Sunday was my ALC training ride out to Alpine Dam Lake and Mount Tam.  It started out as pretty much a disaster.  My friend Ron let me know on Saturday night that he’d been reading the route description on the ALC website and it stated that the meet time was gonna be McLaren.  I’d copied the text verbatim from the prior year and hadn’t noticed that.  FUCK!!!!  I thought about it and realized that we had to have coverage at both McLaren and the Sports Basement or we’d drop somebody so I called Buz and got that all sorted and then posted in the Facebook group and to all the RSVP’s that they could either go to Sports Basement of McLaren Lodge.  In the end it was kind of a non issue.  The ride got started from both starting points without too much fuss and I ran into Buz in Mill Valley.  It really makes me wonder why we don’t have identical rides as the ones from SF leaving from Sausalito a half an hour later with one ride leader.  I think that would be a very good idea.

Everybody did really well on Mt. Tam and there weren’t any tears as far as I could see.  I was really proud of everybody.  Here’s the McLaren gang stretching:

We went to Fairfax for snack and everybody chowed down because there was a lot of climbing ahead and no more food choices til Mill Valley:

Then we started climbing.  Here are the pics from out climb first up to Alpine Dam Lake and then up to Mount Tam:

Patrick joined us and that’s always a treat:

We headed down to Pantoll and then to Cafe Del Soul in Mill Valley for lunch where I had the first thing I’d ever eaten there I wouldn’t recommend.  Stay away from the quinoa wrap.  It’s delicious but the wrap isn’t tightly packed because quinoa is so much softer than rice so it kind of fell apart in my case on top of Jen’s dog Maya who enjoyed it very much.

I headed home for dinner and then got ready for bed.  It had been a very long day.

Bike Mileage:

Today 61.4 Week to date 264.5 Month to date 975.7 Year to date 2,735.8 To Goal 5,264.2 Over (Under) plan 83.7 YTD Mileage vs Last Year (265.3) Rolling Year 5,736.9 Since Inception 10/1/07 43,203.5

Saturday I led a Different Spokes ride out to Marshall, down the 1 and then up to Pan Toll from Stinson.  It was a LOT of climbing but we had a great group and I had a wonderful time.  We ran into the Lifecycle Day on the Ride ride but we were a little behind them and they didn’t really hold us up.  We stopped in Fairfax to check out their rest stop, the theme of which must have been ‘old world elegance’:

 

 

We made our way to the Cheese Factory and stopped again for snack.  Here’s everybody:

 

 

Then we climbed to the top of Marshall Wall.  The view was spectacular:

 

 

Jenn, Gordon and David:

 

 

We went to Point Reyes Station for lunch and then headed south on the 1 to Stinson.  We stopped again and then climbed up to Panoramic.  Which was a big climb and it was super warm.  Then we dropped into Mill Valley and headed home.  It was a fabulous day.

 

Bike Mileage:

Today 106.0 Week to date 203.1 Month to date 914.3 Year to date 2,674.4 To Goal 5,325.6 Over (Under) plan 44.3 YTD Mileage vs Last Year (220.1) Rolling Year 5,568.9 Since Inception 10/1/07 43,142.1

Friday I came into work Market to Laguna to McAllister to Polk to O’Farrell to Post to Kearny to Clay to Sansome.  I headed to my spinning class over lunch and was not harassed as I’d been in the previous week.  Some girl came up to me at the beginning of class and told me that she was so glad I’d come back.  I told her that I couldn’t be scared off that easily.  It turns out that five people had complained about the guy that was yelling at me.  He was there but he kept pretty much quiet the whole time.  I wish that I could take a class at another time because the guy that teaches spin on Fridays at noon at the 24 hour fitness on Sacramento is terrible.  He’s always late and I swear to god that he actually turned off the music on Friday so that he could complain about how our lack of energy was ‘bumming him out’.  That actually happened and he actually said that.  Unbelievable.  It’s crazy that I have to put up with so much fucking drama to take a spin class.  In a related topic I’ve recently learned how to use 24 hour fitness’ website to complain about him online.  After work I headed off Market to McAllister to Central to Haight to Stanyan to Page to JFK to Bernice Rodgers down to the South Windmill.  I hadn’t seen it in a couple of months and they’ve made a lot more improvements in the site.  It’s got landscaping now and it looks fantastic:

 

 

I took the Great Highway to JFK to Page to Scott to Duboce to Noe to Market to 17th and home for dinner.  We got cleaned up and went to bed early.

