california dreamin

Unfortunately this is the only picture of me on a bike from my san francisco trip last week. Definitely the easiest miles of the week were on that marin hybrid. Most of the week was spent being a tour guide for my sister, niece, and my cousin.
The couple of rides that i managed to get in were not the best. Unable to meet up with any local riders and winging it on the local roads I managed to find a lot of dead ends and "private property no tresspassing" signs. With the dead end routes and heavy legs my week on the west coast was quickly coming to an end.
On friday things changed. I awoke feeling fresh and well rested. With my tour guide responsibilities non-existant for the day I made my way to the local starbucks for their 3.99$ wifi internet session. The route I found promised me at least 30 miles of rolling terrain.
Without a single breeze blowing and 72 degrees of pure california sunshine I kitted up in my fastest white euro team kit.
The first 5 or so miles after my aunts house (where I was staying) were on busy 4 lane street through the middle of town. It didnt help that about 3 blocks into the ride the road went up for about 3 miles. Traffic cooperated for the most part and once i was at the top, a fast easy descent got me off the busy roads and out of town. From here on out I was riding on bike lane or an extremely wide shoulder for the rest of the ride. The 4-5 mile stretch of road after the busy city portion was heaven.
Mostly flat I saw more bikes than cars. The roads were buttery smooth and the scenery was breathtaking. A couple of turns and loop around farms and sleepy neighborhoods I looped around and back. Taking a couple of short digs and going a little hard on some of the longer climbs my legs responded.
Three and a half hours and 55 miles later, along with a new 5min power record(280w) I was back to where I started. The next day I was greeted in chicago by 34 degree rain but all i could think of was those sun drenched picture perfect california roads...