Father's Day Loop on Alpine Dam/Paradise

Hooked up with Tom for a fast loop of Alpine Dam, then continued on to Paradise and to the top of Belvedere Island. Finished with killer Corned Beef Hash at New Morning Cafe. Good way to begin Father's Day.

Bday Ride

Big crew out yesterday afternoon/evening for DS's birthday. We did the standard loop, leaving from the Depot, up RR grade to the top, Eldridge down to Blithedale, then steep ups to the secret singy to the golf course exit. Drank them out of beers at Small Sheds, then dinner. Killer end to the week! Here's the team breaking at the West Point Inn.

Beta Testing the "Choots"

I rode the Choots to work today, hoping to give it a decent testing out before taking it to France next week. The ride into work was pretty smooth, no issues. On the way home, I took advantage of the longer days and good weather and detoured up to the top of Mt. Tam. The bike climbed pretty well actually -- certainly good enough, and damn fine for a bike that packs up into a friggin' suitcase!

BoFax / Seven Sisters

A great early morning ride to Muir Beach - Bolinas - Seven Sisters and back to Tiburon. This shot looks back over Bolinas Lagoon to Stinson Beach, with Montara Mountain and the San Mateo coastline way off in the distance. Hugely clear morning!

Bike to Work Day

A great Marin-bound posse out there on the GGB today.

Tennesee Beach ride with the kids

A fun day out there. The kids are getting strong on the bikes. Some scary downhills on the dirt!

Petaluma Loop

Have been off the bike now for a few weeks rehabbing the sore achilles. Today I rode 85 miles of glorious roads from Mill Valley up to Petaluma and back. The route was Nicasio, Wilson Hill, Spring Valley, Chileno Valley, Wilson Hill, Nicasio and back to Mill Valley. Strong group, great weather and the Achilles felt pretty good. I'm hoping that I am back!

Ski Season and the First Big Ride of 2010

Not much posting about cycling lately, as we're in full ski mode here. I've still been doing the work commute, but weekend rides have been relatively few since the fall. It has been an incredibly rainy winter here (i.e., snowy up in Tahoe) so riding has been kept to a minimum, while powder skiing has been the favored mode of smile generation.

A big group of us did a cat skiing trip up to Retallack in British Columbia. Ironically, the snow conditions up there were just OK, while back home in Tahoe we were hit with a massive storm. Oh well, we still managed to find some great powder turns under bluebird skies in some of the most incredible terrain I've ever skied.

Once back from BC -- with hardly any cycling miles under the belt since September -- I was seduced by a window of good weather and made the mistake of doing a 20 mile solo loop out to Muir Beach, and then chasing Meredith and Frankie for another fast 80 miles up to Marshall and back. A few days later, my right achilles is very swollen and painful. I'm thinking a doctor visit is in my future. Bummer.

Muir Beach. The best backyard ride anywhere.

Surveying the massive terrain at Retallack.

Diary of a Great Day

5:30am. Wake, work/check emails from Europe and NY. Coffee.
7am. Make kids breakfast, get out the door for school
8am. Tiburon Ferry to SF


5pm. Riding home along Crissy Field with friends.


5:30pm Quick detour up the Marin Headlands to admire the view and get the blood pumping. Not a bad way to get home!

6pm. Home. Dinner with the family.

Seven Sisters

HOT today. Got in an early ride on the regular loop. Stunning Wx this morning -- 100 mile views and no winds. Farallons and Pt. Reyes were so close you could almost touch them. Incredible. Now off to Outside Lands!

Shop Ride

Did the Sunday shop ride with the folks from Studio Velo Mill Valley. This is a great local shop with some very nice high end bikes and accessories. More importantly, they provide superb service and are fun guys to ride with. An added treat yesterday was the ride start at Cibo, Sausalito's newest cafe and lunch spot. GREAT coffee here. Check it out.

The weather was (and has been for too long!) pretty cold and foggy in the mornings. Sunglasses were not required and in any event were covered in mist almost immediately. We rode from Cibo into downtown Mill Valley, then up to Four Corners where we listened to the SV guys give us some important reminders and tips on descending skills. We put these into practice on the increasingly curvy road down into Muir Woods. From there, a good tempo up the coast to Stinson, and a very fast ride up and over Panoramic Highway. For the first time on this ride, not a single car passed our group from Stinson Beach all the way up to Pantoll Summit. Very nice.

