We Rode to Inkwells

On August 6, 2022, I wrote that that morning I woke at 9:15 probably. The weather had been wet all night, which was really irritating. There was tension as the neighbors packed to go. Some of them said bye. I made oatmeal and the boys ate it all right.

I had packed up our wet sleeping bags by then. We set the table up for packing and they played. Later they told me they had met a boy and the camp next-door.

We rode to inkwells then. The ride was OK. The boys explored and I wanted to go up Shafter Road of little bit but they were swinging on the gate and they were really unhappy with me for pushing them around. I dragged them to the pools and they complained the whole way. Later on the walk back things improved and we rode to Forest Knolls and discussed it over hot coco and coffee.

We rode straight to White Hill then. My bike had been making spoke noises the day before and I later discovered it was the magnet on my wheel for the speedometer. This caused my motor to cut out occasionally making the climb up White Hill particularly difficult. However, the far side turned out fine. In fact I topped 35 miles an hour.

At Manor we discussed the ride and stopped at the coffee shop in San Anselmo where they play jazz in the morning. We had another hot beverage and cookies before riding all the way to the bike shop where they confirmed my problem with the speedometer. They also fixed it and I made an appointment.

I hung out with the boys at the ferry terminal then but I also had to go to Marin country market. I bought the boys a paper airplane toy kit and we did some people watching. Back at the ferry they were understaffed and that made things difficult for me. However, the ferry ride home was OK.

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.

Walk to Fairfax Falls

On August 5, 2022, I wrote that that morning I didn’t want to wake up but finally got up when the boys started complaining. They were watching TV and thankfully I didn’t have to pack a lot as I had set the stuff out and so put it in my bag.

It wasn’t too hard to get the boys going. We went to catch an F but had to catch a seven. The boys were glacially slow and I was way nervous. We ran to the subway, grabbed the bike and took the escalator which took way too long but we made the ferry just fine. I had to carry the bike upstairs so ended up re-packing.

However, it was great. When the ferry docked we went to New Wheel and filled the tires before riding up bike route 20 through Ross and San Anselmo. At first the boys didn’t know where we were but eventually they figured out they had come through there twice. They told me about our trip to Phoenix lake with friends.

My bike had been making spoke noises but the spokes were fine. Later it turned out to be my speedometer bead. The problem never escalated to become and emergency but it made getting around really hard.

The boys pointed out stuff in San Anselmo saying they recognize the place. I had to stop once and we went shopping at two stores in Fairfax. The first one the boys bought a lot of snacks. I got coffee and pastries. I took some great selfies.

We rode to Olema Street after the second store and re-packed. Then we rode to White Hill Elementary for water. The ride up railroad grade was ok actually but after the newest bridge I had the boys walk to Fairfax Falls. Then at the top of White Hill I saw cyclists.

The descent to Woodacre topped 35 mph. As soon as we got into the town my speedometer stopped working. We got ice cream. I picked up M&Ms. We rode Meadow to San Geronimo and on to Lagunitas where we had lunch at the local Indian restaurant. I ordered chana masala. I also offered the boys some naan. The boys didn’t want any of it but it was OK.

I bought beer from the general store and we rode to inkwells. We explored the bridge and creek. We saw some cyclists. We rode the Cross Marin trail to the campgrounds in Samual P Taylor park. We met a bunch of cyclists in the hiker/biker site - including a couple we had seen at White Hill.

I made the boys ramen and they set up the sleeping area. The cyclists from inkwells showed up - a guy from SF with them and a lady from Oakland. They played cards and one of my kids got unruly. However, I got the boys ready for bed and sat with the last of the wakeful campers. He told me all about the local color.

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.