Larkspur Loop on March 5th

This was my first visit to Alpine Dam and up Mt. Tamalpias in Marin County. What an adventure and a great way to spend my birthday. Shhh…yes, it was my actual birthday. It was a team buddy ride weekend. My gift from the team was pain, suffering and harassment but still a beautiful day and adventure.



The weather was perfection, in the 60’s with no wind or rain. I was having a good ride tackling the first climbs up to the dam. However, on the decent I discovered that I had a screw loose (insert joke here)…haha! My back water bottle & cage was coming loose, it was crooked and interfering. This caused me to slow, and ride down into Alpine Dam holding a water bottle in my hand…not fun!



Thank you to my teammates Jon& Jim for re-configuring the cage with the one screw I had left. This comprised the cage and it really couldn’t hold any weight without creating problems. So I was down to one fill-able water bottle for the remainder of the ride.



The rest of the ride up Mt. Tam was a tough one over the Seven Sisters and especially into the visitor center parking lot. There, I popped a small wheelie…not my intent! It was a very steep grade and my lighter bike and lack of proper position created the OMG moment…yikes! I don’t recommend this on a road bike:) Obviously, I still have A LOT to learn. But mission accomplished…I rode all the way to the top of Mt. Tam!!!



The view from the top of Mt. Tam was truly a breath-taking gift...so far, the best I've seen in the Bay Area. It was a spectacular day to spend with friends old & new as I tackled another great ride! Having it be on my birthday made it that much more memorable:)

Feels like winter!

After an entire week of being on weather-watch, we were blessed with good cycling weather for our Orinda team ride. Thankfully, all the sea-level snow warnings didn't come to fruition. It was still damn cold but we were prepared. Most of us were dressed like we were heading out to the slopes of the sierra's not cycling the east bay...haha!



The week before a hearty and foolish bunch of us braved almost monsoon conditions for a 60 mile buddy ride. Probably the worst combination of weather I have ridden in so far. Many on our team titled it "The Epic Ride". To me it felt more like an episode of survivor on bikes! So this week was a very welcome relief from battling multiple elements.

I continue to be amazed by what my new bike, "Willie" has carried me through in just a few short weeks. This week was similar mileage to the previous, but the climbing was pushed up to about 5000'. We were doing hill repeats on Pinehurst! I'm thrilled I've made it through 4 weeks of this training.



I'm surprised, that this many weeks in and I'm still meeting and getting to know new teammates. Obviously, I need to work on my social skills...haha! I know that seems shocking, considering how chatty I can be, but our ride groups have been somewhat speed segregated. The hurry up and go methodology of this team doesn't leave much time for socializing off of the bike. Especially for my group that has a slower pace, at times everyone is done & gone by the time we roll in. Nevertheless, we are still having fun.

Overall it was a very good ride. Discovered some new roads and areas to ride...didn't fall down or run over any wildlife and am getting to know my team. Oh, and it was a sunny day spent on my bike...so, not a bad day at all!