I worked from home on Tuesday.  I was waiting on Fedex and I thought a day with me home might calm the dogs down a little.  Predictably, I was still in my pajamas come dinner which I wasn’t really hungry for since I’d been eating all day.  Argh.  No exercise and tons of junk food.  This is why I’m trying to avoid working from home. 

 

Wednesday I slept in a bit.  Night 5 of nobody sleeping because of Mr. Poe’s absence.  Not to worry, it’s only a couple of more nights and at least I haven’t resorted to barricading myself in my study and instructing Mimi to lay down a withering crossfire like I usually do.  I came down Market into work and then headed home for lunch.  After work I went for a nice ride.  I headed off 2nd to Townsend where I had to yell at some asshole driver who was on the verge of mowing me down.  It funny–  my voice seems to go down several octaves when I’m yelling at cars.  I guess I can indeed butch it up as needed.  I continued on Townsend to 17th to Florida where I saw this interesting block of buildings.  I love how the older stuff in the foreground (which looks 1870′s to me and are probably some of the older buildings in the city) contrasts against the modern stuff going up behind it:

 

 

I continued on to Florida to 20th to Alabama to 25th to Lilac.  I love Lilac Alley.  It’s got such a fantastic range of murals that range from very composed formal murals to crazy graffiti stuff.  The overall effect is vibrant, fluid and electric.  Have a look:

 

 

I continued on Lilac to 26th to Valencia to Tiffany to 29th to San Jose to Monterey into Santa Clara to Portola to Claremont to Dewey to Laguna Honda into 7th to Judah to 9th and into Golden Gate Park.  I headed over to the Music Concourse and then came out of the park at 8th to Lake to Arguello to Clay to Presidio to Post to Laguna to Market to 17th to Ord and home for dinner.  After dinner I got cleaned up and then managed to go to bed early. 

 

Bike Mileage:

Today 27.4 Week to date 27.4 Month to date 273.7 Year to date 5,177.5 To Goal 2,822.5 Over (Under) plan 772.0 YTD Mileage vs Last Year 28.3 Rolling Year 6,469.4 Since Inception 10/1/07 45,645.2

Monday was walk2werk Monday.  I was pretty beat from all the hiking the day before but I’d been looking forward to walking to work and had a great time.  I walked through Noe Valley and up into Diamond Heights and the Glen Park and Sunnyside before getting donuts and getting on Balboa Park BART.  It was pretty foggy and wet so I didn’t get a lot of great pics but I took some. 

 

This is Walter Haas Playground in Diamond Heights.  I remember a very long time ago when they were taking it from a green space to the beautiful park that’s there now.  It looks fantastic:

 

 

This is pretty Glen Park.  Parts of Glen Park are so tucked away that you’d never find it unless you were looking.  So pretty:

 

 

I didn’t think gorgeous Sunnyside Conservatory would be open and I was surprised when it was.  It’s been redone for a couple of years now and the new stuff is growing in beautifully:

 

 

Then I headed over to poor beleaguered City College which is facing closure after losing it’s accreditation this month.  They’ve appointed a special administrator with extraordinary powers who’s supposed to clean up the mess.  I don’t have high hopes.  The special administrator doesn’t have to authority to modify labor contracts and the faculty doesn’t seem to have grasped the gravity of the situation.  The last time a California community college got their accreditation yanked it was in Compton and the college was eventually folded into another one.  I wonder if they’ll find any takers for that.  They’re still keeping up the sports fields but the campus looked shabby and they clearly haven’t done an acceptable amount of maintenance in a very long time:

 

 

I headed over to Whole Foods and then I got on BART and went to work.  I headed home for lunch and then took a spinning class after work that totally kicked my ass.  After I went home and went to bed.  I was beat.

Sunday I went hiking with Daniel and Miss Smith out to Muir Woods.  We took the Dipsea Trail out to Stinson Beach for lunch and then came back on the Ben Johnson trail.  It was glorious weather and we had a fantastic day.  We had just enough fog to make the forests mysterious and enchanted looking.  I loved it.  I’d never gone hiking out there and I can’t wait to go back.  Loved it:

 

 

I headed home and the dogs had made it known that I’d been gone way too long.  Let’s never discuss it again.  By the time I got all cleaned up and had dinner it was bed time.  It had been a long, fantastic day.

