Biking, running weekend

Saturday, a few friends & I  rode from SF to Nicasio, a cute little ranch, hippie town in Marin. According to Wikipedia, it is an unincorporated "community" of about 1000 people and it was where Grateful Dead musician,  Jerry Garcia was when he died.

Anyway, round trip from my place, the ride was about 68 miles. The weather has been unseasonably warm and dry, and the day was beautiful. Our turn-around point was Rancho Nicasio, where we were joined by cyclists and motor-bikers stopping to refuel. After drinks & food, a quick stop in the porta-potty, and a pose for the camera, we were on our way again. Only one flat occurred, and our "pit crew" (us) fixed it in record time. We got back to SF in time to enjoy some of the afternoon sunshine.

Sunday, I ran the Kaiser Permanente 1/2 Marathon. The race took place mostly in Golden Gate Park, plus an added loop around the Panhandle and 6 mile jaunt along Ocean Beach. The weather was amazing. We don't get many beautiful days in SF, especially along the water, and especially in February. By the time the race began, the temp was near 70-degrees. Whoa, I am not used to the heat! I ran with a pace-group (a group leader runs a set mile time for the entire race) for a 1:45 finish time. The "pacers" usually hit the mile marks perfectly timed, carry balloons to distinguish the group, and chat the entire race! I asked our pacer to tell us jokes, which weren't "good" by any stretch, but we'd been warned. The jokes did help pass the time! I finished the race a head of the pace group. It was a such a beautiful day that I took my time biking home from the race.