among my dogs when I got home.

I knew Rob in New Orleans when I was in college and we've had a great time catching up while he trains for his first Lifecycle.  He's gonna do great:

We've got a very nice crop or riders, some of whom are impossibly young and gorgeous:

Mr. Katz and me:

I got home, fed myself and the dogs dinner and then we went to bed before 8PM.  It was a very long day.

Bike Mileage:

Today 99.1 Week to date 216.9 Month to date 605.2 Year to date 2,518.3 To Goal 5,481.7 Over (Under) plan 173.1 YTD Mileage vs Last Year 487.9 Rolling Year 6,027.8 Since Inception 10/1/07 36,445.2

Thursday I had Miss Smith over for a boozy dinner or french nibbly things and tofu curry.  The tofu was based on this Camille Glen recipe that I veganized.  There was this spectacular electrical storm which is incredibly unusual for San Francisco and I was super delighted by it.  Might have been the wine.  Friday I got my hair cut in the evening and then hung out with Miss Smith and Daniel before heading home to take care of the dogs. 

Saturday was the monthly Different Spokes jersey ride.  It was a great day.  Sunny and reasonably warm, we had a fun group and we rode Tib Loop in reverse and then had lunch at super fantastic Cafe Del Soul in Mill Valley.  Here are some pics from the ride:

I got home mid day and got cleaned up and headed into the Castro for my eye appointment.  I headed home and took care of the dogs and went to bed early.

Bike Mileage:

Today 46.7 Week to date 117.8 Month to date 506.1 Year to date 2,419.2 To Goal 5,580.8 Over (Under) plan 95.9 YTD Mileage vs Last Year 507.3 Rolling Year 5,928.7 Since Inception 10/1/07 36,346.1

Tuesday I took Mr. Poe to the airport in the morning.  He's off to Philadelphia to visit his family.  I hate it when he's out of town.  I get a little "The curse is come upon me".  It poured down rain on Tuesday and into Wednesday.  I was positive my CAT2 ride wasn't gonna go but the weather looked OK so got on my bike and headed over to the Golden Gate Bridge.  I only had one rider show up and we had a great ride out to Tiburon.  Here's Michael at Sharks:

We got done around 5:00 which was very fast and so I rode a little before heading home.  I stopped at Immigrant Point in the Presidio for a pic of the blustery unsettled weather:

I came out of the Presidio at the 15th Avenue gate and then took Lake to 23rd to Cabrillo to 35th and into Golden Gate Park.  I stopped for a pick at Spreckels Lake:

I got on JFK and took that to Bernice Rodgers to MLK to the Great Highway to Taravel to Merced to Hernandez to Laguna Honda to Portola to Corbett to Ord and home for dinner.  I fed the dogs and then got cleaned up and headed to the grocery store.  Miss Smith is coming for dinner Thursday and it has to be fabulous.

Bike Mileage:

Today 53.1 Week to date 71.1 Month to date 459.4 Year to date 2,372.5 To Goal 5,627.5 Over (Under) plan 115.0 YTD Mileage vs Last Year 513.4 Rolling Year 5,961.1 Since Inception 10/1/07 36,299.4

Monday I came into work 18th to Harrison to 17th to Kansas to 16th to Terry Francois to 3rd to the Embarcadero to Washington to Sansome.  I headed home for lunch and got a pic of Mr. Poe's prize winnin' wisteria exploding into bloom:

As is the jasmine:

Mr. Poe in front of his labors.  Hello gorgeous!

I headed home for lunch but was too beat after work for a long ride so I went and hung out with Mr. Chris and David.  Here they are in Rincon Park:

The thrustilicious Bay Bridge:

We watched RuPaul's Drag Race which was a total treat because I don't get Logo so I have to watch it online on Tuesdays.  Latrice Motherfucking Royale was motherfucking robbed!  I headed home and had dinner and went to bed.

Bike Mileage:

Today 18.0 Week to date 18.0 Month to date 406.3 Year to date 2,319.4 To Goal 5,680.6 Over (Under) plan 105.7 YTD Mileage vs Last Year 501.8 Rolling Year 6,002.5 Since Inception 10/1/07 36,246.3

Sunday was the weekly CAT2 ride and this week was Cheese Factory.  It got off to a terrible start because although the Golden Gate Bridge announced that they would be closing at 7:30, in fact they closed at 6:45 so everybody had to get shuttled over or drive to the north side of the bridge.  This totally pissed me off.  If they were going to close the bridge at 6:45, why not tell people that so they can plan accordingly?  Golden Gate Bridge, you are on my list along with Rick Santorum and Linda Lavin (she knows why).

At the north side of the bridge we got assembled and ready to go.  Pics of the hotness:

It seemed like a lot of the slower riders were enjoying Easter so we moved at a pretty good clip.  We made pretty good time to Fairfax and then up to Cheese Factory  which was closed for Easter.  This proved to be a problem for Buz and I because we missed a snack we would have ordinarily had at Cheese Factory so we were very hungry and a little grouchy by the time we got to Point Reyes Station but thankfully they were not out of Burritos at the Palace Market so all was good in the world.  We headed back to Fairfax and I got a couple of pics:

Work!

