Bikeforums.net is a forum about nothing but bikes. Our community can help you find information about hard-to-find and localized information like bicycle tours, specialties like where in your area to have your recumbent bike serviced, or what are the best bicycle tires and seats for the activities you use your bike for.Gee3
10-10-08, 11:13 AM
Ride report… Friday, October 3rd (Sorry for the 1 week lag time and the looonnggg report…)
With the generous time and friendship Pete had bestowed upon us we, or rather he, was able to tour my buddy, Luis from Dallas, TX, around the City we love starting at the very steep California St. hills! And of course, that’s where the fun started! Well, at least for Luis!! Hehe!
(and as a prelude to the report Thien, at RBR, had graciously lent him a Wilier bike they are reviewing and asked only “ONE” thing of us, don’t drop it! No problem! I have never seen Luis fall!!! Oh yeah, Luis also pulled his hammy the week before so I asked Pete to limit the big climbs, if possible)
So Luis, if I may re-hash your experience… First, Pete flies, literally, down the hills and I follow, at a much slower pace… So as Luis heads out of the alley to Calif. St. two pedestrians can’t decide to go or stop. So to avoid crashing into them he has to bail. But no damage was incurred to the bike, just some scrapes on his arm/leg.
So he re-mounts and heads down Calif. St. to catch up to us. But upon doing so he shifts to the big gear ring and *POOF*! Chain suck!! Rapid steep descent + chain suck = Kiss the Streets of San Francisco. So, like Tony Bennett, he left his heart [and some skin and blood] in SF!! Luckily he wasn’t seriously injured, just some more bruising of the body and ego! However, the shifters on the Wilier left some metal and plastic on the streets too. But surprisingly, the Wilier sustained no other damage. On that alone I give the Wilier a positive review for durability!
From there on out and after checking over the bike we regrouped and headed out along the Embarcadero. During this time Pete showed his bike messenger skills and scared the crap out of us by weaving between cars like it was nothing. But we mere mortals had to slow up, assess the space (which was, of course, more than ample for a road bike) and then squeeze through. I guess we’re still wet behind the ears on the riding in the Big City thing! Haha!!
But we meandered towards the Bay Bridge/Gordon Biersch and then headed back towards the wharf area to check out the sites of the City in this crisp morning. The threat of rain was just an afterthought by now.
So we went out to the pier at Aquatic Park and headed to the GG Bridge. Along the way we stopped at the Fort Point, pushed on Hopper’s Hands and took a pit stop. Then headed up the road to hit the GG Bridge.
And as expected, the bridge was crowded with tourists that are oblivious to anything or anyone around them. So Luis got a good dose of defensive riding skills! And again, Pete left us in the dust on Xena so we re-grouped at Vista Point.
By this time we checked the watches and decided it was best to head back home since the wives would be waiting for us soon and Pete had to take care of some business with some potential tenants. And off we went…
Along the way back there was a little bit of commotion on the Bridge. Apparently, and sadly, we had another jumper. Don’t know many details but I hate to hear that someone felt that trapped that they had to end their life.
But we journeyed on and headed through the Presidio where Pete told me of the significance of the date, October 3rd. I won’t give the details and leave that up to Pete but I was floored!! I couldn’t believe what he was telling me. But through his own personal trials and tribulations and then renewal of life he has become a great inspiration to me and the rest of us. It made me feel really glad I was able to share this special day with some good friends! (Even if we were going at a much slower pace than he is used to going!) Hehe!
From there we went through Pacific Heights and ogled the high $$$ houses and Luis and I compared the prices of TX housing compared to the City! A huge difference!! For $200k we bought a 3k sq ft home with a big backyard in TX back in 2001. $200k out here represents just the down payment!!! Hence, our continued search for a home not a million miles from downtown SF!
Anyway, after some climbs through the area we made it back! I turned the corner to head up into the alley but forgot to switch to a smaller gear and almost fell over trying to push my way up!!! DOH! Unfortunately for Luis his previously injured leg finally took him out a couple blocks from the end and he had to limp home. But all in all, we had a great time thanks to Pete’s hospitality and great mapping skills!! He made the ride and made my day, week, life, etc… Hopefully we can go mudding some time soon as we had discussed!
Thanks again to Pete for sharing this most special day with us. You are an extraordinary person! Let’s make it an annual thing!! Thanks Luis for coming out and getting me into cycling in the first place! And thanks to Thien, who’ll probably never lend me anything of value again! Haha!
