San Francisco Bike Party

On October 5, I wrote that the day before I knew I was late for San Francisco Bike Party but eventually got everything I needed and headed up Page street on my Surly to Divisadero and calculated I was a whole 15 minutes early. Some acquaintances were in Golden Gate Park for Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. At Fulton and Divisadero I was still a little uncertain where the ride was but I had calculated that they’d be coming my way since it supposed to go from 24th St and up The Wiggle.

When the ride showed up I noted that people I knew really well were leading and old friends were everywhere in the group. We saw a few people from the Midnight Mystery Ride. I saw a few people who had moved away and a few people from my neighborhood – all from my neighborhood.

The ride headed over to Hugo and into Haight Street. My phone wasn’t letting me take pictures. We passed Gold Cane and then we descended into the Lower Haight. Haight Street going down to Divisadero is steep and dangerous.

We picked up a few random people rolling through The Wiggle. One lady had a bike share bike and I said she was cool. I literally nearly lost my beer. We went through Hayes Valley, Civic Center, climbed up to O’Farrell and headed over to Grant Street. One of the riders got knocked off of his bike by a motorist there and everyone took pictures

We went to Washington Square. An acquaintance bummed five dollars off of me because he had a desire for Golden Boy Pizza. I chatted with a geologist and a bunch of people from my neighborhood. There was this one lady with a Yuba cargo bike which had interesting hoops on the back.

The sprinklers came on so we all rode to ferry building apparently One of my favorite riders fell off of his bike and his partner took him home. We basically said bye then and went home.

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.

Caltrain to Menlo Park

On September 22, I wrote that I got up at 10 and rode my electric cargo bike to the train station to catch the newly electric Caltrain to Menlo Park. When I got there, I discovered my bike’s batteries were low, which made me sad. I had coffee and rode through town to Alpine Drive and found my way to Arastradero Creek and Portola Road.

I stopped at Roberts Market for a snack and then I went to Old La Honda Road. I had to ride the whole way on low power because I had range anxiety over my batteries. Portions of Portola Road are fine but sometimes the motorists are not accommodating for even e-bikers.

When I got to Old La Honda, I climbed the road for a few miles until I had a nice view of the San Andreas Fault Zone below and ate lunch before heading back. I tried to use Farm Road but everything out there is gated, which was sad because Portola is teaming with terrible motorists.

I made it back to Alpine and Sandhill pretty quick, I was using low power the whole time. Alpine is all downhill so it wasn’t terrible at low power. I noted that an acquaintance called me and I agreed to meet him in Palo Alto.

There were events all weekend for Caltrain because of their newly electrified system. When I got there, I chatted with a few people I knew pretty well. We traded all we could about each other. For instance a few people had moved to San Jose. I also found out that Mountain Charlie Road above Santa Cruz had a blowout and that was sad.

The ride back to San Francisco was just like normal for me except it was faster.

 
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.

Bike Party coming from Panhandle

On September 7, I wrote that the day before I rode out to Fillmore to catch San Francisco Bike Party coming from Panhandle but I missed them so I followed a couple to Hyde Street where I found everyone. A close acquaintance was leading and one person I knew from the East Bay had a music bike. I said hi to the regulars and we rode through the SOMA with a bunch of other people I knew.

I caught up with an acquaintance who had greatly recovered from personal tragedy and caught a glimpse of a few people I hadn’t seen in a while before we arrived at Yerba Buena where I chatted with bike mechanics and regulars I knew really well. I also tried to chat with new people but that turned out to be difficult. I went on the Yerba Buena Park stage and met a really new personality and and his friend from the east coast and that was a treat. I spoke to a ton of other people, especially an old school cycling advocate with whom I spent a lot of time chatting.

The ride left and we rode SOMA through the Giants Ballpark and Mission Bay and eventually we made it to a park above the Caltrain tracks near Islas Creek. By then I was with a friend from Sunnyside and some ride leaders.

From here the ride headed up Chavez then and wove through alleys parallel to Mission Street. These two cool girls were in front of me a lot but they seemed really interested in following that one guy from Critical Mass who likes to “surf.” At Mission playground we stood around for a while but then relocated to Dolores Park where I said bye to the remaining crowd before going to bed at home.

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.

Inkwells

On September 3, 2024, I wrote that I had just spent the night at Olema campground with my twin nine year old boys. The three of us got on my electric cargo bike and went to the coffee shop for a snack before riding up Bolinas ridge on Drake Boulevard. A very large pick up made the ride suck but the rest was OK. There was construction on the roadway.

At Tocaloma we continued up the Cross Marin Trail. We rode to Samuel P Taylor’s hiker biker site number 62 and discovered there were a lot of cyclists planning on staying the night. We went to the ranger booth and paid for the site. When we got back to the site, we met some off the kids around the campground and I chatted with a neighboring camper who had an RV. He told us about the other cyclists at staying in our campsite and I realized that I probably knew them.

I took the boys to inkwells and we jumped in – I shuttled the boys across the lower pool. Later we rode to the Indian restaurant in Lagunitas and we had the chicken kebab. The boys really liked it. A whole bunch of people I knew from Bike Party and Butter Lap showed up on their bikes to eat. It slowly developed into one big party. The food was delicious. We also hit up the general store before they closed and I got the boys ice cream.

A couple of people, brother and sister, were standing in the parking lot, talking. The lady explained to us that her brother is occasionally in Point Reyes Station being colorful and expressing himself like it is a big performance. She told us that he is a cool guy – different. It was cool to find out more about the local character. She told us she’s from San Anselmo and she liked my son’s sweater. I guess her friend makes them.

I noted that the ride back to the campsite was easy. I let the boys play with the other kids while I prepared to wind down. At one point, I couldn’t find one of the boys and the other one led me on a wild goose chase looking for him. We found him nearby but not until after some parents asked us if we were ok.

The boys returned to playing and then our co-campers showed up. I hung out with them a little bit and had a beer. I was alone until late.

We got up at 8am. A neighbor offered me coffee and the boys didn’t help pack. The other campers left a bit later, but it took me until 1030 to get ready to go. One of the stragglers left just before us. I got a photo of the inkwells but skipped swimming. I decided later that I had missed an epic swim day. I took the boys to the coffee shop called Pump. I got them hot cocoa, and I got a cup of coffee for myself. The shop have this special marshmallow thing.

After that we climbed White Hill. We beat some roadies to the top and only a few motorists passed us on the climb. One was rude near the top. We did the speed limit on the way down. One of the boys held my hat. The ride through San Anselmo made good time. We met the gang in Larkspur after a few pictures we boarded.

I bought the boys sprite on the boat and after bidding everyone farewell at the terminal I got the boys soft serve ice cream. The ride up Market Street was easy and once we had unloaded the bike and I started laundry at the laundromat. The boys were a bit crabby when we got home but I took them to the taqueria where we saw one of the boys' teachers through the window of the bar next door.

 
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.

We climbed up Bear Valley.

On September 1, 2024, I wrote that the day before the boys woke me at eight in our campsite in Samuel P Taylor. One of them dumped redwood duff on me. We were camping in the hiker biker overflow site number 62.

I fed the boys and had them take the tent apart, but did all the rest of the packing for our trip to Olema. I noted that we rode down the Cross Marin and passed a family of 4 to 6 kids all of which were riding bikes. I took pictures of Devil‘s Gulch, which apparently has a campsite.

We looked at Jewel trail, but we didn’t want to do the work. The family passed us at Tocaloma. On platform Bridge Road a few motorists passed us. I pointed out Black Mountain to the boys. From Platform Bridge to point Reyes Street Station I knew there would be traffic and conflicts. The first segment is down but at a slight angle. I immediately had to cross and pull off for a dump truck.

