The Friday Cyclotouriste

SUMMARY (60 out of 100 points): overall a disappointing espresso experience at least as far as The Friday Cyclotouriste’s arbitrarily strict “espresso” rating system is concerned. However, Lagunitas Grocery is as much about the setting as anything else. The outdoor seating is wonderful, with lovely small-town charm and great southern exposure, which by itself makes it worth a stop on your way toward the coast.

Taste (2/5);

Crema (3/5);

Serving size  (4/5);

Presentation (2/5);

Eco-friendliness (4/5)

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A good stopping point for calories or espresso.

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This stretch of Sir Francis Drake Blvd. is undergoing changes.

Some recent re-striping gives us cyclists a litle extra shoulder to work with. The black line is where the shoulder used to be.

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Plenty of water at Alpine Lake, which is good for municipal water users like me. Note the dam’s spillway is flowing. A far cry from earlier this winter.

For some, this may be an unpleasant image. But death is all around us and today it could not be denied. I saw the dead fawn as I was returning home from my familiar Fairfax-to-Alpine Lake ride. I made a quick u-turn to return to the spot and was able to remove the small creature from the road and perform an ad hoc burial. I fashioned a cross from some branches held together with vines.

I’m reminded of the book, Apologia, by the great writer Barry Lopez.

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On one of it’s rare flat stretches, Bofax Rd. winds through a redwood grove. I pulled over because just across the way lay the little fawn.

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Here’s my early 80’s Guerciotti (59 cm). I bought this as a junior in high school when I was into the idea of bike racing. Top riders in the Tour de France rode bikes like this. It’s still a wonderful bike and I use it for most many of my Friday excursions. It’s been modified from it’s original condition in the following ways: I’ve put wider, more comfortable tires on clincher rims (sew-ups originally), re-tapped the handlebars with hemp-twine and three coats of shellac, added a Brooks saddle, and attached a front rack. She’s relatively light, fast, and can hold extra clothes, food, a camera, or whatever in the old TA bag.

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