Spruce + Wildcat and back again

My ride on Saturday started off much the same as last week, except without the promise of sunshine. The weather forecast said rain, but not until later in the afternoon, and I set out at 11am with fingers crossed that the clouds would part. I was planning to do a 30 mile, Wildcat +Camino +Moraga +Pinehurst +Skyview +Tunnel loop, but alas, the weather changed my plans into a 16 mile there-and-back-again route, to be completely hobbitish about it.

This was my first long uphill ride with my fancy new cycling shoes, which I love.



I feel like I was able to do a pretty good assessment of them, as well, since I went up and down over much of the same route as last week (in particular the nasty uphill stretch of E. Wildcat Canyon Road between San Pablo Damn Road and S. Park). They're also completely vegan, and pretty wallet-friendly too - especially since I got mine at Sports Basement in the Presidio, which has great prices. Anyway my uphill battle was a little easier this time, and it's nice to feel different muscles engaging. I feel like I have to actively pull up a little to get the full effect, but it gives other muscles a bit of a break. I'm certainly not an expert but I really like cycling with the shoes on. They're also not nearly as difficult to use as I thought they'd be (there will be more on this in a future Sisters Vegan post, probably).

Since I did NOT want to go up Euclid and its evil hills again, I decided to ride up Spruce, which, though also uphill, has equally gorgeous views of the bay, and a gentler ascent, though it's a bit curvier, which is fine, but a bit nervousing when you're not sure if there's a car just about to come around the corner, and whether or not they can drive properly. Lots of sense-of-entitlement BMW drivers up here, just like on Grizzly Peak and Euclid, and I was reminded more than once of the "I could give a fuck if you honk at me. If you honk at me, it means you can see me. It's the drivers who can't see me that I have to worry about." school of thought.

Still, I was rewarded for my patience (and turtle-like ascent...I'm such a slowpoke!) when I got onto Wildcat from Spruce, despite the immediate degradation of the pavement from pristine smoothly-lain asphalt to fucking POTHOLE CENTRAL. That aside, it's a total atmosphere change. Big shady trees block traffic and city noise, the driveways are littered with pine cones and needles...a very wonderful calm came over me as I bumped along over the uneven road.

Until I looked to my left, slammed on my brakes and nearly launched over the handlebars.

"TURKEYS!" I squealed.

There on the side of the road was a flock of wild turkeys!! Unfortunately as I was fiddling with my camera, a car drove by, and most of the flock disappeared down the side of the road into the canyon, but I managed to get this picture of the last two (click on it to view larger sizes):



Several other bikers stopped to gawk as I pedaled on. The further I went up Wildcat, the wetter the weather became. It never really rained, it was just super misty - enough to soak my sweatshirt, and certainly enough to give me a less-than-sure grip on the brakes. Going uphill wasn't a problem, and I finally made it up to Inspiration point, where I took some pics of the view...



...and was less than thrilled about the looming clouds:



At this point I began to flipflop about my planned ride. On the one hand, doing 30 miles would be an awesome accomplishment, the furthest I'd ever gone. On the other hand, I was wet cold and cranky, and the next few miles were a pretty steep downhill.

My anxiety was not helped when a more experienced biker (well...he had spandex and shit, so he looked more experienced than me, anyway) took a spill behind me as he, according to him, took a curve too fast. (He was fine, just had "a bad case of butt burn.") The rest of my ride down the hill was very tense, and I definitely felt it in my muscles later - I was way more sore after 16 miles than I was after 21 last weekend.


After I got to the bottom of the hill, I decided to turn back (smart move, right?), and I was glad I did; the air became significantly moister with each turn of the road and by the time I got back to Inspiration Point, I was soaked.

The ride was slow, and wet, and at one point as I was struggling to stay upright AND move forward, I thought "Grrrr mumble fuck rarrrr hate full of grehhhh" and was feeling pretty negative - then, from some serene hidden glen, I heard the sound of turkeys gobbling happily! Yay! The turkeys like the rain! The thought of turkeys gleefully running around and laughing as raindrops hit their beaks made me smile, and renewed my energy.

Luckily, the rest of Wildcat was almost all a smooth downhill coast or flat with a hill or two near the Brazil Building/S. Park intersection, but nothing that I couldn't handle. I went pretty fast, wanting to be home on the couch with some tea ASAP! Amazing what the thought of a fuzzy sweatshirt and some jasmine green tea in the future will do for a person!

I did stop to take some pictures on Spruce. The sky was grey (as it was all day) but it was less wet once I got to a lower elevation. I really love the hills, they're so quiet and calming.



There's also this crazy house on Spruce with really interesting...sculptures? Statues? I don't know what to call them:





It makes me wonder what kind of person lives there!

The rest of the route was uneventful, a nice easy ride home and then a walk to the farmer's market for vegan mexican food with John.

Here's the route: