subtitled "Hot Dog for Breakfast"
Important lesson: if you've been away for almost 2 months, prepare to
carry extra food!
As I rolled into a Ritual overflowing with SF2G love this morning,
Trung mentioned to me that I already looked cold. That wasn't a good
sign, but I don't know sign language. Nevertheless, with the small
embarrassment of someone falling over (in front of a police car)
before beginning to ride, we the Skyline group departed ahead of the
Bayway group.
17, no, 19, no, 20 of us made our way up to Skyline on a blustery
sunny morning. When I got to work, my coworker from San Jose was
convinced we must have had great tailwinds because he'd experienced
headwinds. The only explanation for both of us suffering is that the
winds emanated directly from the Googleplex. (Not too far off the
mark: http://sfports.wr.usgs.gov/cgi-bin/wind/windarchive.cgi?hour=8&day=2&month=2&year=2011&data=wind&controls=image)
We stuck together until the San Andreas Trail head, where it appeared
the fast Skyline subgroup had already vanished into the lack of fog.
11 of us continued on to the rolling lumps and marvelously clear bay
views of Vallejo Dr, opting to skip the bone-chilling and narrow
Sawyer Camp Trail, with the sure anticipation of the bone-chilling and
broad Crystal Springs descent before us. How cool is it that our route
can now include what must be the 2 coldest spots on the whole
Peninsula?
After a difficult Polhemus and the bike path, we stopped at the water
temple on Cañada to refill water and hear a lecture on how not to
disobey civil codes from two recent victims of Woodside police stop
sign ambushes. Then we stretched out, and the miles stretched onward,
and onward... Soon I could see no one in front of me, and only Eimear
behind me. I noticed after the last rise on Cañada that she was gone
too. I waited, and there were enough passing cyclists expressing
concern for me that I learned she had a flat, so I headed back down
and we fixed it. (Obligatory cat picture:
http://icanhascheezburger.com/2007/01/12/wait-ill-fix-it-2/)
I called Tracy, waiting at Roberts, to tell her and the rest to go on
without us, since we'd both been falling behind anyway. I took Peter's
Arboretum-way through Stanford to cut a bit of climbing on Junipero
Serra, but the headwinds did not relent. Neither of us was too
energetic, and my consensus of one, one who could scarcely keep his
head up, thought I probably had bonked. Eventually, on Charleston, I
sent Eimear ahead to make it to her 11 o'clock meeting (probably, but
a close call). With no such obligations, I sank further behind,
knowing at least In-n-Out could ease my ailment. Uncertain visions
cavorted through my head, or what little of it remained, since no one
ever told me what In-n-Out serves breakfastwise.
But one the third-to-last block of Charleston, a light dawned---the
light reflecting off a hot dog stand. 'Tis not so deep as a tamal, nor
as wide as a taco, but 'twill serve. The cliche to describe how I ate
my hot dog is "with relish" even though that would literally be
untrue. It may not have made me any faster for the last mile, but it
did restore a smile to its rightful face.
It was a good ride, but for me, a wicked slow one, with my
disembarkation clocked at 11am. Next time I'll pack extra food, I
promise.
--
Yoyo Zhou
Sweet! I finally made it into a ride report...good thing I have a big ego because that spill was rather embarrassing (in front of 17 riders). Clearly one of those OK let's roll, clip in, look over shoulder, cars coming, no ones moving, stop moving, "oh, crap!", kind of moments. That one could make it here. Sadly, no coffee, bumper, cement, wave or even an other riders tire to blame...oh wait...maybe it was the lack of coffee.
Great write up btw.
one-T
Great write up btw.
one-T
-----
Yeah thanks for the write-up! Great ride everyone, I think we counted 21 people at the skyline/1 intersection. Greg and I also decided to stop at In and Out post ride :) Thanks for stopping to help Eimear with her flat.
Maybe again next week?
Tracy
-----
Great report Yoyo! I made it to my 11am meeting (well, 11.05, which is on time by my standards) after the fastest shower ever!
-Eimear
