Tag: Marin
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The Dipsea Trail
The view from the Dipsea trail down to the ocean 
Allegra keeping up a good pace 
The trees aglow in the sunlight 
New shoes! 
Fetching colour schemes 
… and alas another farewell to Abe! -
Alamere Falling
A third hike to Alamere Falls, and still worth it. A lovely little hop from the city, and you find yourself walking along the coast with views as far as the city and Point Reyes. Naturally, the jewel in the crown are the falls that cascade down to the beach; the weather has been a bit dry of late so they were not quite as plump as they have been – but still a nice treat from a busy week.
No filter or editing at all, honest. 
Pleasing organisation. Todd on the left, Jos in the middle, and Allegra on the right. 
Allegra gives Jos a friendly scratch on the back of the head. 
The drive home. -
Marin Century
I haven’t ever managed to ride 100 miles in a single day, so the prospect of ticking off this little challenge with the support crews, burritos and ice cream that the Marin Century offers was not a prospect that I could turn down. While the Tour de Cure was significantly shorter, I argue it was actually the harder ride, with much steeper and more sustained climbing and a wider variety of terrain. Still, a lovely chance to blast up and down the coast and reconnoitre some new roads!
I never take anywhere near enough photos. 
Just before the halfway point. 
The finish line! -
Portraits of Point Reyes
Point Reyes has the strange ability to make me feel like I am ‘home’ – there is something deeply primal about it, and in a vaguely spiritual way reminds me of the East Angle coast, Wales and Scotland. It’s a little gem of solitude, just an hour north of the city, and here are a few portraits of it while it’s in a mildly grumpy mood.
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Marin County Civic Center
Circles I have been driving past this strange building on the 101 for almost a year now, on the way to mountain biking in Marin, or other outdoorsy activities. I suspected it was a Mosque (unlikely though), a stadium, or perhaps some sort of edifice to Scientology. But I was wrong; in fact, it’s the Marin County Civic Center, and the final commission from Frank Lloyd Wright; at the time aged 90.
Composed of sets of circles, I am reminded of an enormous Mexican hacienda landed from space, completed with Arabic detailing. I can’t help but imagine that this is what municipal buildings are like in Brazilia and other emergent South American nations. In short, the design left me a bit confused, and slightly put-off by the 2D-like projection of the shapes on the side of the building.
What was more of a pleasure was peering through the windows to the still-working offices and meeting rooms. Spaces filled with mid-century furniture and desks still unadorned with computers, this place is a bit of a time-warp. While grubby and a bit worn out, I would still love to see the place when properly open to the public.
Details work well from a medium distance, but seem a little tacked together. 
Lauryn, sneaking past the security cordon to go check out the offices. 
I found the forms more pleasing on the internal structures 
View from one of the landscaped hills that surround the building. 
The quasi-religious spire at the southern end of the complex 
Pleasing details 
Origami folds 
Geometric details 
Circles repeated everywhere -
Pinball Wizard
My weekend of pure Americana continued, when we stumbled upon the annual Pinball Expo at the Marin County Civic Center. There was obviously no choice – we had to go.
Bringing together machines from over fifty years, a one-time charge at the door allowed us to play on machines dating as far back as the 1950s, right up to the present day. It’s astonishing just how little the concept of the machines has changed; a pair (or perhaps a couple more) of flippers, a bunch of balls launched at unlikely, noisy obstacles. More than a few times, I got sucked into a cabinet, attempting to better my score, and I must say that some of the old machines were still a hoot to play. I guess this was the birth of the video game?
A hall full of machines … it felt like stepping into one of those documentaries along the lines of Air Guitar Nation, or King of Kong. And yes, the people (i.e.: men) were just as fascinating. 
Machines followed a huge range of themes, from the frankly racist … 
… to the simply racy. 
A delight of the electric age. 
Reflecting the culture of their day 
Drawing the punters in 
At the back of the hall, and on loan from the local pinball museum (yes, that exists), was a fully-transparent machine. It was fascinating to see all the gears and electro-mechanical parts whizzing away – it’s amazing that they could extract logic from this collection of wires. 
I think I need one of these in my house 
Don’t tell my Dad about pinball machines – he would take over the house! -
Santa Cruise
Endless singletrack in California I had the pleasure of Sam swinging by for a week of mountain biking and food. Some awesome days in the saddle, hitting up trails in Marin, the Peninsula, and then a fine finale riding out of Santa Cruise, and up to see the Amgen Tour of California cruise by. Good times!
First up, Skeggs Point and Tamarancho in Marin:
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And onto a fine day near Santa Cruz, where we managed to catch the Amgen Tour of California go by.
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GPS
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Marin Weekender
Mum & Dad, having completed their main tour from San Diego back up to San Francisco, now have a couple of weeks with me in the Bay Area. We took the opportunity of having good weather to cross the Golden Gate and spend the weekend in Marin. Day 1: antique shopping in Petaluma, and Day 2: a fantastic walk in the sun, retracing our steps to Alamere Falls. After the manufactured saccharine charms of SoCal, I think it was a breath of fresh air.
Dad navigates the streets of San Francisco, to the accompaniment of the Bullett theme tune 
Crossing the bridge never gets old – it's stunning. 
Objects in the rear view mirror may appear closer than they are 
Hold onto your hats! 
Dad, clearly enjoying the Mustang 
What a team. 
We retraced the steps we made in the summer hike to Alamera Falls, back in July 
Even though 99% of people make the detour to the beach, the rangers seem to ignore this fact, and mark it unmaintained. 
View out to Point Reyes – very much need to go there some time soon. 
Dad negotiates the frankly slightly scary cliff down to the beach 
Unconventional team photo 
Don't go chasing waterfalls 
Dad and I, standing above the cliffs 
One more for good measure 
The trip back … and you are reminded that you are in Marin – the wackiest collection of individuals this side of, well, San Francisco 
Sunset Strip 
The breathtaking return through the tunnel back to the city
