Category Archives: Bicycle

Pre-Halloween Fun

On our way back to the Mission Bay RV Resort on Saturday, I stopped at the Shell gas station on Grand Avenue to fill our fuel tank. It’s a large station with room to maneuver. After I pulled in, I stopped short of the pumps and tried to see which lanes had diesel fuel. The station was busy and all of the lanes had cars in them. Donna was about to exit the coach to take a look when I said, “Forget about it.”

I noticed the sign on the roof over the pumps – clearance 12′-6″. The satellite dome on the roof of our coach is 12′-6″ above the ground. No way was I pulling up to the pump under a 12′-6″ structure. We’ll fill the tank next time we move. It’s 3/4 full, but I like to keep it filled when we’re parked for an extended period of time. This minimizes the air space in the tank and reduces the amount of water condensation.

We arrived at the park around 12:30pm. We had to wait for about an hour before they checked us into site 111. I’m not sure why we had to wait. I walked into the park and saw site 111 was open. Several other rigs were also waiting to check in.

We were set up in no time. I used the auto level feature on the HWH hydraulic system. I wasn’t happy with this feature before, but after I found and corrected the loose ground on the HWH control box, the auto level is working smoothly. All I have to do is press the button twice and the auto level sequence begins. It levels and stabilizes the coach with the hydraulic jacks and shuts itself off.

The park filled with weekenders. The park put up Halloween decorations and had activities for the kids. We had our own Halloween plans.

On Saturday evening, Dr. Jeff Sandler picked us up at the park and drove us to Donna’s sister Sheila’s house for a Halloween party. The party was for her son, Connor, and his friends, but the adults enjoyed themselves as well. We had adult beverages and great food.

Kids at the party

The adults enjoyed the party

We had fun and were back home by 9:30pm. At this time last year, Sheila had a Halloween party which we attended. While were at the party, those Dirty, Rotten Thieves stole our cargo trailer.

Sunday morning, Donna was up early. Jeff picked her up at 8am. They drove to Point Loma to watch Connor finish a 5k race. Donna’s other sister, Linda, picked Donna up afterward on her way to the airport. She was going to Ohio on business for a couple of days, then on to her home in Vermont for the remainder of the week. So we’ll have her car this week which is nice. After dropping Linda at the airport, Donna drove to meet Jeff, Sheila and Connor for breakfast at Snooze, a popular downtown breakfast spot.

Sheila and Connor after the race

While Donna was out and about, I rode the scooter over to the Model Yacht Pond at Paradise Point. I wanted to check out the radio-controlled (RC) power boats that are on the pond on Sundays. I posted about the Model Yacht Pond here.

There were a few guys with gas-powered RC boats there. The season is over, so there wasn’t a lot of activity. The RC boats have changed since I was involved in the hobby decades ago. Most people run larger gasoline (weed wacker type) water-cooled 2-stroke engines rather than the model nitro-methanol glow engines. Back in the day, glow engines ruled. The two-stroke gasoline engines are cheaper, more reliable and burn gasoline mixed with two-stroke oil, which is much cheaper than a nitro-methanol blend.

RC boat with a 26cc two-stroke engine

Nice finish on a mono-hull race boat

A fast catamaran

I hung around for a little while and watched a guy dial in a sport hydro RC boat. This was a very fast boat and turned like it was on rails.

Sport hydro RC boat skimming past at 60mph

The hydroplane-type hulls are very fast and have unbelievable speed through the turns. The mono-hull boats require more finesse to get them turned.

Mono-hull RC boat sending up a rooster tail

I came back home around 11am and spent the rest of the day watching football. At this time last year, I won the football pool after picking 12 winners out of 14 games. I’m not doing that well this year, but I’ll have seven or eight more tries at it.

By the afternoon, the park was nearly empty. All of the weekend Halloween partyers had left.

This morning, I completed our health care elections. Open enrollment occurs in October. I almost forgot to do it. I have health care benefits through Volkswagen of America as a retiree. I’m thankful we don’t have to find health care through the Obama-care morass.

Today looks like it’ll be another beautiful day for a bike ride. I’ll unload our bikes from the trailer and go out for a ride.

Time Keeps on Slippin’

I mentioned wasting time playing a computer game called 2048 in my last post. It’s a matching game. The game has a board with 16 squares. It opens with two numbered tiles, numbered two or four. Every time you move a tile, another number two or four tile appears. Put two twos together and you get a four tile. Put two fours together, you get an eight tile and so on. The idea is to reach the number 2048 before the 16 squares are gridlocked with tiles. It’s challenging. I worked on a system and kept getting close – I would usually reach 1024 before I got locked out. Yesterday, I finally hit the magic number.

Bingo!

After I hit the winning number, I went out for a bicycle ride. I rode through Crown Point to Pacific Beach, where I stopped at Seňor Pancho for a plate of five rolled tacos with guacamole. Seňor Pancho is on Mission Boulevard on the northwest corner at Hornblend. It used to be a Der Weinerschnitzel when I was growing up in the area.

On the way back to the Mission Bay RV Resort, I stopped to watch sailboats on the bay.

Identical sailboats racing each other across the bay

I’ve joked many times about how every day is Saturday. The fact is, I lose track of the days many times. The time just slips away. While I was standing there, I realized it was Wednesday and our first month at Mission Bay RV Resort was coming to an end.

Mission Bay RV Resort is owned by the city of San Diego. The city only allows RVers to stay in the park for a maximum of one month. After a month, you’re required to leave the property for a minimum of 24 hours. I’ll go into what I think is the reasoning behind this in another post. Our time is up on Friday. That means I need to pack and prepare to leave today, so we can pull out tomorrow. We’ll go the Sycuan Casino near El Cajon and spend the night, then return on Saturday after serving our 24-hour exile.

When I mention staying in a parking lot overnight – such as a casino or Walmart lot when were on the road – I think some people get the impression that we’re living as homeless vagabonds. Nothing could be further from the truth. When we overnight in a parking lot, it’s a matter of convenience. We’re fully self-contained and live in a comfortable, albeit small home. Our home just happens to have wheels.

When we’re in a nice RV resort – or even boondocking in the desert, on a beach or along a river – we live what we consider to be an excellent lifestyle. We stay in places that generally have agreeable weather. We meet up with family and friends and make new friends. We take advantage of outdoor activities. We grill and dine outdoors often. We’re not roughing it. This is a lifestyle choice for us, not a road trip or vacation.

Some people have the means to take this lifestyle to an even greater level of luxury. Right now, there are at least four coaches in the park that cost well over one million dollars. The owners of these coaches may or may not be full-timers, but they spend months out of the year in their motorhomes. They could be living anywhere, but they choose to be here with us.

Donna read a Facebook post yesterday by one of her full-time RVing friends about her husband having surgery. Someone posted a reply suggesting that maybe they should get a hotel room for a few days to recuperate. What? Why would anyone leave their home to recover in a germ-filled hotel? Donna’s friend isn’t on a road trip. Like us, they’ve made a commitment to this lifestyle and their coach is their home.

I have much to do today before we head out. The temperature this afternoon will reach 80 degrees. We’ll have back-to-back travel days, so I probably won’t post for a couple of days.

The Solution

I haven’t posted since Sunday morning. This wasn’t due to laziness on my part – well maybe it was a factor. I just didn’t have much to say. My Sunday was consumed with NFL football. I watched the Chargers lose a nail biter when Kansas City kicked a field goal with 30 seconds left in the game. Donna went out for an easy spin on her bicycle, then spent the rest of the day taking care of business.

On Monday, I puttered around while Donna worked on her book revision. I did a lot of hand exercises with therapy putty and wasted time on a computer game called 2048. It doesn’t seem that hard until you try it. Then it becomes an obsession to score the 2048 tile. I have yet to get past 1024.

Yesterday, Donna went out on her bicycle at 8am to meet up with a training group on Fiesta Island. The group is part of a cycling club called Cyclo-Vets. This is a San Diego-based Masters Racing and recreational bicycling organization. Its members include dozens of national cycling champions and gold medalists in the Senior Olympics. The Tuesday morning ride is coached by a time trial coach, but is open to anyone wanting to improve speed and fitness. Donna learned some new techniques. They did intervals and high-cadence spinning over the 30-plus mile ride. She came back excited to join the club and plans to continue training with them every Tuesday morning. These coached sessions will surely help to increase her speed and racing confidence.

While Donna was out on her bike, I retrieved a ladder from the trailer and went to work cleaning our coach. We aren’t allowed to wash the coach with a hose and bucket of suds here in Mission Bay RV Resort. I did a waterless wash with a product called The Solution. This product was recommended by our friends and fellow Alpine Coach owners, Dave and Lynda Campbell. I purchased it at the FMCA Convention in Redmond, Oregon, but hadn’t tried it until yesterday.

The Solution waterless wash

The Solution comes in a gallon-size jug that contains a few ounces of a concentrated formula and an empty spray bottle. I added distilled water to the formula to make a full gallon. Then I poured The Solution from the gallon jug into the spray bottle. I applied a fine mist of the product to small sections of the coach and wiped it with a microfiber cloth. I used a second, clean microfiber cloth to buff the area. I cleaned the entire coach, from the roof line to the bottom of the basement compartments.

The Solution worked really well. It was a matter of spraying an area and wiping it clean. It took me two and a half hours and a little over a quart to clean the entire coach. I’m really pleased with its appearance – the coach is gleaming. Now it will be a matter of seeing how well the shine holds up. The Solution claims that waxing isn’t necessary when this product is applied.

Clean and shiny

Later, I rode the scooter to the Verizon store. I wrote in my last post about a discrepancy in the credit that the Verizon salesman, Christian, told us we would get for Donna’s old phone and what the Verizon customer service support person told me. Christian said we would receive a $200 credit while a one-hour chat session with the support person resulted in an offer of a $17 credit. I told Christian what had transpired. He said he would straighten it out and that we would definitely get $200. He got on the phone with the Verizon trade-in center. He was on the phone with them for 50 minutes!

It turns out the trade-in center was supposed to e-mail a promotional code to me. With this code, we will qualify for $200 versus the “normal” trade-in of $17. They said I would receive my code within 48 hours. There went another hour of my life dealing with Verizon.

After I left the Verizon store, I stopped at the Pacific Beach farmers’ market. I picked up San Diego wildflower honey for my daughter, Shauna. She has pollen allergies and wants to try the honey therapy. I also bought more Rickaroons. We love ’em. And I picked up a couple of bottles of extra virgin olive oil from a local family-owned business.

By the time I got home, it was time to go to the Offshore Tavern and Grill for my free football pool drink. Donna and I didn’t fare too well in our football picks, but at least I got a free drink.

Donna saw an Alpine Coach pull into the park while I was out. We also saw a Kymco Downtown 300i scooter, identical to ours, in one of the sites. Last evening, we took a walk through the park and introduced ourselves to the Alpine Coach owners, Marvin and Donna. Their coach is a 40-foot mid-door triple slide like ours, but it’s a 2008 model.

Marvin owned a construction business that specialized in building horse arenas, race tracks, rodeo and fairgrounds. He traveled throughout the country operating his business. Over the years (since the 1980s), he’s owned 13 different motorhomes that he used to travel to the construction sites. He’s owned his Alpine since 2008, when he bought it new. Like most Alpine Coach owners, he’s enthusiastic about the brand.

He sold his business and retired at the age of 50. They have a home in Boise, Idaho but do a lot of traveling. They come to San Diego several times a year. His wife, Donna has rheumatoid arthritis and gets regular infusion treatments here at Scripps. They agree that San Diego has the best doctors and medical facilities.

This morning, I broke out the ladder again and finished cleaning the windows on the coach. When I washed the coach yesterday, the front windows were too warm to clean them. I got on it early this morning before the sun heated them up.

Clean glass

We have another beautiful day ahead with temperatures in the mid 70s. I think I’ll ride my bicycle to the beach this afternoon.

Just Another Day

I haven’t posted since Wednesday, mainly because I haven’t done anything special. We’ve been at the Mission Bay RV Resort in San Diego for three weeks now. Our days are pretty routine. I can’t say much about the weather. Every day for the past week has begun with an overcast marine layer, with the temperature in the mid-60s. By noon at the latest, the overcast burns off as the temperature rises to the mid-70s. Very predictable. But ‘m not complaining.

When we hit the road 15 months ago, we started out like most full-timers do. That is, we hit the ground running. We acted like tourists on vacation, trying to see all of the sights and flitting from place to place. We went from Michigan to upstate New York, then across the country to the Pacific Coast in Washington. We followed the coast south and made our way to San Diego last fall after just nine weeks on the road. We covered something like 7,000 miles in that time.

When we arrived in San Diego last year, the idea of settling in one place for three months seemed strange. We still saw lots of local sights and went out and about. We learned to adjust to our new way of life and really started living the full-time RV lifestyle.

Our coach is our home. Sometimes we’re homebodies. Donna is busy working on a book revision and doesn’t have time to sightsee right now. She still enjoys getting out on her bicycle or jogging in Mission Bay Park on a daily basis. I usually get out and go for a walk at the beach or ride my bike. In the evenings, we just hang out. It’s no different from when we lived in a sticks-and-bricks home. Some days are couch potato days.

The big difference is that we can move wherever we want, whenever we want. When we left San Diego at the end of 2013, we moved at more leisurely pace. Since trading up to our new (to us) coach in January of this year, we’ve covered about 6,000 miles, less than 700 miles a month on average. We spent January through April in Arizona, mostly in one place (Mesa). Then we made a big loop of the western states over the summer. We’ve learned to break up our travel and keep our travel days under 250 miles. When we stop, we usually stop for at least two nights.

The pace we ran in the beginning was unsustainable. It was exhausting. Reading other full-timer’s blogs, I see this is a common occurrence. Most of us start out thinking life on the road means constant motion. Donna and I are better at planning our travels now. We’ve settled on having extended stays in San Diego and Arizona. These are our home bases. The fall in San Diego is hard to beat. The climate is mild and there are so many things to do. Arizona is a great place to spend the winter months.

Next year, we plan to make another cross-country trip, but we’ll do it at our own pace. We’ll have certain destinations that we want to reach by a certain date, but we’ll be able to be flexible between planned stops.

When we lived in our sticks-and-bricks home, I enjoyed grilling. I also enjoyed eating the great meals Donna prepared. That hasn’t changed since we hit the road. In fact, I grill more often than ever because we’ve got grilling weather year ’round.

On Wednesday evening, our friend Mona visited us. She and Donna took the Sea Eagle kayak out for an hour-long cruise on the bay. When they returned, I grilled boneless, skinless chicken thighs. Donna prepared hot sauce-butter to put over the chicken and served it over corn-and-spinach salad with a baked yam on the side. The hot sauce-butter was an adaptation of the steak recipe she prepared last week.

Grilled hot sauce-butter chicken with corn-and-spinach salad and baked yam

Last night we enjoyed wild Alaskan cod poached with tomatoes, summer squash, white beans, onions and red peppers, and grilled rosemary toast.

Wild Alaskan cod poached with tomatoes and summer squash

I have an appointment for a follow-up visit at Dr. Leek’s office this morning. He’ll remove the stitches from my hand and I can start working on regaining hand strength and finger motion. My fingers are very stiff now.

Other than that, it’s just another day in the life of a full-time RVer.

50,000 Hits

Yesterday marked a milestone for this blog. We had our 50,000th hit! It’s gratifying to know people check in on us and find the blog interesting enough to come back from time to time.

Once again, the skies cleared up by noon. I was finally able to get a sock and shoe on my right foot. The toe healed and is fine. With shoes on my feet, I put on my helmet and took my mountain bike for a ride by the bay. I left De Anza Cove and rode south along the east side of the bay. Near the Hilton Hotel, I saw an interesting water toy. It looked like an oversized tricycle. It seats two and the rear wheels are paddle wheels. I saw two of them out on the water and one on the shore.

Water trikes

It looked like they moved along without too much effort. You see all kinds of things on the bay.

I rode with the heel of my right palm on the handle bar. The swelling in my hand has gone down, but the stitches still pull and I lack finger strength. The stitches will be removed on Friday when I go in for a follow-up with Dr. Leek.

After my ride, Donna and I rode the scooter to the Bayard Street farmers’ market in Pacific Beach. It’s not that large, but they have plenty of fresh produce. Donna discovered Rickaroons there. Rickaroons are healthy and delicious energy snacks – a perfect treat after a bike ride.

Farmers’ market on Bayard Street between Hornblend and Garnet

I made the usual stop at Offshore Tavern for my Tuesday free drink. The winner of the football pool buys a round for the rest of the guys who entered the pool. Although there are more than 30 entries, only half a dozen or so show up for their free one.

Last night, I watched last weekend’s Moto GP race in Japan that I had recorded. Marc Marquez sealed his second consecutive Moto GP World Championship at the age of 21. Moto GP is the pinnacle of motorcycle road racing. This was the first time Honda captured the championship at the Twin Ring Motegi race track, which they own. Marquez is destined to break many records if he stays healthy.

We have a thick marine layer overhead this morning. The rain showers didn’t hit us in the night. The overcast should burn off by mid-day. I expect another pleasant afternoon. Donna’s friend, Mona, is coming by later in the day and the two of them plan to take the kayak out on the bay.

Margaritaville

After sitting at the table and writing Thursday morning’s post, my back felt stiff when I stood up. It loosened up as I prepared for a bike ride. I pulled my mountain bike from the trailer, put the front wheel back on and pumped up the tires.

I rode past Campland through Crown Point. I made this ride several times when we were here last year. At that time, I didn’t have the mountain bike – I always rode my road bike. The mountain bike is more comfortable for me, but it’s a lot slower. As I got closer to Mission Boulevard, going slow was fine. I had to share the path with skaters, runners and walkers.

View south across Mission Bay from Crown Point Shores – downtown skyline in the center, Sea World needle on the right

Going slow was also good on the boardwalk in Pacific Beach. I rode to Crystal Pier. I wanted to ride out on the pier, but bicycles are prohibited on this pier. Last year I rode out on the Ocean Beach Pier and I thought I could do the same on Crystal Pier. Oh, well. I turned around and rode south to Belmont Park at Mission Beach.

I made a stop there for rolled tacos with guacamole. I love being in a place where there are good taco stands just about everywhere. I felt my back tightening up again as I resumed my ride home. After I dropped my bike off at the trailer, my lower back was sore. I was out on the bike for nearly two hours.

The humidity has been unusually high in San Diego. The hurricane and tropical storms off Baja, California have affected the climate here. I was sweating profusely and looked forward to a long shower. After I showered and sat for a few minutes, my lower back was so tight, I could barely stand up straight.

Donna spent the afternoon out and about with her sister, Linda. Linda took a job in San Diego and moved here from Vermont in August. They went to lunch, then Linda took Donna to T’s Hair of San Diego to have her hair cut. Donna got the tour of Linda’s place on Shelter Island before they returned to Mission Bay RV Resort.

Donna fixed her favorite burger recipe – green chile turkey burgers with extra-sharp cheddar cheese. She served them with French-cut jicama on the side with guacamole and fresh baby greens. I think it was a little out of the ordinary for Linda, but it was delicious.

Green chile turkey burger with jicama

I tried to make myself comfortable in the Euro recliner and watched the NFL Thursday night game.

Yesterday, my back was still sore and very stiff. The day was humid again. Donna and I went for a walk along Mission Bay. Walking seems to loosen up my back, but it remains sore. Later, we rode the scooter up Clairemont Drive to Keil’s grocery store to pick up a few things. After I dropped Donna off at our coach, I went to Pacific Beach to gas up the scooter.

I also stopped at Campland, an RV park across Rose Creek next to Mission Bay RV Resort. We have friends staying there this weekend. Bud and Mona, our friends we met here last year are there. Erin Kerfoot, a friend from my high school days is also there. They’re all there for a Parrot Head of San Diego event this weekend.

Parrot Heads are fans of Jimmy Buffet. The first club formed in 1989 and today there are more than 200 chapters. The organization provides a social network for fans of Jimmy Buffet and also contributes to charitable organizations. The Saturday event at Campland will benefit the Wounded Warrior Homes organization.

I couldn’t find Bud and Mona’s site or Erin’s. Campland is packed and it’s a zoo over there. When I returned to our park, I saw a large group on the west end of the park. Parrot Heads had overflowed into the Mission Bay RV Resort. Later, I took a walk near the Parrot Head gathering and shot a fiery sunset photo. A few clouds and the high humidity made quite a display.

Fiery sunset Friday evening

The weather is cooler with less humidity today. The high should top out in the low 70s. Donna and I will walk to Margaritaville, I mean Campland this afternoon to meet up with our Parrot Head friends. Maybe an afternoon of Jimmy Buffet and margaritas will loosen up my back.

Going Home

My last post ended with a phone call Tuesday morning from Giant RV in Murrieta telling me they had found a motor for our HWH pump and would have it that afternoon. Tom, from Giant RV, told me he would have it around 3pm. Kathy, from West Wind RV, juggled their schedule and would send Mike over Wednesday morning to install the new motor.

I mapped out a route to Giant RV, avoiding I-15. Although our scooter is capable of 75mph, I don’t like riding it that fast. I also don’t like having cars blow by me on the interstate. The route I mapped out had 50-55 mph speed limits which meant most cars were going 60-65 mph. It was 25 miles from Jojoba Hills to Giant RV.

I left Jojoba Hills around 2:30pm. I estimated 45 minutes for the 25-mile ride with traffic. I wanted to get the part and be on my way home before rush hour. My ETA was good, I arrived at Giant RV at 3:15pm.

I told the girl at the parts counter that I was there to pick up an HWH motor they had for me. She said, “Oh, Tom was just talking about that. I think he went on lunch break. Let me see if I can find him.” This didn’t sound good.

She came back with Tom. He told me he didn’t have the part. The manager of their store in Colton neglected to put it on the transfer list, so their driver didn’t pick it up. He said he would get it tomorrow.

I stayed calm as I explained my situation to him. Without the part, we couldn’t move and West Wind had re-arranged their schedule based on me having the part. He said, “Give me a minute and I’ll see what we can do.”

A few minutes later, he told me he was going to Colton to get the part. I would have to sit tight until he returned. It was 3:30pm. I wasn’t familiar with Colton, so I asked how far away it was. He said it was 45 miles!

The parts manager from Murrieta happened to be in a meeting at the Colton store. Tom phoned ahead and apprised him of the situation. The manager was not planning to return to the Murrieta store, but he took the part and met Tom halfway. I had the part in hand a little before 5pm. Tom really went out of his way to correct their mistake and I was very grateful.

Kathy called me later that evening to confirm our appointment and to make sure I had the part. We were all set.

On Wednesday morning, Mike installed the new motor. He showed me a couple of tricks to get the old motor out and the new one in. There aren’t any manuals for removing and replacing parts of an HWH hydraulic unit. Now I know how to do it correctly and will tackle the job myself if I ever have to. I plan to have the old motor rebuilt so I’ll have a spare on hand if needed.

With the new motor, the HWH unit seems quieter and the slides seem to move a little faster. I had nothing to compare to before, so I didn’t know the old unit was noisy. That would’ve been my only indication that something was going wrong with the motor. Other than that, it failed without warning.

We pulled out of Jojoba Hills just past noon. As we drove down highway 79, Donna snapped a photo of a roadside sculpture. There’s an artist community in that area and we suspect they are responsible for the beautiful metal sculptures on this section of highway. She took a photo through the windshield of wild horses jumping across the highway.

Wild horses jumping across highway 79 near Temecula

Less than two hours later, we checked in at Mission Bay RV Resort. I dropped our trailer across from the security shack and we set up in site 114. The security supervisor recognized us and welcomed us back. Donna said to me, “I wonder if he’ll notice we have a new coach.” I said, “He sees so many rigs come in and out of here, I doubt if he’ll notice we have a different coach.” Later, the security supervisor asked me if we had a new rig. He remembered our old coach! I feel like I’ve come home again.

We like to mix it up and stay in a variety of locations. Sometimes it’s nice to be boondocking in a secluded area without noise and starry skies at night. And sometimes we like staying in an RV park in a quiet, rural area or in an urban setting where we can explore and go bicycling.

For me, San Diego is home base. I have many connections here. My youngest daughter is at Cal Western School of Law, my step-dad lives in Menifee, and Donna has two sisters here. I have many good friends here. And there are many places that bring back memories. Plus we love being able to ride our bikes right out of the park on trails that take us to the beaches.

After I set up, I showered and rode the scooter over to my favorite watering hole, Offshore Grill and Tavern. Meanwhile, Donna’s sister, Linda, came over to visit. I had a couple of IPAs and a poke (po-key) plate at Offshore and caught up with some of the old crowd there. I picked up a football pool sheet and plan to donate to the pool.

Poke plate

On the way back, I was struck by all of the activity in Mission Bay Park. There were various exercise groups on the grass. There were families picnicking. Volleyball games were going on. And of course, people were out on the water.

Family picnic and volleyball in the park

When I returned, Donna and Linda had gone out to eat at the Pacific Beach Fish Shop. Later, my daughter, Shauna, stopped by to visit. Life is good. It was a great day.

I’m looking forward to getting on my bicycle and taking a ride to Pacific Beach today. Although the temperature is a little higher than usual, it’s much more comfortable than the heat we’ve been in for the past few weeks. Today we should see abundant sunshine and a high of 81 degrees.

Wrong Way!

Friday’s post took me over an hour to prepare. It takes time to resize and optimize photos, then write, proofread, have Donna proofread and finally publish. By the time I posted, the morning was getting away from me.

I mounted the new Continental GP4000 IIs rear tire on Donna’s bike – twice! I had to do it twice because of a moment of brain fade. These tires are directional – they’re designed to roll one way. I found the arrow on the sidewall showing the direction it should roll, but I had the orientation of the wheel wrong. I installed the tire, pumped it up, then saw my mistake. So, I took it off and did it over again. By the time I removed her aero bars (they aren’t allowed in mass start races) and cleaned and lubed the chain, it was 11:30am.

We had an appointment to pick up a rental car at Enterprise at noon. I didn’t get to the HWH check valve project. We picked up the car, had lunch back at home, then headed out to do some sightseeing.

First we drove to the Tehachapi Loop. This is a marvel of engineering. Generally, railroad gradients are aren’t steep. They are usually less than 2.5%. There are a few grades in the USA that exceed this, but the steel rolling stock of a train isn’t designed for climbing or descending a steep grade. In addition, trains are heavy and grades increase the power requirement to pull the load. On many grades, helper engines are employed. The steepest grade on any railroad route determines the power requirement. Higher power requires additional engines and fuel. This increases cost.

The freight train route from Bakersfield to Tehachapi Pass averages 2.2%. At one point, near Keene, the railroad track makes a loop. The helix-shaped railroad track is nearly three quarters of a mile long. Trains enter a tunnel, then roll around the loop passing over the tunnel. The train gains 77 feet of elevation through the loop. My camera didn’t have a wide enough angle to capture the entire loop.

Train on a portion of the loop

Roadside sign with history of the loop

Aerial file photo from railfanguides.us

We arrived in time to see a train pass through the loop. Trains more than 4,000 feet long cross over themselves. This route, linking the San Joaquin Valley with the Mojave, is one of the busiest railways in the USA.

From the Loop, we drove back to Tehachapi on Woodford-Tehachapi Road. Our goal was to drive the bicycle course Donna would race on Saturday. The course has a number of turns. For someone unfamiliar with the area, it can be confusing. I had to pull over and look at the map several times as we drove the 37-mile distance. At one intersection, the course crosses itself.

On Friday night, Donna prepared salmon with a rosemary-dijon sauce, forbidden rice, sauteed artichoke hearts and green beans for dinner.

Salmon with rosemary-dijon over forbidden rice

Salmon with rosemary-dijon sauce over forbidden rice

Saturday we were up before dawn. Donna ate breakfast and we had our coffees before we headed out at 6am. We found a place to park near the starting point of the race. I always like to arrive a little early and avoid having to scramble to the starting line.

Starting line for the bicycle race

I set Donna’s bike up and pumped up the tires. She had time to warm up before staging at the starting line.

Donna and other competitors at the staging area

After the race set off at 7am, I drove back to the RV park. At 8am, I walked over to the airport cafe for breakfast. We’d heard the cafe was excellent. I enjoyed the view, watching gliders towed down the runway and taking flight behind a Piper Pawnee piston-powered airplane. At least I think it’s a Piper Pawnee. There are at least three of them here. They were originally designed for agricultural use as crop dusters. They make a great tow platform.

Piper Pawnee

Gliders on the flightline

The cafe wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. My breakfast croissant with egg, ham and cheese was mediocre. The service was slow and the coffee I ordered turned out to be a styrofoam cup of tea!

At 9am, I drove out of the RV park onto Highline Road. The bike race passes by the RV park as the riders head east on Highline. I drove west and saw a few of the race leaders on the road. I stopped at the intersection at Tucker Road and parked. I watched competitors come past. I was beginning to wonder how Donna was doing. I expected to see her before 9:30am. She came by at about 9:40am and looked fine. I drove east to Curry Road and parked again. I got out of the car to snap a photo. I had to run across Highline as Donna was approaching faster than I expected.

Donna hammering down Highline

I drove downtown and waited for Donna to finish. She left it all out on the course – she was done in at the finish line. I brought a small cooler with recovery drink and snacks for her. After a little recovery time, Donna told me of a couple of mishaps during the race. There were three races running concurrently, one was 97 miles (GranFondo), one was 67 miles (MedioFondo) and one was 37 miles (PiccoloFondo). They all started together, then the racers took different routes. The course had arrows at some of the intersections. Yellow arrows marked the 37-mile course Donna was on.

Shortly after the start, some of the racers were confused by a large sign with a yellow arrow on the side of the road. The arrow seemed to indicate a turn. Racers made the turn and Donna followed, although she knew it didn’t seem right. Around the corner was a steep hill. Donna quickly geared own and threw her chain. She stopped to re-install the chain as everyone realized they made a wrong turn. The sign was for a yard sale.

Later, about three-quarters of the way through the race, Donna came to the intersection where the course crossed itself. There was a sign there with yellow arrows pointing both ways. It said “Right First Time – Left Second Time.” This was the first time she saw this sign. In the heat of the race, riding with her head down, she didn’t know she had already crossed this intersection. She went right and began a long climb. After about twenty minutes of climbing, she realized that she had already made this climb once. She was going the wrong way! She turned around and got back on track. This extra hill climb, the toughest hill on the course, killed her race time and average speed. She still finished well though.

The town had a big festival for the event in the town square. The race organizers provided coupons for lunch and drink for the competitors. We found a table in the shade, which we shared with a local couple, Lindsey and Bailey, who had also just finished the PiccoloFondo.

I went to one of the food vendors, Red House BBQ, and got a brisket plate for Donna. The portions were huge and the food was excellent. The plate came with a mac and cheese side (which I ate) and dolmas. The brisket portion was so big, we brought half of it home with us.

Other than a quick run to Albertson’s for groceries, we spent the rest of the day kicking back. This early morning race stuff is tiring.

Today, I need find time to change the HWH check valves. It’s an NFL football day though, so I may put it off. Tomorrow, we’ll head south to Temecula.

To the Rescue

Donna started her weekend with a Saturday morning bike ride. She planned to follow the route we scouted through town on Friday. Her goal was to reach the Kern River Parkway Trail and put in a total distance of about 40 miles. I assumed she would be out for two and a half or three hours.

