I've been feeling pretty tired lately and I realized this morning why I've been so tired - my asthma meds haven't been working properly. I haven't been breathing right, probably haven't been sleeping well. I considered bailing this morning because of how tired I was and my breathing wasn't 100% but I figured this would be a chill ride - it wasn't. :) We were going pretty hard all the way until San Geronimo Trail, I'd say - at least I was. We rode with Roland, Kim, and Zach who were on MTBs. On Diaz Ridge (not part of the original route), I was considering bailing and heading back with them. The descent wasn't my favorite. I don't like that water sculpted dirt, turned concrete. So bumpy. I climbed Miwok north of Tennessee Valley for the first time. Again, pretty beat up from rains and not the best surface. I think it's been way over-hyped. There's only a short section that's really steep and I'm not sure the stairs count since they're so steep, I don't think there are that many people climbing it. Also climbed Deer Park for the first time. That was pretty nice and we saw a deer on the climb. Once we got up to Seven Sisters, it was foggy. We were a little worried about the conditions but by the time we got to Bolinas Ridge, it wasn't so bad. We were flying through the forest section at the start. I was kinda hoping to take it in. I would've preferred to take it easier through there. I did end up descending faster than normal just to keep up. I'd say overall, I was faster descending and more confident over all the technical stuff. By the time we got to San Geronimo Trail, our legs were pretty cooked. The climbing is all pretty steep. At one point, on one of the steep, loose, pitches, I accidentally went up a gear. I don't know how I managed to keep traction and continue upward but I did. It took all of my core strength to do it. And somewhere, probably on a descent, before we got to the highest point, I lost my lens hood. It fell off and I didn't even hear it. I didn't realize until we were at the highest point. I backtracked to see if I could find it but it was a pretty long climb that I was going back down and it was unlikely that it fell then. Plus Kate and Stephanie were behind me so they should've seen it. So, as a bonus, I got to do that last climb again. YAY! :( I had a lot of fun through the rocky (rock garden/baby heads) section of San Geronimo actually. The WTB Ventures are pretty capable. Towards the end of the trail, it cleared up to sunny, blue skies. Everyone was pretty hungry and looking forward to lunch at The Lodge in Fairfax. Pretty good food (although I really could've used a burger). We had a very nice, leisurely pace back to the Headlands. On the way into Tennessee Valley, the fog got thick again. Marincello and Bobcat were pretty socked in except for the small patch of clear sky right at the top of the two trails. On the way down Bobcat my glasses were fogging up again. Doing all that climbing just to get to Bolinas and San Geronimo really made this ride epic.