Bikes, burritos and a certain Blue Bottle
With plans for a ride set for 9am, I again camped in the Presidio, waking to find another great banana slug oozing its way along a bench. The sun was out, the air was crisp but warming and there was none of the city’s habitual fogs. Throwing back a couple of peanut-butter sandwiches and a mug of camping-stove espresso[Gemma, it works very well!], I packed up all my gear, arriving a few minutes early at Sunday’s rendezvous spot. The spot, right at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge was packed with two things; camera wielding Asian tourists and chamois wearing road racers.
Turns out this unaffiliated Saturday ride was rained-delayed to Sunday. There were about 30 roadies, all in various team/club kit and riding some serious rigs. Chatting with a couple of them, overhearing their conversations and noticing some ridiculously large legs, I soon understood this was was no group of weekend warriors or racer wannabes. Then again, I’d like to see one of them drift the front wheel of a fully loaded touring bike down a muddy off-camber descent. Shortly after they took off, my riding partner, Kelly, pulled up. “Oh, right, you’ve got all your gear.” she said. I gulped, knowing I was going to be in for a good workout. Sweet, another day off spent riding!
We rode to Sausalito and did the Paradise Loop, a traditional Bay Area ride. Some ups, some downs, some $400,000 homes with $5,000,00 views of the skyline in the morning. Arriving in Tiburon, we had a quick coffee and sugary treat, getting back on the bikes soon so as not get cold. We did also have a bit of time commitment; the cyclo-cross race happening that same day in Golden Gate Park. The same race that the guys at Mojo had told me about, a friend of Kelly’s was competing in.
Arriving in time to take in both a womens and mens race [I think, but am not sure, it was the final senior race for each]we soon found ourselves surrounded by spandex, wool, ale and canti brakes. It was glorious. Heckling at the summit of a very tough climb, young guys gettin’ schooled and even a few flying cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon. I ran into John from Mojo, we found Kelly’s friends and Irene received many, many compliments and questions. But then, it happened; we became very hungry. Though Cliff Bars were everywhere, we needed a meal.
Papalote burritos; legendary with good reason. They were excellent and totally filled the spot! To follow, coffee at Blue Bottle; a tiny spot built within a renovated garage, located down a narrow one-way street and next to a corset boutique. No canopy, no chairs, no hangin’ around. They were doing a very good business; with coffee this well made, so they should. Hand poured single serving drip coffee; tasted better than many Americano’s I’ve had.
After a such a full day of riding and full stomach from eating, I was happy to get myself to a motel, shower for the first time in three days and put my feet up. Yup, San Francisco is definitely my kind of town.
