I’ve been in Florida helping my Mom out.  She got into a bicycle accident and broke her elbow which required surgery.  A plate and some screws later she’s already thinking about getting back on her bike.  Here she is with her cat Pickle:

 
She’s got three dogs and two cats all ridiculously adorable.  Chica is the Chihuahua, Rocky is the poodle and Miss Kissy is the Yorkie:

Mr. Pete:

I got home on Tuesday.  I’m way behind on every aspect of my life and am looking forward to catching up.

Sunday was my weekly CAT2 ride out to Tiburon.  It was quite a bit warmer than the week before and we had a nice turnout:

 

Now that Alic Shook has moved away, I think that Tye here might be the cutest boy in San Francisco.  But so young!  I’d make a move but I’d be afraid that the ‘To Catch a Predator’ guy would come jumping out of the bushes and send me off to Chester prison:

 
It was such a treat to see Miss Gaus up all the way from the Peninsula:

We got done very early and I went home and got cleaned up.  We had a dinner party later that night.  Ben and Courtney, the Smith Fangs and Wanderson showed and we had Fondue and crabcakes for dinner.  That broke up pretty early and we all went to bed.  Fun day!

Bike Mileage:

Today 44.0 Week to date 98.1 Month to date 282.6 Year to date 282.6 To Goal 7,717.4 Over (Under) plan (221.5) YTD Mileage vs Last Year 42.4 Rolling Year 522.8 Since Inception 10/1/07 40,750.3

It’s finally warmed up to normal winter temps in the Bay Area.  I came into work on Muni on Thursday because I had to bring some cookies in for a departing coworker and the breakage rate when I bring them in my backpack is unacceptable.  I headed home for lunch and got my bike and went for a nice ride after work.  I rode 2nd to Townsend.  This is the view looking down Townsend from 3rd:

I continued on Townsend into Kansas to 17th to Potrero.  There’s a lot of progress on the huge new addition to San Francisco General.  It seems to be looking less imposing as the structure nears completion:

Me:

I continued on Potrero to 24th to Bryant to Precita to Mission.  I’m not sure where I took this pic–  somewhere on Mission maybe??

I continued on Mission to Alemeny to Geneva to Ocean to Harold to Holloway to Ashton to Pico to Urbano to Moncada to Cerritos to 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 to Hernandez to Laguna Honda to Portola to Corbett to Ord and home for dinner.  After dinner I got cleaned up and we to bed early. 

Bike Mileage:

Today 19.5 Week to date 54.1 Month to date 238.6 Year to date 238.6 To Goal 7,761.4 Over (Under) plan (199.8) YTD Mileage vs Last Year (1.6) Rolling Year 478.8 Since Inception 10/1/07 40,706.3

I’ve been blogging with Xanga since 2006 and I’m not entirely crazy about them.  Xanga has ceased to be a blog source that many people use and I’ve decided that I wanted a second blog for cooking to keep track of the things that I’ve made because I find recipes all over the place and sometimes I have a hard time finding them again.  Xanga doesn’t support having two blogs at the same time and, although it’s not gonna kill me to log out and then log back in as the other blog, I’ve decided to give blogger another chance.  When I last looked at blogger in 2008 I think, it didn’t have photos, traffic and blogging as seamlessly integrated as Xanga did so I gave it a pass.  It’s much nicer than Xanga now and the only hurdle that I’ve got left is a financial one–  I’ve paid for all this storage space on Xanga into perpetuity.  The solution that I’ve come up with is to continue to blog on Xanga but to then post that on blogger so that the entries come up on my blogger site but the photos are stored on the Xanga site.  I see how that goes.  If I really like blogger I can migrate all of my old posts there and keep blogging on both spaces until I run out of photo storage on Xanga and then just continue forward with blogger.  My aim is for the blogger sites to be the ones that get posted to facebook.  It seems like an extra step but it’s a fast extra step and I think one that I’m willing to make so that people can click on my profile on blogger and get access to both my blogs.  Developing.  Here are some links:

My old Xanga blog
My new Blogger blog
My new cooking blog

Wednesday was super cold again and I went for another long walk before work.  I headed up over Clarendon and made my way to Forest Hill.  Forest Hill Muni station is super fantastic and is by a huge margin the prettiest (from the exterior) transit station in the city:

This is the view looking down Lenox from Taravel:

I made my way over to pretty St. Francis Wood and took a bunch of pics:

These fabulous homes are on Moncada:

These are new rental buildings that have gone up by City College.  I like them a lot and think they do a lot for the neighborhood:

I saw this sign by a McDonalds by City College.  I love that they have to remind you that the McRib contains meat.  There’s a vegan version called Riblets that I’m a big fan of.  It tastes to me pretty much like what I remember the McRib tasting like and I’m not troubled by whatever ghoulish process had to go on to convert a pig into that sandwich.  Win!

I made my way to Balboa Park BART and came into work.  My walk came in at 5.4 miles.  I headed home for lunch and got my bike.  After work I headed off Sutter to Polk to Pacific to Webster to Clay to Spruce.  I love that this superfantastic home still has it’s lights up.  I think they should leave them up until the tree goes into bloom:

I took Washington to Arguello to Lake to 28th to California to 32nd to Clement to 34th to Cabrillo and headed toward to coast.  The sun had almost set and I wanted to get a pic of it before it was gone:

I continued on Cabrillo to 47th to Fulton to the Great Highway.  I managed to make it to the beach before the light was gone.  I love Ocean Beach right after sunset.  It’s like the water is glowing and the horizon looks like an abstract expressionist painting.  Perfection:

I took the Great Highway to Kirkham to 7th into Laguna Honda to Portola to Corbett to Ord and home for dinner.  I made some cookies for a departing coworker and they turned out very well.  Click here for the recipe on my cooking blog:

You can find the recipe I used on my cooking blog here.  I cleaned up the kitchen and went to bed.  I was beat.

Bike Mileage:

Today 18.6 Week to date 34.6 Month to date 219.1 Year to date 219.1 To Goal 7,780.9 Over (Under) plan (197.3) YTD Mileage vs Last Year 5.2 Rolling Year 433.0 Since Inception 10/1/07 40,686.8

Tuesday morning I continued in my series of ‘it way too cold for biking so I’m walking to work the long way’.  I started off by heading to Alamo Square which has no shortage of fantastic Victorians:

The view looking down Fulton from Scott:

I headed down to City Hall and took a bunch of pics:

Then I headed up Polk.  Polk is slowly getting nicer east of California.  There’s pretty recent construction everywhere you look:

Then it was up to the top of the Vallejo steps:

I walked to North Beach and then came to work down Columbus.  I’d never notice the slogan for the restaurant ‘The Stinking Rose’ before:

I headed home for lunch and got my bike but elected to go hang out with Mr. Chris after work instead of riding.  After, I headed home for dinner and then we went to bed.  It had been a very long day.

Bike Mileage:

Today 8.1 Week to date 16.0 Month to date 200.5 Year to date 200.5 To Goal 7,799.5 Over (Under) plan (194.0) YTD Mileage vs Last Year (13.4) Rolling Year 414.4 Since Inception 10/1/07 40,668.2

Monday was very cold again and there was no way I was getting on my bike in the morning so I decided to walk to work.  I headed up to Buena Vista Park and got a bunch of pics of the sun rising over the city:

I took Baker into Pacific Heights and then Vallejo downtown before heading into work.  The total walk came in at 5.4 miles.  I took a pic of myself on Baker between Broadway and Vallejo:

I headed home on Muni for lunch but came back on my bike.  It was way too cold to go for a long ride after work so I went to the gym for the first time in a couple of months and then headed home 2nd to Howard to 11th to Folsom to 17th to Sanchez to Market to 17th to Ord and home for dinner.  Mr. Poe had to work late so I made dinner for everybody and then got cleaned up and ready for bed. 