As we moved along, I managed the cars and noted that there are a few straight aways but a couple slight inclines. Then, on the last rise, I crossed over to let people queue at the intersection with Highway One. Then I passed the queue and descended to Point Reyes station. I was disoriented at first, then we sat at Station House for brunch – French toast with croquettes and a grilled cheese. The popovers were good. The meal was wonderful

We went to the grocery store and got enough for a couple of days before checking in and setting up at Olema Campground. Then we rode to Bear Valley the Visitor Center. As we headed up the trail, we took took care to be polite to the hikers and when we reached the spot where bikes are not allowed to bike, we started walking.

We saw slugs in a rivulet and passed a few hikers. There were a few downed trees and I tried referring to the last two trips we had made to remind the boys that we had been there before. We passed through this one downed tree where a lady was going the other way and I wanted to chat with her but it was a fleeting moment.

Another hiker told us the beach was 2 miles away, which I was incredulous about, but after a shady forest , the trail signs only said Coast Camp or Stuart Trail. I noted that, in retrospect, we should’ve gone down Stuart Trail. I also noted that the coast Camp Trail used to have a trail to Arch Rock but I discovered that Arch Rock had fallen apart or toppled a few years previously so the trail was gone.

Eventually , we started back. The only route to the beach that way was another mile from there and all of us were tired. We started looking for spots we remembered from the descent: the shady forest was cool, there was an open hillside, the downed tree. Along the way, one of the boys had picked up tree branches, all of which looked like a gun. We passed the rivulet again.

I was relieved when we had made it back to the bike because all of us were tired. We climbed up Bear Valley. We passed a bunch of hikers. The trail crosses the valley a few times but it is only Bear Valley Creek. I noticed also that none of the crossings seemed to be bridges. We passed a few more hikers. There was this giant log of which I took a picture.

We passed the Bear Valley Visitor Center and one of the boys dropped their sunglasses. A car almost crushed it. We went to eat at Due West in Olema and ordered a few things that were good. The boys were staring at a tennis tournament on the TV. They kept saying that it was the Olympics, but I knew it was the Open.

I had salad because I thought they wouldn’t eat, but they did so I didn’t have much to eat and I was generally displeased as we prepared to go to bed. I had a headache. So directed the boys brush their teeth and we went to sleep as soon as the sun went down

I woke at five in the morning on the day that I wrote this and felt a bit better. The boys got up and they played with one of the kids in the camp that morning and we made plans to return to Samuel P Taylor.
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.

Packed for Bike Party

In mid August 2024 I wrote that the day before I went home and got packed for Bike Party.

I enjoyed the ride on BART to 12th street and got off at N Berkeley. I followed the map to Rose Park and found the crew. I walked around and I saw people from one of my group chats. I saw an organizer I knew. I learned the sad news that one of the group had passed away. She was a regular Bike Party and I didn’t really know her.

The ride headed up to MLK and Albany and then to some park and I hung out with people. There were tamales. A couple of people from the chat headed to Hotsy Totsy which was a temptation I was bummed to have passed up.

I rode with the group into Richmond to some park near 580. A few other people I knew took off. We rode to Richmond Bart then and after chatting with a few people I got on a train home with a bunch of people. I got off at Montgomery and rode home which turned out was better than Civic Center.

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.

The Tunnels on The Pass

On August 8, I wrote that we woke at six in the morning at the campgrounds in Donner State Park. My alarm went off and I stayed up because we had a tight schedule for catching our train home that day. I consolidated the bags and noticed that my boys do OK stuffing sleeping bags, pads and tarps.

We ate the rest of the trail mix and I drank a coffee. By 845, we were packing the rest into our bags. I knew the train was running late but took no chances. We caught a ride from Tart Connect at the park entrance. The boys had been having a hard time carrying their heavy backpacks and I had been noting throughout the trip that I needed to get a bigger bag for myself.

Our ride arrived quickly enough and we made the station with 15 minutes to spare. I felt like that was really close. The train pulled up, we got our bags and boarded. There wasn’t much trouble while we dropped our bags and I brought the boys to the cafe car. A short moment later I went to the rear of the train to get a picture of the tunnels on the pass.

After that we found a nice space at a table in the observation car. I posted to Twitter and got the boys beverages. I noted that I would be that we would be in Colfax soon.

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.

I Explored the Peninsula

On August 7, I wrote about the fourth day that my twin nine year olds had had during our week-long camping trip to Donner Lake. The day before my older sister had visited us from Reno.

We got up that morning at 9:30 and got dressed and fed. The boys were not terribly rebellious. We walked to the small regulation levee on Donner Lake’s outlet lagoon where we found a really interesting green stone in the riprap. I tested its hardness –striking it with the other rocks nearby. The rocks were of various types but I used a piece of granite, which is generally the hardest substance around. I also found slate, which I was able to verify by separating it into individual slabs.

We walked to the beach in the northwest section of the lake – presumably where the Donner Party had been stranded. The boys dug in the sand and I took in the view. Some lady with a rescued greyhound was blowing up a paddleboard. Another lady with a dog deflated her paddleboard. One couple had three short dogs which kept greeting and interacting with us. A familiar looking couple, with a few kids showed up as we left.

We walked to the north of the beach and back to the dam. The boys were sad to leave their sandcastles but they were hungry too. So, we walked to the campsite and I gave them a snack. I found us a shaded spot to get ready to go swimming. The plan was to jump off the rock in the lagoon, do the swings, visit the beach again, go to the island and then finally the spit which protects the lagoon, which I had been calling it the peninsula and the only way to reach it by foot is to walk through the boat ramp

At the rock it was easy, because there were only a few people: kids, some couples. We then swam across the lagoon to try the rope swing but the boys were not as competent as I assumed. Plus there were grass plants in the water and the boys were grossed out by it. I was also completely unprepared for them to hitch a ride from some lady on a paddleboard and to avoid returning!

I discovered that one of the boys had been building a gravel stash at the beach and wanted to return to where we had been earlier that day. So, we were there for a while. The familiar looking family was leaving at that point. I felt like it was a missed opportunity to not chat with them. They seemed friendly but didn’t really talk.

Eventually, it was hot and I wanted to take a dip. So I carried the boys one by one to the island between the lake and the outlet lagoon. The swim was short but the boys were too small. When we were both on the island, I found one of my boys deep in conversation with a lady. The boys both ended up playing fetch with her dog. When the lady and her dog got onto her paddleboard and left, we continued our exploration and set out to swim to the peninsula.

There is an intermittent sandbar which continues all the way out to the island below water, which occasionally is substantial enough to walk on. In fact there was even evidence that there used to be some kind of bridge from the island to the peninsula. I was able to walk halfway to the peninsula but when the water got too deep I ended up swimming over. I took both boys across that way. It turned out to be a lot of work.

There was a pontoon boat with a family on the peninsula. There were also a ton of kids building a sandcastle and that ended up occupying all of our attention for a good while. I explored the peninsula alone – around the small pond. There are a lot of spindly pines which made it difficult and many are dead. When I returned to the sandcastle party on the beach, I fell into chatting with one of the parents of there. They had rented a house on the lake

I took the boys back into the thicket and we slowly made our way up the peninsula to the boat rental. Then we walked over to the rock on the lagoon again. There was a family doing cannonballs trying to get everyone wet. It was really funny. The boys were lazy sitting on the small beach there.

