Day 260: Doubling Up on the Road and Mountain

My plan today was a bit complicated, so I decided to double up on my rides. Besides, it could only help me to stay on track to reaching some of my goals for the year. So I’d decided to first do a mountain bike ride, and then to take my road bike out for a spin.

I tried hopping right onto my freshly serviced Santa Cruz SuperHeavy only to find that it needed more work, so I started wrenching instead of riding. I wasn’t too happy since I had just taken it to a shop and they’d promised me that they had figured out the gremlins that I had with my shifting. Oh well, I guess that I was destined to be behind schedule today.

After a good hour of fussing around with the bike I was ready to leave; take two.

I didn’t ride around as much as I’d hoped on the mountain today since I needed to be in the city by 4:00 pm, but that was ok since my legs were  bit "iffy" today at best. I rode up to the West Point Inn via Railroad Grade, and I was finally truly enjoying my bike again after it's servicing. It really felt good, and I’m really, really enjoying the new tubeless tire system. It has a very different feel that I’ve yet to be able to put into words, but I will some day s.

I returned home and did a quick change over to my road bike. I gathered some dry clothes and my backpack before heading out the door. My next stop was in San Francisco’s Mission District. I was there to hang out with a friend and to attend a benefit for Golden Gate Labrador Rescue (GGLR) that was held today at Doc’s Clock.

I rode through the Haight-Ashbury and the Castro on my way to the Mission District and there were so many people out and about. Nice weather in San Francisco means that everyone comes out to enjoy the day. It took me a great deal of focus in order to get through the streets on my bike whiles cars, and people, were hustling and bustling about. I even nearly got “car-doored” at Valencia and 18th streets. It's a very common thing to have a car door opened right into you. :-(

After a quick change of clothes at my friend’s studio we were off to the GGLR event that was some 10-12 blocks away. Along the way I was really amazed at how much the Mission District has changed, and I still can’t say for sure if it’s changed for the better, or worse. There has been so much change that I had to struggle to find familiar landmarks for reference.

We reached Doc’s Clock and were warmly greeted by a dozen or so Labradors, and a few other breeds, running around the premises! That’s my kind of place. The owners of this establishment were kindly donating fifty percent of every purchase to GGLR. That’s huge! From what I’ve read on their Web site, they do a lot of these fundraisers. I hope that the strong publicity helps their business in general. It’s weird for me to say that I hope that a “bar” does well, but hey, they’re raising money for the right causes, and guess what, people aren’t going to stop drinking, so why not?

After I had loved up four Black Labs, one Chocolate Lab, one Yellow Lab, two Greyhounds, and two Pitbulls, we were off to see a Gallery on Valencia Street, and to find some food. We stopped in at a really wonderful gallery called City Art where we checked out the great artwork. I’m always amazed by how little people charge for their work, especially given the cost of living in the Bay Area, and then the shear amount of hours that go into each piece.

Tugboat was quite happy to see me this evening. He’s such a Papa’s boy. If I’m gone too long he decides to act up by pulling all of the recycling out, and then the garbage cans too. You’d think that he’s been starved.

Day 259: Feeling Better Especially on the Coastal View Trail

I woke up this morning feeling like I was on the mend. I was still slightly congested, and my stomach was sore from all of the coughing that I’ve been doing, but other than that I felt pretty good.

I’d made plans with a friend to go for a morning ride, and we were going to meet at his place before heading out. I brought “E.B.” some WTB tires since I’m still trying to get him off of those Bontragers. ;-) I’m sure that they’re good tires, but I’m a loyalist when it comes to WTB.

We pedaled towards Railroad Grade from his house and as we did we began to discuss where we’d go today. I was surprised as the ride began to take shape, and it wasn’t going to be a short one either.

We decided to head directly to the top of Mount Tamalpais where we stopped briefly to talk and to take in the views. The views were hazy today, but it’s nearly impossible to not enjoy whatever view is available from there. I took on some more water, and snapped a few shots.

We rode back down to the West Point Inn where we turned right onto the Old Stage fire road. From there we traversed over to Pantoll Station. I stopped again for water. I refuse to wear a Camelback and my Santa Cruz BLT has no water bottle cages, so I need to be smart about stopping at each and every watering hole along the ride. I know them all now. For the record, leaving water bottle cage bosses off of the design of that frame was a huge mistake. So I’d already stopped three times in order to take on water directly, and Pantoll Station offered the last water for a while and there was a hefty climb ahead of us. So I pretended to be a camel and took on as much water as possible.

