Tag: Group

Three times makes a tradition– after last year, I had to do it again– organize a bicycle tour of my favorite dumpling shops for friends and strangers through the SF Bike Coalition (picking up hundreds of dumplings as takeout to eat in a nearby park). I spent the previous weekend scouting, test-riding, and test-eating, and put together a route combining low-key roads, paved off-road paths through Golden Gate Park, and riding along the ocean… with stops for last year’s group favorite (pan fried pork buns and ‘soup dumplings’ from Dumpling Kitchen, eaten in a small park nestled above Stern Grove), the chicken and Chinese spinach dumplings from Kingdom of Dumpling (most notable for the intensely pleasurable fiery orange chili sauce) ferried all the way to a strip of trees and benches at Judah and Great Highway, and new-to-the-ride Shanghai Dumpling King for the eponymous dumplings and ‘dessert’ in the form of sweet BBQ pork buns plus a few other sweet dumplings from across the street, eaten in a nearby playground. ...

A friend organized a ride around Lake Tahoe for a group of 7 adventurous comrades (many of whom hadn’t biked much this year), and it was an excellent weekend. 76 moderately hilly miles and 4200′ of elevation gain (maxing out at 7000′ where there was snow on the ground). I’d never biked at any significant altitude (maybe a short distance in Glacier Park) and while it wasn’t noticeable on the flats, I was surprised how much I felt it when pushing myself or going uphill– deep breaths feeling like shallow ones. Or maybe I just need to ride more. ...

Saturday I organized a third “SF Bicycle Dumpling Tour“ (year 1: friends, year 2: public) for about 50 people. Good food, weather, and a casual 15-mile bike ride around the city, with a few hills…. A few photos I took or people on the ride sent me: Pork and chive dumplings arriving in the park by bike: For the $10 registration fee (definitely a zero-profit endeavor) you got all the dumplings you could eat, a low-tech copy-and-paste ride booklet (map, directions, trivia, and a dumpling recipe), and some useful tools… ...

riders, friends. bikeit’s having a holiday party tomorrow (Friday), without bikes. In which we drop by the Post-Car Travel Agency party at Huckleberry Bikes around 7, then walk down to the ArtCrank bicycle-themed poster show with $5 beer, then wander to a nearby bar for a festive drink. If you came on a ride this year, the first drink’s on me.

An easy, relaxing local adventure. Meet at Velo Rouge in the morning. Bike to Larkspur, partly along dedicated paved bike trails (about 17 miles). Rent kayaks from Outback Adventure ($30 for 2 hours, I called ahead since we were a group). Paddle along Corte Madera Creek and side creeks under Mt Tam (a few hours before low tide so we were paddling against the current on the way in but the ebb was carrying us back out). Head to the Marin County Brewing Company a few blocks away for some food and refreshment. Catch the 4:45pm (sunset) ferry (also right there) back to SF. ...

On the epic Lagunitas Brewing Ride a few weeks ago I noticed huge stands of green blackberries lining one of the Marin bike paths, and vowed to return on a foraging mission. So 11 of us wrapped blackberry picking, an escape from the fog, a picnic by the bay, ice cream, and a casual ride around Marin into a day. In quick cell phone photos: ...

Great weather for the first annual Session Beer Festival, and an excuse for a ride with friends from Oakland to San Leandro. White Elephant building: Jingletown: Free wood (so consistently, it’s labeled in the mosaic): Large tires (foreshadowing…): Miles of car-free paved paths along the water: ...

[ Finally posting a map and photos from a great group ride organized by K back in October ]: Amtrak to Sacramento with our bikes, then two leisurely days of riding back to BART via the Sacramento river delta. With drawbridges (and an impromptu tour of a control room), birds at night, a quaint old-timey hotel, a ferry, and old-town California. The route (about 95 miles, click through for a detailed map): ...

My second year bike camping for a three-day weekend in Point Reyes: eight of us rode up lugging camping gear, braving the hilly Four Corners / Panoramic / Highway 1 route, and admiring the views. , The blackberries were out in full force. We filled up a whole container for breakfast the next morning: Oyster break in Olema: ...

This weekend a group of adventurous dumpling-lovers went on a casual 14-mile bike ride around the city (the Richmond, Sunset, West Portal), trying seven kinds of dumplings from three restaurants, on a foggy but surprisingly warm day. For variety from the usual coffeehouse start, we met up at SoW, a pop-up fresh juice bar in the Pause Wine Bar space. The “stonefruit flight” of yellow peach, saturn peach, and santa rosa (tart) plum juices was excellent: ...