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 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.
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?
