Gala Final Concert at Saint Dominic’s, SF, 5/17/08

Some fotos:

St. Dominic’s Catholic Church, San Francisco

Stained Glass

Saint Dominic?

Valdez Rehearsing

Foyer Music by Paolo and friend

Closing Remarks: Blaine, Steve and Valdez

Our Celebrity MCs: Fernando and Greg, with Valdez and Diana

Pianists Davide Verotta and Verna Lim

We had much better attendance this time and a very ambitious program which started to run overtime from the beginning and had to be cut short at the end. I was almost unaware of Davide Verotta, who opened with a Beethoven sonata, and of Sara Klotz who, I think, sang together with her husband (I was in the narthex selling raffle tickets with Diana) and barely noticed Wendy and Andrew who reprised “Suddenly Seymour.” Two performers from the Youth Orchestra: Alex Lee on viola this time (a Brahms Hungarian Dance), and Lily Sham, whom we haven’t heard, a bassoonist! The Lollipop Guild of the SF Gay Men’s Chorus (whom I remembered with delight from the Northbrae opener) didn’t seem all that fresh and exciting this time. It may have been the accoustics in that enormous space. But Carlo sounded great (I hope he’s going to contact my teacher Mark, because I think he has a voice worth developing, but he says he’s buried in his law studies—the singing is of course a sideline). We had a brief conversation concerning the endorsement of same-sex marriage by the Calif. Supreme Court this week (he was studying the opinion); he concurs with my sense that it’s going to be difficult to overturn, even through an amendment initiative, because it reaffirms fundamental guarantees of equal rights. It’s much more than a victory for the gay community (although I can sympathize with the personal reaction: “good, now we can really get married”). It’s a victory for our civil liberties and for Constitutional principles which are hard beset these days by the radical reactionaries. But I digress! Camille Hudson sang powerfully, then Valdez finally had his chance to play his big Liszt piece (“Pensée des Morts”). I have less and less sympathy for Liszt; it all sounds like empty posing to me and lots of virtuoso excess, and much too long. But those qualities impress a lot of people. I will admit V. played with feeling and power, and accuracy, gave the piece a fair chance. After intermission the Schubert duet performed by Valdez and Verna went well. But we started feeling the time pressure; Yolanda Harden who was going to sing a big aria (from Le Cid) went back to her spiritual instead, and Valdez had to forego his second Liszt exhibition. The Lollipop Guild insisted on finishing all three of their scheduled selections (not too cooperative) and also talked for a long time about their mission. The Eusebius Duo (Monika Gruber, violin, and Hillary Nordwell, piano) graciously consented to play only the first movement of the Brahms sonata (Op. 78). Now Brahms! I sometimes think I must be “channeling” him, I feel so in tune with his music.  But this was the musical high point of the evening: beautiful playing of a breathtakingly beautiful piece. What a shame we didn’t get to hear it all! Davide quickly played one of his Debussy Etudes. And I didn’t get to sing at all! Actually this had been anticipated, and I had declared myself (reluctantly) willing to yield if need be. But I had really been looking forward to closing the program and the concert series by joining Valdez in one of “our” numbers from times before. Valdez presented me as an ALC rider and gave me credit again for the idea of a concert series, and that was nice but not quite the same thing. Anyway and all in all, the finale was a big success and Valdez (again) and Blaine deserve enormous applause for organizing it all and bringing it off, with all its little flaws. We’re looking ahead to putting the concerts on the map next year.

