paradise loop

Nothing beats the smell of sunscreen in the morning.  And though I always dread the sensation of having something on my face, it all seems to fade away as the sun is coming up over the bridge (slowly singeing off your skin).  Today was also one of those days were I saw a handful of people out that I knew, namely Joe (BRITEsport) who was coming back from his ride as I was heading out towards Mill Valley, and then Travis, Connor and Gabe, who headed out a bit later.  I saw them as I was heading back into the city.

I think there was some other stuff I was going to mention, but they’ve all faded away from memory.  The same exact school bus passes me in the morning at almost the exact same spot on Camino Alto almost every day.  I know it’s the same one because there’s only a few buses with rear escape hatches that have windows on them.  At that point, they’re usually empty, though.  Heading down into Mill Valley and Tiburon to pick up the kids.  And somewhere in between, I catch up to them, like I did today.  The same bus that passed me was now packed with kids, and driving down the road, ahead of me.  No riot police on the bridge – I think it’s going to be a good day.

First of the month!  And the first ride of the month.  I have no idea what was going on at the Golden Gate bridge this morning, but as I headed out, there were at least 50+ Marin police officers at the newly built tourist center.  There were handfuls more spread across the length of the bridge, and the parking lot on the other side was closed off to the public.  Pedestrians and cyclists were allowed through, but not cars.  I was thinking that there was a big running event initially, but cops with riot helmets seemed a bit excessive.  Maybe a big group photo?  Who knows.

Funny thing was, my other heart rate strap was acting finicky – it would read for a couple seconds, then stay at that reading.  Or it wouldn’t register at all, and just drop.  After a couple minutes, I figured out that the strap wasn’t tight enough.  A couple minutes after that, I figured out that if I puffed up my chest a bit more, it would read consistently.  So there I was, riding in Marin, with my chest puffed up like a douche, just so that I could see my heart rate reading.  Pulling over and fixing it wasn’t an option, clearly.  I lucked out and was able to pass some school buses before they threw out their flashing reds, caught a stellar descent on the turn off at half Paradise, and had basically no wind the entire ride through.

On my way back, traffic was all jammed up on the bridge.  A big tour bus was stopped in one of the lanes, dropping off police officers onto the pedestrian walkway, east side of the bridge.  Needless to say, everyone driving, running, and cycling across the bridge was still confused on what the hell was going on, but I guess that’s Tuesday’s for you.

Something’s up with my rear derailleur.  I have no idea why it just completely lost its crispness overnight, but I guess I was due for some mechanical issues sooner or later.  I’m still running the same Gore housing I had the shop install from…I don’t even know when.  I stopped at the edge of the Golden Gate bridge to tighten up the barrel adjuster, which seemed to do the trick for a little while.  And then on Camino Alto it felt horrible again.  More on-the-fly adjustment made it feel a bit tighter, but the cable was probably in need of replacing.

Besides that, there were tons of people out, many of which were doing another AIDS LifeCycle group ride.  Others were in huge packs of Saturday morning group rides, many of which looked familiar – Mission Cycling, Dolce Vita, and some other ones I’m forgetting.  I’m glad to have made it back on the bridge before it became too crowded, but we’ll see what happens tomorrow.  Earlier leave time, longer ride, and more stellar weather, I’m predicting.

Foggy mornings are the best.  No one’s out, the Golden Gate bridge is a little misty so you get a bit of water on your face to wake you up in the mornings.  And everything is this opaque white, the light is soft, and the clouds block out the sun momentarily.  Of course, in Marin, it’s sunny and clear almost 100% of the time.  Not always though, but I’m enjoying it while I can.

Interestingly enough, I hit every single red light today, which was a game killer.  Luckily, I caught a break when I made it ahead of the school buses, though one of them was very close to catching up.  It had to stop to pick up a bunch of kids though, so I gapped him a bit more before he turned off the road.  I’m a bit surprised I didn’t see anyone I knew for the last half of the week, but I’m pretty sure everyone is either a bit ahead of me, or farther behind.  Or doing other loops closer to the Headlands.  Either way, I’m excited to be heading into work – the design pod is going to the Academy of Sciences.  I haven’t been back since their recent renovation (like 3 years ago…), and prior to this, I hadn’t been there since I was about 10.  So many cool exhibits, I hope they stayed true to the awesomeness that is/was the Academy of Sciences.