A fun, beautiful, and “thrilling” ride to Oakland for Emily’s strength training session. Emily met me at work and brought some delicious pastries from Jane the Bakery and I started the morning off with a pastry hunt… in which I immediately saw them in the planter. I especially liked the sausage and cheese croissant. The cardamom bun was also good but I wish I had it first and the croissant last. It was pretty chilly to start but by the time I got to the bridge I was warm enough to shed my jacket. I waited until the other side to stop but Emily suggested waiting until we descended into Sausalito. It ended up being colder so we kept everything on. Inadvertently blurted out “69” when we’re passing some kids on the bike path heading to school. 🙊 Took a new bike path through Corte Madera but otherwise pretty standard and straightforward to the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. Traffic was a bit busy at the awkward crossover onto the bike path at Sir Francis Drake and Anderson. I used my Vietnam skills and turned when there was an opening but Emily got stuck on the wrong side of the car that was waiting to turn as well. So she rolled into traffic and helped the car and another cyclist make the turn. Crossing the bridge was windy as usual. We had talked about town line sprints and the whole way across I was waiting for it but never saw a sign. Later I saw the sign for Albany last second and sprinted for the win as Emily lamented her failure to win her “home” sprint. Before her appointment we stopped at States Coffee for a drink and I got some banana bread. Emily woke up too early this morning so she claimed she needed some caffeine but the whole morning she was pretty amped. I told her she did NOT need caffeine. She was peak Target Lady. 🤣 The banana bread was quite delish. We spent a little too much time chatting and had to rush over. While she did her training I did a lap around the golf course and ended up getting another pastry. I was actually hungry for lunch but wanted to wait for Emily so I just grabbed a little snack. Her appointment ran long and while I was waiting outside a guy walking his dog made eye contact with me over the bushes and gave me a bit of stink eye. It was weird because then he started to walk over and said loudly what a great day it was to go for a bike ride. I assumed he was talking to me but it was weird because we were no longer in sight of each other. He came around and started to chat with me about the ride being very friendly which felt weird given the look before. After trying to search for a place to have lunch, we settled on Panda Express which was across the street. Emily’s fortune was, “A Thrilling Time Is In Your Immediate Future.” Mine is my ride title and we both felt it was very heartwarming. My legs were still sore from the run earlier this week and Emily’s from the training session so we took BART back instead of riding. One thing that was interesting is Emily says she feels her inner quads when she climbs on her road bike. Even though mine are still sore, I didn't notice them when climbing. When I got my bike fit, my stance was widened which caused my inner quads to start cramping after 50mi. of riding. I was wondering if maybe her stance is too wide. We got back and had a nice hang with Lukas for a bit, who just got back from Peru. It was not a great time to head home yet so I went with Emily to the Mission to wait out rush hour. We ran into Haena and a fun chat too. I was hungry yet again and got some dumplings that were so hot. Emily normally says she’s unaffected by hot food but these baos may have destroyed her tongue. 😬😂 On the way back, I took Page instead of the Wiggle and on the one uphill blast, an e-bike shot up it. Naturally I had to sprint after it and kept up. Feeling good. 💪 Emily remembered to bring water but still managed to “sip” a whole bottle of my Skratch. 🤔