Pig Farm–3 Bears Loop, 5/10/08

Pig Farm/3 Bears, 5/10/08

I made a lot of fotos with my new, more powerful Canon camera. Click on the image above to view the whole set. Denise has “upgraded” her rides to Cat. 2 (perhaps because the two ladies last time complained about the unexpected hills?) We greeted two newcomers: Jay and Alex, who I think are also new to the Ride this year. Lala was there, and Kerwin, whom we haven’t seen since fall, showed up too. Diana had agreed again to car-sweep, with the two dogs, Albert and Casey. Denise always does a good warmup, including “dynamic” stretching, which most leaders don’t do (you want to get the body moving and warm before you start “static” pulling on things). We headed out the Contra Costa Canal Trail as before, but didn’t quite find Gregory/Grayson this time, and had to make a lengthy course correction on Pleasant Hill Rd. Then Reliez and Alhambra Valleys up to the top of Pig Farm Hill where Diana met us with snacks. I swept and was surprised to find Kerwin still riding so slowly (climbing is probably still a challenge, even with a 32-tooth gear, but very likely he’s just found his comfort zone). I was a little surprised too at Lala’s relative speed and power as she rode ahead of us; she’s made some progress! I was testing my legs after yesterday’s climbing and was glad to be riding slow on the back. Found the going somewhat harder today, but the hills here are steeper. Top of Pig Farm is still a grind. And Mama Bear (we did the Bears from the “wrong” side) is just a mean, straight up, no excuses climb (it says 7% in my book). I had to pass Kerwin to get some pedaling room, caught up with Lala and felt good just to keep it going to the top. On Papa Bear more of the same, but longer, and then the long descent down to San Pablo Dam Rd. Dropped my chain as I shifted onto the “granny” gear for “Goldilocks” (didn’t even want to try it on the 40!) We rewarded ourselves with a nice lunch in Orinda; the guys took off, and the rest of us took the easy way back for a change, out St. Stephen’s Trail and Mt. Diablo and Olympic Blvds. with a tailwind back to Walnut Creek and the Iron Horse. 35.6 miles at 11.1 mph. Okay!

Woodside–Skyline Loop, 5/9/08

This route turned out a lot shorter than I expected (we didn’t quite reach sixty miles) and Skyline wasn’t nearly as severe as I recalled it from three years ago. I’d been almost set to ride it solo a week ago, wanting to check out some of the climbing we’ll see on Day 1 and also to get in some longer distances, but decided it was much too long and too remote to attempt without a partner (I think I would be less hesitant to do it now, and that’s a plus—need to keep the adventure in cycling!) Anyway I persuaded Valdez to join me and he invited Blaine, who had the day off, and I met them in Newark instead of Union City BART which would have added another 10 miles. I’m sure V. said 8 o’clock (he said he said 8:30) but when I arrived, on time, he was still in nightclothes, thinking about eating breakfast, and Blaine was still showering or dressing, and there I was, waiting for two gay men to get ready to go out(!) and getting increasingly anxious and irritated and worried about getting back before dark; we didn’t start until after 9:15 (”Gee, Valdez, you could have said nine!”) I led again and spun across the flats and over the bridge and waited by the benches (I picked up a quantity of mud, which stuck in my brakes and all over the wheels and frame). Valdez, lagging, announced he had a flat, a slow leak, decided to try to pump it up and ride to the bike store in Palo Alto and have it checked. More delays! At least I got to borrow a rag and wipe down my bike! Up Sand Hill to Manzanita and Mountain Home, a break at Roberts Market; then Valdez insisted on stopping to visit the Pulgas Water Temple. I still don’t know why; it’s been renovated or something.

We stopped to visit the Pulgas Water Temple

Interesting: there’s a park and a cute little classical rotunda with columns (Corinthian: the fancy ones) which commemorates the completion of the aqueduct from Hetch-Hetchy Reservoir (next to Yosemite in the Sierra) where San Fran gets its water. Foto op; pit stop. Another delay! I was seriously thinking about turning around and going back before it got too late. But it got better, cruising out on Cañada Rd. (it always does on the bike), and the distance seemed much shorter and the time still favorable. Do I have to admit Valdez was right? He was just enjoying a day out with his boyfriend. And of course it had become “his” ride instead of mine. Okay.

Well, Highway 92 is unbelievably terrible, a long, fairly steep climb on a very busy road (SUVs, RVs, trucks with trailers), narrow with almost no shoulder. Difficult and dangerous. This is the route for Day 1 on the Ride, and I can’t remember, can’t imagine how ALC gets 2000 riders over it without multiple disasters! Maybe Sunday morning is quieter? A stretch to avoid, I should think, if at all possible. On ALC 4 and 5 we descended (a wonderful downhill) on 92 and met the Coast Highway at Half Moon Bay, but last year, due to highway construction, the route turned left on Skyline, climbed up and up and up to “Skylonda” and La Honda and over to the coast on Hwy. 84. It’s not absolutely clear yet which way we’ll be riding, but many assume it’ll be Skyline again. I thought it would be good to be prepared.

Here is Hwy. 92 as it drops away toward Half Moon Bay

The grade on Skyline is actually fairly gentle, about 5 percent, not steeper than Redwood Road or Fairmont, but it seems to go on forever; in all (I estimated from the map later) we climbed about seven miles to King’s Mountain Rd., where we descended; it’s 12.5 miles to Woodside Road and Hwy. 84. So it was concentrate on climbing easily: regular breathing, back extended, shoulders relaxed, and smooth pedaling. And it went extremely well. It was also beautiful, and I stopped several times to take fotos.

This is actually quite close to the crest. A peaceful bit of redwood grove.

Top of King’s Mountain Road back down to Woodside

Valdez suggested we go down King’s Mountain Rd., and it was a wonderful, long, twisting descent on a very decent surface, all the way back down to Roberts Market. Looked like a challenging climb; lots of cyclists on the way up. But probably as “do”-able as the road we’d just taken. Another road to ride someday on the Peninsula. Lunch stop in Palo Alto, then back through Menlo Park and over the Dumbarton with Valdez in the lead (Blaine and I nearly caught him at the top of the bridge, but let him get away). I “bridged” and drafted behind him crossing the Marshlands and noticed he kept speeding up, trying to drop me(?), and I hung behind him, at twenty mph now, waiting for the right moment to “come around” and sprint past him up the hill to the Nature Center. Competition! But he broke it off before it came to the real test. I guess I can still beat him, but it’s getting harder; he is getting pretty strong. Oh, yeah: average 11.8 mph for 57.5 miles. Over 3500 vertical feet. And we were back by around 4:30. Very satisfactory; and I feel ready for the Ride, even without a hundred-miler under my belt.

Three Shorter Rides, 5/05/08

I have to fill in a few. On Monday (5/5) with Valdez and Joe, over the Dumbarton to Palo Alto and Woodside. Joe had brought his road bike and looked sharp in his Yellow Jackets jersey—he joined the club in order to join our ALC team and ride with us, and he and I are going to be tentmates. Valdez was riding his trophy Trek bike with the flame logos. He and Blaine also want to ride with the Yellow Jackets and tent in our neighborhood. A nice, warmer day after so much miserable chill. I wanted to practice my new technique and rode ahead, spinning pretty easily, and releasing my back & shoulders, across the Marshlands and over the bridge, and it felt great to be turning a high cadence and not grinding it out. After our Starbucks stop Valdez led us through Menlo Park and out the Alameda de las Pulgas. But on Highway 84 I just couldn’t ride behind any more and took off again up the hill. It’s not a killer hill, but challenging enough, a long grade on which I normally plod along, but I started spinning fast and kept it going all the way to the top. Concentrating on relaxing and on smoothing my left foot (it has a little jerk and wobble) and keeping up momentum, but not “efforting.” Well, I was puffing a bit, but felt I could keep going like that a long time. I haven’t handled a real hill like that before, bottom to top without struggle, and it’s like arriving at a new level, and really exciting. At Roberts Market we snacked, met Jay, an ALC rider out on a training ride from the City. They’d given him the day off for Cinco de Mayo! We rode around on Mountain Home, through the woods, and up Portola, and here I had another chance to spin up the hill. Riding down Alpine, I was overtaken on the back by a rider who admired my Japanese Flag jersey (she said she was Japanese). She was wearing the Oakland Oak Tree jersey which I covet of MontanoVelo Sports on Piedmont Ave.  She turned off on her training ride, and we continued down Sand Hill to Palo Alto. Out University after a long lunch, and I went ahead again, into a stiff headwind, spun again across the bike path and over the bridge and kept it going across the Marshlands again. Joe, I guess, had had enough of watching me ride ahead (he had kept Valdez company most of the day) and suddenly appeared right beside me at the top of the hill at the Nature Center, having sprinted all the way from the bridge. He’s such a strong rider; he may even have nipped me at the stop sign! Well, to me this was another breakout day, and dispels the discouragement of my Tunnel Road adventure. I’m satisfied again with my training. 39.5 miles at 13.8. I think I still need to get in some longer rides, and we have a tentative date to ride the Day 1 route on Friday, up the endless hills on Skyline. Here are a few fotos.

Woodside, 5/5/08

On Saturday (5/3) I went to find the Yellow Jackets, a few of whom, according to Kate Pixley’s email, were meeting at the Lake instead of journeying to the City for the official Tiburon Loop. Started out well: I rode from home and practiced spinning and tore out Foothill, etc. averaging 15.6—basically downhill, of course, and no doubt with some wind assist, but not pressing: that’s very satisfactory. No one was there at 9, they may have decided to ride earlier. I decided to do a short solo ride up Tunnel and Skyline, and it started to get tough going up Broadway beside the freeway. This is always a hard hill, and I struggled to the stop sign; then Tunnel itself was unexpectedly challenging. On both of these I think the grade is deceptive, but the climbing was just hard. I slowly caught up with another rider (while whole groups passed us both); he must have seen my ALC pin on my saddle-bag and hailed me; turned out he was training for the Ride too, Dan from Emeryville, an ALC veteran, and we rode together out Skyline to Joaquin Miller, where he turned around to ride back, while I continued down to the Mormon Temple and down Monterey and home. Skyline went better; I was able to spin some, but the climbing was pretty discouraging—Tunnel Rd. is just not that hard. I made just 11.2 mph for 23 miles (big comedown from my fast start) and really didn’t have the energy to extend my ride.

On Wednesday (4/30) it was a short ride out to San Leandro to rehearse with Bob Fowler. Took Bancroft out and back: city streets with lots of traffic, but flat! and practiced my spinning, made 13.8 mph (15.2 outbound) for 17.5 miles. Good rehearsal, by the way: Brahms songs for this Saturday; his 175th birthday next Wednesday.

ALC Concert in Danville, 5/03/08

I want to say something about our most recent event, at Saint Timothy’s Episcopal Church in Danville, which was certainly our most successful so far both in terms of audience support and financially. The church must have undertaken to reach out and urge their members to attend (this really should have been understood all along to be a condition of “sponsorship”); and not only that: it was like a homecoming; we felt we were among friends. Our Emcee for the evening, Jill O’Callahan who is vice-president of Bank of the West there (one of our official sponsors) turned out in fact to be an old colleague and friend of Valdez; she didn’t just announce the performers as the others had done (or failed to do), but kept everyone interested and happy to be there. I should add here that Blaine and Valdez had set up a silent auction for some pretty nice items in the parish hall next door, where the church also provided food and wine, and panels of the AIDS Quilt were also displayed. Unfortunately my fotos are pretty sketchy, attempted under very difficult lighting conditions, but here are a couple:

And that we collaborated again with the Young People’s Symphony who are raising money to travel to an international music festival in New Zealand. By this time it is almost the usual suspects: Carlo and Valdez and Verna and Camille Hudson, joined by Davide Verotta this time and Yolanda Harden (she’s billed as a Wagnerian dramatic soprano, and I keep hoping for something operatic, but she’s done gospel numbers both times: she has a big and impressive voice). Wendy and Andrew again and Gemini Soul (they’re a terrific combo and terribly nice and sincere young guys) had people up and dancing. Bob Fowler and I performed two Brahms songs in honor of the master’s birthday. And kids from the YPSO, Clark Straub, bass (viol, he wasn’t a singer!), and Joyce Park again and Justin Sedor, a cello duo, with Jonathan Davis, a fine pianist.

I don’t know how much money we cleared, but since Valdez and Blaine and I have all already met our minimum for ALC, it was decided to turn over a great deal of it (over $1100 I think) to YPSO. Valdez, of course, was ecstatic: it’s the blossoming of his vision, his first taste of real success in the series. We’ll see how it goes in two weeks at our closer in San Francisco, but he is already committed to doing it again next year, has several venues secured, is talking about producing fundraising concerts for other causes and orgs. I don’t know who else could have done it, inspired all these people and pulled it all together, and he deserves enormous credit for his hard work.

