Saturday 9/15: If this is paradise...

Today was our second group ride. We did Paradise loop again cuz Modest Mouse wouldn't let us onto Treasure Island. Neva was rocking it, urged on by her all-day partner, Coach Neil. She said she felt better already, didn't use her breaks as much on the steep, curvy downhills Tiburon is known for. And none of us were run over in the merge across the 101, which is always a bit hairy.
I tried to ignore the fact that my bike doesn't fit me. But then, as if trying to get my attention, it wouldn't let me shift into the easy gear wheel (that's the technical term). Coach Ed thankfully fixed it, after watching me struggle to the top of the first big hill and suggesting that I downshift.
"Um, great idea. But it won't let me."
At least my instincts in wanting to shift to a lower gear were right.
Worth noting, on the ride we passed about 1,000 people with garbage bags scurrying over the Bay like a determined horde of crabs. It was California Coastal Cleanup Day and the California Coastal Commission Web site says more than 50,000 volunteers statewide show up to what the Guinness Book of World Records says is the world's largest garbage collection.
"Since the program started in 1985, more than 750,000 Californians have removed more than 12 million pounds of debris from our state's shorelines and coast," the site says.
Me and my TAG teammates did our part by not littering and smiling at the cute little people participating.
We finished the ride in about an hour, stashed our bikes in our cars, and put on our running shoes. Then the evil tyrant made us run for 20 minutes to get used to the bike-run transitions.
My legs felt like lead after the 18-mile ride. Coach Neil says: "That never gets any better." We were supposed to achieve a "negative split." Neva and I ran 10 minutes out and 9 minutes back in. We never saw Kristy who probably ran twice as far in the same time. Then we were finished, sweating, sunburnt and STARVING. We went to the Dipsea Cafe (best breakfast in the Bay Area) afterwards to do the opposite of what the nutrition coach had told us. There was no red powder (a suggestion by the nutritionist) ingested, but lots of eggs and biscuits, benedict, waffles and coffee. And we all went home to take a nap.