“E.B.” hadn’t ridden on the new Coastal View Trail so it was a real treat to show it to him for his first time. It’s always fun when you can show a fellow mountain biker new trails, and today’s trail sports miles of singletrack with some really stunning views of Franks Valley, and the Pacific Ocean and coastline.

As we rode down the singletrack that weaves in and out of Redwood, Oak, and Bay Laurel trees, and then out onto long stretches of open fields, we were both spitting out one word adjectives about how amazingly beautiful the trail is.

We ended up at the bottom of the trail where it intersects with Heather Cut, and just a few hundred yards from Highway One. After a brief break we turned our rigs around and headed back up the same way that we came down.

I have to admit that I’d forgotten that it’s a reasonably long climb back up, and not more than 20 minutes ago I had told my riding companion that it wasn’t a very big deal. Oops! I always like to make the level of effort involved in a climb clear to people in advance on any given ride, but there have been a few occasions when I’ve, a…, miscalculated. ;-)

So we clawed our way back up the trail and all the while I enjoyed the sun on my back. I was hot from climbing, but the warmth of the sun was really intoxicating and it made me give the climb a little extra push. Once at the top I sat on the bench that overlooks the Dipsea Trail and stared back down the trail and watched my buddy spinning his way to up the way I’d just ridden. It’s good to be alive on days like today.

After another climb back up to the inn, we bombed down Railroad Grade. I was playing around on the way down. There are lots of little jumps here and there that can make a fire road more fun. There were very few people out today which was surprising, and that meant that we could have more fun on the way down. That said I’m still working around my braking problem, so I had to be very cautious as I entered into corners and such. The good news is that my Superheavy is back in the lineup as of this afternoon, so I have a bike with brakes again!!

Thanks for the great ride “E.B.”

Day 258: Playing Mountain Biker at Lunch

I got really lucky today since the bad weather broke up and I was able to ride in the sun, and also with a good buddy of mine. We waited until the temperatures to rise up a bit since this morning they were brutal. At sunrise the temperatures were in the 30’s, and that’s not what I wanted to ride in given that I’m still nursing my second cold of the season.

I did wake up feeling reasonably well this morning. I’m still sniffling and coughing, but I'm definitely on the mend. If I can stay warm and dry while riding during the course of the next few days, then I’ll be over this cold by Monday, I say hopefully.

“B” and I rode up Railroad Grade at a mellow pace today, and that was really good for me. I’m a bit of a Type “A” personality, so having a friend along for the ride today reminded me to slow it down, and to instead focus on getting well. That’s just how it played out today, except for the downhill on Panoramic Highway. It was there that we reached over 39 mph on or mountain bikes! I think that’s the fastest that I’ve ever ridden on a mountain bike. It must be gravity. ;-)

From there we rode back to the WTB world headquarters via some fun trails that are rarely used, and yet they are really fun, and chocked full of little obstacles. The trails are solid, and drain really well, so our riding on them doesn’t have an environmental impact given all of the wet weather that we’ve been having.

My biggest issue today was riding with brakes that are spotty at best. I’m down to my last functional mountain bike, and its brakes are intermittently completely gone. It’s very exciting to say the least. Multiple times today I grabbed the brakes and they went all of the way to the handlebars. Pumping them brought them back to some degree, but phew, I felt lucky to not have a mishap.

The good news is that two of my mountain bikes are coming back into the lineup tomorrow, and that's not a moment too soon. All of my bikes have been in need of repair, and I’m now slowly getting them back into proper order.

We had a nice ride today, and it included one of my favorite Bay Area views from Diaz Ridge which is just above Homestead Valley. It’s just stunning up there on days like today.

Thanks for the ride “B.

Day 257: Getting Pummeled by the Rains

As the heavy rains passed through here early this morning, I was really happy since I thought that I’d get another day of good riding weather. Since getting sick on Sunday, I’ve been dreading the idea of being out riding in the cold and wet weather, and thus far this week I’ve been lucky.

The skies cleared by 9:00 am and the sun was shining through my office windows, so I was itching to get out there for my ride. After a lengthy conference call I was finally able to gear up and ready to head out for my ride.

