This was a "Surrats Backwards" route that started at Louise Cosca Park. Distance, start time and ride start all were picked to make it possible to do the ride, change clothes and drive the five or six miles to the volunteer party arriving right at 3. (The plan worked fine for me, but as far as I can tell, no one else who come on the ride also attended the volunteer party.)
It was a beautiful sunny day, crisp with a bit of wind. Since we started at 10:30, the day had warmed up a bit compared to an hour earlier: 46 or 47 degrees as we left Cosca Park. In the group were Pat Walthers, Janell Saunders, Rita Zeidner, Sarah Clement, Walter Meardey and leader Steve Palincsar. Janell took off as we left the park. She was there at the Visitors Center when we pulled into the Merkle Sanctuary, talking to some folks from PBS who were filming a documentary. They asked us to sit at the picnic table and act natural (which we were doing anyway) and who knows, if we don't end up on the cutting room floor, you may see us sometime in a show about Merkle.
It was a twofer for me and the media today: Rita Z's story about roof racks in today's Travel section mentioned me (my Evil Twin PalinSCar, actually) and the time someone stole the roof rack off the top of my car when it was parked in front of my house. Lots of good info in
the article for roof rack users. A fine day, no mishaps, great scenery seen from an unusual perspective, and an AMS of 12.4.