I'm hoping the fog/wind cycle breaks soon, and we start getting that classic "Summer in Fall" weather instead of the dreaded "Winter in Summer" weather.

Tomales - Chileno Loop

A fast ride today, heading north from Stinson to avoid the big hills. Followed Hwy 1 north through Olema, Pt. Reyes, Marshall to Tomales. Very foggy and cold this morning but of course everyday can't be sunny and 75. Noshed a very tasty chocolate croissant concoction at the Tomales Bakery, which is a great stopover but I still prefer the treats at the Bovine anyday.

Tomales to Chileno Valley Road, then over Wilson Hill to the Cheese Factory. Rode back through Pt. Reyes (no bakery stop this time) and retraced my route back to Stinson from there. Lots of miles (close to 90?) with mostly rolling hills (maybe 4K of climbing total?). A good last ride before grinding out the Death Ride.

Increasing my carbon footprint again

There hasn't been much riding lately as I've had to go back to Hong Kong for the second time in three months. It's a long flight, and HK is not a place you really want to bring your bike to. Of course the last time I was there I saw a few guys riding around the island cheating death on the windy cliffside road to Stanley. A big rock wall on one side, a 300' cliff on the other, with a double decker bus bearing down on you. I think I would just take up swimming.

Believe it or not, I saw a few cyclists nativating this road. Not for the timid.

So by the time I got back home from the 14 hour flight, I was all geared up for the July 4th long weekend at Stinson Beach. My usual M.O. is to ride out to the beach and let the family catch me somewhere on the road. With the Death Ride coming up in less than two weeks, I figured I needed some extra miles and climbing so I set out early. Over the hill and through the hamlets into Fairfax, then a good tempo climb up Bolinas road and down to Alpine Dam.

BoFax from the dam to the 7 Sisters is always the best -- just an all time killer ride. Especially early in the morning when no one's around except the deer and the big birds of prey soaring overhead on the breeze. Today was no exception. The summer fog was sitting thick down low; doing its usual thing to shroud the views, but also keeping everything nice and cool.

The descent to Stinson from Pantoll is in incredible shape given the recent repaving. The road is smooth, fast and perfectly curvy. Not many cars out at this hour so you can let 'em run. But the descent into the fog was frigid, necessitating a quick coffee stop at Ed's Superette (yes, I will always call it that. "Stinson Beach Market" just doesn't do it for me). While seated at the bench outside Ed's, I saw the most incredible thing -- Four dudes rocking identical Capo Madone matching kits (probably all riding matching Trek Madones as well). This was not, mind you, four guys on the same team wearing their team kit. Just four dudes who walked into Mike's Bikes and plunked down $300 each on the same getup. Rad.

Blurry photo, but there are four dudes rocking matching Capo Modena kits rolling out of Stinson.

Flush with excitement after having seen a flock of the rare grupetto modena, I quickly pedaled my way north to Bolinas and started the climb back up to the 7 Sisters to ride them a second time. In fact, I felt so damn good that I just kept pedaling all the way to the top of Mt. Tam to take in the views.

Lots and lots of Mt. Tam

Three rides in the last 7 days and all of them up and around Mt. Tam. Life could be worse.

Last weekend I joined the shop ride from Studio Velo for the first time, and we did Alpine Dam/Seven Sisters. Great ride with a nice group of folks. I like this ride because it leaves early and typically ends by 10:30, so I can get on with the day.

Yesterday I did my first mountain bike ride in over 15 years -- a casual jaunt up the railroad grade to the top of Mt. Tam, then down Eldridge/Blithedale and back to Mill Valley. I felt great on the climb ("hey, this isn't so bad") and got utterly DROPPED on the downhill. I clearly suck at riding fast over sharp rocks. That said, it was a very fun outing and I'm already thinking those magical words -- "bike upgrade".

