Stinson to Home

I took the kids to the beach today with Grandma and conveniently threw the bike in the car. Had a great ride up to Bolinas and over the 7 Sisters. The weather was so nice I took the long way home over Camino Alto and around Paradise Loop. I travel to Hong Kong next week, so unfortunately this is my last hurrah for awhile. It's so hard to leave California!

Yes, this is how I get to work

Unreal! And sorry about the weather today!

2 weeks off the bike.

Not a lot of riding going on for me lately. Work travel plus ski season still in full swing means minimal time for weekend rides. On the bright side, cycling is great cross training for skiing. I snuck out on Saturday for a quick climb up Mt. Tallac near South Tahoe. The snow was just OK, but the weather and views were top notch.

Hope to get back on the bike this week for a lot of commute miles.

Turning 40...

So I'm not the only one turning 40 this month. My third favorite* touring band, the Allman Brothers, is celebrating its 40th anniversary this month at its annual run in NYC at the Beacon Theater. By sheer coincidence, I find myself in NYC for work this week and caught the opening night show last night. Blistering show, with Taj Majal joining for a few inspired numbers. What a great band.

Of course this has nothing to do with cycling, except that I am frequently rocking the Allmans on early morning climbs up Mt. Tam.

______________

* Dada and Gov't Mule are #1 and #2

Early Birthday Present

So I'm turning 40 in a couple of weeks and my most excellent wife cut me loose for a day of riding followed up by a 90 min massage. I made the most of it by getting in nearly 85 miles on the local roads.

The original plan was ambitious -- we were going to head up to tackle the King Ridge ride I still haven't done, but Pete convinced me to do a slightly easier ride closer to home. We planned to meet at 8:30, so I left at sunrise and rode over Pantoll to Stinson Beach, then south along the coast and back over to the Depot. Pete showed up at our meeting place closer to 9:00, nursing a massive hangover he had from staying out until 3am celebrating another friend's 40th. He also managed to forget his helmet at home and generally looked like he was lacking the requisite motivation to ride 10 miles, much less 60. But the guy can rally, and rally he did. We rode out to Pt. Reyes Station, and then back home via Olema/Sir Francis Drake. We caught the tail end of the PurplePatch group ride in San Anselmo and enjoyed an easy spin back to MV.

81 miles on the bike today, with about 6K of climbing and 90 minutes on the massage table. Thanks to my lovely wife!