[trip-list] Palo Alto

[drewish@katherinehouse.com]

SAN JOSE, CA 08/08/02 - Leaving San Francisco was one of the harder departures. Two nights with the Trembaughs had me feeling like one of the family. Why go running off down the penninsulia. I was really asking myself that when I started trying to navigate my way out of the mess of one way and dead end streets in South SF. Two hours later I'd managed only 10 miles and a mile was probably the longest I stayed on any one street. 

There are some mighty militant drivers in San Francisco and I found two of them on the way out. The first was a white late model Dodge Stratus. He passed me on a down hill then slowed down and moved over to the right in front of me until I, thinking he was going to turn right, moved out to the left. Then he accelerated a bit and began weaving back and forth down the street. I was still under the impression he was just lost and looking at a map or something. The first clue was when stopping at a light he parked as far to the right as posible so I couldn't pass him, but again thinking he was turning I ignored it. At the next light I was able to get around him and then as the light turned green took off down a bit of hill. I guess you could say I was sure he was an asshole right about the time he pulled up next to me and swerved at me, by the second swerve there was no question. At the time I wasn't really worried about him hitting me. He seemed like he'd done it before, beside!
s I was too busy trying to figure out how I to get my bike pump loose so I could put it through his window. All I could manage was to leave a good amount of saliva on it. He turned at the next corner but it was going uphill and was far enough ahead I didn't bother to follow him. I did keep an eye on the mirror in case he tried to sneek up behind me for another pass. That was the last I saw of him but a couple of blocks later a fellow in an older blue Turbo Z pulled in front of me and went so far as to drive the length of two city blocks with his tires squeeling against the curb so I couldn't pass him. I just rode behind him shaking my head and chuckling at him, I could totally see him at Les Schwab asking for a set of tires with extra thick sidewalls.

For some reason the realization that I had ridden all the way to SFO, the San Francisco International Airport, struck me as very funny. It was a place I'd been several times both by car and by plane, for some reason it seemed realy absurd to have riden all the way there from Reno by way of Portland. Even more absurd was to consider all the places I've been by way of in my life. Picturing a trai of string left everywhere I'd been between my birth in Dallas TX and that instant, sitting on a bicycle in front of SFO. Seeing it criss cross the world world, tangeling to knots in some places, a long solitary line in others. It helped put the trip in perspective. I started wondering where I'll have left that string between then and the next time I find myself at SFO.

In San Mateo an hour before showtime I called Martin and told him I didn't think I'd make it to Palo Alto on time. He had someone with the city and call and give me directions. I got on El Camino Real right as she told me I had around 15 miles to go. Her advice was to take the train in. The only problem I saw with that was I'd be sitting around for 30 minutes before it showed up, I knew I'd have gone crazy waiting for it. I crammed a donut down and prepared for a push. I don't mind being in that kind of a crunch, trying to see if I can make it happen. The short of it is I arrived with 10 minutes to spare.

There was a quick ceremony at the Bike Station, an old train station that housed a bike shop and bike storage for comuters who take the train. Three or four city councilpeople turned out (some of them even riding over) and pesented me with the proclamation. Two bent riders showed up, Mark and Mike. Mark had ridden his Vision and Mike had riden his Sun EZ-1 he'd converted to an electric hybrid. It was something he'd been working on for a while and was very happy to talk about it. [For more info about his bikes check out http://www.25mph.com ] After the ceremony the two of them rode out to San Jose with me. Mark's going to let me stay with him on Saturday night before the ride into Santa Cruz. We went by his house so I'd know where it was. Mike headed home and Mark and I grabbed dinner at the all you can eat salad restaraunt before I went on out to where my friend Chris lives.

andrew

------------------------------
This mobile e-mail sent by PocketMail
PocketMail handheld devices available
from $99 plus service. For where to
buy, go to www.pocketmail.com