Wednesday

Another day east of the bay.  The weather forecast didn't sound like it would be much better today, so we stayed in Pleasanton and slept in late.  Starting tomorrow (because we have to leave and head south) the weather will greatly improve.

The wind was brisk, and the temperature cool when we got the bike out  and rode to Foothill Road which is by far the prettiest ride around here. We then wound up having to catch a brief piece of the Interstate to get to part of the loop we were riding, we started wondering if we should have just stayed home... then when we finally got to State Highway 84 and saw the long hill that loomed in front of us, our suspicions were confirmed.  Too late now, so we just kept pedalling.

There's a saying, "what goes up must come down", and fortunately today was no exception. We came within .3 mph of cracking the 50 mph mark... our top speed was registered at 49.7  mph.  Downhill runs can be exhilarating as long as you don't suffer a blow-out!

We found our way back to Crank 2 and did some more bicycle related shopping.  Then it was back to the motel to finish out the day with 32 miles.  We are now sitting in a laundromat, getting all of our cycling gear (and regular clothes too) washed and ready for our trek south, which begins much too early in the morning...

Tuesday Comes to a Close

It’s about 9:20 PM and we’re back in the motel in Pleasanton. After dinner at Scoma’s, we decided to walk back to where we came from, rather than catch the MUNI from the Wharf (which was my original plan). We marched back up Jones Street to Columbus, and then turned on Powell for the long trudge uphill, and then a few steep blocks back downhill to Market Street.

Not satisfied with being back close to the BART, we decided to walk a few more blocks to Pacific Bicycle to see if they had anything that might catch our eye and – yes – they did! I found a jersey in a size that fit, and that was on sale… so it’s now part of my cycling ensemble.

Next door was a Whole Foods store (coming to Boise any year now…) so we had to take a walk through there as well. Then it was back to the Westfield San Francisco Centre (a mall in the heart of downtown) where we enjoyed a Gelato before getting back on the BART for the ride back to Pleasanton.

On the Wharf...

We have just walked from Market and Powell streets to the Wharf... in the rain... under a newly purchased umbrella.  Yes... it's been raining!

I've attached two pictures, taken from the corner of Scoma's restaurant that we are currently sitting in. One [hopefully] shows the TransAmerica building shrouded in the mist, and the other is shot 90 degrees to the right of the TransAmerica shot.

We're having scallops tonight; mine will be a risotto and Valerie's will be sauteed.  A side of clam chowder and asparagus and we'll be on our way... hopefully in a dryer evening!

Rain! Who Knew?

It's Tuesday afternoon...1:43 PM... and the BART train is pulling out of the Dublin/Pleasanton station and we're heading to San Francisco.  In the rain... without our tandem.

Fortunately we got a ride in this morning around Pleasanton where I learned a great lesson about the bike paths there.  What starts out as a delightful asphalt path at some point turns to gravel.  Then, when you reach the end of the trail you find a locked gate, chain link fence and no way to exit the path (outside of some creative teamwork that involved lifting the bike over a barricade and having Valerie catch it on the other side).

In spite of it all we managed to get in 30 miles before the weather turned to liquid...

The Rest of Monday (Getting Caught Up)

We left Boise early Sunday morning to begin a two week vacation – getting away for a “rest” by taking our tandem bicycle with us to get in a lot of riding whenever possible. We stopped in Reno for a little while and invested in the local slot machines; I had decided that I’d donate $20 to the Nevada economy, but they apparently would have none of that and insisted that I leave with $60 in my pocket instead. Who am I to argue?

Taking Interstate 80 over the Sierra Nevada Mountains, we found that most of northern California had also been in Reno and were heading back at the same time we were on the road. Add to that some very rough patches in the road, narrow lanes where construction was going on and accordion stop and go driving and it made for a longer than necessary drive.

Arriving at our hotel in Rancho Cordova (east of Sacramento) at about 6:00 in the evening, we rushed to get our luggage in the room and the bike off the car so we could take a quick ride before dinner. We must have been in a business area because there was no traffic to speak of on the roads near the hotel, and in the industrial area where Ventana was located was pretty quiet too. Not so this morning!

We got 11 miles in, found a place to eat close by and hit the sack. This morning, we got up, went and met the folks at Ventana and then made the drive to our motel in Pleasanton (southeast of Oakland). We normally like to stay in San Francisco, but the hotel rates were more than we cared to deal with (unlike in March or April when we usually visit the Bay Area) – so we picked this area because of its close proximity to the BART line and Crank 2 Performance Tandem Bicycles.

We started riding at wound up at the Nordstrom’s as I mentioned in the previous post, rode to the bike store (where we spent a good amount of time and money) and then back to the motel. It was a little over 21 miles, again not as much as we’d like to get in but there’s always tomorrow.

It was too late to really think about riding the BART over to San Francisco, so we decided to eat locally at a restaurant that we enjoy called Sweet Tomatoes (also known as Souplantion, at least from what we’ve seen in southern California). And this is what this whole post is leading up to: the worst parenting we’ve witnessed in a restaurant in several years.

A man and a woman across from us had a baby in a high chair who was at the stage where she could start learning to feed herself, but was in no way skilled enough to do so with any kind of good result. Her end of the table was coated in smeared food; the floor was so thick with food that she had pushed off the table that the carpet was hidden from view in a few spots. The parents weren’t making any effort to do anything other than offer the child more food to shove on the floor.

There’s a time and a place for everything, and if you’re little angel isn’t up to speed on whether to eat the food or use it as finger paint on the table, then either take the time to feed the little darling yourself… or stay the hell at home and let Satan’s spawn destroy YOUR dining room!

I wasn’t thinking clearly when these folks got up, cleaned the kid off, made a feeble attempt to clean up her mess (they failed miserably) and left without leaving any kind of tip for the poor slob who was going to get to clean up after them. I should have taken a picture and posted it here… but the guy came over and surveyed the area before starting to clean it up and all I could do was look at him and shrug my shoulders and shake my head in disbelief.

Our previous worst dining experience ruined by bad parenting? It was visiting my mother and going out for pizza at a place called Streets of New York. The was a woman there who had one little kid with her coated in snot (the kid was really sick, with a miserable cold and had no business being anywhere but at home) and another who seemed to think it was great fun in climbing up on the table and running from one side to the other.

The mother got really offended when someone made a comment to the effect that if that was the kind of behavior her kid had, and lack of any kind of parenting whatsoever that they should have stayed home. “People forget that they were once little kids too” she said. No… people don’t forget they were once little, but most of us remember that we had parents that wouldn’t put up with that kind of crap at all.

I only wish I could remember what it was I said that got her so offended! (So I could say it again…)

Monday So Far...

We woke up this morning and went to see a shop that manufactures full suspension mountain bikes this morning (a few things are actually still made here rather than in Taiwan). Pictured is a view of the shop at Ventana.

We then made the drive south to Pleasanron and managed to find our motel, a Safeway store for some supplies and a Nordstrom's. I'm currently out guarding our bike while Valerie is inside trying to trade in an item that was mail ordered from our last trip to San Diego.

From here we'll go find a store that specializes in tandems amd women's cycling apparel. Hopefully I'll have more to write about later when I'm not limited to posting via my cell phone!