ALC Concert at Northbrae, 4/26/08

I wanted to post a handful of pictures from our Northbrae concert (warming/setting up beforehand and standing around afterwards—nothing during the performance). And of course I missed a number of the artists: Camille Hudson, gospel singer and Morris LeGrande (superb jazz guitarist) and soprano Jacqueline Anderson of Northbrae, and our MC, Maria Lopez of KKSF Radio.

This is Alex, the drummer for Gemini Soul

Wendy Frato and Andrew Sherman sang show tunes

Valdez Hill, piano

Verna Lim, Valdez’ piano partner, accompanied Wendy and Andrew

Gemini Soul setting up: André, leader and bass guitar, has his back turned;

the others are Alex, John on keyboard, and Andrew, percussionist.

Bob Fowler, piano

Baritone Steve Wedgwood and tenor Carlo Del Conte

Debbie Golata came to sing, but saved the day by accompanying Steve and  tenor GQ Wang.

Ensalada de sopa y pan, 4/25/08

Fotos from today’s ride (the title comes from Valdez who likes to give his rides exotic Spanish names):

Ensalada de sopa y pan, 4/25/08

We met at Union City, across from BART which is still torn up by construction: Valdez and Paolo (whom we immediately deputized as a ride leader), Edna Flores, Sergio Ruiz, and Rick Warren. Some of us, including me, had to be back early, and we decided to shorten the route by cutting out a loop out to Woodside. Valdez, to save himself the ride back to BART, even drove his car home and met us then at Marshlands Rd., the turnoff to the bridge. Across the marshlands and over the Dumbarton, with me setting the pace and spinning easily at a high cadence, applying my insight from Tuesday about bending the elbows and forcing the upper body to relax, and it went exceptionally well. Paolo remarked on my speed and strength. After our break at Starbucks on Willow Valdez took us the back way into Menlo Park, walking our bikes up the spiraling pedestrian bridge over the 101 freeway, and eventually to Alpine Rd. which has the gentle uphill which I always enjoy, the more so because I was able to spin it. I was sweeping behind Edna, but put on a little surge up to the turnoff on Arastradero Rd. Then we had rollers and one nice descent through Los Altos Hills out to Los Altos and La Boulangerie on Main St., our habitual lunch stop. Another of my favorite rides (I feel more confident of the streets and turns now), and it was a warm and sunny day and altogether very pleasant. Back to Palo Alto on Foothill; again I was sweeping, but with a tailwind, moving right along easily. We left Sergio at the train station (later checked to see that he’d got back to SF all right), walked our bikes through the tunnel under the tracks, and headed out on Waverly and through the woods to Willow and the bike path to the bridge. On the Dumbarton finally I sped ahead (with tailwind), cranking up to 13/14 mph, but again without major effort, just spinning fast and enjoying the rotation of my feet and knees; I felt like a kid with a new toy (or an evil dictator with a secret weapon!) Noticed Valdez in my mirror, trying to catch up, and started feeling a little competitive—let’s see if he can do it! He was riding very strong and got close, but finally let up. On Marshland again I put on a little surge, truly not pressing, not working hard, but spinning fast and efficiently. Valdez left us at Jarvis and I showed the way on the Ardenwood path and De Coto Rd. back to BART. Average “only” 12.8 for the 47 miles, but it has been one of my best days on the bike (different from the exciting Silverado ride which involved just hard cranking). Very encouraging after the discouragement of my Calaveras outing on Tuesday. Wonder if I can keep it up for a hundred miles. Wonder if I can use it on real hills.

