In which Betty makes friends, Mik's bike takes a bath, and I go fast

After a weekend in Vegas, and various other "responsibilities" (such as that pesky school starting thing), I got back into the regular swing of all things active this weekend, namely running and cycling. How awesome to run and ride pain free (well relatively pain free...I still get arm pain from riding, but I think that's because I need to either relax or get used to it).

On Saturday, Mik, Betty, Elsie and I met for a short run (about 5 to 6 miles each...more for speedy Mik), followed by pancakes and mimosas at Dr. Elsie's newly gardened abode. Lots of laughs and reliving events of the previous weekend.

BTW...I did forget to the whole Vegas episode when Betty couldn't quite recall what room she was in and sent Madge and Clarence to the wrong room (three times)...no really....she insisted...I'm in room 718 (it was 818). The guest in room 718 insisted she really. wasn't. Betty. and she really. wasn't. hiding. her....

And this morning (Sunday) Mik, Betty, and I meet for what we call the five cities tour. We started at San Diego Harbor, headed south through National City, then Chula Vista, Imperial Beach, back up through the Silver Strand and ended in Coronado. Then we took the ferry, back to San Diego... It was about 25 miles...again, on a beautiful, somewhat cool, somewhat foggy, morning. If you want to see a map of "The Tour" click here.

And from this morning, I do have stories.

Story 1 - Betty Makes a Friend

Before we even left the harbor Betty and Mike, who both have hearts of gold, decided to befriend a homeless guy...or he decided to befriend them. You decide.

I was busy getting my gear together, so I didn't take any pictures, but so that you have a visual, you should know that Mik and Betty's new friend looked something like this...

And thier conversation went something like this.

Homeless dude (HD): Good morning ladies!

Betty & Mik: Good morning!

Small talk about how great it is to live in San Diego ensues and as I'm putting on my bike shoes I could hear..

Betty: Yep, its a great morning! Does it get any better than this?

HD: Well... yes it does. I can show you....

Silence...

Then I hear...

Betty: Sooooooo...how do you think the weather will be today?

Apparently, HD showed Betty and Mik his tattoo, which included something that they later described looked like this...

and...since this is a PG blog, suffice it to say that the tattoo included another item...something else that looked like what we call Lake Boy Part...this...

But that's not all...then I heard

HD: So...do you want to see my muscle?

Of course by now, I'm getting my gear together REALLY SLOWLY because I'm completely entertained by the conversation...and after all, I needed to apply sunscreen...I mean a girl can burn, even when there's no sun out.

Anyway, HD showed the girls what Mik later described to me as his Popeye muscle, which poked up...just like Popeye.

Betty honked her bike horn at him as we rode off.

We did rename homeless dude as Porno Popeye...

Story 2 - Betty makes another friend...this one with tools and knee pads

I swear, Betty needs a new seat (bike seat...settle down) cuz hers swivels, and then wouldn't stay up (I said, settle down!).

We'd ridden about 15 miles and were headed up the Silver Strand when we decided to stop and stretch a bit. As we stopped, Betty spotted a guy who was either loading or unloading his bike into the back of his car, so she asked..."do you have any tools?"

He did. Bike riders are the BEST PEOPLE!

But we're not quite sure why he was wearing knee pads...

However, he did fix her seat so that it stayed up.

Gotta love a man with the right tools and the willingness to share them!

Story 3 - Sometimes it IS about the bike

The ride into Coronado was relatively uneventful except that we tried to go really fast (for us) up the strand. Miles 16-19 are really flat and we averaged about 17.5 mph for those four miles. About then, I wanted to see how fast a speed I could maintain on the new bike, so I geared down and just pedaled as fast as I could. To be honest, I don't think I was going as fast as I could, but I hadn't yet really tried to push myself on a straightaway. It was fun.

Although, I will say that if I'm the one setting the pace, it really is about the bike...

Story 4 - The kickstand

Our ride ended in Coronado (where as far as I could tell, there is NO good, divey place for breakfast! If anyone knows of one, please inform!) As we were waiting for the ferry, we did find a reasonable cup of coffee and some pastries from Il Fornaio. Betty also taught us a new trick so that I can prop my bike up when I'm not on it, and when a curb is handy. You all probably already know this one, but it looks like this...

Cool...huh?

We also learned what happens if you don't have the pedal positioned so that it is behind the front derailleur.

Mik's bike...parked correctly...

This is what happens when you park it wrong...wouldn't you just know it that we'd be in front of a fountain.

Mik - picking up her bike

Peeing handlebars

Luckily, the bike was OK...and nothing of value was in the bike-bag....and Mik is a really good sport and let me take photos (which the tourists who were sitting around, enjoying their morning coffee found quite entertaining!)

On the ferry, going home, we ran into, of all people, Coach Paul from the San Diego Track Club! He belongs to an informal riding group called the "Dead Runners." They had awesome bike shirts and I wish I'd taken photos. Basically the Dead Runners are all former college and professional runners who can't or don't run much any more (Paul was an olympic qualifier in the 1500 meters in 1992) due to the simple wear and tear that running takes on the body. We had a great conversation about our running, our biking. Why it's good to do both.

On the ferry on the way back to San Diego

So...here are some running and riding stats from the weekend.

Saturday - Run

5.44 miles

1:01:13 - time

11:14 - ave pace

Sunday - Ride

23.46 - miles

1:37:24 - time

14.5 - ave speed

It feels so good to be well!