Thoughts per day...

Day Zero aka Orientation Day:  don't get there at the break of dawn, or even at 10am when we start. It's waaay too crowded and will annoy the heck out of you.  Come around noon or 1 (in fact be sure to eat first!).  The lines are the worst first thing in the morning.  Do, however, be sure to give yourself at least 2-3 hours to get it all done (depending on what your E-ticket says we still need from you).  Bring along some water too, not a bad idea to start pre-hydrating before Day 1!!  If you have additional donations to bring, then print up your donor forms (they're in your participant center!), make sure you have one or each donor and have them all filled out ahead of time.  This will save you from having to fill each one out while you're there.  And no, the pledge office will not do it for you. 

Day 1:  DO get there BEFORE the crack of dawn.  Give you bag to your gear truck roadie but make sure you have EVERYTHING you'll need for that days ride like:  your cycling shoes, gloves, sunglasses, water bottles, etc.

Stretch!

Eat something... you will likely get up at oh, say 4am or earlier?  You'll eat breakfast then and by the time we ride out (7 or so) you will be hungry again.  Bring a little snack (I bring PB& J sandwich) to eat just before ride out.

BE PATIENT!

Day 1 is the only day that all 2300+ of you will be riding out at the same time.  This means you need to pace yourself and do not get all hot and bothered about going too slow!!  I have seen many an accident happen in the first 12 miles of the ride because people get all freaked out about riding too slow. ... better to ride too slow than to not ride at all because of a broken collarbone!!  I'm SERIOUS!!

Stop to take pictures often!! For some of you this will likely be the first and last time you'll ride your bike from SF to LA, you might as well have some proof to show the grandkids!  

PACE YOURSELF!  it's only Day 1 and you have to have some energy for Day 2, which is one of the longer mileage days of the week!  The route does not close until 7pm (hint- the later you are, the shorter the lines are for the shower!). 

Think about this:  pack a little compact totebag (the kind that fold up into themselves- most sporting goods stores sell them) or a fishnet bag-- some small bag that will fit into your seatbag, or fit into your jersey pocket.  At the end of the day you can use that bag to carry your water bottles, helmet, gloves, sunglasses, etc with you without having to juggle it all when you go over to the truck to get your gear.  ALSO A GOOD HINT- PUMP YOUR TIRES NOW, instead of in the morning.  You WILL lose a little air over night, but not much. In the morning, the line for the pumps will be hella long.  Some folks wait until rest stop 1 to pump their tires, but its been my experience that even there the pump line is long (and they have less pumps to go around).  

Walk over to your gear truck, grab your bag and your tent (unless your tentmate already has) and find your spot on the grid.  Set up your tent.  It's easy and fast and if you ask anyone around you they will be glad to help, I promise!

Grab something to snack on from Camp Services (they will have all of the leftover snacks from the rest stops).  Eat something while you wait in line for the shower, or better yet- go eat first (dinner starts serving at 4 and goes til 9) and then go take a shower.  Again, the shower lines are shorter later.  But be sure to eat because otherwise you could bonk while standing in the shower!

Get to the dining tent for evening announcements every night at 7:30.  There will be information you'll need to know for the next days ride, as well as some pretty special announcements.

Day 2-  Especially TODAY, plan to get up EARLY and get on the road when the route opens at 6:30!!  It is Monday morning, and we are trying to get out of Santa Cruz along with all of the Monday morning commuters!!  Again, be PATIENT!!

Today there is an unofficial stop in Castroville for artichokes!  It is a tradition that folks stop there to have either deep fried or steamed artichokes. My advice? Go with the steamed artichokes.  They are ready to go, there are no lines for them, they are better for you and hell, they won't come back to visit you at mile fifty like the deep fried ones will....

Also day 2- an Otter Pop & water stop at the Mission Soledad.  Be sure to go in and check out the Mission, it is quite a beautiful place.  

Also to note-- the winds will likely be crazy:  headwinds, tailwinds, crosswinds and the rider in front of you breakin' wind... from those deep fried artichokes I tell ya!

more to follow.... I'm gettin' sleepy!

What? How? Where?

Keep in mind, this is my personal blog... my annoyingly picky comments are my own....

First off let me just say... most of the answers to your ALC 8 questions are in your Participant Center, or on the main page of aidslifecycle.org .  But here are some FAQ's I seem to be getting regularly these days:

1) What happens if I don't raise the minimum by Orientation Day? Well, you have some choices:  a) don't ride  b) put up a Donation Guarantee on your own (again- see your participant center for the details on the donation guarantee program) c) fund the rest entirely yourself (without doing the donation guarantee).  You must have $3k in your account on Orientation Day or you may not ride on ALC 8.

2) Do my donors get a refund if I don't ride?  No.  This is a fundraising ride, they are not "paying you" to ride, they are donating money to the SF AIDS Foundation and you needed to fundraise a certain amount of money to do this ride.  This is a tax deductible donation too, by the way.

3) If I have already made my minimum and I have more than $3k in my account, can I transfer funds to another rider?  Once the money is posted to your account, it is your fundraising dollars and funds not transferable. C'mon people, its about raising lots of money for a very important cause!!  Everyone should be working hard to raise their own money... 

However, if someone hands you a check made out to ALC...  you could consider giving that physical check to someone else... but just remember that anyone who donates money to YOU thinks that they are donating to YOU.  They will get a donation thank you letter from the Foundation thanking them for making a donation to XYZ Rider, if that money is not posting to your YOUR account then they will get a letter thanking them for their donation to that person you gave the check to... does that make sense?

4) How do I get a tent assignment?  Well, you can do it online if you raise your minimum $3k by May 15th.  Once you hit the minimum, a notice will show up in your Participant Center (there's that word again!)  If you have a tentmate in mind, then if they are at $3k too, you can do online tenting.  If not, then you will need to go to Tent Assignment on Orientation Day (aka Day Zero)

5) How big are the tents?  8' x 8' 

6) How do I get home?   You are responsible for getting yourself home from the Ride.  If you are in SF and want to ship your bike back to SF, you can do so via McCollister's.  Information on bike shipping can be found in the Travel Planner (again, that's in your Participant Center).  If you are in L.A and need to ship you bike up to SF for the start, again my suggestion is to use McCollister's.

7) What is Red Dress Day?  Red Dress day is a special day where all riders wear something red on Day 5.  With all of us riding the hills between Santa Maria and Lompoc, we look like one big red AIDS ribbon.  It's quite a sight!  Wearing red is not mandatory, but I will tell you the first year I wore pink because I didn't own anything red and I still felt pretty out of place!

8) Packing?  Your sleeping bag, pad (or air mattress) and all of your gear needs to fit into one bag that cannot exceed 50lbs (okay really its more than that, but do your gear truck roadies a favor and try not to exceed 50lbs).   It's easier if your bag is on wheels, but again not mandatory if you are ok lugging it from one spot in camp to another.  Each camp is set up differently so you never know how far your gear truck will be from your tent grid.

9) Weird things I pack?   A cheapie shower cap to put over my seat at night while its in bike parking.  Parking is outdoors so you will get quite a bit of dew on your bike.  Also I carry a little collapsible tote bag (it folds down to about 2"x3" and has a keyhook on it - sportsbasement carries them) that fits in my seatbag.  At the end of the day, I open up the tote and put my helmet, gloves, and water bottles into it so its easier for me to carry around... from there I go over to the truck to get my gear bag so I don't want to be trying to carry all of my crap in my helmet hoping that it won't fall out and be lost!

10) What if I can't ride every mile? Then get off your bike and take a sweep to the next rest stop and from the rest stop wait for the SAG bus to pick you up and take you to camp!  Don't hurt yourself trying to be the martyr and ride every mile.  You have already raised three thousand dollars!! you are already a hero!!

that's it for now... or at least all that I can think of for now.

Sample Fundraising Letter...

Here is a copy of a fundraising email I sent out last year, just after Tax Day... feel free to plagiarize whatever you need to finish up on your fundraising.

Hi Everyone!  Happy New Tax Year! (I'm sure you're now looking for a good deduction?)

Once again I will be riding 545 miles from San Francisco to Los Angeles in AIDS/Lifecycle 7.  This is my annual "annoy you to ask for a donation" email, the first of a few to ask for a (tax deductible!) donation to my goal of $5,000.

The past year has been a difficult one for my very good friend, Michael F.- who is a cycling buddy and also a Positive Pedaler.  After years of taking the same meds and maintaining a decent number of T-cells, and having the ability to ride his bike from SF to LA TWICE- he has recently had to be hospitalized and his t-cell count has gotten dangerously low.  He is now on a new cocktail of pills and they are hoping to get him on the mend ("and back on his bike too, damnit!" he says) soon.  

