At Coffee Garden There

I was trying to finish writing when we got to the station.  I ate an orange and a chocolate and downstairs only one person hadn’t taken his bike down.  We took photos on the platform and then headed to H and took 7th.  On S street one of the ladies had misgivings about the traffic.  My riding partner got to Safeway first.  The girls went in to shop and half the group watched the bikes.  I bought beer and felt assured that I would bought enough for everyone.

We rode away on 18th and I got confused with the streets but 21st and 4th avenue came easily enough.  At Coffee Garden there was already a few people there for the event.  We took a table on the curb and I went into order my friend a chai.  I stood next to one of the ladies and met a lady that was recruiting for Eroica.

Ordering was difficult because the crowd was beginning to grow and staff was short.  There was a man in line in a brown top hat.  My friend’s drink made it out alright.  I saw a whole lot of people coming in when I brought her drink out.  She was seated with my riding partner and his wife.  the engineer and academic were wowed by the vintage bikes.

One of the Sac Tweed organizers showed up and I was looking at an RV with bikes and I noted that a lot of bikes had shown up by then.  I sat back down at the table and new people were there.  I met a nice lady in an especially old world outfit.  A gray bearded acquaintance from the foothills appeared around the same time as my college classmate’s family and I greeted them.

I went and got my jacket and they thought I was a bit too warmly dressed.  I talked to the guys from Chico.  The main organizer was still nowhere to be found.  I was in a photo with our group.  I met a lady named who was wearing an outfit of which my friend really approved.  Two people from a political campaign in Davis appeared in natty outfits.

I was finishing my water when the ride was about to leave.  I dropped things off in the cafe and we grabbed our bikes.  One of the organizers’ bikes fell over and I noted that the mechanic had been standing very close to it.  A lady got out of our way and we were ready to roll.  With the main organizer missing two old hands shepherded us down 4th as we started rolling.

I saw my old classmates wife and youngest and gray beard but it took a bit for me to find my old classmate who was spying on me from the other side of the street with his eldest son.  We rode 4th until we took a right at the block with the ceramic house.  I went slow so he could catch up to me.  We rode with old grey bear who spoke at length about Sacramento Bike Party and that was nice.

We took a couple of muddy alleys and the riders on the taller bikes--like the one with the guy in aviator goggles on a farthing mashup-- had to dismount.  We were on 21st for a brief moment and I was back with my old classmate again.   Old grey beard went for a burger but said he’d be back.  The route went to Land Park Drive then and we rode discussing the kids in their younger years.

We ended up at Land Park where we discovered the crits were taking place so had to walk in the mud and other stuff.  We managed to get to the pond then and rode a bit more past the botanical garden.  The academic had made it ahead of us by then.  I noted that the main organizer was purported to make an appearance a bit later.

At the amphitheater I rested my bike with my group and noted that the girls walked away with the youngest.  I handed out beers to the men.  We ate cheese and crackers and I got lost alone behind the stage while the engineer and academic looked at all the bikes.  They later had everyone line their bikes up for a photo.  I stood with the engineer for a while and talked about diffusion of innovation theory.

My old classmate’s wife left because her youngest needed a nap but the other two played catch while the rest of the ladies sat picnicking.  The main organizer had shown up at some point and I spoke with her brother.  My friend was with the other organizers.  I noted that old grey beard had returned and was watching the band-- all of whom he knew and had played with.  I stood with him drinking port from a mini-snifter after the main organizer had made some announcements.

I was able to count nearly one hundred participants while we were taking group.  Later old grey beard told me that he would follow us to the Shady Lady.  I realized then that he needed me because the band had gone and he wanted to follow the ride further.  I introduced him to the Chico group and my friend.  He pointed out the different buildings in the area around his aunt’s old place.

I left him and my friend to run into the bar alone and ordered.  I locked up while she went inside and I sat next to her for a bit.  First we sat with the Chico group and then with the Sacramento organizers.  I said hi to my group around then and went for another drink.  My friend won a prize that the main organizer’s brother thought was really nice.  He had received a guest guest by then and I noted that one of the other organizers wanted to share his tomatoes.

I learned that my riding partner had gone and that the guys were about to leave as well.  I sat with two of the other participants and then a couple of the organizers had me and my friend stand with the nice lady for a photo.  I went outside and bid farewell to the guys and then I went in and grabbed my friend’s new basket and we made ready to leave.

She was on the phone with her aunt for many blocks while I checked the map.  We passed under the freeway around 11th on our way to the cemetery where we stopped.  We followed 2nd to Vallejo and took Cordano as a way to access Land Park before heading farther south to look for my old classmate’s new place.

There we locked up and his wife gave us a place to put our stuff.  My friend and she talked a lot and I had a beer.  Dinner was served a bit later  and we ate proper.  The talk centered around the kids.  We were set to watch “The Book of Life” which one of the kids had gotten from the library so I helped clear the dishes while the youngest played swords.  We all went to bed around 10.

In the morning of the day that I wrote this were were up around 7 and my old classmate was already making food.  I was helping toast the bagels when his wife arrived from her run saying bye to a neighbor.  My friend played with the youngest kid until breakfast was ready.  The older kid was still asleep-- probably exhausted from the bike ride-- so we ate without him.

the youngest had to be induced into eating his eggs.  They gave me a book called be prepared.  We cleared the table and I was in the back alone for a while.  I noticed that I had bookmarked the academic’s YouTube but didn’t watch it.

We broke the room down then and had coffee.  Our hosts started into town and we packed the bikes.  That was a breath of fresh air.  We looked at the route and used some of what we had done the night and day before.  When we got to Cordano we discovered that Land Park School actually had a path through it.  We took 16th and the basket was fine.

We sat first at the bar and then in a booth and ate a minimum.  We talked about stuff and I shared my concerns.  I mentioned a lifestyle company/agency in connection with Adventure Cycling.  We got the bikes and rode to the station via 10th.  The ride was problematic due to the one way streets.  I got tickets and breathed a sigh that we were able to leave early.  We boarded and Charlie got my notebook out.  I got a drink and cheese.  We ate it near Martinez and Port Costa and I finished writing as we pulled into Emeryville.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.