Yes, I stole that from the little place next to the Van Ness Goodwill, but it's fitting for our ride yesterday.
I had an impending sense of doom even before we left Mike's Bikes at around quarter to ten. Temperature was rising and I had flashbacks from the ride over White's Hill a few weeks ago when the temperature was unbearable and Jerry and I finished the ride exhausted and wrung out from the heat.
So something about me was jittery as we set out. I was short of breath and knew my symptoms were a result of nerves.
The climb over Camino Alto, which is usually no big deal, really took it out of me and I was happy for all that flat riding afterwards. We stopped, as usual, in Fairfax, then headed for White's Hill.
But from the very start it didn't feel right, and I could feel Jerry's energy flagging. We stopped once, and then again. At the second stop, almost to the top, I knew it was time to turn around. Jerry really needs a big boost of protein before he rides, and he hadn't had it, and my fears of rising temperatures pushed me over the edge to do a turnaround.
We sailed down White's Hill, and once again stopped in Fairfax. We went to the Fairfix Cafe. Jerry had a chicken gyro and I had a vanilla milkshake that I added cinnamon to. It wasn't the most exciting milkshake of my life, but it was cool and satisfied my never ending ice cream lust.
We hopped back on the bike, and the ride back over Camino Alto was oh, so much easier, though I asked for a stop just to cool off a bit.
We headed back to Mike's Bikes after doing a semi-respectable 27 miles. A far cry from 50, but it's not as if we have any big rides in front of us.
In fact, next weekend, instead of riding the Marin Century, we are going to staff the rest stop sponsored by AIDS Lifecycle. We'll get to see many friends and give a little something back to the organization we feel so strongly about.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008
Co-motions and calmari
It was a weekend all about tandems.
On Saturday,Jerry and I joined the monthly Positive Pedalers ride in Orinda. It was a 40 mile ride through some east bay bedroom communities, with a lunch stop at a cute little cafe in Moraga or Lafayette or one of those little towns. I admit I don't remember which one. Jerry and I split a turkey sandwich.
As we were leaving the cafe, I saw a disturbing site, but what followed was even more disturbing. A family arrived on bicycles, and the preteen son, with his bike, tromped through shrubbery outside of the cafe. I shot a look at his father and asked if he saw what his son had done. He shrugged and said he didn't care. I said, I admit a bit snidely, "oh, you don't care-- they're not your bushes." He shot back, "They're not yours either."
With a dad like that, I hate to imagine how that young boy and his sister are going to turn out. Maybe fine, in spite of their father.
Anyhoo, back to the lovely ride. Lots of rolling hills, but Jerry and I both felt a tug in our heart after riding that Co-motion tandem last weekend. We decided we really need an upgrade in our tandem.
And I decided, after the ride, I needed ice cream. There was an ice cream place near the Orinda BART station, and I got a sugar cone with caramel cashew ice cream. It was heavenly. We sat on a bench in our matching Pos Ped Supporter jerseys, when another couple approached us and asked if the tandem up the street was ours. We told them indeed it was. After all, who else would be wearing matching jerseys. They were former tandem riders, and we had a lovely chat. Maybe we even inspired them to ride again.
Saturday evening we headed over to the new place that Leslie, owner of Theresa and Johnny's Comfort Food Cafe has opened. It's a sports bar of sorts with lots of fried food. We ordered the fried calmari and it was perfect. Tender, not overly coated with batter. Leslie came out of the kitchen and was surprised to see us. I told her how good the calmari was. She told me that calmari, no matter how good it is cooked, can get chewy if you don't buy the best stuff. So, I learned something that evening. Always buy the good stuff. But I think I knew that already.
Sunday took us back to the east bay, this time to a tandem shop, of all things. They carry Co-Motion, Santana and DaVinci. We ended up hanging out there for quite a while, and we'll go back at some point to do test rides. The owner was really pushing us toward the Santana. We guessed that maybe he gets a bigger commission on those, or he really thinks we'll like it a lot. Hard to say, but we'll give them all a try. Buying a new one will be a huge investment, so we may see if we can find a fairly new-used one. We want one with couplers so we can get it in and out of the Cessna to take on little trips.
The prospect of a new tandem is exciting, but a little scary. I'm pretty attached to the Green Machine, but it's time to move on.
On Saturday,Jerry and I joined the monthly Positive Pedalers ride in Orinda. It was a 40 mile ride through some east bay bedroom communities, with a lunch stop at a cute little cafe in Moraga or Lafayette or one of those little towns. I admit I don't remember which one. Jerry and I split a turkey sandwich.
