Alpine Loop (via Mt. Tam)

Again, another ride that is worth doing. Especially under the circumstances.

I was riding out around 10a on Memorial Day. A very warm and nice day, with a lot of people around. A nasty and annoying guy had placed himself right in front of me, and resisted all attempts to pass him in the crowd by either pushing me to the side or accelerating to get in front of me and then falling behind because he had lost all energy.

All of a sudden another guy comes up and passes, and this is the last straw. The fat guy races after him, passes him just in time for the other guy to turn left onto Mill Valley road. Of course fatso’s totally out of breath, and I easily outpace him.

In Mill Valley, I turn into Camino Alto. At some point towards the middle of the road, the fast guy hits me and follows me. We follow each other down the hill, then into Corte Madera and finally onto the Sir Francis Drake Blvs bike route.

We get to Fairfax, and he is checking me out. He must think I have something interesting in mind. He has been in front of me for a while, when I turn left onto Bolinas Road. He makes a strange gesture while he goes straight, and I wave good-bye.

There you are, I am not far on Bolinas, when he comes up behind me. I push harder, he pushes harder, and we start chatting about the day, the ride. He usually follows the PRE route and returns on the other side of the mountains. It’s his day off, after a century the day before.

He continues along those lines, telling me how much his leg hurts. We go up, climb down to the reservoir. Then I stop and eat a bar, and we decide to go up. He outpaces me easily on the way to the top of the hill. I tell him to turn left, not to go down to Bolinas.

The road to Mt. Tam is a little too much for him, and he has a convenient call from his real estate agent right when the nicest climb is waiting to chew him out. I go forward, wait for him at the intersection that turns left to the mountain. He joins me and we go down jointly to Mill Valley.

We will stop in Sausalito for a snack, then cross the bridge. Riding with JC was a lot of fun, and I think if I continue riding in the North Bay, I could actually make friends. In the South Bay, it felt completely impossible.