Bike Mileage:

Today 7.9 Week to date 7.9 Month to date 192.4 Year to date 192.4 To Goal 7,807.6 Over (Under) plan (180.2) YTD Mileage vs Last Year 68.6 Rolling Year 316.2 Since Inception 10/1/07 40,660.1

Sunday was my Lifecycle training ride out to Tiburon.  I think it was even colder Sunday morning than Saturday.  I made my way over to Sports Basement and immediately ran into Gordon and David who swore they weren’t matching on purpose:

I got the time wrong for the ride and showed up a half an hour earlier than I was supposed to which is super crazy since I’m the one who sends out reminders telling people when to show up.  Gah!  We had a very chilly ride into Tiburon and I got some pics at Sharks.  We’ve got a good looking group this year:

Jen’s running sweep again this year:

I got home at about 3 and had lunch and lounged around for the rest of the day.  I went to bed early again.  It had been a long day.

Bike Mileage:

Today 39.7 Week to date 151.3 Month to date 184.5 Year to date 184.5 To Goal 7,815.5 Over (Under) plan (166.2) YTD Mileage vs Last Year 103.2 Rolling Year 265.8 Since Inception 10/1/07 40,652.2

Saturday was the Different Spokes monthly jersey ride out to Tiburon.  It was very, very cold and despite my best efforts I was pretty much cold the whole day.  At least it was sunny.  We started off with Marin Headlands which was not my idea but I’m glad somebody wanted it because it was incredibly beautiful up there.  I took lots of pics:

Evan at Rodeo Beach:

Rodeo Beach:

We were all pretty hungry so we went into Tiburon and had lunch and did Paradise after.  There’s a newish restaurant in Tiburon called Lili Kai that’s pretty good.  It’s not the best Chinese food I’ve ever had but it’s super cheap–  their lunch menu is $6.75 and there’s vegan food there which is awesome because there is literally nothing for me to eat at Sharks or Cafe Acri.  Roger and I went there and did not regret it.  Check out what they fed us:

The view is fabulous:

The lions reminded me of Ashley Jr:

After lunch we rode around Paradise and then got on Camino Alto where I saw some of the famous turkeys that have taken up residence:

They look happy and healthy to me!

We returned to the bridge via Fort Baker and stopped for some pics:

Super cute Mark:

I stopped on the Golden Gate Bridge for a pic of Baker Beach:

I headed home for dinner.  Mr. Poe was cookin’ and we went to bed early.

Bike Mileage:

Today 56.7 Week to date 111.6 Month to date 144.8 Year to date 144.8 To Goal 7,855.2 Over (Under) plan (184.0) YTD Mileage vs Last Year 63.5 Rolling Year 226.1 Since Inception 10/1/07 40,612.5

Friday was very, very cold so I decided to walk to work rather than freeze on the bike.  I started off by heading over to Duboce Park where the sun was just coming up:

I headed over to Haight where I saw this mural on Steiner at Haight.  So fabulous:

I headed over to Octavia Street.  It’s almost miraculous how Hayes valley has transformed since the freeway came down.  There’s tons of new construction and renovation and general awesomeness wherever you look:

This is not the best looking building and I applaud how they’ve disguised this with the clever trompe l’oeil paintjob:

I also approve of the paint on this hotel.  It’s playful and pretty fantastic:

I headed up to Cathedral Hill and the Cathedral looked fantastic in the morning sun:

Then I headed over to Japantown:

I think this hotel has been recently redone and I really like the use of color on an otherwise pretty bland building:

I headed up over Nob Hill and then into work.  It came in a little over five miles.  Any benefit of which was more than negated by the falafel and french fry lunch I got from Ayola on Kearny at Bush a couple of hours later. Ah well….

Mr. Poe went to a movie Friday night so I hung out with the dogs and waited for him to get home.  Fun day!

It was much colder on Thursday morning but sunny so at least we had that.  I came into work Market to 14th to Folsom to 2nd to Market to Sansome.  I headed home for lunch where I greedily polished off all of the leftover mu shu from the night before.  I got this pic of the view down 14th st from Market on the way back.  They’re all cement mixers in line for the new building that’s going up across the street from Safeway:

I headed home up Market after work.  I stopped at O’Farrell for a pic of the last light of the day:

I headed home for dinner and we went to bed early.  It had been a long ass day.

Bike Mileage:

Today 14.5 Week to date 54.9 Month to date 88.1 Year to date 88.1 To Goal 7,911.9 Over (Under) plan (196.8) YTD Mileage vs Last Year 6.8 Rolling Year 169.4 Since Inception 10/1/07 40,555.8