san francisco

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.