As I left today I was thinking about how nice the weather was, and that the sun felt absolutely great. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, so I didn’t even think about checking the radar at Weather.com. Ooops!

By the time that I had reached the east side of Highway 101 (A short three miles from home), and headed towards Tiburon, I looked back at Mount Tamalpais and the thunder clouds were building quickly around the mountain. I carried on to Tiburon, and by that time I was feeling the temperatures dropping quickly, and the first heavy rain drops began to fall.

I kept pedaling hard in hope that I’d get around the back side of Paradise Drive before things got ugly. Unfortunately, today I was going to get wet, and I had no rain gear onboard to protect me. I reached the Corte Madera side of the ride when all hell broke loose, and I was still 20-30 minutes from home. I was getting blown around by the winds and pelted by the heavy rains. The temperature must have dropped well over ten degrees during today’s ride. I was worried about lightening, and even more about my body's temperature.

I cut the ride shorter than usual, and peeled off from my normal route. I headed home via the bike path that runs by Horse Hill and Highway 101. I was getting really cold, really fast, and given that I’m sick right now I needed to get out of the frigid weather!

By the time that I made it home I was soaked all of the way through. I was even sloshing around in my road shoes. I was trembling and immediately headed for a hot shower where I could hopefully thaw out. A half hour later I was still shivering, and even now four hours later, my hands and feet are still tingling.

It will be really nice when winter has passed, the rains have stopped, and the weather becomes conducive to helping me rather than impeding me.

Day 256: Feeling Worn out and Wearing out Parts

Whereas yesterday I felt like my cold was moving through my body quickly, today I felt like I was hit by a train. I’m really bummed out that I’m sick again. I was becoming so positive about heading out of winter, and the days that I’d already ridden while being sick, and also with broken ribs.

So here I am again, trying to work through yet another unexpected hurdle. It’s all fine, and I accept the fact that I signed up for this commitment, so there's no NO WHINING going on here, but instead I'm simply realigning my thinking.

My buddy “B” helped me out the door and onto my bike today. Riding alone today would have been ugly, even with the great break in the weather that we had after this morning's rains. With how sick I was feeling today, I was reminded about just how fragile my whole journey is, and that I need to be really careful if I’m going to make it to the end. I’m feeling pretty darn low at the moment, and just after reaching the two-thirds of the way marker in Riding to Recovery.

"B" and I rode at a medium pace up to the West Point Inn today. We stopped a few times along the way in order to take some snapshots, and for me to rest. I rode today in full winter gear even though the temperatures were mild. I wanted to stay warm while being sick. We rode down the mountain at speed today since there were very few people out on the mountain today, and that was a surprise given just how nice the weather was this afternoon.

On an unrelated topic, I’ve been wearing out bicycle parts at an amazing pace during this winter. I’ve blown through chains, tires, and drivetrains like they’re disposable, and now things like the cleats that are attached to my cycling shoes are even wearing out. I’m feeling pretty worn out too, but I can’t go buy another one of me, can I? ;-) I’m keeping a log of all of the parts that I’ve worn out and it should prove to be fun for me to review four months from now.

One of my mountain bikes has been at Tam Bikes for over a week, my other mountain bike basically has no brakes, and my road bike is ready to fall apart and is in need of some serious maintenance. It’s amazing to me to be wearing through parts and bikes like this. In a way I feel badly about doing so, but I have no choice.

People have been so kind to me during R2R. It’s really inspiring and reassuring that there is still community in America. I strongly believe that community is the only way that we will prevail as a strong culture in the end. We need to come full-circle as a people, so that can support one another. That’s where we started, and I believe that’s where we need to head. That's my very humble two-cents, for what it’s worth.

Day 255: Lion Hunting While Nursing my Cold

I woke up feeling a lot better than I did yesterday. The latest cold has moved through me quickly, at least that’s how it’s going so far. Tonight I’m feeling like I still have sandpaper grinding around in my throat, but I do feel much better.

I think that taking it really easy yesterday was helpful to getting me on track to recovery.

I didn’t take it so easy today. I did what’s become natural for me, and that’s to ride with people whenever possible. I was so alone during this winter that I will now always choose to ride with others rather than to ride by myself. So today I did just that.

I met up with “F” and “B” whom are colleagues of mine. We planned on sneaking out at lunch for a quick lap of the Marin Headlands. We met at our world headquarters in Mill Valley where we prepped our bikes before heading out for our lunch ride.

