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these guys (and gals) put in a ridiculous amount of saddle time every week. if you’re looking for some inspiration for being humble and just riding your bike, look no farther. I’ve got a lot of respect for all of them. kudos to chas, steve, and everyone else who makes up tcb. they’re the largest san francisco based courier service!
Tags: san francisco
I finally stopped being lazy to wake up bright and early for a ride in marin. I’m assuming everyone had seen the forecast for the next couple days, because it was dead quiet out all over the city, and even into sausalito. apparently there was a 90% chance of precipitation today, but only after about 10am, which would give me plenty of time to get the ride done before the impending drizzle. we’ve had it pretty good this winter. though the air is frigid at night, there wasn’t been any rain at all…for months. great for cycling and running, but horrible for the ski resorts up in lake tahoe. and even as I look outside, it’s foggy, but not raining (yet). tomorrow is 80% and saturday is 60%, so we’ll see.
there was a bit of a mist coming from the coast as I crossed the bridge. I thought about cutting the ride short, possibly barber shop loop, if it started to rain. after all, I didn’t pack a rain shell because the doppler was reading crystal clear all the way up the coastline. luckily, the rain held off, and I had the roads all to myself. no school buses today, either. I may have beaten the kids today, but I’m sure they’ll be out in full force tomorrow. or maybe I’m wrong, and they jumped onto all 3 buses without me even seeing a trace of them. if only this could happen every pre-dawn morning. and the temperature wasn’t too bad today, which was nice. a comfortable 46*F throughout the whole ride was a relief from the extremely cold weather 2 days back. thanks, humidity!
this week feels like it’s been going on for a long time, but I’m glad to have gotten a run in yesterday with the working forerunner. one more toy to fiddle with. oh, and my parts are on order at the shop, with the rear hub shipping from britain. I’ll let you all imagine what it is.
Tags: cannondale caad10, data, half, paradise loop, rain, san francisco, spotted, weather, winter
as you can probably tell, I forgot to stop along the way to take a picture of how frigid it was today. we’ve been having a bit of a cold spell here in san francisco, and temperatures have dropped significantly compared to last week. at night, at least. today’s ride had an average temperature of 38*F – at some points it was 32*, at which point I thought my face and fingertips were going to freeze. luckily, both are fully intact. I’m extremely glad to have brought out the thermal gore-tex shoe covers today, or else I think my feet would’ve also froze in the wind chill. all the bridge pathways on the sausalito bike path were completely frosted over. there weren’t too many people out, which was not really a surprise considering there were frost warnings all over marin.
I was glad to make it back to the city, for sure. the weather was a tad warmer, and I was able to feel my hands again. unfortunately, after I got home, I punched myself in the crotch trying to roll my bibs up to get to my leg warmers. not quite the sensation I expected…not on a tuesday morning.
hope everyone stays warm and dry. from the looks of it, there’s rain clouds heading our way in a couple days. I forsee a bit of time on the trainer…
Tags: cannondale caad10, data, half, paradise loop, san francisco, weather, winter
the legs were still awake, so I decided to compound the day with a run. all I have to say is california (street) is ridiculous. 0-230ft (powell) was some of the most lung searing pavement I’ve ever stepped onto. even without any running at all. the hill is just plain steep. I’d also like to try out pine one of these days, purely because it runs parallel to california and links to the same 230ft point I hit today. the hill gradient should be about the same, but they come at different times. finding new ways to suffer, daily. I may try pine tomorrow, but the sidewalk is significantly more narrow, which isn’t the best for passing pedestrians and such. maybe california will be my paradise loop equivalent, who knows.
we’ll see how tomorrow’s ride/run go. stoked.
Tags: california street, embarcadero, running, san francisco
back on the bike after what felt like a long, slow week. the first full week since our winter holiday break. luckily, I didn’t have to fight the new year’s resolution crowd in the morning through the marina, everyone was asleep as I rode up to the bridge. though the weather was a bit brisk, I was nice and toasty in my thicker base layer. thank goodness for those. with the road cycling season winding up again, there are significantly more group rides heading out. a majority of riders still have their wits about them, but there are the select few that still feel like they’ve ‘got it’ when it comes to things like going no-hands in a group, looking across a particular scenic area (not paying attention to where their bike is headed), diddling with their computer, or just looking down at their feet while riding. 30 guys were riding in a group 2 abreast, riding opposite of me on the sausalito bike path. the backhand signal from the front rider told everyone that there was someone coming, tuck in. the first half of the group saw the message, they were fine. the second half was still riding 3 abreast, taking up the whole path. and as I came through, a cyclist was right in front of me (coming at me), with no where to go. yet there was no one next to him…so he veered his shimano sti shifters wildly to the right to avoid me. let’s just say the look on his face was hilarious. mine was a bit more displeased.
the rest of the ride was smooth. that is, until I came back towards the city. people riding 2 abreast on the golden gate bridge, who refused ride close together, or even go single file with oncoming riders. it was really strange. the marina was packed with runners spread across the whole pathway, it was crazy. I didn’t witness any post-collisions though, not like 2 weeks ago. I think I’m going to head to the shop in a little while to pick up my gatorskins and maybe place that order for my wheelset. or the caad5 part list? I haven’t quite decided yet.
Tags: cannondale caad10, data, gear, half, paradise loop, san francisco, spotted, weather, winter
after a couple of days, I think my legs have finally recovered from the running. for a while it was an eternal soreness that felt as if it was never going to end. I spent this whole week in compression, which helped to a degree, but the fact is that running just uses different muscles. I don’t think I’ve ever run farther than a mile, definitely not after I was 12 or so due to the advice of my podiatrist. anyway, I’m happy to report that the legs are functioning much better than they were on monday. I plan on incorporating more cycling come next week – this week had a sharp learning curve, but I think I’ll get used to the higher impact sooner or later. hopefully sooner.
the forerunner 305 is suppose to arrive tomorrow in the mail, but I’m not sure if they’ll even deliver it since it’ll be the weekend. never know though, there could be someone at the office to answer the door. I guess we’ll see on monday morning when I come in!
Tags: embarcadero, running, san francisco, winter