That is only one of the reminders of why I choose to ride each year.  Not only for those whom I remember, but for those who are the face of AIDS and HIV in my life.

Now remember someone you have lost, or think of that great person you know who struggles with HIV.  Chances are you know someone, or know someone who knows someone.  That is how widespread AIDS still is.  Young people in the U.S are at persistent risk for HIV infection, especially youth of minority races and ethnicities.

Your donation to my AIDS/Lifecycle Ride will go directly to the San Francisco AIDS Foundation in support of the services it provides both locally and globally.

Thanks in advance for even considering it for a moment! 

Please donate here:

What to pack it all in....

This is the bag I have used the past 6 ALC rides.  Well, ok the first 4 years it was this bag in purple, and then the last 2 years it was this actual bag... with my monogram (Brown) on it!

Your bag must weigh no more than 70 lbs (but hey, please don't stuff it just because you're allowed 70lbs!) and hold your clothing for 7 days, your sleeping bag and your pad (thermarest or air mattress).  You COULD tie your sleeping bag to the outside of your bag, but with a bag this big you won't need to.

This particular bag is the Rolling Adventure Duffle from LL Bean.  In Extra Large, it is $99.50 so be sure that you are planning to use it a few more times to make it worth your while.  

Packing:  Start looking for 2 gallon ziploc bags.  I use 1 bag for each day of cycling clothing- my shorts, jersey, sport bra, socks and bandana.  At the end of each day, my stinky clothes go into the ziploc bag, and my clothes for the next day go into my sleeping bag so that my body heat can keep the clothes warm for the next morning, when I have to put them on before daybreak.  At the end of the week, the ziploc bags all get emptied directly into my washing machine (eeeeuuuuww!)

Wondering about more?  Stay tuned, or drop me an email to ask me!

To find out all there is to know...

We've scheduled many ALC Meet & Greets this month!  The first one this month is at the new Trek Store in Santa Rosa- Wednesday night 6:30pm.

Then, the next night Thursday March 5th we'll be at Mike's Bikes in Sacramento... with another in Marin at the Mike's Bikes in San Rafael.

And there are more, but its easier if you just take a look at the ALC Event Calendar to check out the dates and time!

We'll be reviewing everything you need to know about the Ride- logistics, packing,showers, shipping your bike to or from and much more so come on out and be sure to attend!  There will be only one meet and greet in each of the regions (North Bay, Sac, Marin, Peninsula, East Bay, South Bay, and Santa Cruz)

Get all those questions answered quickly!!

If you are an ALC Participant with so many questions it would take a very long email to me.... try getting onto the ALC Discussion Forum!

There is a huge list of topics that have been covered throughout the years... and lately folks on there just trying to ask "What's the Ride like?".  Take a look, feel free to post a question because chances are you'll get several replies!

Before I was ALC staff, I was on there daily answering questions, posting my own comments and opinions.  Since I'm on staff I can't post, but my old comments and opinions are still there!  This Forum is for you, so don't hesitate in using it!

You can CLICK HERE to join!

That time of the year again....

If you want to really know what AIDS/Lifecycle is like, read The Ride:  How to ride your bike from San Francisco to Los Angeles without even dying  by Russ Mendivil- past ALC rider/participant ( now a staff member of ALC).

I met Russ on his first ride training for ALC 4.  From that time on he kept a journal of his adventures training for the Ride.  It is an excellent way to find out what training for the ride has in store for you.

All proceeds from the sale of Russ' book goes toward ALC.  You can find out more by going to The Ride Story  and I'll bet if you send Russ an email at meanolddaddy@aol.com he'll even sell you an autographed one.

It is truly an entertaining (not to mention hilarious) account of The Ride, and what you are about to embark upon.

.....no, really!

The Ride

Every year I start this blog all over again, talking about The Ride (AIDS/LifeCycle for those of you just tuning in) and giving pointers on how to approach it all. Things I wished that people had written about when I first started training to do my first Ride (ALC 2 in 2003). I have ridden the ride 6 times so far, so I think I have some good ideas about what to expect!

So let me think.... First off- if you can afford to, buy 7 pairs of cycling shorts between now and May 31st. You don't have to buy all seven pairs right now, but maybe a pair a month or a pair every six weeks or so.