 

Bike Mileage:

Today 17.6 Week to date 97.1 Month to date 808.3 Year to date 2,568.4 To Goal 5,431.6 Over (Under) plan (39.8) YTD Mileage vs Last Year (326.1) Rolling Year 5,462.9 Since Inception 10/1/07 43,036.1

I don’t know what’s in bloom in the Bay Area but my allergies have been driving me crazy and nothing seems to help.  Thursday I came into work Market to 14th to Folsom to 2nd to Market to Sansome.  I headed home for lunch and got a couple of pics of Mr. Poe’s garden before heading back.  Our roses are blooming and look lovely and the wisteria keeps on givin’.

 

 

I headed down Market and stopped at the Oddfellow’s Temple for pics.  They’re working on the building and it looks a little unstable with the first floor gutted like it is.  It’s a renovation that’s long overdo.  I love how Facebook has finally brought the mid Market renaissance that we’ve been waiting for:

 

 

After work I headed off Columbus to Stockton to North Point to Van Ness to Bay and into Fort Mason where I stopped for pics:

 

 

I headed down to Marina to Mason and got a couple more shots of the massive wall of fog moving in:

 

 

I continued on Mason and made my way over to Fort Point which I hadn’t been to in a while:

 

 

I took Long up to Lincoln and then made my way to Immigrant Point which always has a lovely view:

 

 

I came out of the Presidio at Arguello and took Jackson to Cherry to Washington to Spruce to Clay to Fillmore to Pacific to Taylor to California to Polk to McAllister to Laguna to Market to 17th to Ord and home for dinner.  After dinner I took a bunch of allergy stuff and went to bed.

 

Bike Mileage:

Today 26.0 Week to date 79.5 Month to date 790.7 Year to date 2,550.8 To Goal 5,449.2 Over (Under) plan (35.5) YTD Mileage vs Last Year (343.7) Rolling Year 5,445.3 Since Inception 10/1/07 43,018.5

Wednesday was a bit of disaster.  I came in on muni to work because I had to stop by the post office on my way home to pick up a package.  I left work mid day because I had an ALC training ride that was meeting at 1:15.  I stopped by the post office–  they didn’t have my package–  and then headed home.  It was 12:15 and I was a block from home when I realized that I’d left my keys on my desk back at the office.  So, I raced back to the office and then home.  I had 10 minutes to get ready and back down to the Castro.  It was like a Benny Hill sketch.  When I got to the meet point in the Castro I realized that I’d forgotten some jerseys that I was going to give to one of the riders.  He said it was OK to bring them next week, but I wanted one less item on my to-do list so I ran home to get them.  Up that hill.  Again.  My day started looking up when I got to home because I saw the mailman and he had the package I’d been waiting for which was really good news.  I ran back to the Castro to meet my ride and we headed off to Tiburon.  I was a little flustered for the first half of the ride because of all the rushing I’d had to do to get there but we had a fabulous day.  Grady joined us and that was awesome.  I love hanging out with him and we had a great time.  It was super windy but sunny and not too cool.  Loved it.  Here’s everybody at Shark’s in Tiburon:

 

 

We headed back to San Francisco and I went home for dinner.  I was only a couple of minutes ahead of Mr. Poe so we got dinner ready and then we went to bed early.  It had been a very long day.

