January 2011
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Biking in Saratoga & Los Gatos
For variety, on Saturday I joined some people I know who were going on one of the AIDS LifeCycle training rides in the South Bay— a 46-mile loop, taking us from Mountain View (near the Caltrain station) through Cupertino, Saratoga, Los Gatos, and some towns I’d never heard of (Monte Sereno).
It was a good workout and way to spend a chunk of the day, with one significant hill and a...
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Replacing shift levers on a 40-year-old french...
It all started when I wanted to replace the completely functional plastic-coated downtube shift levers on my old french road bike:
With some slick-looking shifters a friend gave me:
Should be easy, right? Just cut the existing cables, replace the levers and string a new set of shift cables… wrong.
The old shifters and threaded bosses on the frame were an unusual, non-standard thread,...
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Alpine Dam and Sausages & Beer next Sunday?
[ edit: cancelled due to early-morning rain, though it ended up clearing up— oh well ]
Tentative plan: an Alpine Dam loop ride next Sunday (1/30), about 50 miles round trip from the Golden Gate Bridge (map), with some substantial but satisfying hills.
Stopping in Fairfax at Gestalt Haus (run by the people behind the original SF Gestalt Haus before it changed ownership?) for some sausages...
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Overnight bike trip: SF -> Montara
Well, that was a great weekend.
A group of 10 of us biked from SF to Montara (on the coast, between Pacifica and Half Moon Bay, about 30 miles), stayed overnight in the Montara Lighthouse Hostel ($28/night, includes linens, fully booked most Saturday nights months ahead of time but the web site availability is often incorrect— you can call them directly to make reservations, and should if...
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Old San Pedro Mountain Road
10 of us rode from San Francisco to Montara this weekend, stayed the night in the Montara Lighthouse youth hostel, then rode back. I’ll post a full map and photos later (edit: Ok, the SF->Montara ride has been posted) — to start, I’m just posting photos of Old San Pedro Mountain Road, our detour inland from Highway 1.
From Short Bike Rides San Francisco (where I read about...
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SF Weekly social media roundup of sfbikeparty →
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Custom panniers: done
Pattern and details to be posted at some point, but this evening I finally finished making the pair of panniers I’d been working on on and off the past few months. Time for the next project.
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SF Bike Party recap
Friday was the first SF Bike Party. A group of I’d guess 400 cyclists met up and rode a preset route around the city, bikes covered in lights and a few big stereo systems in tow. The group left the ballpark around 8:30pm, stopping to play music and dance at a beach past Fisherman’s Wharf, at Alta Plaza park (with a jungle gym and great views of the city), outside the De Young Museum in...
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SF Bike Party: 1st ride is tonight, 7:30pm →
“We start at Giants Stadium, ride 12 miles visiting beautiful sites throughout the city. It is a leisurely pace and we’ll stop 3 times to socialize and party. We end at at the Civic Center Bart so people can easily get home.”
Also: http://www.flickr.com/groups/sfbikeparty/
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2009 Ride: Portland / Multnomah Falls
It’s a cold and rainy Christmas evening and I’m full of a British-style roast-and-potatoes dinner, so I’m digging through photos of good past bike trips [I’ll post this some time in January when I get around to it].
Here’s a ride from mid-2009 (back when the idea of a 40-mile bike ride with hills was daunting): along the Columbia River Gorge to Multnomah Falls during...
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Overnight ride to Montara 1/15 (& stay in...
I’m planning a ride to Montara (near Half Moon Bay), leaving Saturday morning 1/15, staying overnight in the Montara Lighthouse(!) Hostel, and coming back Sunday morning.
About 25 miles each way, some hills and deserted/derelict highways (see below), and about $30/person for the hostel. If you’re interested in joining, let me know ASAP— I got tentative confirmation of some space...
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Big Rides in 2011?
The rainy season has some time for rides, and some time for dreaming about rides to do next summer. Here are nine ideas for Big Rides (I’ll try to actually do 3 or 4 of them):
January: Overnight bike trip down the coast to Montara via Old San Pedro (“Planet of the Apes”) road. [edit: did it, a great weekend]
April: Bike to Point Reyes during wildflower season for a three-day...