There will be laundry buckets on the ride, where you can hand wash your laundry but keep in mind that a pair of cycling shorts with a nice padding will take longer than overnight to dry. In fact it will likely take about 3 days to fully dry out.

Have a birthday between now and May 31st? Ask for money, OR ask for cycling shorts. You can skimp on other things (like jerseys or socks or jackets), but shorts are the most important item (in my humble opinion).

Training Rides.  Start riding NOW.

In 2003, I began my training at the beginning of February.  I gotta say that was cutting it pretty close!  From the first weekend in February through the last weekend in May, I rode my bike both Saturday and Sundays.  Since I was about 25 lbs overweight, the pace was slooow  and I was out almost all day on both Saturday and Sundays.  I met some of my best friends on those training rides.  To this day we either all still participate in the ride in some form or another. There were 5 women and one very brave guy (Patrick Wilson, who is now massage team captain) and we called ourselves "Five Chicks and a Dude".

We all taught each other how to fix  a flat, and never let anyone get left behind (thus our "no one gets left behind" motto).  We have all seen each other at our WORST (think Day 4 aka "cranky bitch day") and at our BEST, and I remember that first year of training like it was yesterday.

Come out, ride a ride, make a friend and then the following weekend do it all again.  And if you're feeling lonely and want some company (and you're local!).  Give me a call, I'll come out and ride with you! :-)

A little of this and that...

Ok, I admit I have been remiss in keeping up with this blog, but I will try and do better now that things are a little less hectic! (HA!)
Today I rode with the Saturday CAT 2 gang (see pictures to the left). I happened to take a look at my odometer before we left and noticed that I had only about 8 miles to go until my bike odometer rolled over 27,000 miles!

It's not every day you get to celebrate the fact that your legs have taken you over 27,000 miles on a bike. That's like what? A time and a half around the world?

Aerobically Sobering...

That's what Marybeth called our ride yesterday and man I would have to agree. I have been entirely sedentary during the week, which means that on the weekend when I jumpstart my heart it goes into overdrive, even on a relatively easy ride. Not good,not good at all...

MB, Annette, Michael, Matt and I set out on a ride from home to China Camp, intending to then come thru Fairfax and head over to Lagunitas for lunch. It was not to be. Once in Fairfax (about mile 19) MB, Annette and I decided that was it. My legs were tired, but really my heart rate was jumping sky high even on the flats. I've got to ease back into this again.... Michael and Matt rode on to Lagunitas (after our stop at Fat Angel, of course)

Annette, Michael and Matt are good at hitting the gym a few times during the week. MB and I, well we can easily talk ourselves out of getting to a gym which is what has been happening for the past month or two (for me, at least). My aerobic base is all but gone, and I will have to start working on it at the gym again.... .... its what I do every year. You'd think I'd learn!

So for those of you getting ready to start training for ALC for the first time (or again after a 6 month hiatus) I'm with ya all the way... huffing and puffing too!

Aerobically Sobering... when you realize your fitness is on Christmas Vacation too.

We're All In this Together...

"I didn't just jump back on the bike and win.  There were a lot of ups and downs, good results and bad results, but this time I didn't get the lows get to me"  -Lance Armstrong

Fundraising... how much goes where?

Many times people will ask me how much of the money raised for AIDS/LifeCycle goes to paying for the event itself.  If you check out this page on the ALC website, it will give you the breakdown for AIDS LifeCycles 1 thru 6 (ALC 7 has not been fully audited yet).

Basically, if you take a look at ALC 6, the Cost of Fundraising was 33.5%, meaning that about 66.5% of the money raised went to the Beneficiaries (either the LA Gay and Lesbian Center, or the SF AIDS Foundation).  

What's great about this money, is that unlike a lot of the money received from the government, the Beneficiaries can use those funds the way they deem appropriate. Many times the money received from the government has to be used a specific way.

Money raised by all of us is money without any strings attached!

Fall Crawl #4

Yesterday I FINALLY had the chance to get on my bike and ride.  I had not been on my bike since the Seismic Challenge in October.  These days my body can really tell when I have not been active... it feels like I'm draggin' along a pile of mush.  For some reason in November and December I'm not motivated to get out and move, at the gym, outdoors, nowhere!  So I always depend on ALC training rides to get me moving through those months.  Luckily Logan had asked for co-leaders for his Fall Crawl series, a Category 1 paced ride (about 8-10mph) and I volunteered for it a few weeks ago.  This forced me to get out.

