Arcangeli's

Our ride leader presented us with a choice for today's loop: clockwise for an easier climb, counter-clockwise for lunch at Arcangeli's.

[No contest.]

This is a popular cycling route; you're never alone at the San Gregorio General Store. My photo has it all: eclectic merchandise, live music (inside), cyclists (outside), and the marine layer over rolling hills.

Arcangeli's, aka Norm's Market, is the source of some heavenly carbs. Artichoke Garlic Herb bread. Hot-out-of-the-oven Artichoke Garlic Herb bread. It wasn't hard to devour the three loaves we bought. One rider pressed a plastic grocery bag into service as a backpack to tote a loaf home. [Uphill.] That's how good this bread is. Unless you've had it, you've had nothing like it.

This little piggie didn't go to market. Mom was nearby, but we suspected that both of them were on the lam in the field where we spotted them.

The skies were clear by the time we started up Haskins Hill; somehow, that's always the way it is. The marine layer lifted late enough to keep us from overheating on the exposed part of the climb. One rider, less prepared, dismounted and walked up the last stretch.

For the day, 31 miles and a modest 2,280 feet of climbing. Not enough, I'm afraid, to offset my intake of heavenly bread. And that's okay by me.