Calaveras from Bayfair, 4/22/08

Calaveras, 4/22/08

I submitted the ride late, and no one showed up except Mary (Valdez had other commitments), and she had stuff to take care of at home, so I excused her and cancelled, but decided to ride the route alone anyway; as before, I need to get in some longer rides, and Calaveras is one of my favorites. I “cheated” and rode Foothill Blvd. around the Fairmont hill to Castro Valley; on Dublin Canyon I got inspired (after being passed by another cyclist) to pick up my pace, and kept on “time-trialing” all the way out Foothill Rd. (there was a detour: road closed for some sort of disaster exercise, the place crawling with police and firefighters), and even passed a couple of riders, who then passed me again on the Sunol hills. We chatted at the porta-potties (they were training for the Death Ride, but seemed impressed that I was doing ALC). Made pretty good speed on the rollers going out Calaveras Rd. to the park entrance, and, when I started up the hill, found the climbing comfortable. On the way I started to understand “keeping the elbows bent” which all the books coach you to do. What it does is release the neck and shoulders and upper body, forcing you to relax and straighten the back (Curtis said “elongate”) and that engages the “core” muscles for support. It’s something  which will require a lot of practice (like “spinning” the pedals)—psychologically I’m a tension kind of guy—but it’s obviously much more efficient than “grinding.” And of course it also takes the pressure off the hands. Calaveras Rd. climbs through the Sunol Wilderness, long and gentle, a good surface, quiet, shady, and scenic (I stopped frequently to take pictures), punctuated by downhills with sharp left-hand bends and short climbs at the bottom. Toward the top it opens up into grassy hills, with cows, finally a short, steep descent to a stop sign at Felter Rd. I had been toying with the idea of riding Felter over to check out Sierra Rd., the Cat. 1 climb (or is it hors catégorie?) which challenged the pros on the Amgen Tour (I would be descending of course!) and started up what looked like a moderate grade, but found myself struggling and getting a painful twinge below my left knee; and the weather was getting colder and threatening. It seemed the better part to forego the extra ten miles and turn back. Fast downhill all the way into Milpitas, then city streets into the wind back to Fremont. And another flat tire. One more hill on Paseo Padre nearly did me in. Was this a bonk? I struggled again, feeling very slow and heavy and without the energy or momentum to spin. And my knee was twanging again. Discouraging. But it was a good ride; just getting myself out on a long solo training ride was an accomplishment. Maybe I’ll feel stronger on Valdez’s ride on Friday. Took BART from Fremont back to Bayfair. 52.5 miles and 12.9 average.

Sports Basement and Pig Farm Loop, 4/19/08

Fotos from Saturday’s Cat. 1 ride:

Sports Basement to Pig Farm, 4/19/08

Denise and Sue Lackey and I were leaders, and Diana was car sweep. She is experiencing severe allergy problems, this season much worse than usual, and that added to her knee pain makes it too uncomfortable to ride; she’s a good sport to come out and support us in this way. We were joined by Annette and Jennine and two colleagues of Denise from Sports Basement, whose names I didn’t catch. They led us out the Contra Costa Canal Trail, past the Iron Horse and left us at Grayson which connects with Reliez Valley Rd.—after the big hill. I hadn’t figured out how to connect Walnut Creek with Pig Farm (and Denise’s route barely made sense) and that made it easy. Bitter cold and windy: I was glad to borrow Diana’s fleece jacket and never did take it off. Found myself sweeping. Annette and Jennine apparently have not been riding that long and that much (Diana reminded me we had ridden with Jen to Danville when she was using clipless pedals for the first time), and seemed a little confused still about shifting—I got to do some coaching: find the range you want on the front rings (left side) and use the rear cogs (right hand) to make finer adjustments; but I’m not sure they got it. They were also more than a little put out about the hills which they apparently hadn’t expected, but they did fine. Pig Farm Hill starts as a long, gradual climb, but gets steeper and steeper toward the top, and I thought both rode strongly, Annette going on ahead, and Jen chugging steadily along, but she eventually stopped to rest, not far from the crest, and wanted to walk her bike the rest of the way. I think she was disappointed (I remembered my own experience on Taylor Ave. on ALC4, two years ago, when I also had to stop and rest). It’s a challenging climb, and I was puffing plenty too. Diana met us at the top with water and Oreos and pretzels. Sue, before I arrived, had a discussion with a guy in a pickup who seemed to feel we were blocking his driveway (“all the cyclists congregate here!”) although we were trying to keep to the edges, and it didn’t appear to be a private road; she apologized. Fast descent (A & J didn’t seem timid at all on the downhills!), a lesser climb up Castro Ranch, then the long haul up San Pablo Dam Rd. to lunch in Orinda. Annette and Jennine felt they’d had enough by this time and SAGged back to Sports Basement with Diana. Denise and Sue and I, all in our TRL orange vests, continued over the hill to Moraga (oh, while still in Orinda I had a low-speed fall on the sidewalk, trying to steer between the wall and a pedestrian who just kept walking; we met a couple of ex-ALC riders, who gave me a bandaid for my scuffed finger. And in Moraga my right cleat came off, leaving me to pedal with one foot and a half—fortunately no more climbing by this time—and, to complete the report, Denise had two flats). We zoomed down the wonderful winding hill on Moraga Rd. to Lafayette, sped out Mt. Diablo and Olympic Blvds. and finally got on the Iron Horse and back to Sports Basement. 41.4 miles and 10.9 mph average. A bit outside Cat. 1 range for the whole ride.

