Postcard Day in the North Bay

The day started out on a somber note. As you may know, I am originally from SoCal, so I still have lots of ties back there. So I logged into the SoCal forum, only to find yet another fire, supposedly caused by arson. I hate reading news like this. It looks like it also jumped the 210 freeway. This is in Sylmar. I just hope my friends in LA are not suffering too much from this.

I reluctantly post my ride report from today, as the air quality was a stark contrast to what's happening in SoCal.

I drove up to Sports Basement and parked there. I was looking for others, as some decided to meet up at Sports Basement, then ride up together to the visitior's center. I called Ramon, and he had just got there, and was waiting for Marco and Ruth. They were running fashionably late, so he was going to wait for them.

I met up with Pete, who was waiting for everyone to arrive at the Golden Gate Visitor's Center. Of course, he reacts in his own Phoebe-ish style. As you can see, it was almost a perfect day for cycling. We did get to meet a few new folks ... Justin and Peter. Justin was full of enthusiasm ... he was very talkative on the road. Too bad he had to get back early, and turned back, along with Peter (not Pete), when we got to the crest of the first hill on Sir Francis Drake Blvd.

Riding over the Golden Gate bridge, it was not the usual foggy climate that you normally associate with SF. In fact, we were riding with no arm warmers, no knee warmers, no jackets ... and it's November! What's up with that? Needless to say, we didn't have to worry about the Pesky Penguin today.

When we got to Sausalito, we stopped at Mike's Bikes, to both fill up with air, and get whatever supplies we needed. Ramon, Marco and Ruth were still not there. We waited quite a while there, and we really wanted to go. We eventually decided we weren't going to wait any longer. If we were to do Marshall Wall, we can't be waiting here too long.

So off we go. We head off without waiting, but knowing how strong and fast Marco and Ruth and Ramon are, it is just a matter of time before they catch up with us. They eventually did pass me up at the bottom of the hill on the other side by Corte Madera. From that point on, we continued as a group.

Since we were delayed in getting going, I was concerned about my ability to finish the Marshall Wall option. So I decided to do the 2nd option, which was to go to the Cheese Factory, then head back, while the others continued on to Marshall Wall.

Michael, Chris, and I went straight back after having lunch at the Cheese Factory. Everything was going well. Michael was feeling the pain, as he had logged only 300 miles on his bike. So he was a pretty new rider, but I was very impressed at how he's doing these tough rides for a newbie. Last week, he did a 70 miler, and looks like today it will be another 70 miler. Major kudoes to him. I did notice he was stopping a few times on the climbs, to catch his breath. At least he is trying to pace himself, which is good. I think he is gladiator material, and just a matter of time before he can outclimb me.

We did have a little mishap on the way back. You see, Pete led us through his Magical Mystery Tour, and a series of lefts and rights ... a literal maze going through San Anselmo. There was no way I was going to lead us back going through that maze. So two things ... first, Michael and Chris were gullable enough to trust me to find a way back. Second, I was gullable enough to think I could find my way back. I recall, from past rides, going along Sir Francis Drake Blvd, and hooking up to Corta Madera. Well, it does, but it does help if you know what street to turn off on. I knew it was a bad sign when I could see the freeway overcrossing in the distance. We didn't have anyone to call, since Pete is climbing the wall, and may not be able to answer his phone. We decided to break down, and buy a map at Long's Drugs.

We weren't that far off track. We just had to backtrack about a mile, then make one turn, then we were back on the route.

It was starting to get late, and I started wondering about Pete, Ramon, Marco and Ruth. They haven't passed us, so I figure they would probably be riding until about 7 PM (it gets completely dark around 5:30 now).

I took this picture from the Golden Gate bridge. It was interesting that there had to been at least 20-30 other cyclists who were stopping to do the exact same thing. This shows you how clear the air was today. It's not that often that you will see a day like this in the SF Bay Area.

We got back to Sports Basement a little after 5 PM. Big kudos to Michael. He is so gracious, he thanked Chris and I for pulling him all the way through to the end, but it was all him. Plus, that's the reason why we ride in a group ... we look after each other.

I'll have to wait for Pete's report, whenever he gets in. It was an awesome day today, even though it was dampened first thing in the morning, after hearing about the arsonist fire.

Photo Album of all pics

Ride Stats:
70.84 miles
4901 feet climbing
Motion Based