We had a mini-heatwave at the weekend and so I decided to put my mountain bike on the Caltrain and ride through San Francisco, over the Golden Gate Bridge and down into Sausalito. I then took the commuter ferry back to the ferry building where I ended my ride with a nice burger at Taylors Automatic Refresher.
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Here are my recent trips.
A few weekends ago, I took a walk around the Botanical Gardens in Golden Gate Park. This weekend, Antwan wanted to try out Jill’s new bike and we took a short ride up to the Marin Headlands.
Today, I took my mountain bike across the Dumbarton Bridge and into Union City and Hayward before taking Bart and Caltrain home!
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A couple of weeks ago, I took an unscheduled business trip to Santiago, Chile.
I didn’t get much time to really explore but I managed to take a few photos.
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I thought it was time for a quick road trip. I booked an SUV from Hertz for 5 days. For the first time, I used the “Local Edition” of Hertz rather than the big one at SFO airport. The rates were good if not better and they provide a pickup and drop off to home service which avoids having to take expensive taxis to SFO.
After a false start on Wednesday night (thought I left my wallet at home and drove 30 miles back to get it before realizing its in my jacket pocket!), I headed to my overnight stop-off in Bakersfield. Stayed at the Springfield Suites (part of the Marriott chain) for free using some rewards points I accumulated last year. Nice hotel but in a very industrial part of town. The main thing was a very comfy bed, away from the Freeway and train tracks.
The next morning, I took the nice way to Las Vegas. I stopped off at Tehachapi Loop, a railway track in a big circle allowing trains to climb the mountain. From there, passed through Mojave arriving at the Wynn Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas early evening.
The room at the Wynn was nice - not great. I’ve stayed at nicer places in Vegas. Its certainly not worth the money they usually charge. I was on a promotional rate of $150/night including $25 of free slot play. The room was very nicely decorated but I could still hear the club 38 floors below me and the TV from the room next door!
The next day, I headed over to Hoover Dam to see what was going on there.
Following morning, I checked-out and headed north. I passed through Zion National Park and ended up in Page, Arizona at the Marriott Courtyard. I still had plenty of reward points so got another free night there. The next day, I had a quick look around Glen Canyon Dam and then headed to Antelope Canyon in tribal lands. After doing some research, I decided not to take the regular tourist route but instead head to the lesser known lower Antelope Canyon. There, you don’t need a guide (more money on top of the $26 they charge you to enter the tribal lands). Also, I can spend as much or as little time as you like. Furthermore, I had the whole place to myself!!!
After wearing out my camera with so many photographic opportunities these canyons provide, I headed down to Kayenta and through Monument Valley into Utah.
I arrived in West Jordon, just outside Salt Lake City late evening and stayed at the Hampton Inn (Hilton Chain) again with reward points. It was an ‘OK’ place but very close to the freeway - I made sure my room was not facing the traffic!
The next day was just a ‘get home’ day. I had to cover 750 miles and got caught up in a blizzard just by the Great Salt Lake. Traffic slowed to a crawl but as soon as I cleared the storm, it was just a case of pointing the car in the right direction and setting the cruise control.
I stopped off at a really nice burger bar in Truckee for Dinner called “Burger Me”. Ordered the double burger (I know I shouldn’t) but just as I was loading on the condiments, half of it dropped on the floor. Someone was trying to tell me something…!
Click the photo! Enjoy!
I forgot to post my photos from my UK visit last Christmas.
It started off with an unexpected night in freezing Chicago. With nothing more than my California T-Shirt, I was thrown onto the streets of Chicago in megative temperatures as flights were cancelled due to weather problems!
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Six months ago, I bought a used Kawasaki Conours. It was supposed to replace my aging ST1300 but it never quite did. It just didn’t have the luggage space which I need for carrying my shopping! So, I traded it in for a new Kawasaki ZX-14.
I’m restricted to 4000 revs for the first 500 miles so I took a gentle ride up to the North Bay and met up with Antwan for a quick cruise around Marin County.
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I recently moved to Redwood City so have been explopring some of the local roads on my mountain bike. Downtown Woodside is just a few miles up the road but its a good workout as it climbs 500 feet, all uphill!
On my motorbike, I’ve passed through Woodside more times than I can count - its one of the bay areas popular motorcycle routes but I never really spent time looking around. I can explore at a more leisurely pace on my mountain bike.
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Last weekend was a holiday weekend here. I was able to get a last minute booking at the Yosemite Lodge for an overnight stay inside the park. This time of year, the park should be full of snow. There was some snow on the ground but not as much as previous years. Unless they receive some serious snow in the next month or two, the waterfalls for the spring will be disappointing 
Click below for the photos.
Just before my UK trip home, I took a quick business trip to Cincinnati, Ohio.
I decided to not fly all the way to Cincinnati but instead, pick up a rental car in Chicago and drive the 300 miles. I arrived late at night so didn’t get any opportunity to explore on the way down, but on the way back, I took the back-roads guided by my Tom-Tom GPS.
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I’m still catching up with some trips I did before Christmas.
First is a cycle ride around The Bay Trail starting in Foster City. The Bay Trail is a dedicated cycle way which aparently circumnavigates the San Francisco Bay. On this mild November weekend, I started at the doggie park near my apartment complex and finished 15 miles north at the San Francisco International Airport.
Second set is a motorbike ride to San Francisco via the East Bay to see the Christmas festivities in the city.
Enjoy!
Routes