September riding

[rebeccaC]

Salt & Straw...mmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

It's first location was in Portland Or. When i did the Seattle-Portland ride with my Portland friends they got me hooked on it. Felt blessed when it came to the LA area and even more when a Venice location showed up on my work commute, which unfortunately makes it even more of a calorie hazard…..

We woke up late, we did bike to get massages and a late lunch but basically it’s a being lazy and content day/night

[north woods gal]

Just got back, late last night, from our San Diego visit, which included three days of biking for me. I managed to rent a bike from an outfit called Stay Classy. Pete, the owner, will deliver a bike to your hotel and pick it up when done. He will also come to the rescue if the bike breaks down or has a flat. Yup, I did have a flat on day two, thanks to the goats heads which are present in the area. He fixed it, no problem, though, and I was back to riding in no time. The bike was a typical 700x35 SE hybird with flat bars (I specified I wanted a flat bar), but he has other bikes to choose from. Don't expect a high end carbon road bike with Ultegra Di2, though. This is typical tourist stuff as far as the bikes go, but, me, I'm happy with very basic fare when it comes to bikes when doing the tourist thing.

The riding was a definite change of pace for me, being all pavement. Everything paved, including the bike paths. Oh, dropping off the bike path to ride the dry river beds was tempting, but wrong bike and the goatheads, too, not to mention wasn't sure about the legality.

Weather was super, with clouds off the ocean in the morning, burning off by mid-morning with highs every day in the 70s. Real treat to meet back up with Bill at the end of my ride, then head to the motel swimming pool for a nice swim.

Each day of riding included a trip to the many beaches in the area with lots of time watching birds along one of the wildlife sanctuaries. Loved the Ocean Beach area. Lots of coffee shops and neat shopping. The Sunset Cliffs city park was spectacular and had some great hills to climb, to boot. Real people watching place along the beaches with surfers and all the other California type activities. On Saturday, there were probably as many people on the beach as we have in our whole county, up here. Sadly, lots of homeless people on bikes along the bike trails, but that, too, is common for big cities.

Now, don't laugh, but only put about 60 some miles total for three days, but they were 60 fun miles with lots of stops along the way to chat with folks, stop for coffee and watch everything. It was a real change of pace from my daily MTB riding at home, for sure, and I appreciated the difference. Have to say, this was a very bike friendly area to ride with lots of bike lanes and bike trails. Having lived the urban/suburban living on a bike lifestyle, before, so I can safely say that I could manage it, nicely, in San Diego. I'm very much a country girl and backwoods girl, though, so I'll just stay put, but I had a fun time. As I've always said, the best way to get to know a new area is to grab a bike and go for a ride.

[Crankin]

Glad you had so much fun, Northwoods! You know, while i have not actually lived in San Diego, my parents moved there in 1979, and I stayed in Phoenix, then on to Boston. But, I have spent a lot of time there, as one of my kids lived there for 5 years, too. In 2011, when we went to see my son, after one of his deployments, we went on a bike tour of La Jolla, Bird Rock, OB, and PB. I saw things I had never seen in the 30+ years I've visited. I'd love to get back and do more. My brother is still there, so it's a possibility.

[rebeccaC]

So at least 3 days and under 2 hours away???....you know this forum has a private message system

Glad you enjoyed the Ocean Beach area and the riding!! That section of coastline is nice.….and yeah, Sunset cliffs ftw. Happy you enjoyed/embraced the differences from the North Woods. I enjoyed riding the river bike path from Ocean Beach to the mission valley and back with friends living in La Jolla. There are some nice paved river bike paths in S.Ca.

Ocean Beach is kinda San Diego's Venice Beach, although we’re larger, more touristy, a little more eclectic and alternative but similar in vibe/people and especially in weather…well, and we have more eccentrics too ....and a 26 mile, on the beach with lots of interesting stops, paved bike path!!!

…..thinking the homeless also like the weather in the Southern Ca., especially areas that have some good services for them like here.

[north woods gal]

OMG, never thought there might be one of my forum friends in the area! Duh. Anyway, my bad on that one.

I always try to see the best in a new area, just like I always try to see the best in people, even when they are way different than me. I do think that SD area has a lot to offer. Not really me, but I could adapt.

Back home and riding my north woods trails, again, and, have to admit, it feels good. Trees are turning, but not looking to be a great color season. Some trees have already lost most of their foliage and some have barely turned color. One of those mixed color change years for us.

[emily_in_nc]

Yesterday was my first ride since we've been back in Florida (west of Orlando) post-Irma evacuation. DH had explored the bike path to the east on Monday while I went to the orthodontist and ran errands. He discovered that it was closed, with numerous trees blocking it. Not too surprising. So, he took the path west into Lake County, which we've been avoiding since returning to FL in early August because there are fewer trees and more hills = VERY HOT this time of year. But temps have cooled just a bit, humidity is lower than it was a month ago, and this part of the path was open. Yay! So we did that yesterday. Saw a lot of post-Irma damage but all had been moved off the path. Kudos to the Oakland, Clermont, Groveland city & Lake County workers as I know they have been busting butt.

We also found out last night from an acquaintance that works for the Orange County parks & recs dept. that more of the path east is now open -- not the whole thing, but more (Winter Garden to Ocoee) -- so we'll explore that tomorrow.

35 miles yesterday.

[ny biker]

I rode on Saturday. Just 30 miles, but with steeper hills than I've ridden in months so it was quite a workout. Another club in this area had its annual century on Sunday out in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, which is just over the river from Sharpsburg MD and the Antietam battlefield. They have started a tradition of holding a ride around and through Antietam the day before the century, and this ride is open to anyone regardless of whether they paid for the century ride. I've been wanting to explore Antietam so I decided to make the drive, about 1.5 hours and more than 80 miles. Fortunately the start time was at noon so I didn't have to get up insanely early for it.

The weather was sunny, humid and warm, very nice actually, and the first time since July that I've had really sweaty helmet hair after a ride. Several of my friends were there and we stopped several times in the park to visit significant battle sites. It was a very good ride. There was traffic near the battlefield which was to be expected, especially since Sunday was the 155th anniversary of the battle, but enough of the ride was on quiet roads. The first and last few miles were on a road next to the C&O Canal, a part of the canal that I've never ridden. We talked about planning other rides in that area in the future, since it's definitely worth making the drive now and then.

The rest stop on the ride was at an ice cream parlor in Sharpsburg. I had peach frozen yogurt, delicious with big peach slices. After the ride I went with a friend to a pizza place in Shepherdstown. The crust was a little thicker than I usually like but it was still foldable and quite good. It's hard to find really good pizza in DC but sometimes when you get away from the city you find some that surprises you. Shepherdstown had a bunch of restaurants that looked good, and on the drive to and from the ride I passed a few others in the small town of Boonsboro. I suspect the proximity to a major battlefield site draws enough visitors to help support them.

Antietam and Gettysburg are roughly 50 miles apart. It's possible to tour both of them by bike. There are some areas of both battlefields that are only accessible on foot, but both have paved roads with designated auto tours that could also be done as bike tours. One of the friends I was with on Saturday estimated that a full bike tour of Antietam would be 9-10 miles whereas a tour of Gettysburg is about twice and long. It is also possible to cycle between Antietam and Gettysburg, though there are a couple of mountains that would need to be crossed.

So that was my weekend. Last night I went for a ride after work, about 16 miles. It's still warm and humid. I had planned to take tomorrow off as a part of the furlough time that I have to take before the end of the month, and was going to do a club ride in a nice area near the Patuxent River in southern Maryland, but today I had a change of plans. A colleague is out from tomorrow through next week and they want me here to cover for him, so I no longer have to take the last 3 furlough days that I thought I had to take. This is a good thing overall since it means 3 days of sick and vacation time that can keep for the future. I am kind of disappointed about not being able to do that ride tomorrow, though, since I haven't ridden in that area in months and I was looking forward to enjoying a warm sunny day outdoors. I will do a shorter ride after work instead.