I’m always behind, it seems. January’s long gone now, and finally along comes a short but interesting chimney worth writing home about. Where were you last month when I needed you I call up to it, but there’s no answer. And how could there be? It’s just a pile of bricks, mortar and lichen. No … Continue reading "A week late, a chimney short"
Read More
Finally! I thought the new challenge would never arrive. Now that it’s here, let me be the first and present you with this impressive proboscis from a sea elephant we observed on our ride up the coast to Ragged Point yesterday.
Read More
Frustrating that we’re several hours into a new month already and still don’t know what the new challenge is. Where’s the leadership? C’mon, Challenge Czar! I’m sure everyone else is as impatient about this as I am. In the meantime, while we all wait for Mr. Tough Guy to get to work, here are some … Continue reading "Where’s the challenge?????"
Read More
We’re shacked up in Borrego Springs now, surrounded by sand and creosote but precious phew chimneys. I thought I’d spotted an odd one of the horizontal ilk on our ride east to the Salton Sea, but now that I look again I think I was wrong. Phap.
Read More
Such a mortification. My latest solution to the Alphabet Quest felt like a stretch – Sleek Transport Vessel, for the ferry back from Coronado after circling San Diego Bay? I wasn’t that sold on ‘sleek’ for this ferry, but nothing better came to mind. If I hadn’t been focused so much on that, I wouldn’t … Continue reading "Scooter Trips Up!"
Read More
(A note from the management: the site isn’t going away, and if it seems to work properly as long as you use the https// access, Tuere’s no imminent need to change anything. We just want to step back from responsibility for repairing what’s broken). We’re in hog heaven, biking up Hog Canyon on one of … Continue reading "Failed Grape Harvest?"
Read More
No bicycling here, but I’ve been assured that hikes are now welcomed so this should qualify. We stopped off at Point Lobos on the drive from Petaluma to San Luis Obispo, making our way to Tucson in five easy pieces. Point Lobos is a beautiful place for a walk, with plenty of interest no matter … Continue reading "Neatly Ordered Pelicans"
Read MoreJanet has already posted, but I thought you’d like to see how my photos of our day came out. Here we are at lunch overlooking the sea. Here we are doing a test ride of J&J’s Transit Connect because we’re considering buying one. Here we are looking out at the sea after riding on the … Continue reading "Our Day With Jack & Janet"
Read MoreI did not find as many things as I wanted in last month’s scavenger hunt challenges. Among other thingsI knew that I’d never find a reel mower because (1) what the heck is a reel mower? And (2) who uses those these days? When I looked up reel mower I reelized that Rich meant “push … Continue reading "Some Unfinished Business"
Read More
To make up for the squid, next up is something I think you’ll find is fun. Most of us have heard about or even used Little Free Libraries where you can take or leave a book to share. My wife BJ just heard about little free galleries, and that there was one in our town. … Continue reading "Something Arty"
Read More
While it’s true that we live by the sea, it doesn’t often smell that way. But for a couple of days recently there was a distinct fishy smell wafting – well not exactly wafting, more like blasting – our way. So I set out to discover the source of this smell. The nearby commercial fishing … Continue reading "Something Fishy"
Read MoreEnjoyed looking for the things Rich came up with for his scavenger hunts. Here are a few more I managed to find here and there around home. Red flowers (check out the watering can) Purple Arches Footbridge Outdoor art with a decided bikey motif Interesting trees on the edge of a very deep gully
Read MoreJust so you don’t get the wrong idea, sunny days are rare in my neck of the woods this time of year. We call it Gray May and June Gloom. We’ve only had a handful of sunny days since we moved out here. So below gives you a better idea what it usually looks like. … Continue reading "It’s Not Always Perfect"
Read MoreA couple of my early posts here show rides around Half Moon Bay, our new home, but now that it is our new home everything is different. I knew the area pretty well for a day-tripper but of course I look at everything with new eyes. I ride the Coastal Trail most days to make … Continue reading "An After-Dinner Ride"
Read More
You’ll of course remember Old Grumbleface’s excellent adventure nearly two years ago, when he carried his Ogre up four miles of sand to Fonts Point. It’s definitely well worth the effort to get thee to Fonts Point, with its stupefying views of the Borrego Badlands. But by bicycle? Rereading his post, we realized we had to … Continue reading "Fonts Point, another way"
Read More
The Borrego Badlands! That certainly sounds hazardous enough, doesn’t it? It conjures up images of contorted, sandy draws where you could lose your way in a maze and die a lonely death, sun-baked and parched under the hot desert sun; or be attacked by bandits holed up just around the next bend who would torture … Continue reading "The Borrego Badlands"
Read More
I’m liking this challenge! An otherwise ho-hum ride suddenly comes to life when you happen on some interesting subject in an unusual collection. Not that our hike in Montaña de Oro State Park was humdrum by any means – far from it, actually – but coming across these three coyotes at its close made it … Continue reading "The Collection Challenge: a clutch of coyotes"
Read More
We’re seeing some creative, imaginative collections here. Keep up the good work! My sole offering today is less dramatic and dynamic than those elephant seals, but still unusual enough to be worth posting: a row of fence posts with cowboy boots capping them, on our ride through Edna Valley. There were probably 20 or more … Continue reading "The Collection Challenge: a rack of boots"
Read More
New month! New challenge! And for me, a new year. For my birthday ride we took a ride up the coast to Ragged Point, at the lower end of Big Sur. Perfect weather, a beautiful ride. Best of all though was getting to see the elephant seal colony beached at Piedras Blancas. What a great … Continue reading "The Collection Challenge: a herd of elephant seals"
Read More
It’s so great that some sage proposed that we ‘just ride’ this month. The pressure’s off to find some theme inspired photo to justify the post. Today’s ride to Paskenta nearly qualifies for several challenges. It’s the day after Thanksgiving, so it just misses qualifying for the Holiday Challenge. Or is Black Friday a Holiday … Continue reading "The Paskenta Ride"
Read More
This doesn’t qualify as a challenge post, since there’s nothing empty about the featured image. Quite the opposite, in fact. I just thought I’d pass on our encounter with a googol of snow geese at a refuge not far from Chico – one of the most memorable bird sightings of our lives. You might especially … Continue reading "A googol of geese"
Read More
I’m quite fickle. I’m devoted to Rachael and faithful to a few close friends; but rocks? I’m quickly smitten by the latest pretty face, but then move on. Here’s my current crush, a nice boulder at the end of our ride out the San Luis Rey River Trail.
Read More
It’s hard to believe it’s almost 2020! It seems like only yesterday that our software shop was anxiously awaiting the new millennium to see if all our hard work over the last year had paid off or if our company’s systems were going to hemorrhage under a barrage of Y2K bugs. before we ring in … Continue reading "One last red before we go"
Read More
We’ve been holed up in San Diego for the past ten nights, waiting out the foul weather and staying close to restaurants that would be open over Christmas. We’ve managed to fit in a few good rides and walks though, and collected a few reds along the way. The featured photo is at Fort Rosecrans … Continue reading "Some reds for the holidays"
Read More
I admit that I didn’t think that much about the technical aspects of solstice today – I just pointed the camera west toward the sea and took my best shot. I should at least get some credit for being aware that it was solstice though. I had my mind on other things, anyway. Foremost among … Continue reading "A La Jolla Solstice"
Read MoreSunday, August 11, 2019 I went on a toodle around the Stanford campus today and came across this delightful coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia) right next to the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. The hospital was recently rebuilt, but thankfully they left this beauty in place. I love that a limb that was sunk into the … Continue reading "Challenged Oak"
Read More
Sunday, August 4, 2019 After a lovely few days in fog-bound Monterey, I went northeast to visit a friend in the city of Davis which is in the frying pan that is the Central Valley. My friend Stacy is new to the city so a little ride around town was a fun exploration for both … Continue reading "A Day in Davis"
Read More
Thursday, August 1, and Friday, August 2, 2019 The wife and I had a few days off at the beginning of August so we headed to where we usually go on days off: to the sea. We went to Monterey this time and of course alerted other Cycle 365 regulars of our plans. Luckily Jack … Continue reading "Couple of Days in Monterey"
Read More
Wednesday, May 2, 2018 More time travel on my trusty trike this day. Almost starred in a movie. Sorta. There’s an old road that winds its way up and over a mountain on the Pacific Coast south of San Francisco, officially called Pedro Mountain Road but people in the know call it Planet of the … Continue reading "Planet of the Apes and Devil’s Slide"
Read More
Tuesday, April 23, 2019 Crissy Field in the San Francisco Presidio, my happy place, was the start of my final Cycle Life Challenge ride this year. It’s where I can see the Golden Gate Bridge and the bay and the beach and the city all just by turning around in place. It was going to … Continue reading "CLC 2019 Ride 7: Playing Tourist"
Read MoreSunday, April 21, 2019 The title of my post is a bit misleading. I had no trouble finding the local Goodwill. It’s right next door to my mother’s assisted living building and I pass it most days of the week. However, Goodwill provided me the opportunity for a little twist on the “supporting the local … Continue reading "CLC 2019 Ride 6: Goodwill Hunting"
Read More
Monday, April 15, 2019 The wife and I had been itching for a day in Monterey. I contacted Our Good Friends Jack and Janet (TM) to see if they would be around for a CLC ride. They were. We did. While we cycled the wife drove and drove (which was not her plan). We managed … Continue reading "CLC 2019 Ride 5: Monterey"
Read More
Sunday, April 14, 2019 A nice sunny day and we’re off to the Bay Trail where we haven’t ridden in several months. But first we make a sharp turn off the Permanente Creek bike path into the Googleplex. Not much happening in the main courtyard but we say hi to T-Rex. A while ago some … Continue reading "CLC 2019 Ride 4: What Is Art?"
Read More
Sunday, March 24, 2019 Last year I took a ramble that included the sweet-smelling apricot blossoms in the remnant orchards around this area. This year I wanted to get to the largest remaining local orchard that I know of on a property that happens to be owned by the Packard family. Because the blossoms were … Continue reading "CLC 2019 Ride 3: What Put the P in HP"
Read More
Saturday, March 16, 2019 A short ride back in time today. The ride was short but the time was longer than I’ve been alive. I rode to New Almaden, a small quicksilver mining village now subsumed by San Jose that is almost like going back to the 1800s if you squint well enough. Fans of … Continue reading "CLC 2019 Ride 2: New Almaden"
Read More
Thursday, March 14, 2019 The wife and I traveled to that tourist hotspot in Sonoma County known as Petaluma when we had a few days off. Why there? I have lots of rellies that live in Sonoma County, including lots of them in Petaluma, and we hadn’t seen them in a long time. Plus my … Continue reading "CLC 2019 Ride 1: Tomales, Chileno Valley, and Petaluuuuma"
Read MoreMonday, November 12, 2018 / 2 miles So we end our coffeeneuring with a whimper in the smoke from a huge wildfire about 150 miles north of us. The weather patterns are not being kind to California this fall. We had a smitch of rain on October 1, and nothing in the immediate forecast. No … Continue reading "Coffeeneuring 2018 Ride 7: In the Big Smoke"
Read MoreMonday, November 5, 2018 / 9 miles / This was a special day: I got to ride with Janet and Jack. We met somewhat in the middle at Wilder Ranch State Park. They drove up to the north end of Monterey Bay, I came over the hill from SF Bay. We had no particular agenda … Continue reading "Coffeeneuring 2018 Ride 6: Surf City"