As we were leaving the cafe, I saw a disturbing site, but what followed was even more disturbing. A family arrived on bicycles, and the preteen son, with his bike, tromped through shrubbery outside of the cafe. I shot a look at his father and asked if he saw what his son had done. He shrugged and said he didn't care. I said, I admit a bit snidely, "oh, you don't care-- they're not your bushes." He shot back, "They're not yours either."
With a dad like that, I hate to imagine how that young boy and his sister are going to turn out. Maybe fine, in spite of their father.
Anyhoo, back to the lovely ride. Lots of rolling hills, but Jerry and I both felt a tug in our heart after riding that Co-motion tandem last weekend. We decided we really need an upgrade in our tandem.
And I decided, after the ride, I needed ice cream. There was an ice cream place near the Orinda BART station, and I got a sugar cone with caramel cashew ice cream. It was heavenly. We sat on a bench in our matching Pos Ped Supporter jerseys, when another couple approached us and asked if the tandem up the street was ours. We told them indeed it was. After all, who else would be wearing matching jerseys. They were former tandem riders, and we had a lovely chat. Maybe we even inspired them to ride again.
Saturday evening we headed over to the new place that Leslie, owner of Theresa and Johnny's Comfort Food Cafe has opened. It's a sports bar of sorts with lots of fried food. We ordered the fried calmari and it was perfect. Tender, not overly coated with batter. Leslie came out of the kitchen and was surprised to see us. I told her how good the calmari was. She told me that calmari, no matter how good it is cooked, can get chewy if you don't buy the best stuff. So, I learned something that evening. Always buy the good stuff. But I think I knew that already.
Sunday took us back to the east bay, this time to a tandem shop, of all things. They carry Co-Motion, Santana and DaVinci. We ended up hanging out there for quite a while, and we'll go back at some point to do test rides. The owner was really pushing us toward the Santana. We guessed that maybe he gets a bigger commission on those, or he really thinks we'll like it a lot. Hard to say, but we'll give them all a try. Buying a new one will be a huge investment, so we may see if we can find a fairly new-used one. We want one with couplers so we can get it in and out of the Cessna to take on little trips.
The prospect of a new tandem is exciting, but a little scary. I'm pretty attached to the Green Machine, but it's time to move on.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Co-motion and confit
Jerry and I test-rode a Co-motion tandem yesterday. We took a 15-mile ride around Pinole, where the owner lived. Considering the seat wasn't quite high enough and I was too close to the handlebars, it was a good ride. Jerry said the bike handled well, and it's lighter than our Trek. We climbed some pretty steep hills without killing ourselves, despite it not being geared as low as our Trek. But at $3,000 we're not so sure it's THE bike. Another couple is going to ride it on Monday or Tuesday. We'll see if they make an offer.
Yesterday was Jerry's birthday. We went to yard sales in the morning, then to Barney's for lunch. But dinner was the celebration. We went to Garcon! on Valencia in the Mission. It was very good, though not sublime. We started with salads-- he had the salade maison and I had a salad with arugula, beets and grapefruit. Very nice, but not the taste sensation I had anticipated.
For main course, Jerry had penne with sausage and a sage white wine sauce. He enjoyed it quite a bit. I had duck confit with lentils and more arugula. The lentils had a nice smoky flavor and the duck skin was crisp, and while it was quite enjoyable, I wasn't in raptures.
We had a half bottle of a very nice central coast red. I'm sorry I don't remember the winery; I may check Garcon's website to see if they have a wine list.
We had dessert. Jerry had a tarte tatin that looked like no tarte tatin I'd ever seen. The "crust" appeared to be more cakelike, and the apples were buried inside. I had creme brulee that was in a small deep dish. I like the new style of shallow and spread out. Less creme, more brulee. I had a very nice cup of coffee. I'd asked for a refill that never came.
While it does sound as if I'm complaining I'll add that dinner really was lovely, and the restaurant was nice. We arrived at 7 before it got super crowded and busy, and I might even think of going back even earlier, so we'd get better attention and it would be quieter.
Yesterday was Jerry's birthday. We went to yard sales in the morning, then to Barney's for lunch. But dinner was the celebration. We went to Garcon! on Valencia in the Mission. It was very good, though not sublime. We started with salads-- he had the salade maison and I had a salad with arugula, beets and grapefruit. Very nice, but not the taste sensation I had anticipated.
