Focus. Play.

Barry

Barry is back... and that is a big deal.  He adds immediate impact to a team looking for that extra spark that turns them from mediocre to good.  The Giants won't make the playoffs despite the Padres willingness to let them back in the hunt.  But the Giants will learn how close they could have come if their star player had been with them all season long.  It will give them solice knowing they are good players and a good team which could have been notched up with that one missing ingredient.  Watch out in 2006.

I sat in my seats last night in awe as to what it means to watch Barry at the plate.  Every time he stands up to the plate, you think he's gonna jack one over the fence -- every single fucking time.  That is amazing and no one in baseball creates that energy.  As the crowd at SBC gave Barry a 60 second standing ovation before his first at bat, he settled into his game and proceeded to foul the ball to an eleven pitch count (wearing out the Padres pitcher and ego by the way) and then it happened.  He cranked one out to centerfield that came inches away from a home run -- inches.  He still managed a double from the hit.  But can you imagine had the ball gone out the park -- legendery.  And that's what makes Barry a legend.  And that's what keeps me coming to the game.  I love the Giants.  But I love the Giants more with Barry in the lineup.  Keep it coming Barry... I'll be watching.

Coastal View Trail

The Golden Gate park system recently created a new trail -- Coastal View Trail -- connecting Pantoll and Muir Beach -- and believe it or not -- they opened the trail up to mountain bikers.  While the singletrack is not perfect for cycling -- a lot of off-camber turns -- the views are incredible making the ride worth it.  I suspect that when more riders get on this trail -- especially after the winter rains -- the banks on the turns will develop making it better for riding.

I've ridden it twice and keep forgetting my camera -- so I've included some screen shots from Google Earth to give you some perspective of this ride and the views.

I normally ride up the Deer Park fire road starting near Muir Woods and top out near Pantoll.  From there, you just cruise the singletrack on Coastal View trail until it hits Highway 1.  You can see in the screen shots how this new trail criss-crosses the old fire road.  Then you ride a few miles on pavement back to the car.  Check out my route on the MotionBased Viewport below.

Luther Spires

Finally hit the crags this weekend in South Lake Tahoe.  The mighty crew -- David, Elisa, Zoe, Enzo, Deuce, Steve, Hallie, Celese and myself -- jaunted up to Luther Spires to get back on the rock and work on some easy sport routes.  The weather was awesome and the climbing was fun.  We didn't step up to anything hard, so I need to get back before the winter to tick a few 5.10s/11s.

Check out some pics

South Lake Tahoe Trail Running

I'm sure the locals know this but the trail running in South Lake Tahoe is sweet.  I found a couple of gems this past weekend.  These were perfect rolling trails with no major climbs or descents -- perfect for those of us not in shape.

Too bad I was getting such shitty GPS signal during my runs.  I'm not sure why?  I wasn't in a deep canyon and while the runs were forested they weren't under heavy foliage.

Tire Trouble

Some stronger lungs and legs would have helped too.  Steve, Jonas and I were hoping to nail Mr. Toad's Wild Ride on Saturday but I spent the better part of the morning fixing my shreaded bike tire -- 3 hours later and under the heat of the sun, we finally embarked on our ride.

Knowing that Mr. Toad's is a commiting ride, we opted for something shorter right out of the house we stayed in South Lake Tahoe.  We planned to ride up High Meadow Trail to Star Lake Trail to Tahoe Rim Trail down Armstrong Pass Trail.  But after a long suffering haul up the High Meadow Trail, we opted to save the big loop for another day, hang out in a gorgeous meadow, and shoot down a technical signletrack that ran parallel to the High Meadow Trail -- awesome ride with some hiking in spots.  I'm sure the chargers could hit most of the technical sections -- not me.