We walked to the campsite then. The boys were crabby but once they had some ramen things were good. We started to wind down for the evening and I consulted the Amtrak site. The train was “on time” and I noted that it was probably half an hour late. I knew that we would need to get up at 6:30 or 645.

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.

We all went swimming.

On August 6 I wrote that the boys and I woke at seven at the campgrounds at Donner Lake and by 815 we were on our way to the coffee shop on our rented bikes. I had them lock up the bikes and I bought coffee. I gave them iPads so I could make some phone calls.

When I got off the phone, we rode our rental bikes to the store and the laundromat and started a load. The boys handled the bike ride easily. We stopped at the Donner Creek Brewery for lunch, and the boys played pool. They also found a mini-Pac-Man machine in the back which was fun.

When my older sister showed up, we rode to meet her at the campground and I re-organized. We all went swimming.

We walked to the lagoon at Donner Lake and drank margaritas while the boys played on a giant rock in the lagoon. I got pictures of the boys pushing each other off of it. I also took the boys to the rope swing and jumped in with them.

When we got ready to go, we stopped by the campsite. Then I took the boys on the bike path. My sister met us at the bike shop where we dropped off our rentals.

After that we had dinner at 50/50 brewery. They had ok tacos, but I got a Caesar salad with chicken. We discussed family and politics. We also discussed the boys time on vacation; the bike ride and the boys told us their stories about the trip.

After dessert we said bye to my sister, and I enjoyed a second beer while we waited for TART Connect to show up and that ended up taking a long time. I ended up sitting outside of the restaurant watching at least a dozen kids play.

Some kids were chatting with the boys about their lives, and their questions were pretty detailed. It often happens that I have to provide my boys’ new friends with my phone number which is always awkward. In this case the kids had had actually lived near us in SF before moving away.

When we finally got back to the campsite, I chatted with the boys about detective Pikachu.

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.

Over The Rainbow Arch

On August 5, 2024, we got up around 8am and organized our campsite as we had breakfast. We made it to the Donner Creek bike path by 10am and made a stop at the bike rental shop and picked up a cup of coffee before riding to the beach on Donner Lake and onward to the top of South Shore Dr.

We then descended to the lake’s edge but quickly transitioned to Mount Judah Drive in the Southern Headlands neighborhood. We ascended to Devils Peak Drive, where, at the end of the street, there is a local trail above the local water tank and next to a new home under construction.

I had had problems dragging my bike up this trail while on tour the summer before. However, we had much smaller bags. So, I brought my bike to the top and ran back down and helped the boys as they pushed their bikes up one by one. I taught them how to push the seat from behind and hold the handle bar while walking up. I led the bike from the front but made sure that we were doing it cooperatively.

This left us on a spur of Lakeview Canyon Road, which was easy enough for the boys to ride. It got better as we approached Lakeview Canyon Road proper and, after the intersection, we had to stop a couple times because the climb began in earnest there.

We got to Lakeview Canyon Creek and enjoyed the clear mountain spring water. There were several such streams and we took time to rest at each crossing. The climb to the right of way of the old railroad tracks was tedious and the boys needed help, but I was happy.

We made it to historic Eder which had served as a watering station for trains before it was abandoned in the 1800s. We took pictures above Tunnel 41 on the UP mainline and looked at the historic trails nearby which had provided water from a stream in Emigrant Canyon on the other side of Schellenberger Ridge.

We walked back to the overlook of tunnel 41 and sat in the shade and ate lunch. A short while later we rode to the abandoned tunnels which would connect us to Donner Pass. We barely took a few photos before entering. It was very dark at first but with the help of several flashlights we eventually had an easy time.

Many portions of the tunnel system are in fact just sheds built over the rail bed to protect the cliffside construction from sliding snow and rocks. In some places the sheds have even fallen over the edge and down the cliffs below such that you can step out and look at the mountain peaks all around Donner Lake. I have always found these stretches of the tunnels remarkable because the combination of low light and the various graffiti pieces which line the interior of the system make them vividly colorful. We found my favorite “galleries” from the year before.

I was impressed that the boys were able to get as far as we did on the rough gravel. When we could not ride the bikes, we walked them through. I made a bunch of photos. As we passed through the next few segments of tunnel, things moved a lot faster. We had no trouble, even though we only had a couple of flashlights.

Once we had exited, we rode to old 40 Lodge and had orange crush and root beer. I taught the bartender how to make a Ferrari cocktail. One of my boys got permission to tape a dollar, upon which he had written the letters “SF” to the ceiling above the bar.

A little while later, we got on the bikes and descended Old 40 to and I got a picture of us riding over Donner Pass, which was really cool. Going over The Rainbow Arch Bridge was spectacular and I took pictures there too. The descent was 1100 feet! My boys were really excited about it, but they were definitely very cautious in how they rode.

We stopped at the West Donner Beach Pub to have fish and chips. There was cornhole and foosball and the boys were loud as they enjoyed them. When we were done eating, we went to the ice cream shop in the village. The boys played cornhole literally every time we stopped because it was everywhere.

Once we circled Donner Lake and got back onto South Shore Dr, the ride to the campground went really easy. We passed Lakeview Canyon on the way and I pointed out a bunch of other things to the boys. When we got to the campground area, I took us along a shortcut which went directly to Split Rock and at the campground we prepared for the night and wound down.

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.

Tahoe City

On August 4, I wrote that the day before in the morning the boys got me up by 8:15. It had rained all night and initially, I was miserable but once I got the second tarp over me, I was fine really. The boys had complained a bunch of times but by 4:30 we were asleep. In the morning I told them to pack up their sleeping bags and we took the tent down.

Eventually everything was nearly packed and I got the boys to take a walk, which may not have been the best idea cause they disappeared. They came back when it started raining again. We ate and finished packing. We were learning how to work together and they were learning to understand me. I was also learning to show them more understanding and care.

Once we had the bags packed up, we walked to the Donner Museum. However, our TART Connect – the county’s free local ride share service – came quickly. When we got to the Amtrak station I frantically asked the station staff where the 89 bus stopped and we ended up running across the street because it miraculously came a minute later.

The TART 89 bus follows the highway up the Truckee River Canyon and we were able to view Olympic Valley as the bus passed through it. I spoke to a guy from Boulder and a girl from Georgia who were hiking the Tahoe Rim Trail. Later we waited with them for the TART Shoreline bus and checked into our Tahoe City hotel around 1:30p. We dropped the bags and went to the laundromat. I took them to all the stores. I was looking for bags to replace the ragged ones were were using. It kept on raining. I wasn’t really concerned about it though.

We went back to the hotel and my sister showed up a bit later around three. It was only a short while later that we went to the coffee shop near the laundromat. I switched some stuff out. We went to the beach and then I stopped by the motel with clean laundry. I also went to Safeway to pick up some drinks before returning to the beach. By 5:30p the boys had jumped in the lake and played with their uncle.

The five of us went back to the hotel and got ready for dinner at the brewery across the highway. The menu was spare but the food was good. I did what I could to find what I wanted. My boys were having feelings but my sister was helpful. During the meal I may have been too forthright about my opinions.

After dinner, I we all got along again as we headed back to the hotel. The five of us went to motel’s common area to chat with other the guests over drinks and s’mores. When my sister and her husband took off for Reno, we wound down and I finished up for the day.

In the morning of the day that I wrote this I slept until nine. We ate some food and packed. When we had checked out, we stopped at the store and then put our name in at Rosie’s Diner to have a breakfast of coffee, pancakes and French toast. Then we went to the lake for a swim. I was glad we were able to do that. When I got the boys back together we walked to the bus stop.

