Bigbossman will be along in a bit with photos and the true story, but here's a warm-up. He and I met up at the Lafayette BART station yesterday, took BART to the first SF station, waded through the expo set up for today's SF Marathon, and headed off. First, along the SF waterfront - the Embarcadero, Fisherman's Wharf, Marina Green, Crissy Field, etc., to the Golden Gate Bridge. Then over the Bridge in breezy, foggy, chilly conditions, dodging the usual assortment of tourists on rental bikes (tons of those) and Lance wannabes who seem to think that their lives depend on maintaining 27mph on the narrow, slow-poke encrusted bike area.

Next, the always-fun downhill to Sausalito and into the blessed sunshine. Next, the Marin County Bicycle Freeway (a rail-to-trail path, dead flat but windy, that currently runs 5 or 6 miles north, but may be extended much further on the old rail line, including through old railroard tunnels) to Mill Valley. Now, the fun begins, as we climbed towards the summit of Mt. Tamalpais. At first, we climbed through a residential area (Marin County style - they haven't heard of sidewalks or, in this part, flat land), then through standard NorCal oak and open fields, finally into redwood forrest - God's country.

At a water bottle refill stop at a picninc area, I decided I wasn't having fun anymore, so BBM headed up tht last four miles to the summit (with my blessing and encouragement) while I took a nap on a picnic table. (I think I got the better of that deal.) When he returned, with stories of gravel-strewn corners and an anticlimactic finish, Da Bossman and I headed back down, taking a slightly different way back to Mill Valley - some seriously fun descents, too. Then it was back to Sausalito, a late lunch, a ferry ride back to SF, BART back to Lafayette, and pretty much a whole day spent having a great time.

Any of you who get a chance should be sure to ride with bigbossman. He is a great riding partner,and is very tolerant - he has to be to keep putting up with me. When he posts his pics (which should be great - pretty sceneray and a pretty day) and Garmin data, subtract the highest 8 miles (4 up, 4 back) from his info and that'll be what my lazy Clydesdale butt did.