Around the Bay

Today I met my friend Jim on the Coronado ferry, and we set out on a trip around San Diego Bay. Jim does this ride every Tuesday morning, and has arranged a few extra loops so it is exactly 30.00 miles. He's mixed urban, industrial, remote, and 4-lane highway - with much of the route on bike paths.

We headed south out of downtown through the convention center, marinas, industrial area, shipyards, Naval Bases, etc. I saw the Adventure Hornblower - the boat I've been going out whale watching in. But she was not in the bay, she was in a dry dock getting some maintenance work done.

We eventually ended up by the Salt Works. The white mountain below is freshly evaporated sea salt.

Eventually we reached the bottom of the bay, turned west, and began our slog up the coast. Only it wasn't a slog - we had a tailwind. This is very rare indeed - in fact, it might be the first time in 35 years of riding up this route that I haven't had to fight the wind.

You can see how exposed it is to the coastal winds - this flat strip called the Silver Strand. It connects Coronado and North Island to the mainland. It's normally about 5-6 miles of grueling, head-down grinding along in a gale.

Here's a view of the Coronado Bridge, with my (loaner) Holland bike resting against a happily-blooming Pride of Madeira (Echium Candicams).

Elapsed time for 30-mile ride, including ferry transportation to the mainland was three hours. A gray day, as you can see here.

I didn't forget the car of the day. In this case it was a red Ford Falcon Convertible, not a Mustang. It was parked in Coronado next to my car - I didn't even have to hunt for it.

After the ride I had to take the bike back. I might miss it - or I might not. After all, if I had my own... Stay tuned for more adventures.

Electronic Power Shift

The Bill Holland exo-grid bike is equipped with a Campagnolo Super Record EPS group of components. In essence, it's a electrically-powered shifting system controlled by buttons and levers on the brake handles.

The system gives quick (.35 seconds) shifts with the ability to push the chain while 70% more power is still applied to the pedals. It is self-adjusting so the front cage is moved as the rear goes back and forth across the cogs. The battery needs recharging only about every 3000 miles or 90 days.

The group includes transmission components (crankset, bottom bracket, chainrings, chain, cluster and derailleurs), electronic shifting items (memory controller, battery pack, wiring and charger), combination brake handles / shifters and the brake calipers and pads. The price is about $4000!

On my short ride today, I shifted 63 times in 21 minutes, or an average of 3 times a minute, or every 20 seconds. That might be high on a long flat ride, but in the hilly terrain around my place, it seemed reasonable. 

Guess what car I saw, down on the street - Yep, another Mustang convertible. Green/beige this time.

A Very Busy Day

I hardly had time to ride today. I did the grocery shopping first. Then raced downtown, boarded the Hornblower Adventure and went whale watching. We saw dozens of bottlenose dolphins, hundreds of common dolphins, and one beautiful blue whale. In front of the USS Carl Vinson CVN-70.

Then I shot back home, opened a UPS package, and went out to change the fuel injectors on my car. That took a lot of physical and psychic energy, but solved the driveability problem I was having.

I went off to get my hair cut, then came back and hopped on The New Bike. I'll just share some images of it with you today. The Head tube.

 The seat stay(s) and binder bolt and rear brake

 The bottom bracket.

The downtube and company logo.

The top tube

The Campagnolo Digital Tech Intelligence control unit  (shown upside down, as it's under the stem).

Here's my "I am actually riding this bike today" photo. Nice looking fork? It's ok as carbon forks go but aesthetically, I must say that I prefer the elegantly curved blades of a Reynolds or Columbus steel tubing fork.

Weld My Ride

Back about 40 blogs ago, I wrote about JB, the bike frame Painter. Today the Subject is Bill the bike frame Welder. I know that's a simplification of what he does, but it will suffice to get us started. Bill has kindly loaned me a bike that will take me into the 21st Century.

Thanks to Blogger, you can come along too. The bike is a Holland road bicycle - composite materials allied with titanium (for the frame) and the latest and greatest for the components.

Campagnolo group with electric shifting, power brakes (just kidding but it feels like it), carbon and titanium everywhere except for my old seat and my old pedals (since he's not loaning me his shoes and shorts, thank goodness).

Just to get it out of the way, here's the car of the day - the beautiful Aston Martin again, in better light and from two angles.

Here it is from the back side, along with one of the owners' many Cadillacs. Sorry for the goofy angles but I didn't stop to compose the shot, just got it on the fly.

BTW, while driving my car today, I saw a rider who had a helmet camera, three flashing red lights on his back, and all kinds of trick accessory gear on his bike. He looked safe, fast, and had a kind of crazed look in his eyes. I suppose that's natural if you ride a lot in traffic.

I did a loop around my area using the long straights and avoiding any massive hills. It's during rush hour so I had to work hard to keep from getting run over. Now I have not only myself to worry about, but a friend's bicycle as well.

I can report that the electric shifting is great fun, but it doesn't make the hills any easier. The shifters are kind of goofy at first try (couldn't there be a better format for the switches?) but then I remember it's built by Italians, for Italians and it seems more sensible. I'm noticing more than anything that the handlebars are much wider than those on my other bikes. These are about 17 inches wide where mine are 14 inches. It makes a big difference in the feel of the bike. I'm also noticing the lack of brake and shift cables on the handlebar levers.