I noted that I needed to buy a new back pack because I had come to recognize, based upon feedback from the boys while walking to the bus, that their backpacks are quite a burden. They were specifically displeased with me for driving them to run to the bus which comes only once an hour. Fortunately, my concern was unfounded because the schedule was off by about 20 minutes.

As we returned to Olympic Valley, I noted that boys thought we were getting off at the ski resort but I was just trying to point out specific things about the place. A few minutes later we got off the bus at Gateway and I got a coffee.

One of the boys hurt his finger as he was leaving the coffee shop. While it was small, the boy was inconsolable. I was sad for him. One of the managers in a building next-door gave us some Band-Aids. She ran a sushi restaurant. The whole incident ended on a positive note.

A short while later TART Connect took us to our campsite. We set up the tent before we got another ride to a bike shop nearby to pick up some bikes for a 24 rental. The guy at the counter set us up with the reservation I had made a month before.

Once we had bikes to ride we rode to the burger shop in historic downtown. We had to climb over the hill Sierra College sits on and that was really hard for the boys. The hotdogs and chicken sandwich were good though. When we got ice cream later, I noted that the shop in historic Truckee is very traditional but kind of raggedy. Also ice cream shops are always super hot.

We rode our bikes back to the campground, but stopped at Save Mart as the sun went down. I got us a bunch of snacks, but our backpacks were kind of small. One of my boys was in a rush to get back at that point so we crossed Coldstream Bridge quickly. However, when we got past Split Rock, we discovered that the other boy had taken a wrong turn somewhere in Creek Campground. I was frantic because I didn’t know how he would deal with being lost in the dark. So we traced what we thought was his path across Donner Creek to the State Park tollbooth and we found him back at our campsite. It was a great relief.

We unpacked and had a snack before winding down.

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.

Donner State Park

On August 2, 2024, I wrote that the day before I had boarded the Zephyr to Truckee with my two boys for a week-long camping trip. Near Donner Pass, the slow sections of the track allowed us to look around a bit, but we mostly just assumed we were getting off soon. I actually wanted to take a nap in my seat, but the Donner Tunnel was approaching, so I had us stand in the last car until we were through to snap a picture of the east portal.

As we descended into Truckee, the view from my seat was marvelous as we approached the station. When we got off we waited for the bus to Safeway but discovered that the local bus was impacted by traffic from the local street festival. So, I hopped on the bus going the opposite direction and found out that this was the best idea since the station stop was essentially stranded by road closures and there was only one bus on that route anyway.

By the time we got to Safeway, we were stressed from the heat but our moods quickly improved after we took in the air conditioner. We picked up food for and downed a Dr Pepper before getting back on the local bus.

We were really tired from the travel when we got to the park but found our camp site pretty easily. As we set up camp, I fell into a conversation with the neighbors and that really helped. They had a little dog and their two kids were a little older than mine. They offered us dinner which was nice. We got to know each other for a little while. My boys enjoyed playing with them too.

We started winding down at sunset and the boys suddenly decided to get into their tent. I was at the picnic table for an hour while they settled and then was alone for another hour. I went to bed at around 12:30 midnight. I slept pretty well given the circumstances. However, I have a nice down sleeping bag and a good Therma-Rest. I checked the boys a few times.

We slept until eight. The Neighbor boys showed up with cereal and they also offered us bacon. The boys disappeared soon after that and didn’t get back until around 9:30. It turned out that they had made a new friend. We made a bag and said bye to to the campground kids as we were headed to the Donner Boat Launch to paddle over to the Lakewood Neighborhood for brunch.

The piers in the Lakewood Neighborhood are all open to the public. We docked and walked to Lakewood Diner and put our names in. Then I bought us a mule and flip-flops for the boys at the Lakewood Store. When our names were called at the diner, I got the boys pancakes and everybody got extra bacon. I got coffee and the boys got hot cocoa. The view was great.

We bumped into a couple who live in Truckee having brunch because. They recognized the boys’ t-shirts, which had the name of their mother’s office job written on them. He told me who he had worked for there and I recognized the CFO. I texted her about it.

A short while later we said goodbye and walked Moraine Street back to the paddleboat. I noticed that the crossing was actually pretty easy. However, the afternoon winds hadn’t yet started. I took a dip, but it was really hard getting back into the boat.

When we dropped the boat off, we walked in our new flip-flops to the campsite. The boys disappeared while I was making a bag for a short trip to Truckee.

I couldn’t exactly see them, but one of them boys was mystified by Split Rock, so I where they had gone. Once we were assembled and ready to go, we walked to campground office and spent a little bit of time at the museum. After asking a few questions, I was very excited to discover that the park has a hiker biker campsite. It was also nice to learn that there were no restrictions on dispersed camping above the state park.

We ordered a TART Connect. When we got to Central Truckee at the Amtrak station, we walked across the tracks to the clothing store on River Street. I saw a jacket I liked, but it was the wrong color. I wanted pants but it was warm enough to wear shorts. So, I decided not to buy anything.

We went to the pizzeria. The hostess was really nice. The boys were into the Olympics on television. Next to us were two little girls desperately trying to play with their mom’s telephone. They were the same age as my boys. While chatting with them, my boys engaged another table to help with the video game machine. Apparently you have to push the buttons the right way to play Pac-Man.

When we left the pizzeria, there was a little rain and I wasn’t happy about it. I looked at my phone and it seemed like it was going away. The TART Connect brought us back to the campsite. We re-organized and then we went for a walk. We looked at Split Rock. I indulged my boy because he had taken us to the smaller version but later I took them to the actual Split Rock and he was really impressed.

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.

Fear of Heights

On August 1, 2024, I wrote that the day before, Wednesday the 31st, I took the boys home after school. They were really helpful getting into the apartment, so they watched television while I started packing for our trip to Tahoe. I had the boys help getting supplies out, stuffing sleeping bags and clothing while I made dinner. After we ate, we got ready for bed and watched TV before bed.

The boys and I were up at 5:30 in the morning of the day that I wrote this. We ate and got dressed. Then we got our packs on and walked to Mission Street to catch a 14 to Transbay Terminal. I got some drinks and snacks at Starbucks.

The bus to Emeryville was OK. I got coffee at the station. I texted family and when we boarded, we went straight to the café car. Between Martinez and Roseville I opened my computer and worked my job. I had little problem working initially but later reception on my tether got a little difficult.

The boys played on their iPads until Colfax. One of my boys had a hard time looking into the American River Canyon because of his fear of heights. The other one kept trying to scare him about it.

As the evening began, I bought the boys hotdogs. I noted that the tracks were slowed for maintenance. I stopped writing in Cisco Grove.

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.

Pine Mountain Fire Road

On July 14, I wrote that the day before I was 45 seconds late for the Larkspur Ferry. Being riled up and angry I made the mistake of catching the 130 – the slowest transit bus – instead of waiting for the next ferry. I was sweating and angry the whole ride.

Meandering through Sausalito I finally got better at Lucky Drive when I got off. I rode quickly to Ross where I had coffee and a bite to eat. It was very hot. A lady and her dog were in line with me and, ironically, I saw her on the trail as I climbed to Phoenix lake. I made good time climbing Shaver Grade and spoke to some other people on the trail as I climbed. I was doing good time.

At Meadow Club I chatted with a rider while I filled up on water – I knew it would be the last place to get water. I went around the greens to the clubhouse and tweeted because I had coverage. Then I climbed to Pine Mountain Fire Road. I took a couple of breaks once I got there mostly to take pictures and rest. I saw a hiker passed me and I thought I’d catch up to them but the road was too steep and rocky – I had to walk most of the way.

