Superman [status, food, coffeeneuring]
Jul. 27th, 2025 11:24 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rebeccmeisterI managed to organize my day yesterday around food. With some good bicycling included, to provide a good appetite. Hooray!
First up was a Coffeeneuring expedition to a spot called Standard Fare, as suggested by RAC. Unfortunately I had a misadventure on the ride there, where I slammed on the brakes too abruptly and the front brake grabbed, sending me over the handlebars. My left thigh got caught on the bike's left grip, and I found myself sprawled out in a Superman pose on the pavement. It seems my head did not come in contact with the ground in any way, at least (helmet has no scratches!). But I have some bruising on my left leg and some scrapes on my knuckles. It took a minute to recollect myself, but then since we were close enough to our destination we just walked bikes the remaining distance to breakfast.
You won't be able to tell from the photo below, necessarily, but RAC greatly enjoyed her oatmeal with a crunchy quinoa topping. I don't think we've looked up yet how to make a crunchy quinoa topping ourselves, but she was inspired.
I had a lovely crispy waffle with strawberries, and L had a wee (but tasty-looking) breakfast biscuit sandwich followed by a more substantial strawberry-hazelnut scone.
Their coffee was quite good! So I drank a second cup, which is more than I should, but I couldn't resist.
After that we stopped by Berkeley Bowl West for some provisions, which was great because it let me scratch the itch to visit Berkeley Bowl, even though I don't really need to be buying much food while here for a short trip.
There were lots of great vehicles to ogle in the bike parking area.
After that we swung by a nearby hardware store to get an allen wrench multitool, to straighten out my bike's grips and handlebars, and then I set off towards Tilden to meet up with lab members from my time at Berkeley for a lab reunion and picnic in the park.
Biking up to Tilden definitely made me nostalgic for all the bike rides through the Berkeley hills. There are just so many lovely glimpses of the bay as one switchbacks one's way upwards, and yesterday the marine layer cleared to the point where I had great views of the Golden Gate Bridge, the Bay Bridge, downtown San Francisco, and the Marin headlands. And the architecture and garden landscapes are so colorful and varied in the bright California sunshine.
My only quibble on the ride to the picnic site was that Google was absolutely certain that I really wanted to do some mountain biking to reach my destination. I was definitely not interested in any sort of repeat of the earlier crash, so I had to take it very easy on some muddy, rocky, and steep sections. And so I managed to arrive still mostly in one piece, just very sweaty in an outfit that definitely wasn't intended for that sort of activity. Whoops.
In general I'm not all that big on reunions, but this one was 100% worthwhile. More people managed to make it to the reunion than I'd imagined, including several of the undergraduates who worked with me on research projects and who have since graduated and continued on to do great things (medical school, grad school in Biology). We all had a lot of fun when CMW asked us to go around and each share one memory from our time with the lab. There were lots of great stories.
My time in CMW's lab stands out as a special period, in that it was a place where an amazing set of thoughtful, hardworking people came together to do top-notch science. An excellent example of good community-building in science.
Then I biked back to R and L's house along Arlington Ave, going as gingerly as I could down some of the screaming downhill descents.
Back at the homestead, R had cooked up a glorious big pot of Freezer Chili (i.e. chili that used up lots of random things stashed away in the freezer), and presently some friends came over to join us for a backyard chili and cornbread feast and even more catching up.
So, other than the bike crash, an absolutely lovely day, one to savor and remember.
First up was a Coffeeneuring expedition to a spot called Standard Fare, as suggested by RAC. Unfortunately I had a misadventure on the ride there, where I slammed on the brakes too abruptly and the front brake grabbed, sending me over the handlebars. My left thigh got caught on the bike's left grip, and I found myself sprawled out in a Superman pose on the pavement. It seems my head did not come in contact with the ground in any way, at least (helmet has no scratches!). But I have some bruising on my left leg and some scrapes on my knuckles. It took a minute to recollect myself, but then since we were close enough to our destination we just walked bikes the remaining distance to breakfast.
You won't be able to tell from the photo below, necessarily, but RAC greatly enjoyed her oatmeal with a crunchy quinoa topping. I don't think we've looked up yet how to make a crunchy quinoa topping ourselves, but she was inspired.
I had a lovely crispy waffle with strawberries, and L had a wee (but tasty-looking) breakfast biscuit sandwich followed by a more substantial strawberry-hazelnut scone.
Their coffee was quite good! So I drank a second cup, which is more than I should, but I couldn't resist.
After that we stopped by Berkeley Bowl West for some provisions, which was great because it let me scratch the itch to visit Berkeley Bowl, even though I don't really need to be buying much food while here for a short trip.
There were lots of great vehicles to ogle in the bike parking area.
After that we swung by a nearby hardware store to get an allen wrench multitool, to straighten out my bike's grips and handlebars, and then I set off towards Tilden to meet up with lab members from my time at Berkeley for a lab reunion and picnic in the park.
Biking up to Tilden definitely made me nostalgic for all the bike rides through the Berkeley hills. There are just so many lovely glimpses of the bay as one switchbacks one's way upwards, and yesterday the marine layer cleared to the point where I had great views of the Golden Gate Bridge, the Bay Bridge, downtown San Francisco, and the Marin headlands. And the architecture and garden landscapes are so colorful and varied in the bright California sunshine.
My only quibble on the ride to the picnic site was that Google was absolutely certain that I really wanted to do some mountain biking to reach my destination. I was definitely not interested in any sort of repeat of the earlier crash, so I had to take it very easy on some muddy, rocky, and steep sections. And so I managed to arrive still mostly in one piece, just very sweaty in an outfit that definitely wasn't intended for that sort of activity. Whoops.
In general I'm not all that big on reunions, but this one was 100% worthwhile. More people managed to make it to the reunion than I'd imagined, including several of the undergraduates who worked with me on research projects and who have since graduated and continued on to do great things (medical school, grad school in Biology). We all had a lot of fun when CMW asked us to go around and each share one memory from our time with the lab. There were lots of great stories.
My time in CMW's lab stands out as a special period, in that it was a place where an amazing set of thoughtful, hardworking people came together to do top-notch science. An excellent example of good community-building in science.
Then I biked back to R and L's house along Arlington Ave, going as gingerly as I could down some of the screaming downhill descents.
Back at the homestead, R had cooked up a glorious big pot of Freezer Chili (i.e. chili that used up lots of random things stashed away in the freezer), and presently some friends came over to join us for a backyard chili and cornbread feast and even more catching up.
So, other than the bike crash, an absolutely lovely day, one to savor and remember.
no subject
Date: 2025-07-27 04:23 pm (UTC)Hope you're okay!
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Date: 2025-07-27 06:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-07-27 06:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-07-27 07:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-07-27 09:08 pm (UTC)aaaand you're back in the Bay Area 😀
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Date: 2025-07-27 10:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-07-28 01:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-07-29 02:50 pm (UTC)