Monday I led a Different Spokes ride up Mount Tam.  We had initially intended to ride San Francisco - Mill Valley - Alpine Dam Lake - Fairfax - Alpine Dam Lake - Mill Valley - San Francisco but we started getting rain on the way into Fairfax and as I'm not a fan of slipping on wet pavement and falling the week before the Lifecycle so we came home over Camino Alto.  I got home at around 3 and I hung out and made Mr. Poe some cookies after work. I finished watching the new season of Arrested Development and then I went to bed.  Here are some pics from the ride:

 

 

 

Alpine Dam Lake:

 

 

Bike Mileage:

Today 62.1 Week to date 62.1 Month to date 1,155.3 Year to date 3,910.4 To Goal 4,089.6 Over (Under) plan 622.7 YTD Mileage vs Last Year (238.6) Rolling Year 8,059.4 Since Inception 10/1/07 44,378.1

Sunday I had all of our ALC riders over for Frito Pie mid day.  In addition, I made Macaroni and cheese, southwestern salad, raspberry coconut cake and chcolate bread pudding.  Here's everything laid out before the guest arrived:

 

 

Guests arrived and we had a lot of fun.  Everything I made turned out pretty well and we had fewer leftovers than I thought that we'd have.  Here's Thomas with the donuts he brought.  I had to explain to him how hard they are to come by in the city:

 

 

Everybody was gone by 3PM.  We cleaned up and I stayed up late watching Arrested Development on Netflix.  It's very good.

Saturday, David Gaus and I led a Different Spokes ride out to San Gregorio Beach with a return up La Honda.  It was a fabulous day and we had great riding weather.  The ride included something like a 10 mile climb up 84 towards Woodside.  I got in around 7PM and continued cooking for the party on Sunday.  I finished the chile and made a cake and a salad.  Here are some pics from the ride:

 

 

 

 

Bike Mileage:

Today 107.3 Week to date 232.6 Month to date 1,093.2 Year to date 3,848.3 To Goal 4,151.7 Over (Under) plan 604.5 YTD Mileage vs Last Year (190.4) Rolling Year 7,887.0 Since Inception 10/1/07 44,316.0

Friday I got up and went for a nice ride before work.  I headed off 18th to Valencia to Mission to Silver to Alemeny to Sagamore to Brotherhood to Lake Merced to John Muir where I stopped for a pic of the beautiful Lake Merced:

 

 

I continued on John Muir to Skyline to the Great Highway which was closed because of drifting sand dunes so I rode up the highway on the wrong side of the street:

 

 

I stopped for a pic of the beautiful beach:

 

 

I continued on the Great Highway and went into Golden Gate Park at JFK.  I took it to Bernice Rodgers to MLK to Nancy Pelosi to JFK to Page to Scott to Post to Kearny to Clay to Sansome and into work.

 

I went to a spin class mid day and went off without any drama.  Here's hoping that will be the trend.  I headed home a little early and got started on the food for a party I was throwing on Sunday.  We're having frito pie and I made the chile before heading to bed.

 

Bike Mileage:

Today 26.4 Week to date 125.3 Month to date 985.9 Year to date 3,741.0 To Goal 4,259.0 Over (Under) plan 519.1 YTD Mileage vs Last Year (297.7) Rolling Year 7,779.7 Since Inception 10/1/07 44,208.7

Thursday I managed to get myself out of bed and out on my bike for a nice ride before work.  I headed off Corbett to Portola to Woodside to Dewey to Taravel and down to the coast.  I headed down the Great Highway and stopped at the food to Sloat for some pics of the beach.  Amazingly, the parking lot on Sloat has been invaded by sand dunes that have made it completely impassible:

 

 

Same issue with the Great Highway:

 

 

I took Sloat to Lakeshort to Lake Merced and got a couple pics of pretty Lake Merced:

 

 

I continued on Lake Merced to Font to Holloway and stopped for a couple pics of the amazing Sutro Library which has been recently redone.  There aren't enough letters in the word fabulous to 'describe' it:

 

 