This section was mostly views and when I got to Oak Hill Road I had to descend and then ascend again to Cascade Fire Road. At that point Pine Mountain Road had gone to the left to climb up to Pine Mountain and I had taken San Geronimo Fire Road, which reconnects to Pine Mountain and Green Hill. I noted that this area is mostly the same elevation – rolling with very rocky roads which I had to walk.

I noticed a juniper or cypress growing on my way. I was able to look it up later and learned it is called Sargent's cypress. I noted that I was nearly 1400 feet above sea level near Cascade Canyon Road. Right before getting to White Hill Fire Road, I found a stone covered in red lichen. Most of my pics are of the map or trail markers.

The views are all of the San Geronimo valley. I passed several branches of the Conifer Trail and I could make out Samuel P Taylor Park in the distance. I caught a great picture of Bolinas Ridge and the end of Kent Lake below Big Carson Creek. This is where Pine Mountain Fire Road reconnects to the main branch.

I went around Green Hill – the rolling trail was really hard here. At Manzanita Trail, I knew I was descending into the Lagunitas Canyon near Shafter Bridge. At Boulder Springs I started thinking about the time. I knew I was late but started realizing I could not go swimming at ink wells. I passed Continental Cove and checked out a side trail to go to Lagunitas. Initially, I thought it was cool but near the bottom it basically descended sharply to Mountain View Road and I had to take my panniers off.

Carrying my bike. I went to the Indian restaurant in Lagunitas and then the store. I drank a beer and ate chicken tikka masala and chatted with some Scottish girls who were staying at the Samuel P Taylor cabins.

Later I rode to campsite 61 and site 1 after riding the the Cross Marin Trail into Samual P. Taylor State Park. I knew the path really well so it didn’t take very long. I noticed that there were two girls occupying all the space at site one so I went to site 61 at which I found that there were easily 16 people – there were five people from the East Bay hanging out at the table.

Everyone at 61 was a cyclist so I sat with them for a while, drinking a beer. A little while later they acknowledged that campsite 1 had been monopolized and suggested I set up with them. As I set up my bag, I noticed that one of the people there was a coworker so I felt a little more at home. There were two big groups and a couple of random through bikers. I kept forgetting everyone’s name. They showed a Canadian how to make s’mores. I sat at the fire until late.

In the morning of the day that I wrote this, I woke slowly and then sat at the table with the crew until my snacks were gone. I gave them directions and rode to Ink Wells at the Shafter Bridge to take some photos. Later, at the coffee shop, in Forest Knolls, I chatted with other through bikers.

I wrote to Woodacre – a bunch of cars and cyclist passed, but only one honked – and rode up Fire Road from the fire station. I had to rest at the intersection near the top because it was really steep. There were some fire crews training. After that, I rode to the top and scooted under the fence with my bike to connect with the Porcupine Trail. The experience was too difficult.

I then passed five mountain bikers as I descended to Drake Boulevard and rode quickly to Larkspur nonstop to catch the ferry to the terminal in San Francisco where I got an empanada before riding home.
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.

The Usual Suspects

On July 13, 2024, I wrote that I rode to Venga for an empanada before taking a couple trains to 12th street BART. I saw the usual suspects preparing for East Bay Bike Party . Some people from CRAP ride were there.

The ride went up San Pablo for a while. I chatted with a lady I know from Walnut Creek. I then rotated through the crowd for a long time. There was only one real gap. At the end I saw the seep and headed back to the front.

We entered Berkeley. The ride ended up on Sacramento. It was a nice route. We ended up at Roz Park. I settled in with a buddy of mine at first. I saw a coworker – she was not very friendly. I hung out with the same people I always see but I also saw some welcome new faces.

The ride headed to the Ohlone path. I chatted with a guy about his foldable bike. That section of the ride was really long – Albany to Richmond. We crossed the BART tracks and headed into Richmond. We were supposed to go to Unity Park but ended up at Richmond Bart.

I spoke to a neighbor from my hood. She had just gotten back from Roseville. I saw one of the people from CRAP who always brings his little dog. There were a lot of ladies.

I caught a train with the guy who runs a bike donation shop in Fruitvale. My car had this Hawaiian guy and his buddy. They were with this couple. He had a brnd new e-cargo bike.

I went to bed after packing at 1:30 in the morning. In the morning of the day that I wrote this I was writing and I got on the ferry to climb Pine Mountain.

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.

Ready for EBBP

On June 15, I wrote that the day before I took a 49 to market and decided to go to red radish again and that was a good idea. Then I went home, picked up a beer and was alone long enough to get ready for EBBP. I got a few things in a bag and was ready at 7:45.

I texted people to let them know I was late. When I got there, everyone was dressed as a fairy. The person leading (the lampshade music bike people) was taking their time. I got a pic with people I knew. I looked around to see who else was around before walking to Mandela to wait.

I got really good photos as the ride approached. We rode to Peralta on our way to Bushrod Park and at MLK or market. The ride got cut in half so at 55th. I did circles making sure everyone took Shattuck street. At Bushrod Park there was a roller skate girl who I was impressed with.

One of the people from Butter gave me a glow bracelet. Some Butter and CRAP ride people stopped through. The SFans introduced themselves. An SFan had a friend in town and he introduced everyone. There were fire spinners and jugglers.

The ride headed north from there to Gilman. I got a little wacky. There were about 800 people, but I didn’t count. We made a few turns but at Gilman headed to Golden Gate Fields. I went to the flag and found the SFans with a few Butter people. I saw a lot of other people. We all chatted about a lot of stuff. The SFan with a friend who was visiting lost his friend. The CRAP ride people I knew were at the baseball diamonds’ vendor area.

When it was time to go, the flag took us over the new bridge and up Virginia. I chatted with am SFan about an engineering firm in SF I knew because because he was working on a project at MTC. I ended up miraculously on the same train as the SFan crew. We transferred at MacArthur. I mistakenly got off at Powell.

I had leftover pizza at home.

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.

Folsom Crossing Bridge

On June 2 I wrote about my trip to Folsom Lake to go camping with my boys. The night went well and we woke up at eight in the morning in our campsite. One of my boys spearheaded breaking camp, which was really great. We worked together.

I noted that I had been trying to do a better job with the packing process but I needed new stuff sacks. We ate all the snacks and the boys did laps on their bikes around the campsite which allowed me to finish packing. When we left the campsite we got a good view of the dam and landscape. We got a few pictures and one of the boys pried a rock out of the road at Folsom Crossing Bridge.

We descended very quickly to Folsom’s Rainbow Bridge and stopped for a bit in the historic neighborhood. Then we rode the river and along Lake Natoma. I got a video. We saw a rattlesnake. One of the boys saw it first and stopped but then the other boy nearly ran into him. I nearly had a heart attack and nearly died from panic but the boys kinda did everything correctly. I think it was fine. I yelled too much.

We continued on from there to Natoma’s dam Nimbus and jumped in the lake. I texted with a college friend and we made plans to meet at the hotel I had booked nearby (there is no camping in Rancho Cordova). We finished our beverages, rode below Nimbus Dam, under the bridge through Sunrise and past Fair Oaks before riding through the neighborhoods. While the river portion of the ride is great getting any services – especially Lodging – is especially difficult because everything is across US50.

When we got to our hotel, it took a bit to get our room set up so we lounged around at pool with my college buddy and his son until it was ready. Then we had a pizza party. We played dodgeball in the room. We also had these cool drones flying around the room.

The boys were enthusiastic at first but, after I picked up some beverages the boys were a little less so. At nearly five years old, my buddy’s kid was a little more easily entertained. We chatted, catching up over drinks and pizza, chasing the balls around etc. They left around 730 and I used the hotel’s laundry room. The boys went to sleep quickly – they were exhausted.

