Today's Ride

[FairfaxPat]

Re:

That's an easy bet-The ones here in Fairfax are Coastal Redwoods, and they don't get as big around as the Sequoia versions, but much taller-twice as tall. Those ones in my pic are a young grove and certainly not the biggest in my neighborhood, they are maybe 230 feet tall, quite a bit taller than the one you posed your bike in front of. Coast Redwoods are the tallest on Earth, and we have the tallest one about 100 miles North of here- 379 feet tall. The tallest Redwood in the UK is only 177 feet tall... We also have many Giant Sequoia in the "Avenue of the Giants" just north of here, as well as the famous Muir Woods down near Mill Valley with hundreds of giants...

 

[FairfaxPat]

Re:

Today-Wednesday-Met up with Charley Kelly downtown for a ride today, but his Breezer was making a horrible creaking noise every few seconds. So we called up Joe Breeze, who happened to be home, and went over to his place. It turned out the rear axle was coming unwound from a loose nut-fixed in no time, with a thank you to Joe-then we climbed the steepest way up into the Open Space District about 1000', with a nice drop into Tamarancho for a bit of chillin' in the sun before the descent back to town...

 

[26er]

Today Thursday. Cold, dark and raining so got inspired by the previous pics and took a ride down the memory lane with the giants...

 

[FairfaxPat]

Today-Thursday-Larry and I went on the annual Thanksgiving Day ride and appetite seminar. Cold for around here at about 44 F. when we left at 10 AM, but it warmed up to about 58 F. this afternoon. About 1500' above San Geronimo Valley on the ridge top, is my friend Josh's refreshment stand, which he schleps up to a spot we call the Triangle, just before the final descent back to Fairfax. He has Hot Coffee, sometimes pancakes, and lots of Whiskey for the coffee or whatever. The ride is so popular, that it is dotted with Rangers along the loop, and they count the number or riders each year. It was 750 at 11 AM, with more coming. We had a great time...

 

[FairfaxPat]

Re:

cool tree, 26er, where is it?

 

[26er]

Looks like y'all havin real cool time there. Great pics!
Wish we had some of it over here right now...

... but the only thing we got is Black Friday.

The tree is a couple hours up north from where u r.
I drove through it back in 2006... I think.

 

[02gf74]

Re:

. That predates the egyptian pyramids by two thousand years or 10x as old as america.

 

[Repack Rider]

Pat took a shorter route on the Appetite Seminar ride than I did, and met us near the end of the ride. I went the distance, riding from my house, which makes it 40km and over 1000 meters of climbing.

Weather was cold, below freezing when I left the house at 7:15. First part of the ride is Bolinas Road to the turnoff onto dirt. Eight k and 300 meters of elevation later, I hit the track known as the Pine Mountain Truck Road. Every year I try to start earlier, and I finish later. I was amazed at how exhausted I was at the finish. Pushing 70 y.o. will do that, but it's still disturbing to find out.

This was the 40th anniversary ride. Joe Breeze and I both broke out the 40+ year old club jerseys from the year the ride started. We didn't plan this, but really, which of my 50 jerseys is most appropriate for this ride?

Count was 750+ riders, not all at once but over a period of several hours. There is no leader or organization, people know the route, and for four hours a parade of happy cyclists celebrates the big party.

At a junction called The Triangle, Josh puts out the whiskey and coffee, mixed with thick cream in a paper cup, and for a price he'll make you pancakes. By the time you reach Josh, 95% of the climbing is behind you, and nothing tastes better than his libation.

Afterward riders gathered in front of the Marin Museum of Bicycling for beer provided by the Marin County Bicycle Coalition.

 

[RobMac]

Re:

Hey Charlie that sounds like a very civilized kinda ride out

 

[k-rod]

Re:

There are some things that California does best!