Neither the dogs nor I can sleep well without Mr. Poe so we had a restless night Friday and were up well before dawn on Saturday.  I puttered around the house and then took the dogs for a walk.  I headed home and got ready for the monthly Different Spokes jersey ride out to Tiburon.  We had a much larger group than we’ve had in a while and everybody had a great time.  We rode right into Tiburon and then rode around Paradise before lunch at Cafe Del Soul.  We stopped at the top of Camino Alto so riders could catch their breath and everybody else started talking to a guy who was riding in the opposite direction and who had stopped.  I was distracted by a couple of pedestrians who were walking dogs.  The dogs snubbed me and I turned around and the other riders were still talking to the guy that had ridden up and they were talking about the owner of the house at the top of the hill.  The guy named a name but I hadn’t heard of the guy before and he was all ‘I can’t believe you’ve never heard of him he’s the father of blah-blah-blah music’.  It was while I was explaining to him not to worry about me because I was an idiot that I realized that the guy I was talking to was also Robin Williams.  I can’t believe how long it took me to recognize him.  I felt like such an idiot.  Which is something one gets used to when they’re me.

 

Here’s the gang werkin’ it at the Golden Gate Bridge on our way out:

 

 

I headed home and hung out with Brendan.  And Mimi totally got into his lap.  Here’s the proof:

 

 

I tried to go to bed early but I could not.  I can’t sleep without Mr. Poe in the house.

 

Bike Mileage:

Today 47.2 Week to date 61.6 Month to date 246.3 Year to date 5,150.1 To Goal 2,849.9 Over (Under) plan 832.3 YTD Mileage vs Last Year 125.8 Rolling Year 10,174.4 Since Inception 10/1/07 45,617.8

Thursday I came into work down Market and headed home for lunch to meet our house guest Brendan who showed up mid day.  I headed home up Market after work for dinner. 

 

Friday I got up early and took Mr. Poe to the airport.  He’s in Hawaii for a week so be prepared for a full week of bitching from those who’ve been ‘left behind’.  I didn’t have enough time to make it to the gym before work but I did have enough time to walk to work down Market so I did that.  Not the most super fantastic experience.  Market is pretty rough in the morning with assorted pockets of homeless and sundry sketchy individuals.  But it was still more fun than Muni so I’m not gonna bitch.  I headed to my spinning class mid day where the guy is back to his crazy high school bullshit ways.  He actually turned the music off to yell at me this time.  Evidently I wasn’t at an 8.  Working on perfecting my eye roll.  After work I took Muni into Cole Valley and then went for a fantastic walk over Forest Hill and then Twin Peaks.

 

I started off walking into Golden Gate Park and I headed over to the Koret Playground and the lovely Sharon Art Studio which is in a fantastic Romanesque revival building in the park:

 

 

There’s also a carousel which is very pretty:

 

 

From there I headed up to 8th avenue and pretty Windsor Park:

 

 

Then up into Forest Hill which had so many gorgeous homes:

 

 

This is the view looking down the Pacheco Steps:

 

 

This is the view from the other side looking back at the stairs I’d come down.  So swanky:

 

 

Then I headed up to Midtown Terrace.  It’s a fantastic midcentury that seems to be getting in better condition as real estate prices in the area tick up.  I’m hoping that this neighborhood doesn’t fall victim to runaway additions ruining the scale of the neighborhood.  Because right now it’s complete perfection:

 

 

I headed home and met up with Brendan.  We had dinner and then I went to bed early.  It had been a long day.

Tuesday I was feeling pretty ragged after a very active weekend and a crazy hard spin class on Monday night.  I came into work on Muni and then went to the dentist over lunch.  I went and hung out with Mr. Chris and Miss Smith after work and then headed home and went to bed.  Wednesday I came in on Muni again and then was collected by Mr. Poe after work.  We headed over to Stone Korean Kitchen in the Embarcadero and met Mr. Chris for dinner which was fucking fantastic.  I really like Korean food and was really happy with theirs.  Here’s a link to their site.  After dinner we said goodbye to Mr. Chris and headed over to the Asian Art Museum for a reception.  It was super swanky with tons of food and wine.  I was way too stuffed to eat anything but Mr. Poe managed a couple of plates.  The special exhibition was Larry Ellison’s private collection and it’s lovely and very personal but I don’t know that it’s a must see.  After we wandered around the galleries and I took some pics:

 

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This is made entirely of cocktail umbrellas.  It’s unbelievably fabulous:

 

 

We headed home and went to bed. 

