Double Espresso Ride to Rulli’s

It was a beautiful day for a ride yesterday, and so 12 of us met up at Peet’s at the utterly civilized hour of 10 AM for a jaunt up to Marin, lunch at Cafe Rulli, and the ride back.

Because of the distance and pace, the ride was attractive to all levels of riders. We had a smattering of fast and experienced folks, some mid-level riders, and several new or almost new friends with us today. Jeff joined us on his recumbent and kept up admirably. Howard and Gene rejoined DSSF for their first ride after a number of years of being away from the club. Andrew, a strong rider who recently moved here from Chicago, made it to his first club ride. And Mark, a newer rider, braved our pace to join us, and did well.

Rico and Andrew joined the group at the Bridge. I’m pretty sure most club members know this, but in case it never occurred to you – on most rides, it’s not necessary to meet the group at the starting point – if there’s a convenient place mid-route you’d like to join, that’s a possibility. Before the ride, check with the ride leader about the appropriate time to meet up with the rest of the group at your desired meeting point.

I did not bill the ride as such, but I decided that NRLB – No Rider Left Behind – would be a good policy to follow today, since so many of the riders were new to the club and not 100% sure of the route. So I swept for the group and had the pleasure of getting to know some of the newer riders. I think in the future I will bill such rides as NRLB if I’m leading, since I think this is an attractive thing for newer riders or people who don’t ride with us that often. Nothing sucks quite as much as going on a ride with the club for the first or second time, getting dropped, maybe getting lost, and then having to ride alone the rest of the day. I probably wouldn’t want to advertise a faster, longer ride as NRLB, but for a 37-miler with relatively few hills, definitely. There is a need for this kind of ride and I would encourage others of you to post similar rides if you’re up for it.

You all know this route, so there’s not a whole lot to say about it. Lunch, coffee, and dessert at Rulli’s was superb as always. The guy behind the bar was as cute as ever, and he had a big ol’ hickey to boot.

Pizzeria Pico, which is about a block south of Rulli’s, looked empty. This place is supposed to be great. Please post a comment if you might be interested in a ride that stopped at Pico for pizza some time and if there’s enough interest, I’ll organize something.

The group split into 3 after lunch, with several riders taking the ferry from Larkspur home, several others going off to do the Tiburon Loop, and the rest of us turning around and climbing Camino Alto as we headed back across the Bridge. Nice long stop at Bicycle Odyssey (a DSSF sponsor) for a bathroom break and toy shopping. It was a particularly nice ride back today – so gorgeous, I did something I haven’t done in a couple of years, which was to stop in Sausalito and take pictures of the City across the Bay.