Open Trails and New Friends

It rained here Monday ... a LOT. It was the most rain we've had in months. We really needed it, so no big deal, but generally the day after such a storm means bike lanes and paths full of leaves, dirt, and other assorted debris. So ... with that in mind and the weather forecast of "Windy & High Surf Advisory", my plan was to get out yesterday for a brief ride to go see the aforementioned high surf and then come back to do some work that's starting to pile up.

Well ... you know how it goes when you "plan" something.

The "high surf" wasn't really all that high. It was nice ... beautiful as always ... but not exactly the "wow, look at that" I was expecting. I rode on ... down to the other beach area, and was just about to head for home when I thought I'd take a look at the path entrance at the far end of the beach. If you remember from a previous post (along with its subsequent but still previous-to-this-one post, when it rains, the path entrance is usually flooded, like this:

Previous visit:  Flooded from recent light rain ... no passing without waders.

Since the rain yesterday was rather heavy, I was fully expecting to see a massively flooded path entrance. To my great surprise, I found this:

Yesterday:  NOT flooded after heaviest rain in months ... ummmm, huh?

Well ... since the path was open for the first time in over a week, I felt I just had to continue on. After all, who knows when it will be flooded again? The ride felt good, even with the fair bit of wind that was semi-accurately predicted by the weather-predicting people ... so I thought I should go a little farther to see what was happening with that path lane closure I wrote about in another previous post. If you remember, it was supposed to be open after December 30, but was still closed on January 5, and STILL closed, PLUS demoted from "path" to "lane" on January 10:

January 5 ... still closed ... with concrete

January 10 ... demoted from "path" to "lane" ... and still closed

Just imagine my grin as I approached the path lane closure area and found this:

Yesterday ... Open path ahead!  Well, I assume it's now called a "path" again ...

Hot diggity! It was turning out to be a good day! First, the path entrance was NOT flooded ... and then the path lane was NOT closed! Of course this meant that my original plan was now rendered null and void, as the newly opened path lane, to which I have now restored its former title of "path", was calling me to visit those places I've not visited for so long.

And visit, I did. I rode through the underpass and on to the old route I used to ride often ... where there are trails and animals to see. I didn't take a photo of the cows ... because they looked a little sad in the muddy area they were confined to as a result of all the recent rain. But they were there, just as I remembered (except for the mud). As I continued on, I greeted the first group of horses:

Hello, Fuzzy Horses!

I'm no horse expert, but I'd have to say this one is ... fuzzy. They, too, had a muddy corral. Still farther up the newly open path ... crossing a few roads ... through a park I haven't seen in years ... I reached another set of horse stables. There were many horses here ... some just hanging out in the sun:

Just hangin'

Others were involved in some form of horse aerobics:

Horse treadmill?

For the most part, they gave me a brief glance and then went on with their day. I understand ... they have stuff to do that's more important than some dude with a camera. But there was one horse who seemed to be rather interested, and immediately came toward me as I approached the corral:

"That sure is a funny-looking horse you're riding, Mister ... got any carrots?"

I felt it might be rude to ask, and even more so to take a visual inspection, so I don't know if this fine-looking animal is a "him" or a "her". It doesn't really matter, though, as it was just very warming to the heart to have this beautiful creature come to greet me from the far side of the corral.

"Would you like to be my friend?"

"Maybe you could scratch my head ... and pet my nose ..."

Those big eyes seemed to be holding some deeper thoughts than possible to physically express, and I took a few minutes to offer some head scratching and nose petting ... all returned with a nuzzle of thanks and a nod of happiness. It's hard to beat the smile of a horse ...

"Dude ... check out my whiskers ... they're awesome!"

"Aww, gee whiz ... leaving so soon?"

It was hard to walk away from this beautiful animal who didn't want me to leave ... but since I was only planning a 30-minute ride and had already been out for over an hour at the half-way point of the ride, I really needed to head back home and get to work. So I offered one more scratch of the head and one more pet on the nose ... and promised to return with carrots. I rode away, trying to not look back ... and followed the wonderful newly-opened path back to the beach, and then up the hills to home. I'm so glad I brought the camera ... just in case this horse is not there the next time I ride that way. You can never have too many pictures, especially when they capture the meeting of a new friend.

Days like this are why I love riding a bike. Exploring new (and old) places, being in a more natural environment, and getting to see the variety of animals along the way. Hope there are clear trails and paths where you are ... and new animal friends to meet!

Great Day in Dana Point!

I mentioned in the last post how nice the weather has been ... well, it just keeps coming. Today was almost 80 degrees at the peak, sunny, and absolutely beautiful. So I grabbed the camera and an insulated Kleen Kanteen full of Stumptown coffee, hopped on the Funqapillar, and headed down to the Dana Point Harbor for a great ride and some nice pics.

Beautiful view at the Ocean Institute with Seagull Fly-By greeting

Surfers were diggin' the higher-than-usual waves

Whoa, dude ... is that a huge rock under the wave ahead of you?

I never learned to surf, myself ... but this sure looks fun

SUP'ers were out in force in the Harbor

The Brig Pilgrim Pirate Ship ... ready to set sail ... take a ride when you visit!

Gotta love the complex sail rigging ...

The Harbor water was absolutely stunning today ... bluer than blue

After a ride around the Harbor, I headed on down the road to Doheny Beach for a slightly different view of the ocean and its visitors of the day:

Another stunning view of blue water, birds, and hazy fog-clouded mountains

Smaller waves here, but the surfers were still enjoying them

More SUP'ers ... I just HAVE to try that sometime ... looks like fun!

I love my copper bell ... hidden in the reflection is me in shorts ... in January!

Lots of people out enjoying the sun today, riding bikes to lunch at the beach

After enjoying some of that Stumptown Coffee (the "Hairbender" blend, with a little vanilla added), I rode back into town, up through the hills in Heritage Park, where I generally get quite tired, since it's fairly steep and always at the end of my ride. Funny today, though, I was about 2/3 of the way up the set of hills when I realized I wasn't breathing as hard as usual, and actually kind of enjoying the climb. Maybe it was the weather ... maybe I'm just getting better at it. In any case, when I finished the set of hills, I decided to continue on to visit one of the many scenic harbor overlooks for a few more photos. I stopped by the Blue Lantern Inn and snapped these:

The story of Dana Point

The Harbor from above ... lots of boats, blue sky, and blue water

When I got home, our smaller dog, Libby, gave me this look:

No, I'm not going to smile ... YOU smile ... and where have you been? I'm hungry!

Non-plussed hungry dogs aside, the day was inspiring. So much so, that I made this little video for you, to document a beautiful day in Dana Point (of course, the blogger video interface has made it into a low-res, grainy-looking thing ... but I was in a hurry and didn't do the YouTube thing ... sorry, but you get the idea) :

Hope the weather's nice where you are ... and that this new year brings you much happiness!!

Is this really December?

Is this December?  Seriously?  Wow ... I've been in California for over ten years now, and sometimes I still have to check the high tech digital computer interwebipedia calendar to be sure. It's December 22, and I can ride down to the beach in short sleeves and shorts.  That's a statement that often makes me scratch my head in confusion. I grew up in Michigan, and late December certainly never meant riding a bike to the beach ... forget the short sleeves and shorts (unless you're one of those crazy people there who do it just to be crazy). More often it meant making sure the driveway was cleared so I could get the car out to go to work, and then pre-heating the car and clearing ice from the window so I could see where I was going. Sure, I miss the snow every now and then, but I remember too many white-knuckled drives home on the black-ice covered highways for that emotion to last very long.

We've had a little colder weather this month, but the past few days have been beautiful. Last year at this very time we had some pretty rough storms ... heavy rain and wind, flooding, aqueduct walls breaking, and the canopy of vines in our back yard collapsed. This year ... pretty darn nice.

I took the Funqapillar (Hunqapillar + Fun + Funky) down to the harbor to see the waves and snap a few photos to prove to myself later that this was indeed the weather in late December. This is what I saw:

Calm, Cool Dana Point Harbor water

People and dogs having fun ... no shirt ... in December!

Surfin' ... in December!

Funqapillar at the Harbor ... basking in the sun and ready to roll ... in December!

I have to admit, we're a little spoiled here when it comes to having great year-round weather. Sure, it costs more to live here ... and we have the occasional earthquake ... and sometimes the coastline crumbles and falls away ... and the traffic is a nightmare ... but the weather is pretty awesome.

Hope the weather's fine where you are, and that you have a wonderful holiday weekend!

Cross-Training

   
I love riding to the harbor, especially at this time of year.  It's beginning to fill with activity, since Summer is on its way ... but it's still not yet crowded, so one can enjoy the beauty and happenings without worry of obstacles like traffic and people ... not that there's anything wrong with either.

The only thing I DON'T like about riding to the harbor is that, as I mentioned in a previous post, the return ride is always ... ALWAYS an uphill ride.  Hills are okay, but there are two main roads back home, and both of them are fairly steep ... like THIS one:

The photo doesn't do justice, even with the tall ship views from the bottom and top for perspective, but suffice it to say this hill is about an 18% grade and runs for over a quarter mile.  It's almost as though every ride becomes a "training" ride because of hills like this one.  Now don't go assuming I think there's something wrong with training ... I have great admiration for those who do it.  For me, however, the word "training" conjures up images of something that isn't as much FUN and RELAXING as it is WORK ... and cycling isn't something I want to view as WORK.  I already do enough of that.  But since Summer is on its way ... and that often means getting in shape for beach outings and BBQ events ... I felt it was time today to begin a different kind of training regimen.

People often speak of "cross-training", using different forms of exercise to work (there's that word again) different muscle groups or to work the same groups in different ways.  You might think that means doing something WITHOUT your bike ... but that's not always true.  Today, I have developed a cross-training event that uses the bicycle throughout the entire process.  Truth be told, it happened by accident, when I really needed a different route home from the harbor.  Instead of taking one of the two road routes, I decided to enter the local park across from the harbor area.  I've never gone that way before because I've seen the posted signs asking for "no bicycling" on the park sidewalks ... however, I see many people doing it every day, so I thought I'd be bold and give it a whirl.  Geography dictates that going home WILL involve going uphill, so I knew there would be some kind of hill action ... but at least it was off the road and through some new territory.  What I found was a veritable plethora of cross-training possibilities.  Here's how it works:

Upon entering the park, one immediately encounters the first uphill path, followed by another, and another ... and then a series of "switchback" paths that lead ... you guessed it ... uphill through the park.  Here's a look:

And here's a graphic depiction of the switchbacks:

Once again, a photo cannot do this justice ... it's a very long, winding path up through that pretty green grass.

Now ... here's where the cross-training fun begins.  If trying to pedal up these paths becomes difficult, one can simply walk the bike ... and walking uphill with a bike works different leg and foot muscles, as well as working the riding muscles in different ways.  This can be especially effective if done near the end of what has already been a good long ride, when your legs are "pre-fatigued".  You can also skip the switchback paths altogether and push your bike uphill through the grass ... cyclocross style ... for a more invigorating workout.  If you want to add some strength training to your day, there are three sets of concrete stairs ... one VERY long (#1 in the photo), one medium long (#2), and one normal (#3).  You could carry your bike up them for added intensity and upper body work.  Here's a look:

I did not opt for the added stair workout today ... as holding the camera in one hand and the bike in the other presented a problem that could not be easily resolved at the moment.  Next time ...

I was a bit disappointed that I was obviously not the first cyclist to think of this cross-training plan.  I noticed several others performing the same workout:

Workout or not, I couldn't help but stop and enjoy the amazing scenery this particular park has to offer:

And the best view is the one at the top of all the switchbacks ... looking down over the climb just made with superhuman strength:

It really is a LONG way down to the bottom ... you'll just have to take my word for it!  Now get out of your computer chair and go explore some new territory of your own!!