Saturday, July 25, 2009

Trains, Planes, and Bicycles



The Boyfriend brought my recently serviced bicycle (annual check up) to me:

The BF: The bike guys said you need to ride more.
Me: They did not!
The BF: Yes, they said they could tell the bike was hardly used.
Me: I exercise!
The BF: Neither chewing food nor taking out the trash constitutes exercise.
Me: I swim!
The BF: Remind me again, ah yes, your pool is what, 12 feet long and you splash a bit.
Me: Listen Mister, what about ---
The BF: THAT does not count as exercise.
Me: Phooey.

Today, I joined 8 other ACTC cyclists for a wonderfully scenic route that began with us taking the train to the Bayshore station. The route included climbing San Bruno Mountain and then biking along paths that led us through San Francisco Airport, onto Coyote Point, past Oracle's buildings, Alameda de la Pulgas, and eventually back to Palo Alto where we had 4 minutes to spare to catch the train back home.

Above -- the top of San Bruno shrouded in mist. It was like Brigadoon. With a blink of the eye, the lovely scenery below unfolded and then disappeared. It was too chilly to stick around.




Descending San Bruno Mountain.






Descending San Bruno Mountain some more and taking in the view as we left the misty hilltop.




Above - the marine layer hanging. We were just there! S and P were our ride leaders and they did a good job of making sure I didn't take a wrong turn as I'm prone to do. C was also on the ride. We were wearing the same socks. I wish I had shot photos of our group as we made quite a nice show snaking along the path. My photos only capture a fraction of the beauty of this ride. Thank you S and P were dreaming this one up.








Above, sailboats at Coyote Point. We also witnessed a baptism. While on the path back to Palo Alto, hugging the water's edge, a bee collided with my lower lip and it proceeded to cling to me. OMG, it frigging hurt! P saved the day with her special healing ointment and I did not need a helicopter to transport me to the emergency room. Thank you P.





We watched planes on their descent to SFO. This is a wonderful ride that I plan to do again. A perfect 46 mile outing. Sunday, S and P plan another ACTC ride but I will not be able to join them as I'm taking The BF to the airport. While he's gone on his boy bonding mountain bike trip, I shall get plenty of "exercise." Oh oh, I'm probably in trouble, now.....

1 comment:

Stephen C. Gruber said...

P is the architect of this ride and deserves all the credit. I was just the sweep.
-Distant Speck