Outside Lands Festival, San Francisco, CA
We went to the Outside Lands Festival in Golden Gate Park over the weekend of August 22-24.
We stayed in the Flower Child room at the Red Vic.
Met up with Gene, a former co-worker of Julie's at the PO and Jason O., a former Phoenix resident with whom we would ride with now and again.
The weather was nice and cool, mid-60's I guess with Friday and Saturday being quite cool with the fog cover and Sunday started out foggy but the sun broke through at the end of the day.
Listened to some good music and did a lot of people watching (it is San Francisco after all). I was expecting more folks to let their freak flag fly but it seemed pretty tame compared to Coachella. Maybe it's the weather or perhaps they don't feel the need to show off. I have not seen more people smoking pot in...ummmm...never. From the youngest teen to the oldest senior. It was everywhere.
Beer selection was actually pretty good as they had Sierra Nevada Pale and Anniversary Ale available as well as Heineken and H. Light, which I can totally do without. Never quite made it to the wine area as the lines there were just crazy. Food selection was pretty decent but the lines were huge. Perhaps the organizers can see to that next time. A half-hour or more is way too long to wait for beer or food. The next couple of days Julie and I brought these huge burritos from Zona Rosa's on Haight.
The music was OK. There were some technical difficulties on the main stage which made Radiohead a bit more difficult to pay attention to. We actually stayed for Tom Petty but we totally bailed on Jack Johnson. Forget that guy. The highlights of the weekend for me were Black Mountain, The Walkmen and Cake. I could try and list all that we saw but that would be too much.
Instead of listening to Jack Johnson, we walked to the end of the park and checked out the beach since the weather had improved. We had a nice meal and some restaurant that served some decent brew and food but I can't remember the name. It's right across the street from the beach parking lot.
Some photos:
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Friday, August 15, 2008
FMR
Friday Morning Ride. I had to do something since I missed the ThNR with Gordon as I was obligated to spend my evening on a work-related conference call to which two people from the other side (i.e. customer) did not join. I'm almost glad I didn't go but a bit disappointed at the same time.
Around 6pm I was finishing up another work-related call when the wind started picking up as it does when prefacing a monsoon storm. Sometimes all we get is the wind and a few drops of rain. Last night was a GOOD storm. Plenty of lightning followed by booming thunder. The rain actually was sustained for at least an hour here in downtown Phoenix. Our pool, currently under construction, is again filled with about 6" of water in the middle where it is deepest.
Gordon, being the only rider of the last two weeks for the ThNR got caught out it in. He mentioned the rain and the mud and having to rebuild his Salsa, again. I think this might be the third time; once after an all night rain at McDowell Mtn. Park, a month or so again at Dreamy Draw and again last night. That's the only reason I'm glad I didn't get out last night.
As it was, the trails were uber-tacky this morning. No mud, just a tightly packed surface and re-vamped lines due to the heavy rain. It was humid this morning, that's for sure, but no sun due to the cloud layer still lingering. Very few people were out as I saw them from various vantage points and I didn't come across anyone on the same trail as I. I had a plan for a loop but that all changed as I lost my glasses somewhere on the "bench loop". So I just ended up turning whichever way that looked good. All was ridable and climbable. A good morning on the bike.
Friday Morning Ride. I had to do something since I missed the ThNR with Gordon as I was obligated to spend my evening on a work-related conference call to which two people from the other side (i.e. customer) did not join. I'm almost glad I didn't go but a bit disappointed at the same time.
Around 6pm I was finishing up another work-related call when the wind started picking up as it does when prefacing a monsoon storm. Sometimes all we get is the wind and a few drops of rain. Last night was a GOOD storm. Plenty of lightning followed by booming thunder. The rain actually was sustained for at least an hour here in downtown Phoenix. Our pool, currently under construction, is again filled with about 6" of water in the middle where it is deepest.
Gordon, being the only rider of the last two weeks for the ThNR got caught out it in. He mentioned the rain and the mud and having to rebuild his Salsa, again. I think this might be the third time; once after an all night rain at McDowell Mtn. Park, a month or so again at Dreamy Draw and again last night. That's the only reason I'm glad I didn't get out last night.
As it was, the trails were uber-tacky this morning. No mud, just a tightly packed surface and re-vamped lines due to the heavy rain. It was humid this morning, that's for sure, but no sun due to the cloud layer still lingering. Very few people were out as I saw them from various vantage points and I didn't come across anyone on the same trail as I. I had a plan for a loop but that all changed as I lost my glasses somewhere on the "bench loop". So I just ended up turning whichever way that looked good. All was ridable and climbable. A good morning on the bike.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
The Sickness
After a week at work where my co-worker was on vacation and unreachable, a considerable security issue arose and non-stop afterhour changes took place, I ended up getting sick. I started feeling it Thursday evening while talking on the phone during a production change. I had been talking quite a bit the past four days due to the aforementioned issues. Just a slight scratch. Then while out on Friday night for a few beers with some friends, I could no longer speak except for a raspy voice. Saturday morning saw me laid out on the couch immediately after getting out of bed. Nothing got done. I think I watched more TV that day that I had for the previous month. Then it came to me; I had not been riding in a week. The last time I went riding was on August 3rd when I took the Mary for some dirt. Bike commuting was out of the question after being woke up 4am on Monday morning due to a production issue. The resulting fallout left me no chance to ride to work or any before/after work riding. That's when I knew I was Sick.
The kind of Sick when you realize that riding in any form was what you needed to do, had to do. Not even a ride on the 3-speed to the store was happening for me. I didn't even stay off the bike for more than a couple of days when getting diagnosed with knee/hip/back problems that could actually stop me from riding. I finally quelled my riding pangs by waking up early on Wednesday morning (now day 10 of no riding) and although coughing and hurling large chunks of phlegm into the road, I was moving. 5 am and spinning pedals, my legs stiff and feeling awkward. No computer, no odometer, HRM or anything. I knew it was going to be slow but didn't want to know how slow. After about 10 miles or so, things loosened up a bit and though I didn't feel much like pushing it, I decided to ride a normal loop around Mummy Mountain. The sun was rising but there was still a nice cloud layer keeping things a bit cooler. My MP3 was on shuffle and every now and then I would pick up the pace a bit. I held back trying to climb fast or chase down riders in front of me and just rode. Arriving back home, I was glad I made the effort to roll out of bed still sluggish from the cold medicine and get back on the bike.
Perhaps the forced rest was what I needed to reset things to a more normal level. I had been putting in at least 200 miles a week between commuting, ThNR's (Thursday Night Rides) and mountain biking on telecommute days. The knee doesn't hurt today, a nagging saddle sore has disappeared and I really want to go for a long ride. Man, I love being Sick.
After a week at work where my co-worker was on vacation and unreachable, a considerable security issue arose and non-stop afterhour changes took place, I ended up getting sick. I started feeling it Thursday evening while talking on the phone during a production change. I had been talking quite a bit the past four days due to the aforementioned issues. Just a slight scratch. Then while out on Friday night for a few beers with some friends, I could no longer speak except for a raspy voice. Saturday morning saw me laid out on the couch immediately after getting out of bed. Nothing got done. I think I watched more TV that day that I had for the previous month. Then it came to me; I had not been riding in a week. The last time I went riding was on August 3rd when I took the Mary for some dirt. Bike commuting was out of the question after being woke up 4am on Monday morning due to a production issue. The resulting fallout left me no chance to ride to work or any before/after work riding. That's when I knew I was Sick.
The kind of Sick when you realize that riding in any form was what you needed to do, had to do. Not even a ride on the 3-speed to the store was happening for me. I didn't even stay off the bike for more than a couple of days when getting diagnosed with knee/hip/back problems that could actually stop me from riding. I finally quelled my riding pangs by waking up early on Wednesday morning (now day 10 of no riding) and although coughing and hurling large chunks of phlegm into the road, I was moving. 5 am and spinning pedals, my legs stiff and feeling awkward. No computer, no odometer, HRM or anything. I knew it was going to be slow but didn't want to know how slow. After about 10 miles or so, things loosened up a bit and though I didn't feel much like pushing it, I decided to ride a normal loop around Mummy Mountain. The sun was rising but there was still a nice cloud layer keeping things a bit cooler. My MP3 was on shuffle and every now and then I would pick up the pace a bit. I held back trying to climb fast or chase down riders in front of me and just rode. Arriving back home, I was glad I made the effort to roll out of bed still sluggish from the cold medicine and get back on the bike.
Perhaps the forced rest was what I needed to reset things to a more normal level. I had been putting in at least 200 miles a week between commuting, ThNR's (Thursday Night Rides) and mountain biking on telecommute days. The knee doesn't hurt today, a nagging saddle sore has disappeared and I really want to go for a long ride. Man, I love being Sick.
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