The Friday Cyclotouriste

China Camp State Park borders the San Pablo Bay. Less well-known than the San Francisco Bay, San Pablo Bay has its own low-key charm.

The lagoons and picnic areas around China Camp are great places to stop for a beer, some food, or just to soak your feet (if not go for a swim). Plus, the trails in the surrounding hills draw mountain bikers from around the region.

The name of the park derives from the 1880s Chinese shrimp fishing village that once thrived here.

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Note: right pant leg tucked carefully into sock.

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Organic New Zealand Kiwi Fruit

I recently pedaled up to Alpine Lake and had the foresight to pack a little fruit and one of these spiffy stainless steel Japanese Suncraft knives.

As I bit into this juicy kiwi, I remember thinking:

How is it that I’m sitting here now and eating a tiny fruit that was harvested on the other side of the earth?

There was no judgment over the astronomical (one might even say grotesque) carbon footprint of my organic New Zealand kiwi – it was simply a sense of wonder that I live at a time in human history where such an act is even possible.

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Note: After writing the above post I discovered that a “sense of wonder” is a recognized concept in science fiction literature. It’s related to a “numinous” experience. Here’s an excerpt from the Wikipedia entry:

The sense of wonder is related to, but not identical to, the concept of the numinous…the numinous, in this case, is the understanding that there is something not directly comprehensible, but large and entirely other, in the world. The sense of wonder, by contrast, is the understanding that there is something that one had not fully comprehended — or perhaps had not even recognized that there was something to be comprehended — until that point.

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The Velo Hobo (aka Jack from North Carolina) was kind enough to spotlight me in one of his recent “featured rider” posts.

Initially, I told him I was a little embarrassed by the distinction. The cycling community is full of so many riders that are accomplishing amazing physical feats or doing other extraordinary things with bicycles. I felt a little inadequate in this regard. But I’ll continue to do my part, whatever that may be. Thanks Jack!

And this reminds me. I’ve been remiss in acknowledging other blogging friends and supporters of The Friday Cyclotouriste to whom I am most grateful. They include:

• Myles at Rat Trap Press;
• Eddie at The Everyday Cyclist;
• Esteban at velo-flaneur;
• Alan and Michael at EcoVelo;
• Meli at Bikes and the City; and,
• Dave at Yurtville.

All are amazing blogs. I encourage you to visit.

(P.S. The above picture, which I sent to Jack, was made with the camera on the ground using the 10-second timer on a recent Thursday evening ride up the hill near Alpine Lake).

Along the Tiburon promenade with Angel Island and San Francisco in the background.

I’m starting to prefer the tighter field of view of this image vs. the (similar) image I posted earlier.

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TIburon peninsula on the left. Angel Island on the right.

A beautiful, sunny day in this micro-climate, but note the white clouds around the island. That’s fog enveloping most of the bay (as seen in the pictures in the above post made not too long after this one). As I mentioned in my ride report, I was tempted to bail out on this ride. I’m really glad I didn’t.

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Descending into Tiburon

Now that’s a small shoulder

Seen here from Paradise Drive, San Quentin prison (far horizon in the center) sits on some prime real estate .

Agave americana. I love these. Supposedly they live 100 years, then die in a magnificent, colorful bloom.

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These are images of the Corte Madera Marsh and some bike paths leading to it (discussed in my earlier ride report)

That’s a Canadian goose on the lower left (the geotag shows the spot of this photo). I think the geese use this wetland as a stopover of some kind, but where they go and from whence they come — I do not know.

On a good day the marsh is also full of Egrets, Snowy Plovers, Pelicans, and various ducks.

The marsh is situated within an active urban landscape with:

the towns of Greenbrae and Larkspur to the north

a big shopping mall and the Tiburon peninsula to the south

the San Francisco Bay and the San Quentin Prison to the east

Highway 101 and the foothills of Mt. Tam to the west

The amount of water in the marsh is infuenced by tide levels and winter rains so there are always new islands and water channels appearing and disappearing day-to-day.

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Some future bicyle advocates returning from Angel Island while I wait to board.

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From Shoreline Park in Tiburon, looking southwest with Belvedere “island” and the Golden Gate Bridge in the background

Having a goal or purpose is important in life and in cycling.

That doesn’t mean you always need a purpose — sometimes it’s okay to allow spontaneity and impulse be your guide.

But on this ride, having the goal of riding to, and circumambulating, Angel Island was critical. Without that goal I would have turned around after 30 minutes because of the extreme gusty wind and fog.

The ride was about 40 miles round trip. I carried water and one PB&J (I ate a hearty late breakfast and didn’t require much else). I wore cotton pants, a cotton t-shirt, a cotton long-sleeve collared shirt. I also brought a thinly-insulated zip-up hoodie for extra layering (but my big regret was not bringing a beanie or cap).

It was sunny and warm when I left Fairfax at about 12:15pm, and the first part of the ride was spent meandering through central Marin towns and cities: the little bike path on the canal behind College of Marin and the path along Corte Madera Creek.

But as I approached the marsh near the Village Shopping Center the winds picked up — probably 15-20 mph head and cross winds with gusts to 25-30 mph on certain straightaways. Gusts flared around nearly every bend of Paradise Drive as I rode the long serpentine back road, past the Romberg Tiburon Center for Environmental Studies, to downtown Tiburon and the Angel Island ferry.

A mile from downtown, the fog and wind let up. The azure sky and stately homes along Marin’s gold coast (Belvedere and Tiburon) stood gloriously against the choppy Bay and the San Francisco skyline. I suddenly felt happy after more than an hour of not-so-happy pedaling.

