Riding in Marin

Moving to the City did one big thing for me: it gave me a social life.

Sounds odd, doesn’t it? What kind of difference could that be? And yet, I find that people up here are more approachable than down there, especially when it comes to cycling.

I will ride on my own, and all of a sudden someone else will be by my side and chat. At first I thought of it as an isolated event, but then I realized it happens pretty much all the time: if someone is riding at close to your pace and doesn’t have anything else to do, (usually) he (and rarely she) will chat.

Contrast that with the Peninsula, where I spent an awful two years meeting all of one person. That quite doesn’t feel right. I can recall an infinite number of climbs of Old La Honda, Page Mill Road, Congress Springs Road, Kings Mountain Road with people that would climb at close to my pace and no interaction at all. I would greet them sometimes, but they wouldn’t respond. I would nod my head to people on Foothill, Alpine, Canada – no response.

I am glad I am here now. Cycling on the Peninsula can be spectacular, and Spectrum is a lot of fun. I won’t miss the uncommunicative people, though. I mean, if your hobby consists of sitting on a cycle for five hours, how could you not chat with the guy or gal that is right in front or behind you most of that time?