We got up at around nine the next morning and had the complimentary breakfast downstairs. The boys were glum about eating. I had extra coffee before we went upstairs to pack. Despite the need to get back to the trail, we were pretty lazy – I sent the boys to the pool until I was done. We left at 12:30 and I let my college buddy know that I wanted to stop by his place but we were on a schedule.

When we headed back to the Jedediah Smith American River Trail, we passed through parking lots, crossed the freeway on a pedestrian bridge and stopped at a Starbucks. Then we followed a series of suburban streets until we got to Hagan Community Park. We saw a bird on a wire there. One of the boys thought it was a falcon. The other thought it was a hawk.

We rode to Riverbend and I caught my breath. I had been leading for the most part. After crossing the bridge, we used the levees a little, but I wanted a picnic table so on the other side of the sheriff training center we sat at a bench that had a little bit of shade.

From there I had each boy lead until we arrived at Watt Boulevard. Then I had them do it again until we arrived at Howe. One of the boys was enthusiastic, but the other was always tired. I led us to Sacramento State after we crossed Howe and we had another snack. The boys played like they always do there but I decided we needed to get a move on because we needed to make the 455 Capitol Corridor out of Sacramento.

The American River had a new branch of the river trail which had just opened but I was uncertain about getting through at th either end. So, I opted to take the boys up the north side of the river. That turned out to be a good idea because I could see, when we got to the other side of the river, that a valve on the levy was being replaced.

When we got past The Expo Center we discovered an unexpectedly involved detour there as well and I was very not happy about it. I focused on my ongoing personal goal of managing my attitude and outlook. However, I was grousing a lot because it put us arriving at the train on time in doubt. Once we got past the detour and continued onto the 160 bridge, I noted that Amtrak train five was on time and therefore we would not be seeing it pass us as we headed into town.

We crossed the SNR bridge and at the almond factory, we started declaring the intersection street names as we got closer to our train’s departure time. We were trying to get to G and sixth but there was something in the way at E and sixth so we ended up on, sixth at H or something.

Thankfully we boarded our train on time. I sent a bunch of texts, tweets, and wrote imn my notebook until we got off at Richmond BART headed home.

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.

Packing for My Folsom Trip

On May 31, 2024, I wrote that I woke with enough time to ride to the ferry building by 8 o’clock. I got coffee and had a pastry before going to the Jack London Square station. My kids were on their way with their mom and were bringing donuts.

I bought tickets and got the boys bikes out of a locker at the station. When the boys showed up we had enough time to board. The train left on time and we took photos. We rode to Berkeley and the conductor found us some seats. The car was packed with school children.

We went to the café car as we passed through Martinez and Suisun Bay. At Davis we put our stuff away and in Sacramento we detrained. We walked our bikes to the Sacramento regional transit stop and I noted that the boys needed a lot of help. Their backpacks were a little big.

At our platform, we sat in the shade and let the Sunrise train go. When we got on the Folsom train the operator push us to the back of the car. We had a lot of space. I had learned that the train only went to Iron Point due to construction.

The trip from there turned out easy and at Iron Point we sat in the shade at the station and the boys tested out their bikes, which they hadn’t ridden for a while. As we rode onward, we discovered that trackside bike path was also out of commission due to track work. So, we ended up riding around on poor quality streets.

We stopped at a liquor store to get snacks and then headed to the historic district to have a bite to eat. I tweeted a picture of my beef sliders, which were really good. The boys liked the hotdogs.

We got photos of Rainbow Bridge after we left Folsom and then we slowly rode up to Folsom Lake. At Crossing Boulevard I took pictures of the dam. Luckily, we made it to the campsites as we ran out of energy. I had the boys set up their tent while I unpacked. When we were done they got on my bike and we rode over to Beals point to jump in the lake. After floating around the lake, we sat around the crowded picnic tables until we were ready to go back to the campground.

When we rode back to the campsite, I started Ramen dinner and had the boys help prep the tent. On the table for dinner Ramen was made with sauerkraut for our greens.

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.

Curry Village

On May 27, we got up at our tent site in Housekeeping Camp where we were staying with my niece and sister in Yosemite Valley about 7AM. We went to the Bike kiosk and Café in Curry Village before having waffles back at the camp. The boys ate well. Everyone in the camp contributed fruit, sausages and bacon.

When we were done, I grabbed some stuff from the tent and then crossed to the South Loop Trail on the bikes and headed towards Bridalveil Falls. We stopped in a “rock garden” and later in a fire scarred forest to adjust our helmets. Unfortunately, there were intermittent streams which barred our way in some places. When we gave up on the trail we had to pass our bikes to one another on one of the streams one at a time to get to the swing bridge across the Merced River. I got a couple of pictures.

The ride into Yosemite Village was easy. At Yosemite Falls we got a bit lost but I got a great picture of us with the bikes. We entered through to the museum and deli. We parked the bikes in the back and found a picnic table but had to wait until the deli opened to have a snack. When we were done at the deli we went to the interpretive center and watched a film in the theater. I told the boys about my uncle, a climbing pioneer. There was a spot where you could flip through a book of pictures about climbing in the valley.

We went to the Yosemite Village Market and locked up in front. The light there is really interesting. I couldn’t tell if it was because the canyon walls are so high or because the trees are really tall. I also noted that midday it’s really hot in the spring weather but the forest floor and even the urban areas are pretty cool. I found us sun protection and snacks for later.

We went to the visitor center and the boys got ranger badges. They were supposed to wait in line to provide their Junior Ranger Workbook but instead they sat on the ground and worked on them. Then a little girl cut in front of them in line. The ranger at the desk caught it though and made a point to make sure the boys got their ranger badges so it was OK. I got a picture.

From there we rode our bikes through the parking lots to the Ahwahnee Hotel and headed out to Mirror Lake. The road and forest in Tanaya Canyon were wonderful. I had one of the boys get photos of me on my bike. The last leg was uphill and pretty hard on account of the heat and the fact that we were riding cruiser bikes. We parked and walked near the lake. The boys played in the dirt (silt). I explained the high water benchmark we found – everything was inundated at the last high water event in 2014.

On the way to Happy Isles we passed a lot of people returning to the campgrounds. However, stopped to look at the map because the direct route to Happy Isles winds over the medial moraine. I took the opportunity to explain glacial geology as we rode along. When we got to the Merced River Bridge at Happy Isles I had them kick in the dirt to simulate glacial action.

When we got to Curry Village, we dropped the bikes off and got ice cream sandwiches before we walking to housekeeping. I left the boys with family for bit so I could take a break. The boys played cornhole and later we started prepping dinner. We had chicken tacos and around bedtime I started winding down. The boys wrote thank you notes to our hostess.

Everyone in the camp did some packing since we were all going home the next day. Later we played cards until lights went out at 10 o’clock. I got some much needed rest.…

I woke up at five in the morning of the day that I wrote this and got the boys up at 6:30 AM. I packed the bags and tidied. Around 7 we had a snack and tried to say bye to people. However, nearly everyone was asleep. So, we walked to Curry Village and played the board games at the front desk. I had a coffee and called YARTS and they said we I would be able to board the 9 AM bus.

We got a last photo of Yosemite as we left and I texted family. The ride through Yosemite Valley was great. I took a great photo of Bridalveil Falls. I noted that there is this interesting waterfall At El Portal right above the entrance station. We descended into the valley on highway 140 which was blown out in a specific place so we had to go on some temporary bridges. We saw some rafters on the Merced River.

