Night ride tonight into the heart of McNee darkness to the stub of the Whale Tail, then down the verboten singletrack to 1, back into McNee and home through Fitzgerald. At the stub of Whale Tail, there is a magnificent view looking back southwest out over Montara, the Outrigger, and the ocean. The lights and perspective looking down from the bluff make it seem like a scene out of It's a Small World, then looking back at the darkened ridges and cloud-enshrouded peaks of Montara Mountain, it's like a scene out of Lord of the Rings.

The trails are in really good shape. A little mud here and there -- enough to muddy the bike -- but mostly dry with just enough moisture left to hold firm in the turns.

Battled a headwind going out, but by the time I hit the vista point referenced above, the wind had completely died and I rode home wind-unassisted.

The weather has been great here the last week and a half, but I notice every day the fog bank offshore gets a little closer to land. Tonight it finally touched down, covering the point and the entire strip of coastline from Pillar Point north to San Pedro Point. Fortunately, it's a dry fog, so I didn't have to stop every five minutes to wipe off my glasses.

Saw a few scattered field mice and a burrowing owl. Also was advanced upon by a hoplite phalanx of bunnies; as I rolled up a section of trail, three bunnies, spaced about five feet apart going down the trail, hopped across the trail in a perfect unison just in front of me. Hard to describe, cool to see.