Monday I came into work Market to Laguna to McAllister to Polk to Post to Kearny to Bush to Sansome.  Mr. Poe had the day off so he came down to take me out to lunch.  We started off by walking over to check out the rood garden at One Kearny.  Super fantastic views:

I approve of the way they joined the new and old sections of the building.  Much better than the addition on the other side of the old section:

Hello gorgeous:

Me bringing big wig realness.  Closer to god!

We headed over to Westfield for Korean food at Sorabol.  Mr. Poe made me pay for it (the bastard).  Isn’t that me taking him out to lunch??  After we ate he headed home on Muni and I headed back to the office.  I took a couple of pics on Grant as I made my way back:

My kind of office:

I headed back to work.

Sunday I led a Different Spokes ride out to Cheese Factory and then Novato.  We had a rider that hadn’t ridden with us before who was a Texan in town for training for a couple of months.  He didn’t think he’d do well on the hills but he was a strong rider and he did just fine.  It was a lot cooler than on Saturday but it was still incredibly hot and that was a challenge for me.  I felt pretty crappy most of the day and I wasn’t sure if it was the heat or if maybe I was a little sick since Mr. Poe is reporting similar symptoms.  But I managed, mostly because I knew we were having Chipotle for lunch which was pretty awesome.  My camera wasn’t working so I didn’t get any pics until the very end where I finally took some with my phone.  The fog was rolling in as we headed back to San Francisco and it was pretty spectacular:

John and David:

I headed home for dinner.  I made this Korean inspired potato thing which was pan fried potato slices that I tossed with this sauce made of garlic, corn syrup, soy sauce and sesame oil.  It was sweet, salty, sticky and delicious.  I loved it long time.  I watched a little TV and then I went to bed.

Bike Mileage:

Today 88.6 Week to date 95.6 Month to date 637.0 Year to date 4,875.9 To Goal 3,124.1 Over (Under) plan 1,149.9 YTD Mileage vs Last Year 814.4 Rolling Year 6,235.8 Since Inception 10/1/07 38,802.8

Thursday I was running very, very late so I just came down Market into work and disliked that route very much.  I headed home in the mid afternoon and then headed down to Union Square to get my hair cut that evening.  I hung out with Miss Smith after and that was really fun.  Friday I worked from home. 

We had a little heat wave in the Bay Area over the weekend.  It was hot in the city on Saturday and was in the upper 80′s in some neighborhoods.  It was in the upper 90′s and hotter inland and I was happy I didn’t have a ride on the calendar because there was no way I was going to ride in that.  I live in Northern California and am only comfortable in 60-75 temperatures.  Mr. Poe slept way in so I got a bunch of things done around the house in the morning and then we headed down to the Mission.  We dropped a bunch of stuff off at Community Thrift and we actually found parking without having to either drive around forever or pay for it.  It was a little tight so I documented my capital parallel parking.  It was a little tighter than it looks in the pic but also remember that my truck is a standard:

Then we headed over to El Toro for lunch and it was pretty amazing.  From there we gave up our parking and headed over to Safeway.  Here’s Mr. Poe with the mint in the background.  Hello gorgeous:

We headed home with the groceries and unpacked and then walked down to the Castro for a couple more errands.  We took Ashley Jr. who loved all the excitement but it was a little too hot for him.  Then we headed home and Mr. Poe took a nap and I started cooking.  I made Gratin de Pommes de Terre a la Madame Poe which is potatoes scalloped with onions, garlic and thyme.  I had tried that a couple of weeks ago, but the cooking time in Julia’s cookbook is very different from what I’m getting in my oven and it ended up really underdone which gave me the sads.  This time it turned out pretty much perfect and Mr. Poe ate quite a bit of it.  I made some Korean eggplant and tofu for me and it turned out really well.  I cleaned up the kitchen and went to bed.

Wednesday we got up and headed to Fisherman’s Wharf so we could go to Alcatraz.  I’d never been and when Nancy mentioned that she wanted to go I thought it would be a great idea.  I figured the prison itself would be pretty boring but the ferry ride and the grounds would be awesome.  And they were.  We almost missed it!  I didn’t realize til we got in the car that I didn’t really know where I was supposed to go and then I parked way far away by accident.  But we made it in time and got on the ferry.  Here are some views on the way to the island:

Nancy:

The boat landing at Alcatraz:

The prison has an audio tour but it was really slow moving so I didn’t use it.  I wandered around and was about as impressed as I thought I’d be:

The recreation yard:

It’s actually a handsome building.  It’s in terrible decay though:

Beautiful gardens:

Those are all nesting seabirds:

Baby on board:

They look like flowers but those are baby birds in the tree:

Back on the ferry to go back to San Francisco:

 
We had lunch at In-n-out which Nancy had never been to.  She thought it was pretty good:

We got back in the car and went on a little drive around the city.  I took her to the incredibly evocative Holocaust Memorial:

We stopped by the store and headed home for dinner.  I was cooking and made crab cakes that turned out really well:

I also devilled some eggs:

After dinner we said goodbye to Nancy and hello to Russ’s cousin who’s gonna be staying with us for a couple of days.  It’s a crazy ass summer!

It was so nice sleeping in my own bed on Monday night.  And I’ve Mr. Poe terribly.  I got up early and started unpacking.  We’ve had a house guest since Wednesday–  my friend Nancy from college was in town for a suicide prevention walk and has been staying at the house.  I made her breakfast and then we headed over to the Cow Palace to pick up my bike.  Mid day we headed down to Union Square to go to the Contemporary Jewish Museum which costs $12 and really only has one piece in it that I found exceptional.  Maybe they’ll get a better collection at some point in the future.  I hope so the building is lovely.  After the museum we did a little shopping and had lunch and then went and hung out with Mr. Chris.  We all went back to my house–  even sofi and tonisha!–  and had wine and snacks.  Here are Nancy and Ashley Jr. lounging:

We all met Mr. Poe at Big Lantern for dinner. It was delicious as usual and then we headed home and went to bed. 

