The (lack of) view from Mt Tam

Posted by Rachel

Sometimes, while I'm biking, I think to myself "wow, this sport really sucks". That's something I've been working on and trying to be more positive. After all, 112 miles of biking is a LOT of biking. Might as well embrace it.

Travers has been wanting to bike Mt Tam all summer. Finally, on Saturday, we went for it. It was our 3rd bike ride in 4 days, so I didn't expect it to be easy. My legs were the least of my problems.

We took BART to Embarcadero and biked over the Golden Gate. In the morning, it wasn't so bad except for the fact that the wind was literally manhandling me on the bridge (and later on the mountain descent). It was pushing me toward traffic instead of toward the bay, so I guess that's better? Fortunately, Travers agreed to skip the loop in the Marin headlands with an 18% downhill grade. I did that downhill with a 0 mph wind once and almost started crying it was so scary, so I'm pretty sure I would've ended up in the Bay if we attempted it on Saturday.

So fast forward a bit and we're climbing Mt Tam and all of a sudden I get pelted in the chest with a wasp. It falls onto my quad, and instead of flying away it of course bites me in the quad. This is the second time this has happened to me on the bike. (The first time, a bee actually flew into my sports bra and then stung, so I suppose the quad is preferred). Begin inner dialogue "My quad is on  fire.. this sports sucks!" "It's not biking's fault... runners could get stung, too." Etc. Then finally we were getting toward the top of Mt Tam.

View from the climb

The climbing itself wasn't so bad. However, when we got to the top, we were rewarded with...just bathrooms. The view was covered in fog. 

Travers looking at the"map" of what he was supposed to be looking at... if in fact he was looking at anything other than fog

I also wasn't a fan of the top because it was swarming with wasps. I had enough for one day already, thanks. The ride back was pretty uneventful, although the Golden Gate was MOBBED with tourists. It was a little bit of nightmare but at least I had expected it. It reassured me (yet again) that we made the right choice in living in the East Bay... I just can't imagine constantly dealing with tourists. The ride was beautiful but I think I'll stick with the more convenient Diablo for future mountain climbs.

After, Travers and I went to a great Jamaican restaurant. Travers asked me who I thought the most famous Jamaican is and I said Usain Bolt. He countered with Bob Marley. I think he's right... but what do you guys think?

Today my run was fine, except my motivation was low so I only made it 10 miles (intentionally). Also, the wasp sting area was itching like crazy and was actually sore in the vicinity of the sting when I started running. Oh well... better luck in my training next week :)