 

Bike Mileage:

Today 44.0 Week to date 53.5 Month to date 764.7 Year to date 2,524.8 To Goal 5,475.2 Over (Under) plan (39.6) YTD Mileage vs Last Year (321.9) Rolling Year 5,371.5 Since Inception 10/1/07 42,992.5

Tuesday I came into work Market to Laguna to McAllister to Polk to Post to Kearny to Pacific to Sansome and into work.  I went to the gym over lunch and then went out and hung out with Mr. Chris after work.  We watched RuPaul’s drag race.  I was thinking it was gonna be Jinx until last night but her runway look and lipsynch were pretty bad so now I’m thinking it’s gonna be Alaska.  Here are Mr. Chris and his ladies lounging in his living room:

 

 

I headed home to feed the dogs.  Mr. Poe had to work late so they were subjected to my cooking.  I got cleaned up and had trouble getting to sleep so I stayed up late watching TV.  Not productive.  It’s gonna be a long Wednesday.

 

Bike Mileage:

Today 9.5 Week to date 9.5 Month to date 720.7 Year to date 2,480.8 To Goal 5,519.2 Over (Under) plan (61.7) YTD Mileage vs Last Year (339.0) Rolling Year 5,300.6 Since Inception 10/1/07 42,948.5

I’ve somehow managed to to break my shower (how?) and so I’m reduced to sharing with Mr. Poe which is a first world problem that neither of us are happy about.  Obviously I haven’t moved all my stuff into his bathroom because he doesn’t have the space.  Anybody who’s been to my house can confirm that I require only slightly less maintenance than an aircraft carrier.  Monday I came in work on Muni.  I rode all weekend and I needed a day off.  I headed home for lunch and couldn’t believe how warm it was on the way back to the office:

 

 

I was especially happy to be not riding around the city in the middle of the day in that heat because riding up Market on a hot day is an unpleasant and terrifying process.  It’s hot so you get sweaty and disgusting which is never cute when you’re going back to work but also the crackheads in the Tenderloin FREAK OUT in hot weather.  I don’t know why but hot weather seems to make them very agitated and more prone to be running in the street.  It’s true!

 

After work I went to a spin class where I was blissfully un-harangued and then I headed home for dinner.  Mr. Poe had only gotten home a few minutes ahead of me so we had dinner a little late and then got cleaned up and ready for bed.  I wasn’t very sleepy so I stayed up until almost midnight watching Golden Girls reruns.  They’re great on youtube because you can fast forward a bit when they get too slow.  Don’t judge me.

Sunday was my ALC CAT2 ride out to Stinson.  We had another day of fantastic weather and I was really proud of all of our riders and all of the climbing that they did.  We moved this ride up in the season considerably and the consensus by the end of the ride was that it was a bad idea to do that.  Next season we’ll be doing this as the second to the last ride in mid May and I think it’ll be a bit less of a death march for the riders.  We had to meet super early to accomodate yet another foot race that was gonna close the east and west sides of the bridge for several hours.  Here’s Buz stretching and looking both SICKENING and FEROSH:

 

 

Grady joined us in Sausalito and that was a total treat:

 

 

We headed over to Fairfax and then Olema and then made our way south to Bolinas Bay.  It was super pretty:

 

 

The seals were out sunbathing:

 

 

We headed into Stinson for snack.  It was crazy busy there:

 

 

Pics from the climb out of Stinson:

 

 

There’s a nude beach a little south of Stinson:

 

 

Grady made the climb like a champ.  I was super proud of him:

 

 

I headed home and got Mr. Poe to come and pose in his garden because it looks amazing.  He works very hard on it and he should be very proud of it:

 

 

I had dinner and got cleaned up.  I had trouble falling asleep.  That’s common for me after a long day out.

 

Bike Mileage:

Today 77.9 Week to date 286.1 Month to date 711.2 Year to date 2,471.3 To Goal 5,528.7 Over (Under) plan (27.3) YTD Mileage vs Last Year (272.8) Rolling Year 5,215.4 Since Inception 10/1/07 42,939.0

Saturday I led a Different Spokes ride out to Marshall and we had an awesome day.  The weather was PERFECT.  It was warm but not hot and not very windy.  Gorgeous.  Michael, Wanderson and I did the full Marshall loop.  David, Gordon and Will peeled off at Cheese Factory so they’d be home in time for a baseball game.  We also had a cameo appearance by Evan and that’s always a treat.  I hadn’t been up to the top of Marshall wall in forever and I’d missed it quite a bit.

