cogent life

Saturday Ride

Saturday I took the longest ride I've ever done. I left at about 7am from Kathy's place in Fremont and rode out to the Sierras, up highway 4 to Markleeville, took highway 89 to 395, then 395 to 108, and 108 to 120 and back to Fremont. It added up to just under 500 miles on the SV, and I did 3 mountain passes in one day: Ebbets, Monitor, and Sonora. Monitor was probably the most fun overall because 89 is just this beautiful high-speed ride through a canyon and a high mountain valley. 108 headed up to the pass was also lots of fun. Pretty quick, lots of passing slow trailers and etc. There is still an impressive amount of snow above 8500 feet. And I need to have my bike's suspension done up a bit better. Downhill pogoing through switchbacks just plain freaks me out.

Airports

I like airports - when I'm not traveling.

"What the hell," you say? Well, when you aren't the one traveling, the airport is just someplace you go to fetch others, to wait, to relax.

In particular, I like the international terminal at SFO. It is large enough that it's never too crowded and it has two nice food courts with a bar in between them. There are plenty of tables, chairs, booths... and lots of food variety. There is also wireless internet access blanketing the terminal.

These are all great on their own - but the airport also offers two things that you can't find anywhere else:

1) Reasonably clean seating/work areas with no fees to pay and no implied time limits that make you uncomfortable.
2) A feeling of true anonymity, as if you are wandering through a big city that you don't know anyone in.

So in some ways, when I'm not traveling, I can think of the airport as something of a refuge. A place with ample comforts -- and sometimes the happy benefit of exotic people watching. Sometimes I even stop in for dinner.