Catalina Island!

My dear followers... I'm so sorry that I haven't updated this in a million years.  My hubs and I have been really busy with getting married (again), buying a house, transitioning from military life to civilian life, school, everything!  But, I still should have at least posted SOMETHING.  I am sorry!  Please forgive me, and still follow my shizzy. 

Hubs and I went to Catalina Island for his birthday and we took our bikes!  Btw, it's $30-something each way on the Catalina Express and only $6 to bring a bike!  It was so much fun.  We didn't do all the fancy expensive tours... We made our own tour!  We wode our bikes around Avalon, explored some ancient ruins (which look like an old beat up chicken coop), went rock climbing in a cave (less than 15 feet above the road), and visited Mr. Wrigley's memorial and botanical gardens.  We wouldn't have been able to go to all those places without the bikes! 

One cool part of the trip was the fact that the LA Sheriff department was to make their press conference speechy thing that day regarding the Natalie Wood case being reopened.  It was kind of neat being on the island during that.  We got to hear from a couple of the locals about their version of the story, or their parents' version!  One of the locals, Memo (sorry if I spelled your name wrong!) from the Catalina Cantina hooked us up with an amazing drink that's only made on the island, Buffalo Milk.  So good.  I highly recommend it.  Their tequila selection isn't so bad either, if that's your kind of thing! 

We loved the island so much we decided to go back for our honeymoon! ( :  And of course, we will bring our bikes. 

Happy Cycling ( : 

Stone Brewery Trip

At Witch Creek Winery

Weekend rides are the best!

Aaron and I went on a 25+ mile ride yesterday.  It was a lot of fun!  We stopped for lunch and some coffee... Starbucks actually was out of coffee, and tea.  Pretty lame!  On the ride back home Aaron's bike broke.  A couple of his spokes decided their time had come and they popped outta place.  Super rad!  Luckily, the spokes broke right in front of Hooters, so he and his bum bike got to go have a beer while I rode home to get the car ( ;  It's okay though.  I needed the extra exercise.  I'm training for a sprint triathlon that's in a couple weeks and I need ALL THE HELP I CAN GET.  Those who know me, know I'm not an athlete at all, but for some reason I like to try and I sign up for races that I know I will get my ass handed to me at.  But, it's going to be fun!  I'm not too worried about the swim part, or the bike, it's the run that's going to be the end of me.  Thank goodness for shot blocks! 

It's a really good thing Aaron and I each have two bikes.  Both of our cars are outta commission.  His is awaiting a new catalytic converter, and mine is awaiting a trip to the car hospital to see what's wrong with her.  Her check engine light came on yesterday and she was driving pretty sluggishly.  So, we are both really excited about this financial hit we're about to take, but also thankful for the two-wheeled, human powered vehicles we have! 

Well, I haven't taken many pictures lately, but when I do I will start posting them.  Thanks for following my bloggity blog ( :

Happy Cycling!

Ridin' in San Fran...

I did it!

I rode my darn tootin' bike to work finally!  It's been well over two months since I last did it.  The ride is so nice.  It was mostly quiet because it's so early.  It was overcast which I really like.  The less sun there is, the less energy it can suck out of me!  Heat really drains me... Also, there was this little stretch, no more than a quarter mile, of jasmine flowers!  It smelled so yummy.  It was a great ride!  Some other perks: I saved $3.16 in gas, and I prevented 16.67 lbs. of CO2 from being added to the atmosphere.  And that's just the ride TO work!  Here and back is: $6.38/33.35lbs.  Pretty impressive. 

If everyone that works within ten miles of their job traded one car day with a bicycle day, you could save about $157/year and keep 823 lbs. of gunk from being released into the air for everyone to breathe.  Think about that! 

Happy Cycling ( : 

Great ride yesterday!

I finally got back on my bike yesterday and it was so much fun!  Aaron and I rode the entire bike trail in O'Side which is really neat.  I love the miniature traffic signs!  So cute.  We stopped for some yummy ice cream and looked at some precions puppies and kittehs.  It was hard not to take the eight baby orange tabbies home!  The entire ride was just shy of 30 miles and I didn't complain once!  This is a major breakthrough. 

Here are some lessons that I learned:

• Put sunscreen on about 10-15 minutes BEFORE you go outside.
• Ride WITH traffic when you're on a bicycle, no matter how easy it is for you to get on the bike trail from the wrong side.  Jerks.
• Get your bike chain and lock!  Always have it with you.