As we left the parking lot we decided to go hunting for the Mountain Lion that has been seen multiple times during the past week in the Marin Headlands. In fact “B” saw it last week while it was sauntering across the fire road right in front of him! I’m somewhat jealous that he’s seen one, and I haven’t, but I’m also glad that I haven’t seen one, if you know what I mean?

We rode up our usual route to the trails before taking the Panoramic Highway over to the Miwok trail. The Miwok Trail (This is the section of the trail) is precisely where “B” saw the Mountain Lion last week, and that’s also close to the other sighting about ten days ago on the Middle Green Gulch Trail.

As we rode up the fire road I really didn’t think twice about the lion, and instead focused on giving myself a little push up the hill after not feeling so great at the start of the ride. So I pushed ahead of my buddies until I was a couple of long corners ahead of them where I stopped for a couple of photo opportunities.

We rode back down the hill via the Miwok Trail and then onto to Tennessee Valley Road. I really like the Tennessee Valley for its trails, and natural beauty. I’ve done a lot of dog walking here. It was one of Fifi and Tugboat’s favorite places to walk, especially during the hot summers. I miss those walks.

So no Mountain Lion sightings today, but I did catch this really cool Red-Tailed Hawk at the summit of Miwok Trail just before it descends into Tennessee Valley. It was catching the winds and hovering very close to us. There's almost always wildlife to be seen in the Marin Headlands.

We cruised back to the world headquarters while continuing to talk about life, business, and bicycling. Thanks for another great ride guys!

To "V" in Moscow, thanks for contacting me.

Day 254: I'm Sick Again. Aargh!

It sometimes feels like I’m catching a break, and then there are others like this morning when I feel like I’m being beaten down.

Late yesterday afternoon, and just before leaving a friend’s birthday party, I started feeling a scratchy throat, and dry eyes. By the end of the night I was losing my voice, and when I woke up this morning I sounded like Henry Kissinger after a night of smoking Cuban cigars (I guess that they're selling sex too?)! I even frightened Tugboat when I called him this morning, which resulted in his going onto guard dog duty and barking at everything under the sun.

I sent out word about my illness to a few friends this morning. I wanted to let my friends at the Knolls know that I’d be missing another meeting, and another friend know that I’d not be meeting up with him in Point Reyes. What a mess, and on top of that, I was feeling really sick. It’s been a long time since a cold has manifested so quickly. My hope is that this one will pass just as quickly as it came on, as opposed to the last one that took its sweet time getting out of my body.

One of my friends, “C,” said that she’d help me by pacing me on a long and mellow tour of the local bike paths today. That was just what I needed. I really didn’t want to ride alone today, and in spite of my legs telling me to go, go, go she kept me throttled back as we rode mostly on the old railroad right away.

At the entrance to the Alta tunnel, we stopped to discuss just how cool it would be to have the tunnel reopened so that the average Joe cyclist could ride from there to San Rafael with little or no effort. It just seems like such a no-brainer to me. I say, "Open the Tunnel."

From there we headed over to Sausalito where we began a really slow in odrer to tour of the water’s edge. I’ve done this before, and its fun. As my riding partner stated today, Sausalito is really divided into three sections, the waterfront community, the tourist spots on Bridgeway, and the affluent that live in the hills. These are very clear and divided lines.

We mostly rode around the waterfront areas, and they’re the most interesting to me. There are still real Hippies living there as squatters. Real Hippies to me are my brother’s age, and have kept to their mantra from the sixties. Anyway, there’s a lot to take in down there, and so much that you would never expect to find if you’re just driving down Bridgeway in a car. You see, when cycling you can go as fast, or as slow as you want, and by having that control you can see so much more than while driving in a car. Cars are Coffins, comes to mind as I write this, and it’s true to a degree. Cars take so much away from one’s life experiences.

Along the way we ran into “Infamous P,” and he rode with us for a while on our way to Sausalito. I miss hanging out with him, and it’s been my fault that we haven’t connected lately. I’ll change that. ;-)

We managed to ride for a couple of hours at a really low speed, and I hope that will help me to recover from this cold sooner than later. It looks like I have one more day of dry weather before the rains begin again, so wish me luck!

“C,” thanks for taking a casual touring cruise with me today. I appreciate the company, especially when I’m being a grumpy and sick cyclist.