Uno on The Train

On October 15, I wrote that the previous Friday after work I took my twin boys’ to Alta Plaza after school to see the Blue Angels with their classmate and his dad. Then the three of us took the 24 Divisadero to the comic store where we got books and stopped at the taqueria. We took a seven bus to Waller steps and walked home.

The next morning the boys got their bikes out and I got my Surly. I let my older brother know we would see him later. We rode up Page Street and stopped on Divisadero to go to the game store, comic shop and cafe before we continued riding up Page to Golden Gate Park. The boys easily stayed ahead of me.

While we were trying to pass a runner pacing us on Page at Masonic, it became obvious to me and some of the people on the street around me – who it turned out I knew personally – that the corridor can be pretty crowded on a sunny weekend. Things had improved by the time we got to JFK but it was still hard for me.

We visited Blue Playground at Ninth Avenue and the boys dug a big hole. I noted that the rest of the ride to my father’s house was good and when we arrived, the boys played chess with my brother. The four of us returned to Golden Gate Park. My brother was riding my 1970’s Raleigh Sprite.

Later, when we returned to dad‘s, we watched TV and dad was excited about our visit. I tried to take the boys to Great Highway but it was misting outside. So, when we said goodbye to my dad and my brother, we passed through the Noriega Street Festival before riding back to Page and Divisadero, where I got them Pokémon cards and food at the taqueria (again).

The next morning I walked with the boys to our local cafe before we caught an F Market to Powell Street. It was really warm out, so I opted for no sweaters, which may not have been the best idea but the boys wanted it. We then caught a T Train to Fourth and Harrison Station. We’d missed most of the Filipinotown Street Fair on Lapu Lapu. So, we hopped on a Caltrain and got to know the new electric trains.

We opted to go to Palo Alto’s California Station. The boys were good on the trip and it took about 45 minutes. At California, we went to a game shop and picked up some Uno cards and looked around. We tried playing one of the games out in front of the shop. Then we ate some candy and drank some sodas before returning to the station – almost missed the train because we took the wrong underpass.

At Palo Alto we had some conflict with a cyclist in the subway going under the tracks. We walked to a bookstore – I found a Tolkien book and bought it because I had never seen it. We went to Delfina because I thought that Pizza My Heart was not going to be good. Apparently the boys' mother had taken them to Pizza My Heart when they had gone to Palo Alto last.

We caught the train back to San Francisco and played Uno on the train. It was the second time I’d played cards with them. I noticed that we ran for the T, but it had already left. It was cold and we had not brought enough clothing. We transferred at Powell station.

When we got home we wound down with ice cream and TV.

 
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.

San Francisco Bike Party

On October 5, 2024, 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, 2024, 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, 2024, 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.