Yesterday was the perfect ride to jumpstart my return to my bike!  Now I just gotta follow through and ride that thing to work!!!! 

Until next time...  HAPPY CYCLING!

Tomorrow, I ride!

Tell me where I should go!  I'm thinking about having lunch with my hubby, but I'm also thinking about visiting Ma, or just going someplace I've never been!  Any suggestions?  Also, I'm gonna post some long overdue pictures from our past cycling adventures ( : 

This was the cutest thing!  We were at Bull Taco (btw, they painted over the Banksy mouse) and some little kid parked his bike in front of ours. 

Back from Mars

I realize that I have fallen off the face of the planet, and I'm sorry.  It's kind of tough to go from being unemployed to working again, while maintaining the same balance!  Unfortunately, my biking, and blogging, have had to take the back burner for a little while.  Let me update you faithful followers on what's been going on lately! 

Work is going really well, and I thoroughly enjoy receiving a paycheck every two weeks!  It's a very nice change of pace from those damn unemployment checks.  In my month and a half of work I've only had the energy/drive to ride my bike twice... Which I'm hoping to change as the weeks and months go on.  There are showers at work which makes it very easy and convenient for me to ride and not stink.  On a positive and Earth saving note, Aaron and I carpool to work almost every day!  I say almost because he rides his bike at least two days a week.  Go, Aaron!  Maybe he should be blogging and not me!  I kid.  I kid.  I've started some online classes so I can get my Bachelor's degree!  Here's my current educational plan: get an(other) Associate's degree while working on my Bachelor's in Professional Aeronautics, then get my Master of Project Management, maybe a Master of Aeronautical Science degree while I'm at it, then eventually get my Doctor of Philosophy in Aviation.  Now we're talking DECADES down the road before I'm "Doctor cb", but hey, a girl can dream, right?  Hopefully in the coming years my school will have some options for classes or degrees in more "green" fields, like environmental protection, renewable energy, bicycles, that kind of thing!  Btw, the Wright Brothers owned a bicycle shop well before they were flying airplanes! 

Kthxbai.

Started working again!

One day I will get back in the groove of blogging daily.  I started my new job last week and so far I love it!  I get to carpool with Aaron which is amazing because I like to save gas and money wherever possible.  I haven't ridden my bike to work yet, and I was going to try this week, but I'm sick.  Yay.  Hopefully I'll be better soon so I can ride on W or Th!  Thanks to those who follow my shizzy!  I will get more inspired and motivated soon!  Just send healthy vibes my way please.  Much thanks.

Happy Cycling!

Keeping the momentum

     Right when I was starting to lose faith and "oomph" for my bicycle riding lifestyle, I saw the prices at my local gas station go up again.  Jumped six cents overnight.  Also, my ride to my new work place yesterday wasn't nearly as painful as before, and my recovery time has shortened drastically!  Right now, I'm thinking I will be able to bike two days a week to start out, then progress to three!  I was able to make it halfway up a hill in 2nd gear (on both shifters) instead of my "peewee herman" gear (1st on both shifter things), when I would usually be walking!  That's a happy. 

     I can't wait until California decides to be California again and get rid of this rain!  I'm not at the point in my cycling life where I look forward to getting dressed and ready to go get drenched.  Maybe someday, but not anytime soon. 

     Here's a group on f-book I just joined!  You should take a look at it and give it some thought. 

  Until next time... Happy Cycling!

Frustrating ride today...

     I am very sad to report that I had to walk about half of my ride today.  There are just so many STEEP hills and I'm not quite in the physical shape required to make it up without walking.  I need to improve my "out of the saddle" technique.  That will help a lot.  Right now I just feel so uncoordinated when I stand, plus I don't like my bike wriggling from side to side.  It freaks me out.  I'll get there though.  Soon hopefully, as I start my new job next Monday!!

     There are a couple issues I had (other than hills) with my ride/walk today.  First, it is illegal to park on the sidewalk!  So, don't park there.  Please.  And, make sure your scary, barky, bitey-looking dog is locked up so I don't have to illegally and scarily cross the street to avoid getting bitten.  I'm sure there's laws against having loose dogs running around, too.  One more thing, totally unrelated to biking or saving the world... When you go and walk your dog and take little plastic baggies to pick up the poop, the point is to take the baggie with you after it is filled with said excrement, and dispose of it at your home.  Not on the side of the road.  Follow through, that's all.  I passed three ominous looking plastic baggies!  Come on people.  Take a little more pride in your planet, okay?

     I've got quite a bit of riding, recovering and strengthening to do this week before I start next week.  My idea is to drive M and F, and ride T-Th.  That way I can drive my clothes and toiletries to work on M, ride and get gross and sweaty T-Th, then drive my clothes home on F.  Then again traffic is terrible on F.  So, maybe I'll change it up.  Ride M, W-F, and drive T.  We shall see.  Sorry you just had to read me thinking "out loud"!  I think that is all for now.  Thank you to my loyal followers!

Happy Cycling ( :

Holy crap

     So I thought it would be a fantastic idea to ride my bike to my new workplace (also where Aaron works) to get a feel for the ride.  Well, to keep it semi-PG, F that S.  It was the ultimate test of my strength to keep on riding my bike.  My rear end hurts, even in areas that I don't actually sit on, my index finger repeatedly went numb, I always hit red lights and lost a LOT of momentum to get me up a hill, I have red lobster legs, I have a cute little red stripe on my arm where my sleeve shifted... It was a GREAT TIME.  But, I do have good news.  On my final stretch, the last turn before my apartment complex, is a gas station.  It was up to $4.13, up four cents from yesterday.  So, although I looked gross, smelled like sunscreen and sweat, felt like I'd been hit by a semi, all the good stuff, I wasn't paying that much for gas!  I got a very awesome app for my phone that calculates my distance, speed, calorie burn, and it maps out my route.  It's very awesome.  I rode over 33 miles today, and burned over 1,000 calories.  I think the ride will be a LOT easier when I'm doing it earlier/later in the day, and I'll have 8 hours in between rides instead of an hour and a half.  I crashed when I got home. 

     Happy Cycling!

Wine tasting and lunch!

     Aaron and I went for a very fun ride yesterday!  Our original plan was to ride down to Enci but we saw a cute little winery in Carlsbad and decided to do some tasting!  They had a LOT of wines that I've never even heard of.  For $5.00 you get to sample a white, four reds, and one dessert wine.  It's a pretty sweet deal!  I suggest the viognier, aglianico, and the muscat love.  All very tasty!  And we supported a local business! 

     After our tasting we headed to a yummy taco shop.  It's a little on the pricey side, but still good.  I recommend the veggie burrito with a lil' guac on it!  The best part about the restaurant isn't the food, but the art work on the outside.  That graffiti has been on there for some time now and they haven't painted over it! 

     Before heading home we did a little thrift store shopping.  We found a couple cycling jerseys and some shorts for me so I don't have to ride in denim all the time!  We got some good deals!  We got "lost" on the way home, although we were far from actually being lost.  Aaron got his first flat, thanks to a staple.  Luckily it wasn't the super bad kind that can't hold any air. 

     We've got to head out now, but I'll post some pictures when we get home!  Hope you're all having a great weekend and thinking hard about becoming a cycle commuter!

Happy Cycling!

Good ride last night!

     I'm really not enjoying this rain.  I have errands I need to run today and I do not want to drive, or ride my bike in the rain. 

     Anyway, last night Aaron and I rode our bikes to dinner.  It was super yummy!  Not only were we preventing CO2 from being added to the atmosphere, but we were also supporting local farmers and a great small business!  It was pretty darn chilly, so next time I don't plan on wearing shorts.  Silly cb.  I'll also need to wear full gloves and not the hobo length gloves.  My lil' finners were ice cubes by the time I came home. 

    Well, nothing else exciting to report.  Hopefully I'll get a longer ride in this weekend and I'll have some good stories ( : 

Happy Cycling!

Riding in the rain

     I've been doing horribly at posting daily!  I'm sorry!  I will get better at this.  So, riding after the rain is a pretty challenging task.  It's a good thing I'd read about it a little bit because had I not, I would probably have eaten it going through a puddle!  For those of you who plan on riding after (or during) the rain, avoid the puddles!  You can't tell how deep the pothole is.  I also played a really fun game of Dodge Stick in the bike lane in various parts of town.  So, beware the things that are blown out of trees during a storm.  Lots of twigs and spikey balls.  Also, make sure you are wearing chapstick so you don't have to lick your lips a lot.  And try to breath through your nose.  The reason being, you WILL get splashed by large vehicles going through puddles.  I learned a little bit about riding IN the rain.  Pedal faster.  That's pretty much it.  There's no point in wiping the water off your face, trying to dry your hands, or keeping your bike dry.  Just deal with the water, hold on tighter, and wipe your bike off with a cloth when you get home.  Invest in some grippy gloves before your next wet ride.  I sure as hell am! 