Monday we took the ‘Coast Starlight’ train back to San Francisco and it was totally awesome.  We started pretty early and we made our way to Union Station with less time to spare than I would have liked.  I ran around getting pics.  It’s gorgeous:

The view from outside:

We traveled first class so we’d have access to the parlour car.  Here’s Nathan in his cabin:

Mine:

Views from the parlour car:

We had a lot of fun on the train although it takes forever.  We didn’t get home until 11PM which was a very long day.

Sunday I was up early and we had a fun day.  We started off with brunch at the Huntley in Santa Monica.  It was really good and they had fantastic bloody marys.  Vegan food options were a little weak but I like oatmeal so it wasn’t the end of the world.  The space was really pretty.  It’s on a high floor with lovely views. 

Nathan:

Daniel with the view behind him:

After lunch we made our way to the Getty to go have a look at the Herb Ritz exhibit which was actually pretty crappy but then again I wanted to go to the Getty to look at the gardens.  And they did not disappoint:

After our brains were all full of culture, we stopped and got some wine and headed back to the hotel to hang out by the pool.  To be honest, my recollection of the day gets a little fuzzy after that but I think we had japanese for dinner.  I was happy to get to bed.  I think I stayed up until 10!

Saturday was the last day of the Lifecycle.  It’s crazy how fast it goes by.  It’s like you blink and it’s gone.  I got up super early and headed over to get my bike and then wait for the course to open.  Here we are waiting:

Day 7 isn’t a difficult day so I tried to ride as hard as I could and get it over with.  We rode through Oxnard and then picked up the PCH at Point Mugu.  Then it was rolling hills into Los Angeles.  I finished at 9:45 and I was rider #5.  I gave myself a whore’s bath with Koh Gen Do cleansing water cloth, got changed and headed over to get the rental car.  Then I checked into the hotel and headed down to LAX to pick up Nathan.  We went and got the luggage and then had lunch at Chipotle:

After lunch we tried to do a little shopping.  It was heartbreak at the YSL store where they didn’t have any of the things I wanted in my size.  Then to Barney where they were out of the fragrance I was looking for.  So sad.  I was starting to feel like Julia Roberts in the shopping scene from Pretty Woman.

We got back in the car and headed down to Long Beach to pick up Daniel and then headed back into the city.  Nathan and Daniel went out for a fancy dinner and I was off to Beverly Center to see if I could find some sneakers at the YSL store there.  I couldn’t believe what a crappy mall Beverly Center is!  It’s like they haven’t done anything to it since the 80′s.  How can it be that in such an enormous mall in such a wealthy area the best thing at the food court is Sbarro?  The YSL store did have the shoes I wanted and also the sunglasses I’d been looking for so I bought them and skipped home with my loot.  Then Jim and I went out for Indian food and I went to bed.  It had been a very long day.

Bike Mileage:

Today 60.0 Week to date 458.9 Month to date 541.4 Year to date 4,780.3 To Goal 3,219.7 Over (Under) plan 1,229.6 YTD Mileage vs Last Year 849.0 Rolling Year 6,355.9 Since Inception 10/1/07 38,707.2

Day 6 is probably my favorite day.  I love the route and if the weather holds up it’s just gorgeous.  I finished at 12:30 and was rider #5.  I started the day early and climbed to the top of the coastal mountains and then a screaming descent to Gaviota Beach.  We had to assemble at Rest Stop 2 while we waited for caltrans to cone off a bridge.  Every year we do this and every year the people in charge of this rest stop don’t have a plan for releasing riders until I ask them what it is.  Ugh.  I got a some pics from the rest stop:

Gordon and David:

We were moving before long and continued our route.  We had a new way of coming into lunch this year which I liked quite a bit better than the old route.  I kept moving and stopped at Rest Stop 3 in Santa Barbara.  Which was gorgeous:

I got into camp and we went and checked into the hotel room and then headed out for lunch.  The place I wanted to go to had closed, but we at at Dukes which makes a solid vegetarian burrito.  Here we are:

Then we headed back to camp and hung out on the beach:

I went to bed early and sent Jim went to the candlelight vigil.  I couldn’t stay up for it.  I was beat.

Bike Mileage:

Today 83.3 Week to date 398.9 Month to date 481.4 Year to date 4,720.3 To Goal 3,279.7 Over (Under) plan 1,191.5 YTD Mileage vs Last Year 874.5 Rolling Year 6,336.1 Since Inception 10/1/07 38,647.2

Thursday was a short day so we slept in a little.  Then I headed into camp to see what the costumes looked like.  Day 5 on the Lifecycle was red dress day and it didn’t disappoint.  Our gear truck boys:

David and Gordon:

Richard!

Jason:

John, Jeff, and Linsey:

I had a nice ride.  We came into town a completely different way and I liked it a lot.  I went into town and had lunch at Burrito Loco which was delicious and then I got checked in to our hotel.  We stayed farther away from camp than I would have liked but this was the closest place and I dislike the Lompoc campground. 

We headed back to camp for dinner and then I went to bed.  Exhausted again.

Bike Mileage:

Today 42.0 Week to date 315.6 Month to date 398.1 Year to date 4,637.0 To Goal 3,363.0 Over (Under) plan 1,130.2 YTD Mileage vs Last Year 831.4 Rolling Year 6,350.5 Since Inception 10/1/07 38,563.9