Here you can see the weather, as well as the terrain. If I look close, I can see some of the trail. There's a couple other photos, if you click on this one. It was misty, rainy, on and off the whole ride. Of course, after the ride, the sun came out for the next two days. We climbed, nearly to the top of this ridge, and then back down the way we came. All said, about a 2 hour ride.
Jib Jab
I went out with some new friends this ride. I met Steve a couple weeks earlier on another ride. And just met Warren this ride. It was a good riding with Steve, so when he sent out an email getting this ride together, I was interested.
It's been raining pretty good for a bunch of days before, and the forecast is rain for the whole weekend. I call the guys I knew, who might be going, and every one of them has bailed. Too rainy, too wet, whatever. So, I call Steve, and after some initial jib jab, he says, I am going, rain or shine. That's what I needed to hear.
I drive up from the peninsula, across the Golden Gate bridge, to Marin, a good hour drive, so I can't do the, well, let's see how the weather is. It's just a mist at my house, which in general, is better weather here than there, but so be it. Load up the bike, and off I go. No sooner do i get on the freeway, and it's coming like down cats and dogs... and I start wondering if I have enough layers...hahahaaa.
It's an area I haven't ridden before, and finally arrive out at the designated spot, and there's Steve, already on his bike, out at the edge of the neighborhood...dang, ready to go! Let's get a roll on...! I park, start throwing on my gear, and realize...wait. These are my..., oh shitakes. These are my ROAD BIKE shoes!! They will NOT WORK on my bike!!! Panic. Looking around. Calmly I tell Steve, hey, tiny issue here... So, Steve, as patient as can be, says, hmm, I might have something in my garage...so, we head over to his house, a couple blocks, the drizzle is coming down pretty good....and he finds some old, shall I say, throw-away peddles? The kind that come with the bike, and come off as soon as you get some? No straps, no nothing, just big flat pads. I am thinking...hmmm dang....okay, let's do it. So, we take mine off, put the new ones on, with some fuss, then, I try using my road shoes....no can do....sliding like ice skates on them. I drove up in my Teva sandles, so, I'm thinking, yes, I am not sitting in the car the whole way home without a ride...so, pop on what seems like my house slippers, and away we ride!
You know, sometimes you just gotta go do it, or, as Nike says, without the jib jab, just do it. There's always a multitude of reasons why not. I know, I have used most of them before. Yes, I had to get up early. Yes, I had to find all my gear. Yes, I had a bit of a drive, and it was raining. I know. I know. So, the whole ride was FANTASTIC!! Geez, I loved every bit of it!! Meeting Steve, Warren, Steve's wife, seeing all his seeing eye dogs at his house, riding out through his neighborhood, thinking, wow, what an awesome place to live. Immediately out of the 'hood, we are in some awesome two lane, nearly empty road heading out into Marin hills.
So, first thing we do is jump off our bikes. There's a 12-inch-high board we need to climb over, to get to the trail. Actually, the board seems to be redirecting a torrent of runoff, right over the trail. Here I am in my bedslippers...tip-toeing through the water and mud. My tires immediately sinking beyond the rims...oh yeah...it's gonna be sloppy!! It's raining and drizzling, so we are riding through the ruts from the runoff. A little treacherous here and there, but all in all, really really fun. Pretty steep climb in places, but I am learning how to use my new peddle set-up...feeling a little more comfortable it's all gonna work out... and how could it not?! Nuff said. Another great day.
Jib Jab extreme
If you are still with me, click through the pictures. The last few, you can see how nice the weather got, crossing the Golden Gate and peering over at Alcatraz...I look down, and think, yeah, I swam across that....! I stopped at my sister's, and we went out for lunch. That's where we came across the trees in blossom. On her street. And the cappuccino...dang, isn't that a thing of beauty? And as good to drink as it looked.
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