Extremes
Where else can you go only 2 miles and experience a natural temperature drop of 25 degrees+? That was my experience in San Francisco yesterday as I went from Noe Valley to Pacific Heights to watch a portion of the T-Mobile International cycling race.
Yesterday morning, I left my sunny, cloudless, 75°F Noe Valley neighborhood to join Jeff and Bryan 2 miles to the north in Pacific Heights to watch a portion of the T-Mobile International. Fortunately, I had called ahead, and been told to bundle up. When I arrived, Pacific Heights (as is typical in summer months) was enshrouded with fog, it was a chilling 50°F, and a harsh wind whipped through the stately mansions, making it feel even colder. Where else can you go only 2 miles and experience a natural temperature drop of 25°+? To get a feel for what it was like earlier in the morning, see this shot from the womens’ race, which started at 7:30am.
The view from our spot was incredible, which I owe entirely to Jeff and Bryan for getting there before the crack of dawn to stake out the location. We stood alongside the barricades at the top of Fillmore Street, and watched the men make the steep climb between Vallejo and Broadway. I never knew a person could come up such a steep incline on a bicycle that fast. And after four previous blocks of uphill climbing. And the men did it eight times. The block we were on may not be the steepest hill in San Francisco, but it’s certainly close.
If anyone happened to see the event yesterday on TV, or saw some highlights after it was over, they may have even seen Jeff. He was interviewed twice by local SF stations covering the race. That ham.