I continued on Holloway and stopped at Borica, I think, for a view towards Sutro Tower:

 

 

I continued on Holloway to Harold to Ocean to Phelan and stopped for a pic of the Bufano sculpture in front of troubled City College:

 

 

I continued on Phelan to Judson to Gennessee to Hearst to Edna to Ocean to Diamond to Wilder to Arlington to Miguel into Richland to Murray to Holly Park to Elsie to Cortland to Mission to Valencia to 24th to Bryant to 2nd to Market to Sansome and into work.  Mental note:  Bryant sucks for bikes.  I headed home for lunch and then went for a nice ride after work.  I headed off Columbus to Stockton to North Point to Van Ness to Francisco to Gough to Greenwich to Lyon and into the Presidio.  I headed over to Lincoln and stopped for a nice pic of the National cemetery:

 

 

I continued on Lincoln and stopped a little west of the Golden Gate Bridge for pics:

 

 

I continued on Lincoln into Camino Del Mar to Lake and stopped foot a pic of this fantastic renovation at 27th:

 

 

I continued on Lake to Arguello to Clay and stopped for a pic of this gorgeous home at Cherry with its amazing garden:

 

 

I continued on Clay to Fillmore to Pacific to Taylor to California to Polk to Grove to Laguna to Market to 17th to Ord and home for dinner.  Mr. Poe made this fantastic pasta thing with chickpeas and olives and I ate as much of it as I could manage.  After I got cleaned up and went to bed.  We got our TRL shirts and they're super cute.  Maybe the nicest one we've gotten.

 

Bike Mileage:

Today 40.2 Week to date 98.9 Month to date 959.5 Year to date 3,714.6 To Goal 4,285.4 Over (Under) plan 514.6 YTD Mileage vs Last Year (324.1) Rolling Year 7,753.3 Since Inception 10/1/07 44,182.3

Wednesday I headed downtown in the morning and went to the gym.  Afterwards I went to go fix the flat tire on my bike only to discover that both of my wheels had been stolen.  Fuck!  The thief had replaced them with dramatically inferior wheels I'm guessing in an attempt to look less like he was stealing them.  I left the office mid day and headed over to REI to assess the damage.  The rear wheel was garbage so I had that replaced but the front wheel is OK and I can ride on that for a couple more months.  The stolen wheels were orginal to the bike which means they were very old and it had a racing cassette that had to have been designed by people with an expertise in cruelty.  The new wheel has much more user friendly gearing and one the sting wears off as to why I had to get a new wheel in the first place I'm going to be really happy with it.  Props to REI which gave me discounts on everything and always treats me like a classy piece of ass.

 

I went home and had lunch and then headed to Jane Warner Plaza to meet my Lifecycle group for our ride out to Tiburon.  We had two riders and it was a really great day.  Here's Marcus in Tiburon.  This was pretty much his first training ride:

 

 

Ron and Marcus:

 

 

I got home a little after 7.  Mr. Poe made me dinner and then we went to bed.  Long ass day.

 

Bike Mileage:

Today 52.9 Week to date 58.7 Month to date 919.3 Year to date 3,674.4 To Goal 4,325.6 Over (Under) plan 496.3 YTD Mileage vs Last Year (307.6) Rolling Year 7,656.4 Since Inception 10/1/07 44,142.1

Tuesday I got out of the house a little early so I rode 18th to Harrison to 17th to Missouri to 16th to Terry Francois.  I stopped at Bay Front Park for some pics:

 

 

This is one of the many super fantastic buildings under construction in Mission Bay

 

 

I went to the gym over lunch and had a chat with the manager about the Friday spinning guy.  She promised she would escalate my complaints about his behavior again and let me know that he doesn't have the authority to kick me out of class which is gonna be super sweet knowledge to have should he try.  When I was leaving I found my rear tire was flat and since I didn't have my tools with me I had to leave it overnight.  Insert ominous music here.  I headed home and made Mr. Poe some crab cakes and then we went to bed early.

