hmmm, sunday.

seems like forever since I headed out with justin to do alpine dam.  it was a bit foggy/misty all the way through, but at the dam, it was quiet, sunny, and warm.

you know how I know it’s sunday?

- the “hey, we’re into riding, so let’s get some sick carbon bikes, but only ride them on sunday with each other” 2 man group: we were out of alpine dam already, riding along ridgecrest, approaching 7 sisters, spotted 2 guys riding side-by-side.  one on a colnago c50 (or something) and the other on a wilier cento uno.  let me preface this by saying my feet were rather uncomfortable the entire ride, but I suffered through it.  I definitely wasn’t suppose to go for a 3 hour ride only 2 days after getting drastically improved insoles.  in fact, I shouldn’t have ridden that far for a couple weeks at least.  but who’s going to follow those rules anyway, I GOTTA RIDE!  okay, back to the situation.  I call out to them, “on your left!”.  no movement.  I’m a bit puzzled at this point.  it’s foggy, misting, and the ground is slick.  the road is clear ahead, so I cut into the opposite lane, and pass them, but as I do my rear tire slips on the double yellow line.  and their response is, “hope you don’t fall in front of us”.  oh…I won’t.

justin catches up to me, and I look back to see the colnago and wilier on his ass.  not cool.  I wait up, let them all pass, and then get on the back of the train, the wilier is in front of me.  we cruise along the rollers, and then hit one of the short climbs.  justin is up front, and I’m still in the back.  the 2 guys are shifting all sloppy, big ringing it, tons of sounds coming from their drivetrains.  I felt bad for their bikes, and passed them both.  as I came next to them, I said, “gee, I hope I don’t slip!”.  har har.  I think the colnago jumped after me, but I’m not sure since I never looked back.  I heard someone huffing and puffing along behind me…but after a couple rollers, I heard nothing.  and then I looked back and saw nothing.  there was a pull out up ahead on the road, so i headed in, and waited up for justin.  didn’t see the other guys behind him, so I figured justin ditched them.  ATTA BOY!

I will say this though, through all the uncomfortable foot pain, and near cramp-attacks, the insoles have made a world of difference in my pedal stroke and power output.  granted, I’ve only had them for a short time, but the way my feet feel against the sole is so proper.  there are no more hot-spots, or collapsed arches.  once I’m completely used to the feeling of the insoles, I’m sure hours on the saddle will feel like eating cake.  and who doesn’t like cake.  mmm.

- F%^&ING SUNDAY DRIVERS (or drivers that are just not paying attention to what’s going on): after descending down highway 1 into mill valley, there’s T intersection with 2 lanes.  the right lane, obviously goes right, which is where justin and I were heading to get back to sausalito.  I was in the right lane when I heard justin yell out, “DOM, WATCH OUT!” (or maybe not exactly that, but something close to it).  I was still in the lane, about to make the right turn, not sure why he called out.  then I saw a black bmw e46 coupe coming towards me from the left.  the lady driving was completely oblivious to what was going on, and I swung to the right just as her side view mirror was at my handlebars.  justin proceeded to call her out, and she drove past us, angrily, as if we were the ones merging incorrectly.  how can you just merge into the right lane, without signalling, without even checking if someone was there.  dangerous drivers.

- tourists, lots and lots of tourists.  “oh hey, let me ride in the middle, or to the left, on the bridge while cyclists are coming towards me, going the opposite way.  this makes sense to me.  I want to take a picture of the awesome view I see while I’m riding.  holding the camera in one hand, and steering with the other hand is the best way to operate a bicycle while getting hit with 20mph winds from the west.  this insures that any gust of air that takes me by surprise will not end up being a near head-on collision with another cyclist.”  use your BRAIN PEOPLE. COME ON.

thank goodness I’m home.  my legs ache, the type of aching that says, “YEP, you’re pedaling correctly now.”