 

Wanderson and Michael at Perry’s in Fairfax:

 

 

I don’t think I could do this even if my legs were fully removable:

 

 

They had all these crazy old cars at Cheese Factory.  I thought the wooden one was especially awesome:

 

 

The top of Marshall Wall:

 

 

We had lunch in Pt Reyes Station and then headed back to Fairfax.  From there is was back to the Golden Gate Bridge:

 

 

We got stuck in all the 4/20 drama in Golden Gate Park.  So many people.  And there were no police anywhere so people had taken to using the bike lanes for parking which totally sucked.  But we made it back to the Castro eventually and I went home and went to bed.  It had a been a very long day.

 

Bike Mileage:

Today 106.0 Week to date 208.2 Month to date 633.3 Year to date 2,393.4 To Goal 5,606.6 Over (Under) plan (83.3) YTD Mileage vs Last Year (245.6) Rolling Year 5,032.4 Since Inception 10/1/07 42,861.1

Friday I came into work Market to 14th to Folsom to 2nd to Market to Sansome.  I headed over to the gym over lunch to take a spinning class and it was certainly a memorable class.  About halfway through the class the instructor said something like ‘you guys are boring me.  maybe we should just cut the class short and go home if you aren’t gonna work harder.’  It was a pretty douchey thing to say but I didn’t really care because I wasn’t really paying attention to him.  But then the guy behind me started yelling things like ‘you’ve gotta work harder’, ‘you’re ruining it for everybody’, and ‘don’t come back’ at the top of his lungs.  Slowly, I’m realized that he was yelling at me.  And it went on and on for what seemed like forever, his voice getting angrier and louder and the instructor doing nothing about it.  I could feel all the blood rushing to my face and I just wanted to crawl under a rock and die.  About ten minutes before the class was over, I got a good look at my tormentor because he couldn’t finish the class.  He was well over two hundred pounds and screamed ‘Don’t come back!’ at me one last time as he was leaving.  I yelled ‘Fuck off’ in a very loud voice and felt pretty good about that.  After he’d gone, the ladies on either side of me were all ‘You should complain about him–  he’s done stuff like that before.’  Way ahead of you, ladies.  I went up to the instructor after class and asked him to go talk to the gym manager with me about what had happened because I’m not gonna get harassed in a fucking spinning class.  And the instructor declined to come with me.  Which is both an asshole move and a stupid one.  I went and found the manager and we had a lovely conversation about the spinning instructor that had such poor control over his class that this could happen.  She assured me that they’d have him booted from the premises if he ever harassed me again and that she’d have a chat with the instructor about the way he runs his class.  Most of me so desperately wants to not go back to that class ever again but the rest of me and Mr. Poe insist that I never miss a Friday spin class again.  Because, as Latrice Royale will tell you, you pick yourself up, look sickening, and make them eat it.  And I will.  Also, has anybody ever heard about this much drama going down in a spinning class?  It’s surreal.

 

After work I headed off 2nd to Howard to 11th to Harrison to 25th to Valencia to Tiffany to San Jose to Monterey into Santa Clara.  I stopped for some pics of some of the many beautiful homes in Saint Francis Wood:

 

 

I continued on Santa Clara to Portola to Claremont to Dewey to Laguna Honda into 7th to Judah to 9th and into Golden Gate Park.  i stopped by the Shakespeare Garden which is always lovely:

 

 

Then I went to the Music Concourse and took some pics:

 

 

I came out of the park at 8th to Lake to Arguello to Clay to Fillmore to Post to Laguna to Market to 17th to Ord and home for dinner.  Mr. Poe was at a movie, so I fed the dogs and got cleaned up and waited for him to come home. 

 

Bike Mileage:

Today 20.5 Week to date 102.2 Month to date 527.3 Year to date 2,287.4 To Goal 5,712.6 Over (Under) plan (167.4) YTD Mileage vs Last Year (313.7) Rolling Year 4,888.5 Since Inception 10/1/07 42,755.1