San Fransisco: recap and musings.

I was struck (figuratively) by the sheer number of cyclists. I was also amazed at how many tourists used the bike rental companies (there's a ton of competition in that niche!) to not only ride over the Golden Gate Bridge, but ride in traffic in downtown to see the sights. You'd think an out-of-towner would be frightened half to death by the traffic, but the ample bike lanes and infrastructure seem to erase that fear. I saw entire families on rental bikes lazily roaming downtown gazing upward (rather than focused fearfully on all the cars around them), taking in the scene. It made sense to see things from a bike, finding (car) parking is a tremendous hassle and if you do find an open meter, you can't stay there for very long. I really wish I had been able to convince Hubby that touring downtown via a bike was the way to go, but he preferred circling the same block 5 times to find a parking spot for our car and then having to run to the restaurant, scarf down our food quickly and run back to the car before the meter expired. Relaxing, yes?

I kept noticing the green Route signage wherever we went and had to Google what they meant.

Wow, so organized and official!

 There's even a "Wiggle" which allows cyclists to use the most flat route across the city.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wiggle

This gets my vote as "Most scenic and interesting solar-powered rack"!

Brought to you by Audi. Ironic.

Free bike valet at Giant's games too!

The number of bike lanes was astonishing. I was more surprised when we happened upon a road that didn't have a bike lane. The airport roads have bike lanes, the hotel/bio-genetics industrial complex that our hotel was situated in had a bike lane and I saw several commuters there. 

 We were walking down the Embarcadero and I noticed a Surly Trucker leaning against a railing as the owner sat nearby watching the Bay. This was only one of two Surlys I'd seen in my time there. Everyone mainly rides Treks and Cannondales. I engaged the owner in some bike talk while Hubby stood nearby and observed. I noted to the owner that I hadn't seen many Surlys, he answered "They're all out touring now."

Another thing I noticed was that pedestrians rarely jaywalk. They wait for the Walk/Don't Walk signals and the motorists adhere strictly to the 'pedestrians have the right-of-way' law. I saw one car go through a crosswalk that had people attempting to cross and the driver promptly incurred the wrath and harsh scorn of the pedestrians.

I only encountered one bit of anti-bike-ness. It was this sign:

I wondered what it meant: No bikes allowed?!

It made sense to me when I realized it was a "Keep off the sidewalk with your bike!" sign.

I want it to be known that I did things on the trip that didn't involve cycling.

We had great food:

Giant macaroon at a deli after a meal of lox, bagel, onion, cream cheese and capers.

We saw great baseball:

We bumped into local legend and celebrity Bob Walk at AT&T Park!

Hung out at wineries and had some fabulous Pinot Noir:

Went for a boat ride:

I'm on a boat!

Saw some wildlife:

I found two Stikman tiles!

Here's a Victorian Drag Queen crossing the street drinking a Slurpee.

I'll take "Things you don't see every day" for $1000, Alex.

Hung out at the beach:

I learned the hard way that the SanFran sun and weather are deceiving. It feels very cool, but you're getting a vicious burn without even knowing it.

If this looks painful, that's because it is painful. Ow.

Air travel: The 767-300s that we flew on have a really interesting feature where you can track the plane. I spent a good deal of time looking at that. I also noted that SFO is in the midst of building a new control tower.

So much fun. I wish I had biked more though.

The Pampered Cyclist and mitzvahs

I hadn't ridden yesterday and needed to get out, badly. I started at base and headed out to Lawrenceville via the Millvale/Heritage trail. I found a pile of decorative hunks of cement under the 40th St bridge. I wondered where they came from.

I had wanted to stop at the Bead Bazaar, but they weren't open just yet. I stood in a laboriously long line at LaGourmandine. I finally got my croissant. I also got a almond croissant with the intentions of bringing it home to Hubby. But, after having a taste of it, there was little chance this bit of deliciousness was going to last long in my possession.

Rode through the Allegheny Cemetery

Many Memorial Day flags still present.

A welcome sign at the top of the hill on a warm day.

I rode out to the Waterfront after stopping at REI to check out the clearance stuff and re-fill my water bottles.

PEDICURE!

best. red. ever.

 I realized I hadn't received a professional pedicure in probably 2 years and I was in dire need of it. They apply some sort of callous melter and wrap your feet in hot towels while the chemicals eat away at your dead skin and then they take a thing that looks suspiciously like a cheese grater and file away copious amounts of excess flesh. For someone with bad knees and flexibility issues, paying someone to attend to your feet is a glorious thing. Having a man massage your calves and feet if freaking awesome too. Why on Earth have I not treated myself to this in recent years?
My only disappointment was that they didn't have my favorite, signature OPI color: "I'm Not Really A Waitress".  