I had to wait about 20-25 minutes and then caught the 3:00pm ferry across the Raccoon Strait to Angel Island.

When I arrived on the island the fog and wind picked up again and I made a head-down, very earnest turning-of-the-cranks circumambulation of the island. The initial plan was to follow the high fire road, which is the closest a bicycle can get to the top of Mt. Livermore (741′ EL). But the signage was poor and I somehow missed the turn.

Truth be told, I was kind of glad I missed my turn. This way I could follow the more popular (and gentler) Perimeter Road loop and get back to the quay a bit before the 4:20pm return ferry (since I was initially expecting to return on the last ferryboat of the day leaving an hour later.)

Of course, I couldn’t resist stopping for an espresso and a tira misu at Caffe Acri (review to come) once I was back on the mainland. Now, sufficiently energized, I rode furiously home while getting slammed by head winds for most of the trip (but also catching a few miles of tremendous tailwinds — for which I thank the spirit of St. Velocio).

A bit past 6pm, I arrived home to a memorable hot shower.

All in all, it was a frustratingly beautiful day on the bicycle, and well worth the effort!

Here’s a gps file of the ride to Angel Island. The mileage on the elevation profile is one-way. And the point where the pink line ends on the upper map is where my gps data logger ran out of batteries. It wasn’t a bad place for this to happen, however, as by that time the route was already nearly fully logged and delineated.

Remember you can change map types or zoom in or out to taste, using the Google map control buttons.

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Until the Cal-Park tunnel re-opens to pedestrians and bikers (and trains someday too) all rides heading south from Fairfax (e.g. to San Francisco, Mill Valley, Sausalito, etc.) will likely pass through the Town of Ross.

The enfant terrible, Sean Penn, has a home here and the street above, Shady lane, was featured in Francis Coppola’s film, The Godfather.

The image was made in the first few miles of my roughly 40-mile Angel Island excursion.

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I bicycled to Angel Island (via ferry) over the long holiday week-end. It was a typical July day on the San Francisco Bay — patches of brilliant sunshine mixed with belts of fog and massive wind gusts, due to cold ocean air being sucked into warmer inland areas.

The image above was made on the SW side of the island below the summit of Mount Caroline Livermore (El. 788′). Note downtown SF, Alcatraz, and the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. (You can click on the image for an expanded view).

(Wikipedia fact: Angel Island was part of the mainland until about 10,000 years ago, when sea levels rose as the last ice age came to an end.)

More images, a map, a short ride report, and an espresso review to come.

One more picture from the fair last weekend.

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Here’s a video clip of Obi-Wan using some Jedi mind tricks in STAR WARS episode IV.

May the Force be with you.

WalkBikeMarin Display at Marin County Fair

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The company I’m working with this summer, Alta Planning + Design, is deeply involved as a consultant in a $25 million federal pilot project to test the effectiveness of using federal funds to increase the modal share of bicycling and walking. The mechanism to accomplish these goals is infrastructure improvements and public education.

So I spent a day at the Marin County Fair sharing information about the program with fair goers.

Here’s a link to a comprehensive list of bicycle projects underway in Marin and, just for fun, here’s a few comparative statistics (from Alliance for Walking and Biking):

• The Netherlands invests about $39/resident on bicycling and walking compared to $1.50/resident for the U.S.
• Their share of bicycling trips is 27%; ours is 1%.

Formerly known as Shaky Grounds, this cafe has a new name so I decided to stop in for a visit. The place is now run by espresso drinkers (and World Cup futbol fans) so I immediately took a liking to the atmosphere.

Mojay’s Cafe is on the 4th St. bike route so it’s a convenient place to stop if you’re riding east-west through San Rafael. The menu seems to have a little bit of everything, including Italian Panini. The tenant next door also happens to be a bike shop: Summit Bicycles.

Okay, okay, so how’s the espresso experience you ask? Well, I give it very high marks:

1. The presentation is excellent: my espresso was served in an elegant and appropriately sized cup and saucer. On my first visit, the espresso even came with a mini-biscotti and a small spoon (all without having to ask). This was a nice touch and shows a better understanding of espresso culture than one normally finds around here.
2. The 100% organic espresso tasted just right and had very good crema.
3. Fresh drinking water is available from a self serve station and Wi-Fi is free.

Now, we’ll see if Mojay’s can deliver all this consistently. If so, I may have found my new favorite espresso stop.

Ebisu in waiting, Mojay's Cafe

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For the first time in my life, I was pulled over by the police while riding a bicycle (during my morning commute).

I’ll explain in a moment, but first a short digression:

1. I usually go out of my way to ride conservatively because I see so many bicyclists riding recklessly, which only invites motorists’ anger. (Of course, it’s equally true that many, if not most, motorists drive irrationally, impatiently, and aggressively in terms of how they interact with bicyclists).
2. I like to think I see the folly of both sides and so whether I’m piloting a car or a bike, I try to keep the other in mind and set a good example.

Nonetheless, on this day, I rolled through a stop sign fairly quickly after seeing no on-coming cars. Local law enforcement was hiding on a nearby side street. I didn’t see the squad car, but I heard the siren from behind a few blocks later and knew I was busted.

I gave my best Idaho Stop defense and after producing my driver’s license was mercifully only given a short lecture and let go with a warning.

If you’ve never heard of the Idaho Stop law here’s an elegant little video.

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I recently discovered a fantastic blog, Tokyo Green Space, which examines ways that biodiversity and urban form coexist in Tokyo. It inspired me to take a closer look at the dialogue between nature and urban design in my own backyard.

On a lunch time bike ride to the Civic Center, I made these pictures of the ground floor garden inside Wright’s famous architectural commission.

An earlier post included images of the outside of the building.