Redwood Road–Skyline Loop, 4/15/08

Redwood-Skyline Loop, 4/15/08

“Son of Redwood/Skyline Loop,” which no one attended two weeks ago. And guess what! As I was leaving the house, Mary called to tell me she had worked all night to finish her income taxes (yeah, this was the fifteenth!) and had to beg off. And just as I arrived at Starbucks, it was Valdez, who had a flat tire on his SUV. While I sipped my coffee, David and then Margaret arrived; we had a leisurely, conversational wait, punctuated by stretching, until Valdez called to say he couldn’t get his tire fixed in time. Well, it seemed we’d be just fine even without a second TRL to sweep. Both were first-time ALCers but have already done extensive training, on Mary’s rides and in Marin, probably even more than I have. Actually both have ridden with me before too. They seemed familiar with the route. First up Fairmont which is still and always a good challenge; I led the way, but the others were close behind. I noticed they were both a little hesitant about descending, and tried to do a bit of coaching: you can just let it go on a straight downhill with no turns and nothing to get in the way; but of course it’s mainly a matter of confidence, and Margaret told us she had had a serious crash in December. Across to Redwood Rd. on Somerset, up the nasty hill to Proctor (there are always a couple of overlooked climbs), down past the golf course to the bridge and then up the long hill, 3 miles to the top. After our descent the Oakland end of Redwood went a lot better than last time; I had the feeling, when it steepened, that I had the power in my legs to give it a little extra push and also could take advantage when it leveled a bit. David went ahead on Skyline, seemed to climb strongly, and I followed, keeping pace with Margaret. Very pretty up there, quiet and shady, little traffic and a good surface, with wide panoramas of the Bay. The hills seem not nearly as tough as they look. Then down and down on Grass Valley (between the eucalyptus trees) and Golf Links (like being out in the country) to the zoo. The climb up Lake Chabot Rd. (the easy alternative to Fairmont!) seemed very tough to me, and what I was expecting to be hard, the backside of Fairmont, was actually no big deal; and both David and Margaret were close behind. I took advantage of the long downhill to get my speed up and missed the disturbing incident which David reported later: as he was descending at 25 miles per hour, some “kid” in a passing car had leaned out the window and pushed him, actually making contact but thankfully not causing him to lose balance or control. David was unable to get a license number or any identifying features of the vehicle. He showed great equanimity; he was fully aware that he could have been seriously injured or killed if he had fallen at that speed, but didn’t seem unduly upset. We could not imagine how or why anyone would behave like that: probably a stupid prank. I filed an incident report with ALC; we might have tried to notify the Sheriff’s department, but we didn’t have any useful information. It’s tough to realize that, with all the other hazards out there, we sometimes have to deal with crazies and malicious or just thoughtless people. But all in all it was a pleasant and satisfying ride. We made just 30 miles, averaged about 11 mph, and handled some challenging hills (I forgot I have an altimeter: it read 3576 ft.) And Margaret has honored me with a donation and by downloading my foto (above) for her ALC page.