I noticed there are far fewer Eagle Watchers. Has everyone had their fill? Bored with the birds? Too hot today?

Stopped at Big Dog to try iced coffee

I discovered I don't care for iced coffee. Perhaps, like hot coffee, it's an acquired taste. I may try it again with more cream and sugar.

Mitzvah #1
On the way back, a family was riding towards me and the older boy, probably 6 years old took a nasty spill. Kids that age are still learning that if you yank the handlebars too much in one direction, you're gonna have a bad time.
I offered my supply of band aids to his parents, wished them luck with the wailing child and scurried away quickly from the screeches of "I'm bleeding!! I'm bleeding!!"
Note to self: restock the bike bag with band-aids.
Mitzvah #2
I also zipped past Yale and waved to him as he was pumping up a tire for some kids.

I noticed a tandem coming towards me on the North Shore, they always catch my eye. Oh, the front rider has an Escape to the Lake jersey! What? He's waving to me? Hey, it's Chris and Elizabeth!
I wonder if they'll be riding the tandem next weekend.


27.3 miles, much self-pampering, kicked down to the top 40 in the NBC and a nice sunburn on my back... because I can't reach back there with the sunscreen!

Downhill both ways and BYOTP

I had the entire day to myself, I wrenched it from the clutches of Hubby. He wanted to do stuff that involved dragging me around and I fought hard and won. Victory!

I planned for a long (well, long for me) trip on the GAP. I packed snacks and sammiches: swiss, pickles and mustard on whole wheat and chocolate, peanut butter and banana on whole wheat. The latter would have been better on white bread, frankly.

Set out early, parked at the Pump House and was underway before 9AM.

 I was in McKeesport before too long.

Can't stop here. This is Dead Man country!

Birds: a saw either a bluebird or an indigo bunting. I couldn't tell and nearly crashed craning my neck to get a better view. Gorgeous creature.

I stopped in Dravo and lurked around the cemetery. This is my favorite headstone. Consort. I know that must have been controversial back then!

I tried my hand at getting the pump to work. It wasn't very cooperative.

Then a group of cyclists stopped and they seemed to be getting water out of it.

I went over to observe and see what the trick to getting water to come up was... and in the group was my favorite bike mechanic from Thick. We said our hellos and they liked my Black Flag tee shirt and loved the Errandonee and Coffeneuring patches and I think I convinced them to try this fall's challenges.


Things I saw along the way:

Waterfalls

Horses

Ideas for future trips.

West Newton MADE!

I love Pittsburghese n'at!

I figured West Newton was 25 miles from the Pump House. A round trip would have put me at 50 miles for the day. A new record! I turned around and my energy levels stayed great most of the day until I hit Duquesne on the way back. Ugh, suddenly...so tired. There was no where to sit... so I just drank, ate a pear and stood still in the shade for a bit. I was able to carry on normally after that.

BYOTP

I was thankful for all the restrooms and portable johns, even the one at a housing project in McKeesport with a fresh memorial to someone shot(?) there.
Many didn't have toilet paper. I'm known to have some in my bag, and I was grateful to have it.

Downhill both ways

The entire way out to West Newton, I kept saying to myself: "Geez, this looks entirely downhill, this will be harder and take longer to get back up to Homestead."
Yet, on the way back, I said to myself: "Whoa, this looks and feels downhill too! How can that be?"

Could the planets aligned perfectly to not only give me excellent weather, no wind, but shift the axis of the planet as well to grant me: Downhill, both ways?
Huh. That four-leafed clover I found yesterday had extra special powers.

Gypsy Moth Caterpillars

I rested in the grass near aptly named Buena Vista and had a lovely view

While I attempted to snooze in the grass, I noted that things from the trees above me kept falling on me. I assumed they were leaves. Um, no. Gypsy moth caterpillars!

These things are everywhere. I can't help but have the squished guts of hundreds of them mashed in the treads of my tires and the fenders are caked with carcasses. Gross. They make a horrible popping noise too. *shudder*

40 miles in and I decided to do some flower-picking for Ruby.

After 40 miles, neither of us was fresh as a daisy. She was coated in a layer of dust and I was sweaty, dusty, sun-burned and covered in bug guts too.

51.7 miles today. 




...and now for a bit of all-in-good-fun snarky competitiveness:

Yesterday's National Bike Challenge standings. Welcome to the top 30!

Today's top 30. HA!