paradise loop

quietest friday morning in a long time.  no school buses, barely any traffic, nearly perfectly timed street lights, and few clouds made for an awesome morning ride.  there’s a bit of construction going on near the pedestrian side entrance on the golden gate bridge, which isn’t really a problem.  except for when early morning commuters cut the turn.  I was riding up the short pathway, approaching the right turn when a mountain biker came flying through the apex.  he jammed his brakes and swerved, as did I.  we stopped about an inch from each other, with him being directly in the opposite lane from where he should have been.  close call…too close for a friday morning.  but I’m extremely glad it wasn’t a deadly head-on (apply directly to the forehead!).

so with the token near-accident of the day narrowly avoided, I proceeded on with the rest of the ride, thankful for a bit of morning sunlight.  didn’t see anyone I knew this morning, but I hope everyone that had a chance to ride enjoyed the awesome winter weather.  we’ve been really fortunate this season.

the knee pain subsided a bit overnight after a couple long stretching sessions so I opted for half paradise.  I rode down the embarcadero with a fresh new gatorskin on the front and the gp4000s on the back – both at 105psi.  I don’t expect any more sidewall blowouts, but I had my fingers crossed the entire ride.  it was significantly warmer out, to my surprise.  it seems as if we’re coming out of our cold spell, and possibly into more springtime weather.  maybe it’ll bring more rain, too…hopefully not though.

with the sun rising earlier every day, it’s becoming much easier to maneuver out into marin.  people are dimming down their high intensities and riding a bit smarter now they can see more with the natural light.  half paradise hasn’t changed at all, as you’d expect.  the knee was holding up, surprisingly.  a bit sore, but not too bad.  unfortunately, I still had to pass a school bus, which made for an awkward couple minutes.  I would ride ahead as it would slow down to pick up a bunch of kids – then the bus would pass, but stop to pick up more kids, and then eventually pull off towards the waterfront.  at least the driver was courteous, I had a couple drivers cut inches away from my elbow.  just one of those mornings, I presume.

I’m glad the knee is feeling better, and that I had no flats.  simple pleasures of riding pre-dawn.  oh, I spotted maurice (+a guy in a britesport kit) and percy while out today – hope you guys had good rides.  it feels good to be out there again.

friday morning redemption.  no flats to speak of, no sketchy riders, and less cars that usual on a weekday.  there was a thick layer of fog that hung over the whole city, but luckily, there was a massive pocket of air that prevented the fog from sticking to the ground.  that is, until I dropped into sausalito.  along the bike path, the fog settled and at times, it was difficult to see where the bike was headed.  occasionally, the blindingly bright lights of the early morning commuters disorientated me for a second, since all I could see was just their light in the fog.  some people were courteous enough to shade their light with one of their hands, just enough so that the riders coming from the opposite direction weren’t blinded.  I’m still thinking about ways to avoid getting blinded in the fog…

more than half of the ride I spent paranoid about my tires.  if the road was smooth and I didn’t feel the jarring bumps of debris, I started growing concerned that one of my tires may be going flat, or that they’d be losing pressure.  luckily, nothing happened, and they stayed rock solid the entire time.  I definitely need to invest in more tubes and gatorskins though, I’m basically on my last set of spares.  the specialized mondo is still hanging up on the wall, and I don’t think it’ll be going onto any of the bikes unless a spare is really needed.  too gummy, if you know what I mean.  think soma everwear with a weird mushroom flared top.  crazy, right?

as I came back through sausalito, I saw maurice (and another guy) coming through.  and then I saw percy along crissy fields, wearing the high visibility, fluorescent defeet full finger gloves.  you really can see them from a long ways away, they’re so flashy and cool.  hope everyone had a good ride!

oh, and on my way back, I passed a guy commuting with a single speed with wide risers.  he tailed farther behind, rode up next to me at a light on columbus, and said, “thanks for showing me a new route!”.  he lived in the marina and commuted to embarcadero bart to work, taking the main streets to get there, and not through fort mason/ghiridelli square.  props to you, commuter guy.  I’ll be joining the risers club, soon enough.

happy friday!