Seeing a wonderful familiar face before riding

Distance 49.7
Moving Time 3:32:10
Elevation 1,349ft
Avg Speed 14.0mi/h
Max Speed 35.1mi/h
Heart Rate Avg 123bpm Max 152bpm
Calories 1,504
Temperature 59

Many cheers to the volunteer Training Ride Leaders Hugo Sosa, Angelica Reyes Sosa, Jeff Adamus, Rachel Carl, Ron Marshall, Don Brown, and Sam Kimbrel.

As I rode into the Del Norte BART station parking lot, I had a huge smile on my face when I saw Don and Carol Anne Brown, two delightful people I adore. I spent so much of my stretching time to visit with Carol Anne, but have no fear, Jeff led the group in a warm-up, which I used to for stretching.

with Don and Carol Anne

with Don, TRL extraordinaire

So many familiar faces today, Tanya, newlyweds-to-be Chris and Jess, Lisa and, and ... see what I get for taking three days to update this post and for not taking more pictures to remind me. You know the drill by this time - I thoroughly enjoyed seeing everyone and experiencing the extended ALC Love Bubble.

Sam and I rode off on a newish route for me. A quick rest stop at Safeway in Berkeley, then towards Spruce, which is a favorite gentle climb in Berkeley for many cyclists to Grizzly Peak to the start of Wildcat Canyon. I remember the first time (Feb 2014) up Spruce and wondering how in the heck am I going to enjoy this "what-the-f--k-am-I-doing" ride. I promise the next time I'm riding up Spruce, I'll take photos of this great house with giant statues.

We got to our second rest stop, Peets in downtown Orinda, which happens to be right across the street from Europa, a huge deli/cafe. Yeah, and what about it? Well, it was about noon, maybe earlier and Team EDNA captains had a meeting at 3pm'ish. I could've would've should've cycled back from Del Norte BART after signing out and I decided (hearing John's voice in my head, "you have four more months of training") to head on home and figure out a shorter way to get back to Europa at 3pm.

Voila, my Sunday Funday Trainday ride.

Sam and I taking a break to photograph our bikes on Wildcat Canyon