100% Chicks

Today's Route...I have no names...Fetus with a balloon perhaps?

Betty, Clarence, and I did another two hour bike-ride this morning. Elsie stood us up as she was on DAY 2 of her Friday date with the PB... We harrassed her via text-message for awhile this morning about giving up the bike ride for, well, another ride... (She is so NEVER letting the PB read the blog now. I already know that). Somehow Mik didn't find out in time that we were going riding this morning...next time, we'll have a better plan ahead of time.

This morning, we started at DeAnza Cove, then we took the Rose Canyon Trail to La Jolla Colony, then (by mistake) to UCSD, then back to do the Fiesta Island (the Fetus) loop, and back. The May/June morning marine layer is holding strong, so it was cool, and misty for the whole ride.

I won't keep you in suspense over the stats..

24.01 miles
2:00:56 hours
11.9 mph - average speed*

Some things I learned along the way...

• I thought I'd run just about EVERYWHERE in San Diego County (I mean, I know I haven't, but sometimes I feel like I have), but I'd never been on the Rose Canyon Trail. It was a great bike trail. I do enjoy a bike trail with no cars.
• I've also never really ridden around La Jolla.
• La Jolla has hills.**
  
• It is REALLY SUPER IMPORTANT to make sure that the front break is properly connected. I rode the first two miles this morning with the front break no connected correctly, so it was rubbing the whole time. I couldn't figure out why I was pedaling so hard, and moving so slow.
• There are men who WILL stop to help you figure out what's wrong with your bike.
• If I don't do anything stupid, I won't fall.
• At 12 mph, it takes three attempts to figure out where to aim the camera in order to take an over-the-shoulder that includes what I am actually trying to photograph.
  

First try - nope

Second shot - no Clarence

Third shot - There she is!

• I'm getting pretty good at taking pictures and riding (and not falling) at the same time.
  

Betty - who can't believe I'm taking pix and not falling (she has so little faith in me)

Clarence, on her pretty, new, road bike. I am having an extreme case of bike-envy right now.

Self-portrait w/Clarence

Over the shoulder shot of Betty, who talked shop for about a mile with a school colleage we almost ran into on Fiesta Island.

100% Chicks at the end of the ride...

See...the bike says so....so it must be...

Some questions I have include...

• 24 miles on the twat is far...how does one built up muscle and endurance down there?
• Does anyone make windshield wipers for sunglasses? La Jolla marine layer = misty rain.

No mimosas today, we all had places to go...

Most people who are unfamiliar with San Diego may think it's all beaches and sand, but really, it's mostly built on and around canyons, hills, and swamps. On local running message boards, there are always messages posted by newcomers who are looking for a flat place to run (hahahahaha). Truth is, unless you area running at the beach, it doesn't exist around here. If you live in San Diego County, be prepared to run (or bike) up hills, into canyons, and around swamps.

One such swamp is actually the San Diego River (betcha you didn't even know there was a San Diego River). Way back in the day, before I ever lived here, Mission Valley had a river that ran through it. Over the years, developers and city planners have built two major regional shopping malls (seriously, two of them, within about two miles of each other), loads of condos, hotels, car dealerships, and a professional football stadium. They bicected it with a major Interstate that runs east and west, and several other major freeways that run north and south all of which cross the valley via these enoumous bridges.

To make a long story short, the river ended up with the short end of the deal.

Today, Walter asked DramaGirl, Turbo and me to go to a San Diego River Park Foundation event. The Foundation is something Walter is involved in. They do restoration projects around the San Diego River trying to restore the habitat (as best they can) to it's more natural state, where they can and generally to just care about the river. Anyway, today they had a ceremony to announce the donation of about 17 acres of land where they are going to build a new park that will include a visitor, discovery, learning center kind of place. Amazingly enough, it'll be the only park in Mission Valley.

Right now, it's just an open area on the corner of two relatively busy roads, but San Diego is sort of like that. As I stood listening to the (thankfully short) speeches and thank yous and acknowledgements, I thought about how cool it was that DramaGirl and Turbo were there. How this will be one of the things that when they grow up, and when they have kids, they can look at the park and tell their kids that they were there when it first started...nice

Walter helped to serve organic, non-dairy, ice cream (interesting...but not likely to replace the real stuff in our house.)

DramaGirl, giving her thumbs up to the event

Turbo, being, well....Turbo

Have a great week everyone. I am woefully behind on my blog commenting. Actually, I'm pretty caught up on the reading part (go ahead, quiz me, I really do know what's going on). It looks to be another really nutty week. One week of classes, then finals, then I'm done...WOOT!!!!
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* includes the brake engaged miles...which were really, really, slow....but completely hard work...GAH!
** OK Missy...you win! I can completely see how hills can make the nice guy a bad boy!