When we got off the bus in Merced the station attendant said that 713 was late which was fortunate because that meant we would be able to catch it since the YARTS schedule makes catching the 713 train impossible.

We got snacks when boarded the train. The boys played iPad. My sister texted the family chat to say that everyone was driving home on Highway 49. I noted that my boys and I were going to get to Richmond BART several hours early.

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.

The Mist Trail

The day before May 25, when I wrote this, I did laundry and returned the tent I was occupying with my kids at Houskeeping Camp in Yosemite where I found my older sister and her family had prepared tacos for us. My mood had improved from earlier in the day. I had a beer with my brother-in-law and his buddies. Later I had to come up with ways to both sit with the group but also avoid the smoke from the fire.

I ended up sitting with my boys as they finished their desert. I had to have a real talk with them about bedtime since most of the others were much older than them. They had heard about the “moonbow” over Yosemite Falls and I had to find ways to get their minds off of it. I ended up taking a long exposure of the view over the Merced River from the campsite and said that that was how it likely appeared. They relented once they acknowledged how much they wanted to go to bed. Once we had brushed our teeth and wound down, I dozed for a bit with the light on. I had tried and failed to find a beer. I shut everything down at midnight.

In the morning of the day that I wrote this, I woke at 5:45 am but let the boys sleep. We got up at 7:30 and headed to Curry Village where we rented bikes and got some breakfast. We went back to the campsite and had breakfast sandwiches. My sister convinced me to make sandwiches for the boys for our Mist Trail hike.

The boys were playing with dirt and riding around on their rental bikes. I found a couple of backpacks and when everyone in our camp was ready, I convinced the boys to get their bikes and wait with me on the road. Then a big group of us– nearly 25 people– went to Happy Isles to walk on the interpretive trail. Then we went to the Mist Trail and parked our bikes with a lock I had purchased at the rental shop.

As we headed out. I convinced the boys to lead the way to the Vernal footbridge as fast as we could. Only one person from the group caught up to us. At the bridge everyone took a group photo. From there, we tried to follow my older sister to the misty sections of the Mist Trail. However, after a few photos, she and her husband headed back.

From there the hike was really wet and while my boys were displeased at the atmosphere they managed. I had to swallow my concern over the danger on a few occasions but there were enough friends and family around that it felt OK.

Once we had made it past the dangerous climb above Vernal Falls, about 15 of us ate food with. I had the boys eat their sandwiches and a ton of snacky food. After that, we tried to get a photo of Nevada Falls. The group started to dissipate at this point but about 8 of us ended up climbing up the John Deere Trail.

One of my boys had decided to try to stay at the front of the group because he wanted to return to camp. It was cute because he kept asking where the top was. My other son had glommed onto a lady and her mom and spoke to her all the way back to the Vernal Bridge.

At the top above Vernal Falls, we rested a bit, but everyone wanted to descend back to the valley. It was initially steep but got easier. My boy in the lead, who saw me take one of the shortcuts, ran to catch up with me and that made me take caution because of the steepness. I started to take it slow because I realized he was exhausted. I suggested we count switchbacks as a way to monitor our progress.

At Vernal Bridge many of our companions said goodbye and the group was down to 5 – my boys, my niece, her boyfriend and myself. We concentrated on effective walking – the boys had to rest a lot and were occasionally not very happy. Also, the trail had a lot of narrow portions where tourists tend to bunch up so it was hard to pass people.

I noted that the spot where the trail follows the canyon northward for a short while can be very steep but it quickly got easier. I tried to hold the boys’ hands through a lot of it. Suffice to say, I was relieved when we started to unlock the bikes. We rode to Curry Village and said bye to my niece and her boyfriend before dropping the bikes off.

We had a snack and walked to housekeeping. My brother-in-law made the group pizza and later we had s’mores. We then made a plan to play video games on our ipads before going to bed.


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.

Yosemite Village

On May 24, I wrote that the night before I finished writing and went to the patio to buy a beer and discovered all the places to buy beer in the area had closed at 10 so I gave up and went to bed.

I woke three times – I was very preoccupied with getting up on time. I was so excited about visiting Yosemite. I got out of bed at 5:45.

We managed packing. The boys did their packing by themselves pretty well. We got pastries and I got a coffee before heading over to the bus station to sit where we knew the Yosemite Area Regional Transit System (YARTS) bus would show up. We saw the bus at an intersection nearby – the boys were very worried because the bus circled the block. However, it showed up at the stop as all of the information predicted. We were very relieved.

After we boarded, the bus stopped at Amtrak and a half an hour later we stopped at Kathy’s Junction before climbing into the foothills. We made Mariposa easily. The boys were playing Minecraft right as we entered the Merced Canyon and climbed to El Portal. I collected the iPads and then we watched the canyon walls as we entered Yosemite. As he knew how exciting the entrance can be, the driver had the children in the bus sit in front. Some other boy was sitting with us and everyone counted waterfalls (we saw seven).

When we got off the bus in Curry Village, we got a snack before walking to housekeeping and finding my older sister who had invited us to join her in her annual family trip. She invited us to walk to Yosemite Village. We went to the Welcome Center, Interpretive Center, Adams Museum and I took my brother in law to a coffee shop.

I took the boys on the bus back. When we got to Housekeeping, we got beverages and found the tent we were sharing with my niece and her beau.

 
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.

El Capitan Hotel

On May 23, 2024, I wrote that the night before I did my final check to see if I had packed three backpacks correctly. I did a bunch that night and I knew I was pushing it. I went to sleep pretty late.

I left at 10:30 on BART that morning. I was very fortunate because I missed a bus and my bikeshare bike was hard to manage with so many bags. I also had trouble finding a bikeshare dock. The whole thing made me very emotional.

My boys were looking for me when I arrived at Emeryville station. Their mom had a couple of extra bits for them to carry and that put me on edge because I had to repack. However, knowing I was on time for my train cooled my agitation. I bought coffee and a muffin. I let it go and I figured there was no use beefing with her. We boarded the San Joaquin train with the boys just fine and she took a picture of us.

Once we were comfortable I got better. I had my coffee and a cold brew from the fridge back home. I snapped a picture of the stop and took the boys to the café Car at Stockton for a hotdog. We settled in with iPads until Turlock. Then we packed and got off at Merced station. One of my boys absolutely hated the 11 block walk to El Capitan Hotel and I gave him too much flack for it.

When we checked in, I set them up in their bed with iPads and had a cup of coffee in the lobby. At 4:30 we walked over to investigate the Yosemite Area Regional Transit System office (aka YARTS) a block away. While I had looked at the schedule online and knew how easy it is to catch the bus there, I felt it was necessary to make doubly certain.

After that we ate at the hotel’s restaurant. I was happy with the beet salad. My boys ate most of their chicken tenders and grilled cheese. We then went for a walk to eat ice cream at Bob Hart Park and visit the park in front of the Merced county courthouse. We did pull-ups and other exercises along the par course there.

The boys enjoyed the walk. I told them some day they would ask about this trip and I’d say I didn’t remember. I also tried to run away, but they took my hand and held it really tightly and wouldn’t let go. I noted to them they were seven after all.

We walked back to the hotel via the UC Merced downtown campus and then entered through the back. Upstairs, we wound down alone together, and I kept reminding them to go to sleep. Finally, I was alone and got my stuff together to write and have a beer.

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.

I had gotten sick

In May 2024, I recounted the previous two months of my life because I had started a new notebook and also had a huge backlog because I had gotten sick and was not able to post.