Logan stretching

I'm glad I did too!  I got to meet a whole bunch of new people, some of them my own riders (I am their Cycle Buddy).  In addition, I ran into a whole lot of familiar faces out on the road (not riding ALC rides, but riding on their own).  It was a beautiful day for riding, not too cold not too hot.  I swept the first leg of the ride from SB to Mikes.  I really didn't have anybody to "sweep" since everyone was riding at a pretty good clip.  So at Mikes, I asked Damon if he was ready to roll and he was so we took off for the Tiburon loop together.  It was nice riding with other people, and Damon and I had the chance to catch up on things. (Damon was one of my running partners when I trained for the SF Marathon in 2007).  

The time passed quickly and soon we were at Shark's Deli where the group stopped for a quick lunch.  I had a bagel dog, chatted with folks for bit then got back on my bike and led a small group back to Mike's, our final re-grouping point.  James complained of his shifter not working correctly (new bike too) and so we took him into Mike's for a quick adjustment to his dereailleur.  They adjusted it quickly (I Love Mike's Bikes for that!) and we were back on the road on our final leg back to SB.

Everyone arrived between 12:30 and 1:15 and no one got left behind.  It was a great ride, a first ride for Kimberly who was out on her first official training ride and did fantastic!

After that, Annette and I stopped at Comfort's in San Anselmo for some good lunch!

Note to self (and you):  Get out and ride whenever you can in a group... it make it much more enjoyable!

A New President!

President-Elect Barack Obama.   Waay cool.

I have to tell you, not only am I excited that we'll have a President of color- (for those of you who don't know, I am Filipino)  I'm REALLY more excited that he is so close to my age!

For so long, well ok actually since I was a kid, I always figured that Presidents were supposed to be at least 30-40 years older than me.  And then when I eventually got old, that they would be 20-30 years younger.  

Well I'll be!!   Barack Obama is only about 1 year older than I am.  I mean, I knew people in college who went to Punahou School in Honolulu at the same time he was there... ok that for me is really really weird.  I mean he knows all about the late 70's and 80's-- disco, Qiana shirts and Angel Flight suits.  He lived through that time at the same time as me and he is now President.  Someone from MY actual generation is President!

I guess I'll just never think of myself as old enough to be President, so how could someone my age be?

Bouncing Bouncing...

If you've tried to email me at work and it has bounced back, please feel free to email me at my personal email address... this is an intermittent problem that's been happening on our ALC email server and I would hate to miss your important emails! View my full profile (over there on the left side of the page) to get the address.

Kick Off to AIDS/LifeCycle 8!

This past Saturday was the official Kick Off to the ALC 8 Training Season! We met at 8am for a 38 mile ride to the Tiburon Loop and back. Then at 9;30 the 22 mile Mill Valley ride met and rode out at 10:15. Finally 25 or so folks hung around for the Beginner's Clinic, which was the very basics on what you need to know to start training for ALC8.

About 50 people came out to ride to Tiburon, and over 100 rode to Mill Valley and back. Everyone was back by 1:30pm for announcements (SF has over 1000 registrations for ALC 8 already) and of course a raffle for a bike, donated by the Sports Basement.

It was a busy day for me.... I was hoping to get to meet more of my riders, but my whole day was basically taken up with sending off rides and teaching new things. Not a problem, that's my favorite part! I didn't get to eat lunch til about 3pm though!

Our TRLs are busy posting rides to the ride calendar. You should be able to access the calendar by clicking here. Be sure to click on the month you want... and you can even filter the rides based on proximity to your zip code. Come out and ride, its really a blast and no one ever gets left behind!

Most weekends in November I'll be spending training the last group of TRLs (Training Ride Leaders) but Nov 22 I'll be out co-leading a ride with Logan, and in December I'll be out riding with you... providing its not still raining!

The Seismic Challenge

Wow!  What a ride!

We all met up on Friday morning in the parking lot of the Sports Basement.  FInally around 10:15 2 busses arrived to take us up north to Ft. Bragg.  The bus ride was fun, I sat with Charles, Jay and Barbara.  We talked about the training, what we'd been doing lately, how nervous we were about the weekend.  Soon it was close to noon and my stomach was growling....

Eventually we pulled into the town of Willits, where (surprise!) we boarded the Skunk Train for a ride through the redwoods on our way to Fort Bragg.  That was an excellent trip!  I was not really looking forward to hanging on a bus for hours on end, so being able to eat lunch and hang out on the train while chatting with others was just my speed.

