Elevation sign at summit of Mount Tamalpais		Seeing Too Much of Mount Tam June 16, 2001 Despite the fact that I attended two highly enjoyable house parties today after my ride (where I got the energy without a nap, I'll never know), I find myself slipping back into a foul mood about one of today's occurences. My first ride as a designated leader turned out to be quite an adventure. I was joined by six riders, one of whom is a long-time veteran of California AIDSRides who also volunteered to be my sweep rider. In cycling terms, a sweep rider is one who rides at the back of the pack at all times, ensuring that everybody in the rears is accounted for. We tackled a route today that was no piece of cake: over 70 miles of riding with approximately 6,500 vertical feet of climbing. If there was any time for a sweep rider to do a lousy job for me, it was today. At the East Peak of Mount Tam, I was dismayed to see my sweep rider arrive with one rider still missing. I'll spare you all the ugly details associated with the argument that ensued between me and that sweep rider (with whom I wish NEVER to ride again). While the group lunched at the peak and rested, I basically had to take off and ride all over Mount Tam for about another hour, just figuring out what happened to Nancy, the lost rider, who also happened to be the most inexperienced of the bunch -- nervous enough about the difficulty of the ride before we rolled out of Golden Gate Park. Eventually, I found Nancy -- sobbing incessantly -- in some remote area of the mountain road network, bike thrown to the side of the road. After some consolation and encouragement, we rode off and up the mountain together. I believe the fact that I was doing this the second time that morning gave her enough encouragement to press on. Nancy, you were the biggest hero of the day. I'm incredibly proud of you! By the time we reached the top of the mountain, the rest of the group faithfully waited for us (a whole hour and a half) and -- not surprisingly -- the sweep rider I berated simply took off. It was almost 6:00 PM by the time I got to my friends house back in San Francisco, about 10 hours since I left home on my bike, over 8 of which I was actually riding. Another one for the personal record books. Now where's the bed? Where's the pillow?
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