In March and April 2024, I divided my time between my friends and family playing video games, fixing bikes and visiting museums like the MOMA. I attended the St. Patrick’s Day parade with my father. I visited Kings Beach via the train to Truckee along the American and Yuba canyons to go skiing.

I also did a lot of bike rides on my own and with friends: Fremont Bike Party, a muddy trip to the Diablo Foothills and another to Menlo Park. I took the bus to Menocino and explored the Laughlin range. When I returned from Menocino, I had a debilitating headache which really didn’t go away for about two weeks. I didn’t post that whole time and ended up spending a lot of time reconstructing what had transpired.

I had my kids on and off through the whole thing but they ended up spending more time with their mother. On the days that I did have them, they exhibited a fantastic level of maturity– feeding themselves and doing chores. However, they were acutely aware of my pain. At one point I even told them that I thought I was going to die to which one of them replied “we will always remember you.”

The pain started out in my head behind my left ear. I took some pain relievers but nothing really worked. I lay prone on my bed most of that Friday. I had had plans to take the boys to Marin that weekend but I broke the news to them that I couldn’t.

Later that weekend the headaches became concerning so I had a call with hospital staff. Unfortunately, they just prescribed some over the counter anti-inflammatories and made another in person appointment. As it was obvious relief was a few days off, I just set up a medicine schedule so that I could manage the pain.

During that week I did my chores and lay down a lot since the pain was too much at times. I had light dinners – like rice from the sushi place nearby, toast and applesauce. I had grilled cheese and tomato soup once.

I also had a friend come by to help out. My neighborhood is pretty entertaining so they were comfortable hanging out for a couple of days. As my situation improved we went to a restaurant.

We watched episodes of Sherlock Holmes.

When I was finally able to see my doctor, he said I was having cluster headaches and prescribed me a migraine drug which improved my situation immeasurably. He also ordered x-rays and a blood test for which I needed to fast. My head was way better by then, but my breathing had gotten worse.

By early May, I was back collaborating with coworkers via email working meetings from home. Only a few hours after I submitted a blood test and x ray, my doctor told me I likely had pneumonia. As the antibiotics started doing its work and I started feeling better, I decided to focus on my recovery – cut all the extras which didn’t leave me entirely satisfied.

I watched more Sherlock Holmes and returned to developing entries for my notebook to make up for not writing for nearly two weeks.

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.

Ridgewood Drive

On April 20, 2024 I wrote that the night before I stopped in at Shenachie Pub because they didn’t have a cover. They had a jam band playing and the clientele seemed nice. I rode back to the hotel home on my broken bike seat.

In the morning I sat with some boy scouts heading to a scouting event in the lobby at 8:30 eating the complimentary breakfast. I checked out at 10 and visited a few shops looking for used bikes before going to the hardware store. There I discovered the bike seats actually fit on my bike – they were just really cushiony. I installed the new seat across the street in front of Safeway making sure I did it correctly. While testing the bike out, I took pictures of some greenstone in someone’s front yard, which I had seen the previous time I had visited

After that I went to Brick House coffee. One of the baristas, who I had seen twice around town the night before, was out front. I asked him about his bike, a Giant. He told me about it and I learned that he had purchased his bike seat in Ukiah.

I had bagels and some coffee to go before riding to the fairgrounds where I refilled my water bottle. After that I rode zigzag on Commercial Street, Bray, Center Valley, Hill and Eastside Roads through the Willits’ Little Lakes Valley. I stopped to tighten my seat a few times and posted pictures to Twitter and reviewed maps. I got a picture of a red barn.

The climb up the first few switchbacks of Ridgewood Drive was particularly difficult so I took a rest where the road split. Then I chose the lower elevation route because the different branches on the map were named the same and went to the same destination. However, that route was poorer quality and eventually turned into a dirt road which petered out into a trail. I found some residential roads with potential but none were very well defined so I headed back.

Later I found out that branch was basically “Old Ridgewood Drive” and most of the connections had not been renewed. When I returned to Ridgewood Drive, which is paved to the top of the hill, the ride returned to being difficult with a lot of passing cars. When I crested, some locals gave me water. After a short rest I descended into the neighborhoods served by Lakewood Drive and Bear Canyon Roads.

The pavement ended as I passed the branch for Manzanita drive but the roads continued to be good. I arrived where Bear Canyon connected to Wild Iris but decided to go a bit further to look at the connection to Middle Road and found that that was where the “Old Ridgewood” stub would’ve connected had I had the time to go exploring. So I wasn’t too far off. I returned to

the intersection of Bear Canyon and Wild Iris and found a third road between Bear Canyon and Middle. It had no name but it had a sign pointing to Mariposa Creek Road. I followed it since it clearly had the most traffic based upon wheel tread and the automobiles passing by.

I didn’t have a lot of coverage for maps so I wasn’t able to verify any of my route. Also Open Street Map did not have information about it. However, Open Street Map called all of these roads “residential“ so I knew that I’d have to deal with peoples front yards and stuff. It was kind of a downy forest– rather nice. The road brought me essentially to the crest of the Laughlin Range and, while it was a crossroads, the path to the left was gated and the path straight across was just a fire break.

I decided that, despite the barriers and redirects, I had found Mariposa Creek Road. I the road to the right and it followed the crest. Accordingly, the map confirmed that this was indeed Mariposa Creek Road. I took a picture of the valley below the Laughlin Range. I shortly found a gated residential driveway. When I descended, I passed by a few houses, and then the road turned into a fire break.

Lacking any other option, I continued along the fire break and eventually connected to another fire break that came down from the spot along the crest from which I had just come. However, when I had crested, that firebreak did not seem to have a lot of potential being poorly marked. From that merger, the path descended precipitously and I ended up in thick brush – I even had to cross a few downed trees.

I eventually ended up at the Frey Winery above Tomki road. From there I started riding south past the towns of Mariposa Creek and Fisher Lake. At the intersection of East and West roads, I selected East Road into Redwood Valley.

Up to this point I had encountered no traffic going south from behind me, but I figured it was late in the day. However, once I got onto East Road there were quite a few drivers behind me and as I approached Highway 20 it got worse. I eventually took a right and entered Calpella, but I noticed that the one food place in town, a taco truck, had closed for the evening.

From there I headed south on State Street which is a terrible street. I went under the 101 and I ended up passing Clay. I had a salad and a soup at the Ukiah brewery. Then I rode State to my hotel.

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.

The Bus in Willits

On April 19, 2024, I wrote that the day before I had made a reservation for a room in Willits and an Amtrak bus ticket before going home and getting dinner. I was in bed at midnight.

I woke in the morning of the day that I wrote this at six and I left my apartment with my bike at seven. The staff at the Peet’s Van on Ness saw I was earlier than normal but I told them I was not gong to work.

I caught a 101 bus at 7:20 in Civic Center and some guy sat right next to me all over the Golden Gate Bridge. Thankfully he got off in San Rafael. I got off the bus in Petaluma and went to a café. I also checked out the bike path to Corona Road. There were rail crews working on the tracks out there. The path to Ely I noted was still not done.

I got more coffee and then waited at the bus stop – I was worried that the Amtrak bus driver would reject me and my bike. However, I was surprised to discover that he was happy to take my bike.

The trip to Ukiah was OK. I went to the Ross department store and Baskin Robbins ice cream shop before the bus headed out. When I got off the bus in Willits, I went to my hotel room on a set of dirt paths near the railroad tracks. That was nice.

I returned to the side of town near the Skunk Train to visit the brewery. Then I went to the hotel again. Unfortunately, the seat on my bike broke. I wrote that I was planning on exploring the town and getting a beer.

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.