Monday was ‘walk to work monday’ again and its become one of my favoritest things.  I started off by heading up Corbett and then up the pretty Pemberton Steps.  They completely redid two thirds of the steps a couple of years ago but left the last bit which I think is the prettiest:

 

 

I made my way up to Mountain Spring and I saw this guy on a MOUNTAIN BIKE grunting his way up the hill.  Yikes!  It’s gotta be a 20% grade.  He eventually pulled into his driveway and his dog looked at me suspiciously as I passed:

 

 

This is the view from Palo Alto Avenue:

 

 

Nestled in between Laguna Honda Hospital, Juvie, and Twin Peaks is this fantastic mid century neighborhood called Midtown Terrace that I love to walk through.  The views west and south are spectacular when the weather is cooperative.  The houses haven’t been massively expanded like other neighborhoods and you really get a feel for the way it looked when it was built.  I don’t know that I want to live there because of fog and transportation issues but I love walking through.  This is the view from Panoramic:

 

 

I made my way over to pretty Juanita which is in Miraloma Park.  It’s bungalowalicious:

 

 

From there I walked through the Sherwood Forest neighborhood which had massive homes that dwarf the ones down the hill in St Francis Wood.  Then I walked down Yerba Buena and saw this fabulous place surrounded by enormous trees:

 

 

This is the view looking south from Yerba Buena and Monterey:

 

 

This is the Miramar entrance to Westwood Park.  It’s a super cute neighborhood and I love this entrance:

 

 

I headed down to Ocean and went to Whole Foods for donuts.  After I got on BART at Balboa park and went to work.  I headed home for lunch and then went to a spin class after work which thoroughly kicked my ass.  After that I went home and had dinner and went to bed.  I was completely beat.

Sunday I led a Different Spokes ride out to Marshall.  We ride there quite a bit but this time we went to Point Reyes Station first and then rode Marshall Wall west to east.  I don’t know that it’s any harder or easier than going east to west but it was new and we all had a fantastic time.  Then we headed into San Rafael via Novato and had lunch at Chipotle in San Rafael.  It was a fantastic day.  Check out the pics:

 

 

No long rides for me until the end of the month.  Next up: Chileno Valley!

 

Bike Mileage:

Today 107.4 Week to date 184.7 Month to date 184.7 Year to date 5,088.5 To Goal 2,911.5 Over (Under) plan 902.2 YTD Mileage vs Last Year 193.1 Rolling Year 9,983.9 Since Inception 10/1/07 45,556.2

Saturday I woke up and got out of the house crazy early and headed out to Big Basin Redwoods state park to go hiking.  The park is gorgeous with fantastic trees and these waterfalls that must be insane in the rainy season.  I think I ended up hiking about 12 miles and it was super fun.  Here are the pics I took:

 

 

I didn’t hang around for the fog to burn off but the view must have been spectacular a little later in the day:

 

 

I got this pic on a ridge as I came out of the park.  The trail looks incredible and you don’t have to plunk down $10 to hike there.  Stay tuned.

 

 

I made a wrong turn and ended up in Saratoga which is super cute.  I had lunch and then headed home where another meal awaited.  After I went to bed early.  I was beat.

Friday I came into work down Market and then headed home for lunch.  I went for a nice ride after work.  I headed off Washington to Columbus to Stockton to North Point to Van Ness to Francisco to Gough to Greenwich to Lyon and into the Presidio.  I came out the Presidio gate and took Pacific down along the wall.  There’s a bunch of gorgeous homes down there:

 

 

I took Spruce to Jackson to Cherry to Washington to Arguello to Lake to 8th and into Golden Gate Park.  I came out of the park at 9th to Judah to 7th into Laguna Honda to Dewey to Claremont to Portola to Santa Clara to Monterey to Santa Ana to Ocean to Paloma to Moncada.  There are some fabulous homes in Ingleside Terraces:

 

 

This house is across the street from the fabulous one.  I love the California in the 30′s vibe that this place is throwing.  It’s bungalowilicious:

 

 

I continued on Moncada to Urbano to Corona to Holloway to Harold to Ocean to Phelan to Judson to Gennessee to Hearst to Edna to Monterey to San Jose to Duncan to Valencia to 18th to Douglass to 17th to Ord and home for dinner.  After, I got cleaned up and went to bed.  It was a long day.

 

Bike Mileage:

Today 26.2 Week to date 77.3 Month to date 77.3 Year to date 4,981.1 To Goal 3,018.9 Over (Under) plan 838.6 YTD Mileage vs Last Year 85.7 Rolling Year 9,876.5 Since Inception 10/1/07 45,448.8