For main course, Jerry had penne with sausage and a sage white wine sauce. He enjoyed it quite a bit. I had duck confit with lentils and more arugula. The lentils had a nice smoky flavor and the duck skin was crisp, and while it was quite enjoyable, I wasn't in raptures.
We had a half bottle of a very nice central coast red. I'm sorry I don't remember the winery; I may check Garcon's website to see if they have a wine list.
We had dessert. Jerry had a tarte tatin that looked like no tarte tatin I'd ever seen. The "crust" appeared to be more cakelike, and the apples were buried inside. I had creme brulee that was in a small deep dish. I like the new style of shallow and spread out. Less creme, more brulee. I had a very nice cup of coffee. I'd asked for a refill that never came.
While it does sound as if I'm complaining I'll add that dinner really was lovely, and the restaurant was nice. We arrived at 7 before it got super crowded and busy, and I might even think of going back even earlier, so we'd get better attention and it would be quieter.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Rubber Chicken and Rubber Legs
Okay, so it really wasn't rubber chicken, but when chicken is prepared for something like 500 people, it does tend to get a little rubbery, and that was one of the main dishes at the "banquet" for the Northwest Tandem Rally in McMinnville OR. They also served salmon, couscous, zucchini, wheatberry salad and potatoes. Dinner, by and large wasn't bad, but they did ruin it with hideous desserts. C'mon guys, go the extra mile. Everyone, but everyone, remembers dessert.
Jerry and I rode Friday and Saturday. We rode around 60 miles on Saturday and the last stretch was really tough on us. I think it was a combination of not having ridden for a while and not really eating right. The rest stops on the ride had what I can only describe as unbalanced snacks. And no lunch. And really no place on the road to stop and get lunch.
But Saturday we slept quite late and headed out for a really delightful ride. It did sprinkle on us off and on, but not enough to really bother us. More rolling hills that were a heck of a lot easier to climb than the day before and beautiful flowers. If we could only have those kind of flowers in NoCal without the weather that produces them.
We did have a couple of glasses of Pinot Noir, which the area is famous for. One in particular-- Natasha Block-- was really quite lovely. I'm going to get on the net to see if I can order some.
Fun to ride with a mess of tandems and triples and quads, and even a quint or two. As someone else commented-- how lovely to ride and never once hear "She's not pedaling." Do people really think we've never heard that before.
Another highlight on Saturday was spotting a field full of baby llamas. I'd never seen one baby llama, less a field full of them. We stopped and watched them for a while, and Jerry took some photos. If I can figure out how to post photos on this blog, I'll include one.
Jerry and I rode Friday and Saturday. We rode around 60 miles on Saturday and the last stretch was really tough on us. I think it was a combination of not having ridden for a while and not really eating right. The rest stops on the ride had what I can only describe as unbalanced snacks. And no lunch. And really no place on the road to stop and get lunch.
But Saturday we slept quite late and headed out for a really delightful ride. It did sprinkle on us off and on, but not enough to really bother us. More rolling hills that were a heck of a lot easier to climb than the day before and beautiful flowers. If we could only have those kind of flowers in NoCal without the weather that produces them.
We did have a couple of glasses of Pinot Noir, which the area is famous for. One in particular-- Natasha Block-- was really quite lovely. I'm going to get on the net to see if I can order some.
Fun to ride with a mess of tandems and triples and quads, and even a quint or two. As someone else commented-- how lovely to ride and never once hear "She's not pedaling." Do people really think we've never heard that before.
Another highlight on Saturday was spotting a field full of baby llamas. I'd never seen one baby llama, less a field full of them. We stopped and watched them for a while, and Jerry took some photos. If I can figure out how to post photos on this blog, I'll include one.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Oregon to ride and eat
It looked iffy for a while there, but tomorrow Jerry and I head to McMinville, OR to the Northwest Tandem Rally. We were going to fly up ourselves, but due to airplane trouble we had to figure out something else. We got a good price on Southwest and will head over to Oakland tomorrow and fly up commercial, then rent a car in Portland.
Not as much fun as flying up in the Cessna or Mooney, but at least we'll get there. Another tandem pair is driving our bike up.
We may be coming home with another tandem. There's a Co-motion for sale up in the area, and we may just bring it on home.
Not as much fun as flying up in the Cessna or Mooney, but at least we'll get there. Another tandem pair is driving our bike up.
We may be coming home with another tandem. There's a Co-motion for sale up in the area, and we may just bring it on home.
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