We headed back to San Francisco.  I didn't go straight home because I knew I was so close to a 300 mile week so I headed out to the Great Highway and and then down to Lake Merced before heading home through the Ingleside and the Mission.  I got this pic from Holloway and Junipera Serra:

I headed home and Mr. Poe was already working on dinner.  After I ate I experimented with savory pastries.  These are cream puff dough mixed with quite a bit of cheese, green chili, garlic, and cajun spices.  They didn't puff much at all but they seem to me to have turned out pretty well.  They look golden, cheesy, chewy and savory.  Mr. Poe didn't think that the green chili added a lot of flavor and suggested I leave that out next time.  I'm gonna focus test them at work on Monday I'll let you know how that goes.

I stayed up until almost 10PM before collapsing into bed.

Bike Mileage:

Today 96.1 Week to date 306.4 Month to date 388.3 Year to date 2,301.4 To Goal 5,698.6 Over (Under) plan 109.6 YTD Mileage vs Last Year 563.1 Rolling Year 6,033.9 Since Inception 10/1/07 36,228.3

Thursday and Friday I worked from home.  Thursday the hot tub repairman came and the news wasn't good.  It has a leak that they can only fix if they remove it from the house which is going to be super difficult because a wall will have to come out and the floor will have to come up in order for that to happen.  Fuck!  Developing.  Friday Mr. Poe started spring break and that's awful fun.  He's headed to Philadelphia to see his family on Monday so I've got to enjoy him while I can.

Saturday my friend and David rode a very ambitious ride in Marin.  We did the classic Marshall Wall ride--  which is tough enough-- but we came back to the city via Stinson and Muir beach which added a lot more climbing.  It was a lot of fun and I held up better than I thought I would but still it totally kicked my ass.

This is the view from the top of Marshall Wall:

Me:

David:

Tomales Bay:

After lunch we headed for Stinson.  The weather was nice and Bolinas Lagoon was gorgeous:

David:

Me:

We had a snack and started climbing,  The views from the 1 are amazing:

Me--  note that the weather was warm enough that the leg warmers came off which is unusual:

David:

I made it home a little after five.  Dinner, shower, bed.

I worked from home on Wednesday morning.  I had a little time so I made Mr. Poe some Petits Choux au Fromage using Julia Child's recipe.  I followed Jacques Pepin's advice and let them dry out in the oven and they turned out beautifully.   They're supposed to be eaten unfilled but I didn't think they were going to be cheesy enough for Mr. Poe.  He proved me wrong by eating ten of them in a sitting by the time I'd gotten home on Wednesday night:

I got a couple of pics of Mr. Poe's garden on my way out mid day.  The wisteria is coming into bloom and is going to look fantastic:

As will the jasmine:

Then I headed over to the Golden Gate Bridge for my CAT2 ride.  We had five riders show up and it was a gorgeous day for it.  I spent the whole time with one of the riders who's just starting out-- not just in training but on a bicycle.  I spent the whole time trying to teach him how to use his gears.  He's got a lot of work to do between now and the ride and I'm hoping he'll get there.  Here's everybody in Tiburon:

We headed home and Mr. Poe was waiting for me.  He had a bit of an upset stomach because of the earlier mentioned choux binge but he'd made me some dinner anyway.  I got cleaned up and went to bed.

Bike Mileage:

Today 47.7 Week to date 105.1 Month to date 187.0 Year to date 2,100.1 To Goal 5,899.9 Over (Under) plan (4.0) YTD Mileage vs Last Year 486.9 Rolling Year 5,934.3 Since Inception 10/1/07 36,027.0

Tuesday I headed home for lunch and then went for a nice ride after work.  I headed off Washington to Columbus to Stockton and stopped to get some pics of Sts Peter and Paul.  I don't think I've taken anything but distance shots since the beautiful face lift it get last year.  Gorgeous:

Fabulous entrance:

These four beasts represent the four gospels.  I love how stern the bull and the eagle look:

I continued on Stockton to North Point to Van Ness to Francisco to Laguna to Bay to Cervantes to Marina into the Presidio and then Old Mason to Crissy Field to Lincoln.  I stopped a little West of the Golden Gate Bridge for pics of the storm that slowly sliding in:

I continued on Lincoln to Camino Del Mar to 25th to 26th to Scenic to Sea Cliff to 25th and I stopped for pics of Baker Beach:

Me:

I took Seacliff to Camino Del Mar to 30th to Clement to 27th to Cabrillo to 14th to Fulton and into Golden Gate Park at the Rose Garden.  Nothing much to report, stay tuned.  I headed over to the Music Concourse and got a pic of the De Young:

I took MLK and came out of the park at 9th and then took it to Judah to 7th into Laguna Honda to Portola to Corbett to Ord and home for dinner.   I"m going to bed early.  I'm beat.

Bike Mileage:

Today 31.4 Week to date 57.4 Month to date 139.3 Year to date 2,052.4 To Goal 5,947.6 Over (Under) plan (29.8) YTD Mileage vs Last Year 465.2 Rolling Year 5,912.8 Since Inception 10/1/07 35,979.3