Once we got to Ft. Bragg, we headed over to our motel for the evening.  It was called the Beachcomber Inn.  It was a nice little motel that sat right on the beach.  In fact our deck looked right out at the soon to be setting sun.  

I've got to add-- not everyone got to stay here at the cute Beachcomber Inn, just the top ten fundraisers!  I must say it was quite nice to have a room to myself each night.  I'm really not much fun after riding 100 miles in one day, so it was a good thing for all that I didn't have to share!

That evening, 17 of us shared a table at a little Italian restaurant and feasted on pasta and pizza. It was nice, and fun to get to know the other riders a little more.  

Soon we were off to our hotels and into bed for a meet time Saturday morning of 6:15am! (yes it was still dark!)  My cell phone alarm clock woke me up at 5:15 and I dragged myself up out of bed and got myself into cycling gear and made a little pot of coffee in the little coffee maker in my room.  The brew was not Peets, but strong enough to get my pulse moving a bit quicker.  I made my way downstairs at 6am and Jason was there with a shuttle van to take us to the start.

We stretched, ate some great baked goods and heard the safety speech.  Soon, the sky started to lighten 'around 7:15am and we were off on the first leg of this epic ride!

I don't remember a whole lot of specifics about the route itself, except that it was very hilly.  And even that is an understatement!  The route started on Highway One in Fort Bragg, and continued all the way down Hwy 1 until we reached  Jenner.  There were two major climbs I remember, one at about mile 30 which was short but a bit of a wall.  The other was at mile 90, my legs were so tired already from all the steep rolling hills, and I couldn't imagine climbing any more after rest stop 4.  But climbing is what I did.  The hills were steep in some places, but that also meant the downhills were AWESOME!  If you like descending like I do, it was truly one of the best routes. 

All in all I'd say that was one of the toughest routes I've done in my 6 years of riding.  Do-able, but tough!

After making a left turn after Jenner, onto hwy 116 it was a ten mile ride into Guerneville where we spent the night.  That was the longest 10 mile stretch, a cool down ride mind you, but when you've already ridden 98 miles it can be the most tiring, and dangerous if you're not careful.

We spent the night in Guerneville, exhausted but definitely ready for the next days riding.

Because of Niz' (my mom in laws) 70th birthday party scheduled for 1pm the next day, I cut my riding short on Sunday.  I rode only 37 miles, from Guerneville into the town of Tomales where Mike picked me up.  I got home, showered and headed over to the party.

Halfway thru the party, I asked Mike for the car keys so that I could sneak away and head on over to the Finish Line to see my co-riders come in to the end.  It was about 5:30 by the time Cris C swept in the final rider.  It was so fun to cheer everyone in.

It was truly a ride of Seismic proportions... and now I am Seismically tired, and have a Seismic appetite!  

Oh, and I raised $7,001 and was the number TWO fundraiser for the weekend!  woohoo!

A big ride and a little ride...

Since I was a little freaked out about having this big 200 mile ride to do next weekend, and having not been on my bike for two weeks, I talked Barbara, Dave and Mike into riding a long ride this past Saturday...

We started from my house in San Anselmo, headed into West Marin and thru Nicasio, past the Cheese Factory, over Wilson Hill and into Petaluma for an early lunch at the Apple Box.  After a brief re-fueling of food and then coffee at Peets, we headed west on Bodega Ave, hooked onto Tomales/Petaluma Road and headed over to Tomales bakery.  Then, we headed south on highway 1 to Marshall, with a gnarly climb (at 57 miles into the ride, mind you) up the back side of the Marshall Wall- a route which I had never taken.

Now I know what to say when people ask me which direction I prefer.  NEITHER.

The back side is steep climbs with some flats and downhills in between but not any easier than going in the other direction.

After Marshall we went back to the Cheese Factory (stopped for a snack) and then headed back down Nicasio retracing our path back home... with a stop at Scoop in Fairfax as a nice reward.

Total mileage:  87 miles.  and man is my butt feeling every mile.  The next day (Sunday), we did an easy 20 mile ride around Tiburon.  Nice and short, but my legs are still sore.

I can't even imagine what its gonna feel like after next weekend...

The Shades of AIDS Lifecycle People...

I love this picture....

It's basically the shade we all are by Labor Day, after a season of cycling... (ok, Marybeth doesn't change much!)