 

Bike Mileage:

Today 5.8 Week to date 5.8 Month to date 866.4 Year to date 3,621.5 To Goal 4,378.5 Over (Under) plan 465.3 YTD Mileage vs Last Year (360.5) Rolling Year 7,603.5 Since Inception 10/1/07 44,089.2

Monday I walked to work.  My only plan consisted of hitting up the Whole Foods on California at 8am when they opened for vegan donuts so I kind of made a very roundabout trip there.  I started off in the Castro a little after 6:

 

 

These pretty homes are on Duboce Park at Pierce:

 

 

I then headed over to Alamo Square which is glorious in the morning:

 

 

These pretty flats are on McAllister at Pierce:

 

 

I love the millwork on this home on Pierce. So fabulous:

 

 

This is the famous 'Seattle Block' on Golden Gate at Steiner.  Amazing:

 

 

The not so shabby buildings across the street:

 

 

I ended up in a completely empty and super creepy Japantown center:

 

 

More Japantown stuff:

 

 

Pacific Heights:

 

 

Whole foods had donuts and I got a blueberry one and a chocolate one.  The blueberry one was a bit of a disappointment--  it only tasted vaguely of berry and really was just a vanilla donut colored blue.  Still delicious, but not berrylicious.  The chocolate one was fantastic but I love chocolate and most chocolate things.  I headed into work over Nob Hill.  I went home for lunch.  I was glad I wasn't on the bike because it was pretty warm.  I went to spinning after work which was uneventful--  the Monday night lady loves me and it was a great class.  I headed home and we had dinner and went to bed early.  Great day.

Sunday was my ALC ride out to Marshall.  We were light handed because of the Jonathon Pon 2 day ride that was running at the same time but we had a fabulous group and had a wonderful day.  Here's the hotness at Sports Basement before we left:

 

 

Here's Karen at the top of Marshall Wall.  I was so proud of her!:

 

 

Me giving Leo Ford in Spokes realness:

 

 

We ran into the group in Point Reyes Station where I think I finally found the best lunch for me there.  I'd been eating burritos but they are just too much food so I got a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on toast and it was only $1.50.  I've said goodbye to my beloved Tacolitos and taken up with Barbeque Flavor Kettle chips because they have electrolytes in them.  I was super happy the whole way back to Fairfax. Here's the group in Pt Reyes Station:

 

 

We headed back to Fairfax here are my last two riders Karen and Ken:

 

 

We headed home and I sadly made a terrible decision getting Karen home which resulted in us climbing Steiner from Golden Gate to Fell.  Sorry about it!  I got home a little after 7 and Mr. Poe made me dinner and then we went to bed.  I was beat.

 

Bike Mileage:

Today 105.5 Week to date 325.9 Month to date 860.6 Year to date 3,615.7 To Goal 4,384.3 Over (Under) plan 503.4 YTD Mileage vs Last Year (245.4) Rolling Year 7,476.8 Since Inception 10/1/07 44,083.4

Saturday I led a Different Spokes ride out to Limantour Beach on Drake's Bay.  I'd never been there before and the route looked interesting and the pavement looked OK when I looked at it on Google Street View.  Let me tell you that Google Street View seems to have a flattening affect that I wasn't aware of because it turned out to have a crazy amount of climbing but it was totally worth it because the views and the beach were so spectacular.  You pick up Limantour off of Bear Valley south of Pt Reyes Station and slowly climb up to a summit of around 800 ft.  From there it's a very fast descent--  some with 17% grade!--  down to Limantour Beach.  This is a view of the wetlands a little up from the beach:

 

 

Wanderson showing us all how to werk:

 

 

Me:

 

 

We headed back to Pt Reyes Station and ran into the Marshall ride so we had lunch with them:

 

 

We headed home and I had dinner and went to bed.  It was a fabulous ride I can't wait to do when David and Gordon get back.

 

Bike Mileage:

Today 102.0 Week to date 220.4 Month to date 755.1 Year to date 3,510.2 To Goal 4,489.8 Over (Under) plan 419.8 YTD Mileage vs Last Year (231.8) Rolling Year 7,252.2 Since Inception 10/1/07 43,977.9