Today was a hammerfest, back on the Alpine Dam loop. I joined Eric and Tom from my bike-to-work gruppo for their regular Sunday ride. About 10-12 guys, all strong riders, and they put down a very aggressive pace once out of Fairfax. Lots of breaks, sprints, bomber downhills. All fun stuff. We flashed the loop in record time (for me) and I was able to hang with the front group and not blow up. Actually felt damn strong today despite having ridden yesterday and most of the week commuting. If only you could feel strong like that every day.

Marshall Wall and More

Another great weekend of cycling in Marin. JG and I rode Marshall Wall with a return through Olema on Saturday with Matt and the PurplePatch crew. Unfortunately time was tight so we didn't stop at the Bovine for my beloved Pain d'Amande. Instead I had a Payday bar and cup of coffee at the Marshall Store. Good, but not even close to the Bovine.

I did bring out the new clown shoes for their inaugural appearance, which prompted JG to comment that in the sunlight they looked like the cover of Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon". Nice.

On Sunday we spent the day out at Stinson Beach with friends, so I rode with a friend out to the beach the long way: Pantoll - Seven Sisters - Fairfax - Pt. Reyes - down the coast. And yes, this time I did stop at the Bovine and got my Pain d'Amande. It was worth the wait.

Chileno Valley / Petaluma

Several of the usual suspects were out yesterday for a brisk 85 mile ride from the Depot up to Chileno Valley and then across into Petaluma and back. (Route map). No pictures today, just pushing the pedals and keeping the pace. Recap and some observations:

1. Fun paceline effort with Matt, Danielle and a random guy from the top of Golf Course Hill into Nicasio. Flying!

2. The Cheese Factory Hill is the worst in the county. Steep, with lots of buzzing cars and slow AIDS ride people to pass.

3. Chileno Valley rules. Its like the Marshall road, only better. The view from the top of Wilson Hill out to Sonoma is gorgeous. And the descent of the top is straight and fast.

4. Spring Hill Road does NOT rule. Lots of trucks and the worst pavement around. A necessary evil.

5. The hill from Petaluma back to the Cheese Factory should not be underestimated. It goes on twice as long as you remember.

6. Whites Hill from the west should be done very fast in the big ring. Perfect grade to fly up, and a good leg tester at the end of a long ride.

7. I was messing around and racing Matt at the top of Camino Alto and pushed him into the ditch. Oops! Sorry Matt. This poor woman coming up the other side saw the whole thing and I thought she was going to make a citizens arrest on me.

After Work Ride

The days are longer now, so getting a quick loop in after work out to the beach is not out of the question. Matt, David and Steve (a/k/a Clooney) were up for it, so we met in Mill Valley and made a run of it. Perfect afternoon to be out on the bike.

The Most Beautiful Ride Redux

Steve and I hooked up for a "Major Pain" ride today, but it was stellar and worth all of the post-ride dehydration and leg cramps. The difficulty was partially a result of route selection, but mostly due to our sedentary habits of late. I've been sitting on planes and in conference rooms over the past few weeks, and Steve has been working 2 months straight getting all his client's tax returns filed on time. So of course these two desk jockeys are going to ease back into things, right?

Wrong.

After 91 sweaty miles, 8,500 grueling feet and two VERY tasty slices of pizza at the Bovine Bakery, we rolled back into Mill Valley exhausted and exhilarated all at the same time. We rode the same loop I did last September, but it was a lot warmer and definitely a tougher ride because of it. Steve finished in fine style, although I feel compelled to point out on the world wide web that he did get "chicked" climbing out of Stinson Beach. I think she even mocked him while passing by. (OK, allright, in Steve's defense, I think she was a Webcor team rider, plus he was 82 miles into the ride and feeling not so fresh). I was also dropped like a stone by her riding partner. I hate it when you are suffering, sweat pouring into your eyes, and some guy spins past you smiling (NOT sweating, by the way) and comments on how friggin' beautiful the weather is. I especially hate it because usually I am that annoying guy. Today I was definitely not.

PS: Give the pizza a try at Bovine. Maybe it was the caloric deficit, but it delivered. As I scarfed it down outside, the guy next to me was clearly impressed. "That's a varsity order dude".

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!