My New Summer Hobby

It's been a busy summer... for all the right reasons. More on that later, but one reason is a renewed fondness for biking. It started when I finally did something about my broken 10-year-old Raleigh suspension bike. On the crazy chance it might do me some good, I took it down to Valencia Cyclery to see what kind of warrantee Raleigh would honor on a cracked frame. After a week, they made an offer to knock $150 off a new bike. Valencia didn't care what kind of bike. I still had some Christmas cash. They still had '06 bikes on the shelf, discounted heavily. I started test riding, and found a Specialized that I fell for immediately. It was the same feeling I had when I test drove the Cobra in '03.

Cha-ching!

That was in May. Since then, I've made some minor tweaks to the bike and racked up (I think) over 900 miles. Amateur numbers, of course, but that includes a Diablo summit, and a 60 miler around Marin and Tiburon... rides I never thought I'd be capable of. I've been commuting to South SF over Geneva Blvd, I can finaly climb a hill in a gear other than "granny", and I've lost about 20 lbs. It's helped my jogs up Twin Peaks as well; same muscle group, I guess. I did that lap in 45 minutes yesterday.

Here are some pics from a lap around Paradise Loop in Tiburon. It's one of the most beautiful circuits in the Bay Area (according to those who've biked every popular route). One of these days, I'll take some shots from the GG Bridge.

I've found my new Summer hobby.