Kirby Cove camping meetup
Did a little bit of bike camping this weekend with some chaps from a San Francisco meetup.com group. We met at the ferry building in the city and rode across the bridge, up the headlands and down to Kirby Cove, a magical spot I was previously ignorant to (book early, it fills up!).
Fantastic lively and fun group I met; was a lot of fun. I knew when the wine was being passed around the fire I was in the right place. Kudos!
Click through for more pics!
19.Jul.09 
Hey look, a new Thermarest: NeoAir
Just came on my radar, a new Thermarest under the name “NeoAir. Touted (of course) as the best damn thing ever to happen to sleeping outside it does actually appeal to me. Primarily, I’m impressed by it’s tiny compacted size.
(Hopefully that’s not a giant pen)
Also shaves a few ounces off the previous ProLite and supposedly provides more warmth with diagnol cut blah blah marketing stuff etc. I’ve been using an REI Lite-Core 1.5, including on my SE Asia trip, and it’s comfortable but seems susceptible to valve failure (accounts online and my own failed but was replaced by REI in store, I love REI). May think about trading in for this sucker though.
Review: http://gearjunkie.com/the-gear-junkie-scoop-therm-a-rest-neoair
Product: http://cascadedesigns.com/therm-a-rest/mattresses/fast-and-light/neoair/product
My tourer: Specialized Tricross
Well here’s my new touring bike! Have only about 100 miles on her so far and its been all smiles so far. Specced out with beautifully comfortable Panaracer Pasela TourGuard 700×35 folding tires, Shimano SLX 44/32/22 with a 9spd 11-34 cassette, Tubus Logo rear rack, Vetta front rack (vintage! this will likely be taken off), LX rear derailleur, XT front derailleur, super stubby 70mm stem, Brooks B17 and Planet Bike fenders.
I chose a 52cm frame, slightly smaller than what I should probably have gotten, so that I could get a slightly shorter top tube to suit my fairly upright riding style. I could actually do with a tad more height on the bars :-
Next month I’m headed to Southeast Asia where she’ll get her first touring experience. Fingers crossed
“Cookie Lady” recognized for her service to cyclists
June Curry, 87, locally known as the “Cookie Lady”, has been a staple attraction and stop along Virginia’s Bike 76 route and has offered cyclists freshly baked cookies and a place to stay (hostel) for over 30 years! The Richmond Area Bicycling Association awarded her with a well deserved check consisting of donations from cyclists showing their appreciation.
We definitely need more cookie ladies on this earth 
Source: Afton Cookie Lady Receives Gift From RABA
More: Richmond bike club pays back Virginia’s “Cookie Lady”
EPIC bicycle touring
All I can say is “wow”. Completely awe inspiring pictures from a tour through the Himalayas, gotta check these out, great photography too. What a tour!
(Note: this isn’t my tour, just an admirer, although I do wish it was!)
Pictures:http://www.gurdon.cam.ac.uk/~ad327/india2008/
Discussion thread: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=472479
