It Wasn't Much, But It Was Something
3.8 Miles

Comments? | 11/26/2003 09:04:18 PM

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Yo Y me bicicleta
I needed to go to the bank to deposit a check (why do we still use checks that can't be electronically deposited somehow?) and I decided to ride my old city bike instead of my new(ish) road bike, for nostalgia's sake. I used to ride it to and from work every day. But lately, I ride my road bike almost exclusively. Even on errands around town.

When I started off, I noticed how clunky it was changing gears. How hard it was to accelerate. How much more work it was to make the wheels on the bike go round and round. I had to stand up to accelearate to the speed I wanted to be at. "Bicycle," I thought, "you suck."

And then I hit a downhill section and began to coast a bit. And without thinking about it, I did something that's I can't really do on my road bike: a bunny hop. Followed by a wheelie.

"I love you, bicycle."

1 comment | 8/6/2002 03:11:15 PM

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The hardest part is getting out the door. You want to go, but it's easier to stay inside and putter. You modify your expectations. Not a hard ride today, but a joyride. That gets you going, finally. You hoped to be gone by noon. It's already 1:30. It's warm in the Sun, but cool in the shadows. You hurry through the Panhandle

You haven't gone this way in a while. Now, you tend to go to the Presidio, or around town more often for some reason. And when you did come here here, it was almost always during the week. There are a lot of people, a lot of cars. It's almost like being downtown. If you wanted that, you would have gone down Market Street. You don't want to be alert. You want to ride.

The traffic thins out some now. You realize that you've already crested that hill you'd been waiting for. That you were up and over it without breaking stride. That you didn't notice it. And then, before you know it, you're passing the windmill. It's beautiful. The tulips aren't all blooming yet, but you see bright patches of color in the center. Gorgeous.

And you turn left onto the Great Highway. And you stop for a second. And you realize that was just a warmup. And you have a sip of water, and look out over the ocean. Scores of people are on the beach. It's a sinfully California day. Blue. Surfers slide down waves, and you identify with their rush. And you get on your bike and get back on the road.

The bikeway along the Great Highway reminds you of the Bay Trail. You wonder if this is a section of it. You imagine that it probably is. (You're wrong.) You wish people used the walking path rather than the bikeway. You realize you're going very fast. Fuck it.

At the end of the bikeway, you have to ride on the Highway itself. This is unpleasant. But you want to ride down to Pacifica. You climb a hill, and have to swing into the road to pass a truck a long a shoulder. You're nervous. You go around a curve where the vegetation forces you again out in the road. By the time you get to Fort Funston, you decide to turn around. You decide to ride around the lake, instead. It's farther around the lake than you thought. You had no idea how big Lake Merced was. At first, you're impressed. But after a while, you start to think the lake rather crappy. It's the surrounding neighborhood that does it. That and all the cars. It's like riding your bike through Sandy Springs. Suburban. And then there's the Gun Club...

Back on the Highway, it's windy now, and the going's hard. The ride is rough, but that's okay. You can't get going very fast though, for all the wind. And it's speed that you love. You stop at a store just before you get back to the Park and buy a Gatorade and a Clif Bar. In the park, you find a quiet spot, a hill back up off of the road with trees on three sides. You climb up and eat. You look at your watch, it's 3:30. You lie back in the grass. You take off your shirt. The wind still whips, but the trees block it for you. It's warm here. Your body feels good. The wind rustles through the eucalyptis trees behind you, rattling the leaves, like a rainstick. in front of you, the wind in the pines sounds like the ocean. You close your eyes. Twenty minutes pass. You get up, and ride home.

2 comments | 6/8/2002 05:06:30 PM

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Rob and I did a great ride Saturday. From my place, we through GG Park and the Presidio across the bridge into Sausalito, where we stopped and ate sandwiches on the water. From there we followed the Bay Trail through Mill Valley and into Tiburon. We then took the Ferry back to Fisherman's Warf, and opted to take the short route, over the hills, home instead of going back to Market Street and taking the longer, flatter (and easier) wiggle route home.

The weather was gorgeous, sunny with just enough wind to cool things off. The Bay Trail--which I'd never ridden before--was one of the greatest rides I've ever done. A fabulous resource, I can't wait to try it again. The only downside was that we backtracked a few times looking for the turnoff to Tiburon (which we thought we had passed, but hadd not reached yet). The hills at the end were gut-breaking. We took North Point -> Polk -> Broadway -> Webster -> Steiner -> McAllister -> Lyon. *LOTS* of fast climbing.

1 comment | 5/13/2002 12:45:58 PM

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::: ::: RESTART ::: ::: I've done a terrible job of keeping this up. I think that's because of the way I was trying to make entries. More on the way soon.

Comments? | 5/12/2002 09:27:46 PM

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Note: I may link to yahoo map pages to try and demonstrate my route. However, this most likely will not be my exact route. It's really more of a way for me (and you) to see roughly where I rode.

1 comment | 3/16/2002 11:30:38 AM

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Distance: 7 miles. Speed: Moderate/Fast with a few sprints. Conditions: Chilly, sunny, extremely windy. Comments: I can't believe how fast my new bike will go. It just flies. Going through the park, I felt like I was on a glider. These new clipless pedals are going to take some getting used to. I'm going to stay off of busy roads until I get the hang of them.

2 comments | 3/16/2002 01:15:10 PM

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