     I learned recently that one of my faithful followers just purchased a helmet!  That's a step in the right direction.  Congrats, Cat!  ( ;  Well that is all for now folks. 

Happy Cycling!

Happy Monday

     Hello my faithful followers!  I hope you all had an awesome weekend.  My apologies for the lack of posting over the weekend.  I didn't have anything fun or educational to post...  I actually have some bad news to report.  I drove my car on Friday!  Not because I wanted to, but because I don't think my body is ready for a 70+ mile bike ride.  I'll get there someday!  But I'm not there yet.  I drove down to S.D. to see my bestie, Tara!  We had a junk food binge blasty blast and OD'd on bead shopping.  It was great!

     Yesterday this awesome lady hooked me up with some FREE bicycle scrapbook paper because it had a couple tiny push-pin holes in it.  Pretty awesome.  I can't wait to start scrappin' once I get some more pictures! 

     Well, it's raining today, so I'm not sure if I'll be out much at all.  Hopefully it clears up so I can get out there!  Either way, I'll try to be better about my daily posts.  Take care, everyone!  Until next time...

Happy Cycling!

Bicycle Commuters

     Well hello there!  I unfortunately have no cycling stories for you today.  Yesterday I walked to my dad's house instead of riding, mainly to give my legs a rest!  They still hurt.  But I am not discouraged! 

     I wanted to inform you of something I recently learned about called the  Bicycle Commuter Benefit Act.  In a nutshell, you tell your employer you're a bicycle commuter, you get $20.00 a month to cover bicycle related expenses.  Now, since it is a federal tax credit, it will more than likely take a while to jump start those payments, but still, it's a start!  Here's a couple links to take a look at that will explain it much better than I did. 
http://www.bikewalk.org/bca.php
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c110:4:./temp/~c110Kya90g::

     The second one has a lot of legalish jargon, but the content is good and touches on a lot of great points.  This federal tax credit is just another great reason to commute on a bike, and it's great because the government is recognizing it's importance!  $77,000,000,000 annual savings on health care costs?  Sign me up! 

On a completely different note, here is a picture I saw on a bike discussion forum yesterday.  Cracked me up!  I am in no way taking credit for this photo, I did not take it, nor am I in it.  It's just freakin' hilarious and I had to post it!

If you've seen Charlie the Unicorn you can appreciate this.  If you haven't, youtube it right now.  Please.

I hope you all have a great day!  Happy Cycling!

Wasted trip!

     Yesterday's trip was so much fun!  Let me tell ya... I rode 8.3 miles to go fill out an application.  Not to interview, just to fill out a piece of paper.  So I get directions from Google, tape them to my handlebars, and hit the road.  I didn't have to get off and walk on the way there, which I'm super proud to say!  I get to the street where I'm supposed to be, and there's no building with their address number on it.  I'm supposed to be going to a 1064 and this street starts at 1400s and ends at 2200s.  I try to call them (and this is about 15 minutes prior to my scheduled time) and their automated phone message says "No one is available to take your call now" ::click::  Ever heard of an answering machine?  Voicemail?  I tried a few more times.  Same thing.  I bust out my trusty iPhone to see if they have a local number (not 1-800) and they have two!  Both busy.  I cruise up and down the street again, ask a couple people where this place is, nothing.  Tried all three numbers a couple more times.  Nothing.  So I say to myself "eff it" and I started heading home.  How rude is that to not at LEAST have a voicemail?  I didn't want to work there anyway. The whole ride home I'm thinking that this was a total waste of time and energy and bla bla bla.  But I did get some great exercise!  I had to walk up a couple hills, bummer.  But even that is good exercise!  My ride home was 6.3 miles, making my total 14.6!  I saved $3.07, and prevented 15.21 pounds of CO2 from being added to the atmosphere. 

     After my really short 4 mile ride today (84 cents, 4.17 pounds) I'm going to give my legs a rest.  If I need to go somewhere I'll walk... 

     I'd like to take a quick moment to thank my followers, as well as the bike enthusiasts from around the world who read my blog!  Without you guys I don't think I'd have hit 300+ views in a week!  I'm fairly new to this whole blogging thing, but that seems like a lot to me!  So, thank you very much! 

Happy Cycling ( : 

Lots of stats!

While you are all waiting for my next big adventure, take a look at this website!  It is full of statistics on driving, biking, pollution, energy, etc.  I think it's a little dated... 2005 I think.  But the concepts are there... 

Happy Reading, and Happy Cycling!