Here’s a link to Pete’s pics he had posted earlier: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=473082
I’ll get my pics up one day soon as well! :)
Gary
With the generous time and friendship Pete had bestowed upon us we, or rather he, was able to tour my buddy, Luis from Dallas, TX, around the City we love starting at the very steep California St. hills! And of course, that’s where the fun started! Well, at least for Luis!! Hehe!
(and as a prelude to the report Thien, at RBR, had graciously lent him a Wilier bike they are reviewing and asked only “ONE” thing of us, don’t drop it! No problem! I have never seen Luis fall!!! Oh yeah, Luis also pulled his hammy the week before so I asked Pete to limit the big climbs, if possible)
So Luis, if I may re-hash your experience… First, Pete flies, literally, down the hills and I follow, at a much slower pace… So as Luis heads out of the alley to Calif. St. two pedestrians can’t decide to go or stop. So to avoid crashing into them he has to bail. But no damage was incurred to the bike, just some scrapes on his arm/leg.
So he re-mounts and heads down Calif. St. to catch up to us. But upon doing so he shifts to the big gear ring and *POOF*! Chain suck!! Rapid steep descent + chain suck = Kiss the Streets of San Francisco. So, like Tony Bennett, he left his heart [and some skin and blood] in SF!! Luckily he wasn’t seriously injured, just some more bruising of the body and ego! However, the shifters on the Wilier left some metal and plastic on the streets too. But surprisingly, the Wilier sustained no other damage. On that alone I give the Wilier a positive review for durability!
From there on out and after checking over the bike we regrouped and headed out along the Embarcadero. During this time Pete showed his bike messenger skills and scared the crap out of us by weaving between cars like it was nothing. But we mere mortals had to slow up, assess the space (which was, of course, more than ample for a road bike) and then squeeze through. I guess we’re still wet behind the ears on the riding in the Big City thing! Haha!!
But we meandered towards the Bay Bridge/Gordon Biersch and then headed back towards the wharf area to check out the sites of the City in this crisp morning. The threat of rain was just an afterthought by now.
So we went out to the pier at Aquatic Park and headed to the GG Bridge. Along the way we stopped at the Fort Point, pushed on Hopper’s Hands and took a pit stop. Then headed up the road to hit the GG Bridge.
And as expected, the bridge was crowded with tourists that are oblivious to anything or anyone around them. So Luis got a good dose of defensive riding skills! And again, Pete left us in the dust on Xena so we re-grouped at Vista Point.
By this time we checked the watches and decided it was best to head back home since the wives would be waiting for us soon and Pete had to take care of some business with some potential tenants. And off we went…
Along the way back there was a little bit of commotion on the Bridge. Apparently, and sadly, we had another jumper. Don’t know many details but I hate to hear that someone felt that trapped that they had to end their life.
But we journeyed on and headed through the Presidio where Pete told me of the significance of the date, October 3rd. I won’t give the details and leave that up to Pete but I was floored!! I couldn’t believe what he was telling me. But through his own personal trials and tribulations and then renewal of life he has become a great inspiration to me and the rest of us. It made me feel really glad I was able to share this special day with some good friends! (Even if we were going at a much slower pace than he is used to going!) Hehe!
From there we went through Pacific Heights and ogled the high $$$ houses and Luis and I compared the prices of TX housing compared to the City! A huge difference!! For $200k we bought a 3k sq ft home with a big backyard in TX back in 2001. $200k out here represents just the down payment!!! Hence, our continued search for a home not a million miles from downtown SF!
Anyway, after some climbs through the area we made it back! I turned the corner to head up into the alley but forgot to switch to a smaller gear and almost fell over trying to push my way up!!! DOH! Unfortunately for Luis his previously injured leg finally took him out a couple blocks from the end and he had to limp home. But all in all, we had a great time thanks to Pete’s hospitality and great mapping skills!! He made the ride and made my day, week, life, etc… Hopefully we can go mudding some time soon as we had discussed!
Thanks again to Pete for sharing this most special day with us. You are an extraordinary person! Let’s make it an annual thing!! Thanks Luis for coming out and getting me into cycling in the first place! And thanks to Thien, who’ll probably never lend me anything of value again! Haha!
Here’s a link to Pete’s pics he had posted earlier: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=473082
I’ll get my pics up one day soon as well! :)
Gary