Read MoreWednesday, October 31, 2018 / 16 miles / This was a spectacular day. The more I think back on it the happier it makes me feel. It involved some relaxation, the beach, redwoods, a resurrected cemetery, a big honkin hill, brussels sprouts, hot sun, deep shade, and tea. It had distinct sections that may have … Continue reading "Coffeeneuring 2018 Ride 5: Portals"
Read MoreTuesday, October 30, 2018 / 16 miles / By some miracle, four neighboring cities and a town on the San Francisco peninsula agreed on something. It’s called the Peninsula Bikeway, a designated route on surface streets connecting the cities and town. They even agreed on the signage. And even more of a miracle, the route … Continue reading "Coffeeneuring 2018 Ride 4: The Tao of Bike"
Read MoreMonday, October 23, 2018 / 3 miles / Lovely day to drive about 15 minutes up the freeway to a bayside destination with the wife where she could stroll and I could roll and both end up at a cafe. That’s one good thing about the trike – you can go at walking speed without … Continue reading "Coffeeneuring 2018 Ride 3: Port o’ Call"
Read MoreOctober 15, 2018 / 7 miles / … not to mention turkey cow deer pig. Saw them all today. Well, not the coyote. Or the bear. But I rode in Coyote Lake Harvey Bear Ranch County Park, which they refer to as Coyote Bear. I’ve been meaning to try riding at Coyote Bear for years. … Continue reading "Coffeeneuring 2018 Ride 2: Coyote Bear"
Read MoreSunday, October 14, 2018 / 10 miles / Ever see Charlie Chaplin in “The Tramp”? It was filmed in the little town of Niles, California in 1915. Niles was Hollywood before there was Hollywood thanks to Essanay Film Manufacturing Company opening an operation where the weather was more favorable than Chicago. Starting in 1912 lots … Continue reading "Coffeeneuring 2018 Ride 1: Queen of de Niles"
Read MoreSunday, April 15, 2018 6 miles The wife had a book to return to the library. I needed a little ride. So off I trundled to downtown Mountain View. It was a bit breezy but a beautiful day otherwise. Nothing but blue sky, like so: The weather forecast was for rain to come in around … Continue reading "CLC18 Ride 8: Many Happy Returns"
Read MoreTuesday, April 3, 2018 2.5 miles And now we get to the turf part of our day. After finishing my ride along Half Moon Bay, I drove about 20 miles south to the town of Pescadero. I’ve taken you here before in one of the BLCs I think. What I didn’t get to show before … Continue reading "CLC18 Ride 7: … and Turf"
Read MoreTuesday, April 3, 2018 10 miles I took today off just for me. I headed over to the coast to ride the along Half Moon Bay and its delightful Coastal Trail. I’ve shown it to you before, but like all special places it’s different every time. One thing I wanted to accomplish was to buy … Continue reading "CLC18 Ride 6: Surf and …"
Read MoreMonday, April 2, 2018 9 miles Today’s support of the local economy was a visit to my chiropractor, whose office is in a business district of Palo Alto called California Avenue, or, Cal Ave. It’s a pretty easy, flat ride, and there’s lots of bike parking on the avenue. This chiropractor is new to me, … Continue reading "CLC18 Ride 5: Well-Adjusted on Cal Ave"
Read MoreSunday, April 1, 2018 8 miles Today was going to be a family day. A brother and his family were visiting from out of town, so those of us living out here on the Best Coast – three other siblings, mother, a cousin – were gathering for a late brunch. That meant I had the … Continue reading "CLC18 Ride 4: Course Change"
Read MoreMonday, March 12, 2018 15 miles I had some fun seeing old and new things today on a meander around a neighboring town. It was going to get breezy this afternoon and a series of rainstorms would be moving in behind the wind, so only thing on my agenda this morning was a ride. Nothing … Continue reading "CLC18 Ride 2: Old and New"
Read MoreSaturday, March 10, 2018 6 miles Good morning and Happy CLC18! My first ride is my commute to work. I changed work sites about six months ago, and it’s a flat flat flat (except for a freeway overpass) five mile ride. I have to be at work early, and since October I’ve arrived at the … Continue reading "CLC18 Ride 1: Hi Ho, Hi Ho"
Read More