clif bar girl

on my way into san fran to start my b-day assault on mt. tamalpais ride, i met melissa on the bart. she works for clif bar and was on her way with some other company peeps to do some riding from south san fran to santa cruz and then make their way to sea otter. we chatted awhile and she convinced me to do the full mt. tam loop, which turned out to be an epic ride indeed. thanks melissa!

sharing the lane

most of the streets downtown have a bike lane.

buena vista

the climb to the top of buena vista park is freaking steep but the views were worth it.

haight-ashbury

cruising through the haight... i saw roadie hipsters, brakeless trackies, and chic ladies. you see all types on bikes in SF.

ocean beach

i met georgia and darin as they were hanging out on the beachwalk. i liked the bling on georgia's bmx getup, and darin was riding a wicked track bike. the detail i liked most about his rig was the spoke card of his cat panter.

absolutely perfect

after golden gate park we headed for ocean beach. couldn't ask for more perfect weather.

pirate cycling league SF style

i got there too late to jump in on the race, but there still was a good crowd hanging out for a while afterwards. i met a few peeps and talked bikes for awhile. they were diggin' the t-check. the atmosphere reminded me of our own PCL.

sunday in the park

apparently on sundays they close off some of the roads in the park to cars. there were a lot of people out and about enjoying the weather. there were people walking, blading, picnicing, dancing... and kids (siblings i assume) fighting over a bike.

mwc colors in sf

heading to golden gate park for the race put on by the soilsaloon people.

o-town kitty

i was tempted to take this little guy home with me.

riding through oakland at 2am

i was told that riding through here alone at this hour was not a smart thing to do. apparently this is what i rode through. i assume it's mostly gang related, so nerdy looking mexicans on a bikes are in the clear. sure, i saw some sketchiness, but i had no problems.

heading home

or so i thought. i was on the wrong train (not all the trains go through the same transfer stations at this hour) and was heading toward south oakland. i'd have to ride home from there.

benders

SF has biker bars. benders features live music and they let you hang your bike up inside. wardog played a mean set.

tenderloin

after grabbing some kickass indian food we headed for the tenderloin to catch a gallery opening that sarah had a piece in.

robin

she's an artist, rides a cross check, and is fast = pretty cool biker girl. thanks for showing us around robin!

party on the bridge

we pulled up and this biker chick on a black c-check says 'whoa, looks like a cross-check party'. after talking bikes for a bit, the sun set and we headed back into the city. robin took us on a flyer through the presidio and golden gate park. her cross-check was setup ss with what looked like a 39x16 gear. she was fast, even on the hills. better keep up or you'll be lost.

t-shirt weather

i lucked out big time arriving on the perfect weekend in SF. it was like 75-80 degrees, which is unheard of for down in the bay. sarah and i were in t-shirts as we hit the bridge.

fillmore st.

getting some caffeine in pacific heights.

heading into SF for another fun night

ready for the hills

my first morning in cali, i set right to overhauling sarah's bike. i added a 34t inner chainring, an xt front derailler, and put on a 11-32 cassette. now she can ride up almost anything.

sf bike chicks

ginger messing around. we had just ate some burritos at the farolito in the mission.

finally

my flight was delayed in denver which made for a long day. upon landing i put the t-check together at the airport to make sure it was ok. i was about to take off for the city but i was running late to meet up with friends for dinner in the mission, so i ended up taking the BART.

it fits

prepping for my san fran trip, i've been practicing breaking the bike down and building it up. it should only take me 15-20min at the airport.

supah G

gina and i making the rounds tonight at some galleries .

kitty check

a little neighbor came by to check out my new t-check frame. i had just rust proofed the inside of the frame tubes with some boeing T9 and set it outside in the wind to dry a bit before building it up. san fran here i come!

afterhours burritos

yesenia flores keeps watch over felina outside while i get a few burritos. el chaparro rocks!

ode to snobby

there are no bike messengers in lincoln, but there are hipsters. on my midnight latte runs from work i've noticed more and more fixed gear bikes parked outside the coffee houses and bars downtown. i think the snob would take solace in that atleast this old raleigh conversion didn't have a trendy top tube pad. instead it's top tube was just wrapped with some old green cork bartape (perhaps he's saving up for custom pad?). i did notice the spoke card on the rear wheel. way back in the early 90's those would only be seen on bikes ridden by hardcore messengers in big cities who earned the cards at dangerous alleycat races and traded them to other messengers. but no longer, it's pretty much all fair game now. you can see kids out there on their fixed gears, who probably have no idea what a velodrome or an alleycat is, buying messenger bags and running a card of his or her favorite band that no one knows about for that ultimate symbol of hipster cred. yes, the apocalypse is near. oh well, if you can't beat'em.... as they say. i might make one myself and put it on celestina. perhaps something that makes me look tuff, or maybe just a picture of some black kitties.

tnmwr

tnmwr in the park. we waited on the jamaica while johnny T changed his flats, yes.. flats! be wary of thorns!

easter ride

i didn't see any bunnies, only deer.

bikers

the bikes that you have to pedal are cooler.

dark skies

i broke off from the team fire group ride to get in some more miles and headed west. the sky was getting dark but i figured it wouldn't rain. like usual i was wrong. despite getting wet i had fun hauling back to town from the denton alps in the rain, pushing the 53x12 on a few downhill sections... with a tailwind ofcourse. my bike is now covered in road grit (which is hazardous to a 10sp drivetrain) and that means i will now have to actually clean it.

windy tnmwr

because of the stiff wind out of the north, that's where we headed. we rode some hilly gravel, and even caught a bit of b-road action.

misty monday

sub saturday

gettin'myself a sub at jj's.

gravel goodness

i'm really glad i caught up with the crew and got in some miles tonight.