She sent me a text at 9:40am saying she had reached the turnaround point and would be back at 11:15am. At 10:30am, she sent another message to let me know that she had to slow down. It was getting hot out and she wasn’t feeling great. At 11:05am, her message said she had stopped again and ate the last of her snap peas. She was still more than 11 miles away and her new ETA was noon. The day was becoming very hot. At noon, I received a message telling me she was stopped about two and a half miles from here. She had bonked. She asked me to bring her some food.

Donna started a 21-day sugar detox program on Monday. This program restricts sugar as well as carbohydrates. The combination of the change in her diet along with the oppressive heat shut her down. I rode the scooter and found her sitting on the ground in the shade in front of a nursery. I brought the milk and cooked sweet potato slices she had asked for. After drinking the milk, she felt better. Milk has a good combination of protein and carbohydrate, making it a good recovery drink.

She got back on her bike and rode home. I rode slowly on the scooter to make sure she would be fine. She said she felt pretty good. She even picked up the pace at one point when some little dogs ran out and started chasing her! Her mileage for the day was over 42 miles. Back at the RV park, she jumped in the pool to cool off. After that, we mostly stayed indoors as the temperature outside rose to 100 degrees.

Yesterday’s forecast called for another hot day. Donna did some strength training outdoors in the early morning. I was a couch potato all day. I watched the Jets win over the Raiders. Then I made a beer run before I watched the Cowboys get manhandled by the 49ers. Last night I watched the third NFL game and saw Denver flex its muscles against Indianapolis.

Today will be a little cooler, and the skies are cloudy for a change. But the high for the day will be over 90. I need to get out and exercise. Sitting indoors all day and drinking too much beer has me feeling lethargic this morning. Tonight, the first weekend of the NFL season concludes with a double-header. Detroit will take on the Giants and then the San Diego Chargers play the Arizona Cardinals. Time to break out my 1984 number 14 Dan Fouts Chargers throwback jersey.

Photo from the Chargers game I attended last year with my brothers-in-law, Tommy and Mark.

Hot Week Ahead

Why are we in Bakersfield? We can be almost anywhere, so why are we here?

Donna set a goal to compete in the bicycle road race at the Senior Olympics in Minneapolis next summer. To compete, she has to qualify. Our first shot at qualifying came at the Montana State Championship race in Great Falls. Due to a mechanical issue, she didn’t finish the race – details are in this post. She needed to find another race that would qualify her entry in Minneapolis.

She found a race in Tehachapi, California that takes place on September 13th. She contacted the race director, who is also a city official, and was told we could dry camp at the high school on the race weekend.

I searched for a campground in the area, hoping we could go there and Donna could do training rides in the area before the race. I couldn’t find anything suitable for us.

We kicked around a few ideas and decided we should start heading south from Oregon and get close to Tehachapi. We thought about taking US395 along the Sierra Nevada range, but that would require us to be on the move most days to arrive in time for the race. A more direct route seemed like a better option.

Staying in northern California for a few days of training, then making a dash south was an option. But, northern California has wildfires and smoke until you get south of Mount Shasta. The climate south of Mount Shasta isn’t much different than in the central valley. So I thought we should keep moving south.

Coming to Bakersfield and having eight days to prepare for the race seemed to make sense. We’re only 30 miles from Tehachapi. We’ll move over there at the end of the week and Donna can compete in the race.

Yesterday, we studied maps, then we rode the scooter to reconnoiter a bicycling route. We found a reasonably safe route to the Kern River Parkway Trail. It requires about eight miles of riding through town to get to the paved trail. We came back home by backtracking the same route. Donna called out the turns as we rode the scooter back. This helped her memorize the route.

We spent the afternoon indoors as the thermometer hit 99 degrees. Our air conditioners are running non-stop. Later in the evening, I fired up the grill. I grilled lemon garlic chicken thighs.

Chicken thighs and lemon slices on a smoky grill

Donna served the chicken over brown rice pilaf with sauteed zucchini, peppers, onions and tomatoes on the side.

Delicious dinner plate

The temperature overnight was in the 60s, but it didn’t cool down until well after midnight. We went to bed with the air conditioners running. It’s too warm to sleep with the windows open.

This morning, I prepped Donna’s bike and she went out a little after 8am. She’s planning to ride about 40 miles today. The temperature is rising, but it’s only in the mid 70s now. The forecast calls for a high of 91 degrees in the late afternoon with abundant sunshine. I think we’ll hit the swimming pool later.

Flying The Koop

…from real estate to wheel estate and back again

Category Archives: Bicycle

Pre-Halloween Fun

Time Keeps on Slippin’

The Solution

Just Another Day

50,000 Hits

Margaritaville

Going Home

Wrong Way!

To the Rescue

Hot Week Ahead

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