The bike itself is 18 lbs, so that cuts about 5 pounds (Paramount) or 8 pounds (Platano) off the weight I'm used to pedaling along. 

Hmmm. Looks like I have Salsa quick releases on 24 spoke DT hubs, red alloy nipples and who knows what rims that are wearing Vredestein tires.

I've got a few days to try it out, so I will report my findings as I get more experience and miles under the saddle.

While you are waiting, check out this great video about Jack Taylor Cycles

Yet Another Ford

It's late Sunday afternoon, which is not our normal time for a bike ride. But we had just said goodbye to a visitor who had a heavy heart. After hearing his woes we decided we needed a diversion. So onto the bikes we went.

The weather is so clear and beautiful we didn't even have to stop at the weather mirror to check things out. We just rode off at random.

After a few moments we came around a corner and down a short alley to a grand stand of "Pride of Madeira" and a great view of the ocean. We had a nice moment in the sunshine peeking through the flowers, then got back on our bikes and hit the highway.

A good mile run gave us a chance to get used to high speed and got our hearts racing, then we swerved off to the right and down another mile-long straight.

Eventually we came to the turning point. After some contemplation, I decided on the direct route home. Up a steep hill, but short. On the way we saw this old 1959 Ford Pickup.

Honestly, there are so many Fords in our neighborhood!! If you are like me and can't tell one year from another, here's a page with Fords illustrated by model and year. With resources like this, at least I can get pretty close.

We made it home in one piece, put away the bikes and got a drink. As I took off my multi-colored shirt and matching multi-colored watch, I realized that it was time for a long hot shower.

So goodbye for now!

Twice The Ride Today

Even though I rode twice, I shouldn't get any bonus credits, because each ride was fairly easy. But fun, and that's what my cycling is about. See earlier blogs on exercise, racing, utility, etc. I am working at the guilt-free riding program.

Today's adventure started down on the pier, before my whale watching cruise. If you couldn't tell from the artsy photo, this is one of the mooring hawsers for the carrier / museum Midway, seen through the spokes of my Platano.

I rode southward along the waterfront and marveled at this wood and concrete structure, which the sign indicates is the entrance to Ruocco Park. Happily enough, it has its own website so I need not tell you about it - you can just go there on your own. Be sure to come back.

After 30-40 minutes of port-side cycling, I locked the bike in the car and hit the high seas. It was a beautiful, no a fantastically-beautiful day out on the water, as you can see from this bye-bye view of downtown San Diego, taken from the top deck of the ship.

The southern route is the one we took this morning on our search for the whales. The northern route is where Captain Bill took the Adventure Hornblower in the afternoon.

We found a couple Finback whales but they were skittish and didn't let us get close enough for any good photos. Would you be satisfied with a few huge dolphins, right on the bow of our ship? IN crystal-clear water...

After the cruise I went home and did chores. Then I remembered that I had promised yesterday to get photos of the other two cows in our neighborhood. So I hopped on the bike again and cruised around until I located the two homes with cows. Here they are:

Only the back end of Alfie is visible - the front end runs into a retaining wall. The other cow was purchased in a fund-raising campaign a few years ago, and has been in this front yard since then. And yes, she is bolted down.

On the way home I spotted this nifty old truck by the curb. It's my choice for Vehicle of the Day. I hope I don't have to tell you what make and model of truck it is.

Hint: It's a Ford, of course.

The Most Beautiful ...

I like her. I don't even know her exact name, but I know I love her face. Am I fickle? Is my sense of innate worth swayed by outward good looks rather than inner charm and intelligence? Yes. And Yes. Here she is - what do you think?

Of course I was talking about a car. And not a Mustang Convertible, either. An Aston Martin. Strangely, this beauty's owner also has a Honda Accord, Chevy Suburban, two Cadillacs and a red and white Mustang Convertible. As far as I can see, only two people live at the house. So that's 7 cars. Precisely the number that my wife and I currently own. So you won't catch me throwing stones at this guy, or his cars.

I went out on my bike after dinner so the ride was late and short. I cruised back by the huge row of sewer pipes from yesterday and rechecked my count. The pile was much larger than my guess-timate. Instead of 100, there are 260 pipes waiting to be lowered into a ditch and filled with "stuff". Luckily they seem to have very nice seals at either end, to keep that goop inside the pipes.

I went around the corner from the pipes and up a street I seldom travel, where I spotted a spotted cow standing against the fence. Printed just above its udder is the verse Psalm 50:10 "Every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills."

There are only two other cows in our neighborhood that I know of (certainly not 1000) so perhaps in the next few days I'll get a photo of each of them. 

Here's the obligatory "I am really riding photo" which shows it's approaching 6:35 pm. Since sunset comes about 7:20 tonight, I'd better get myself back home while it's still light.

There's just enough time for a quick sunset-over-the-ocean photo, and it's back across the hill for me.

I got home, grabbed my cat, and settled down for a restful evening. Interrupted by writing this blog, of course. I hope you like the animation: