I know there is still almost a week left, but travel constraints are moving the deadline up a bit. I headed out on the Xtracycle, knowing that this was going to be a big haul. In a perfect storm of logistics failure we ran out of all sorts of household stuff the week before Christmas. One could not ask for a better day to head out and ride.
Crisp, cool and clear with just a light breeze. Traffic was not too bad yet, but the stores were jammed. Appropriate transportation choices ensured that parking was a cinch.
I am still always surprised that my bike is lonely at the racks. This shopping center is even graced with the local Trek store, but being on a bike still seems to shock the average shopper. All in all, just a nice day to get out and run some errands, while gliding through the seasonal mayhem on two wheels.
Parting shot, I wonder if the baby is still available? While only a few days past "almost new" it could be a deal at this point with a little shop wear ;)
Happy Holidays (in case this is my last post for a bit), have fun and play outside!!!
Another productive week, more time to get things going with childcare going four days a week, Friday is daddy day. Fun stuff all day culminating in a ride to the hardware store to work on counting and then off to the beach. She has fun playing with the other kids, but part of me misses that first year already.
The days are getting shorter still, the time seems to be getting away faster and the motivation to ride has been waning a bit with the cold windy weather. I am working on a plan to get re-motivated, to ride and make pictures like last winter. For now just enjoying the day with my little girl as it is coming to a close.
Happy Friday, and be sure to play outside this weekend!
This morning was the perfect day to go hunt for a tree. The morning low was in the 30's and it actually felt like winter. By the time we had breakfast and loaded up the bikes it was a little warmer out, but still pretty cold by California beach standards. There seems to be an abundance of tree yards this year, and I was able to work out a fun route for a family ride, with little or no traffic.
The ride to the lot was balmy, but the hills helped keep things warm, and the views were incredible now that the last week's wind and dust had settled down.
With the mission half accomplished, Aly decided that the new family ride to get a tree tradition, should include hot chocolate, and who could argue with that.
From there we headed home to unload the tree.
The day was staying nice, the wind never really came up the way it does in the afternoon here. I set up the tree, switched bikes and headed back across town to run some errands and grab a load of food at the Farmer's Market.
I can only imagine how nice it must have been up in the mountains today, this weather is about as good as it gets.
The legs are feeling pretty spent at this point, rest and picture break is over and time to hit the kitchen. Thanks for taking a look and I hope it was this much fun getting your tree this year.
On a side note I finally am coming around to the Facebook thing, still feels a bit funny for some reason, but it is pretty easy to find my, Ocean Air Cycles page and I hope that it makes it a bit easier to follow me here if that is the way you like to keep up on and share things with your friends.
Mid Day Escape November 23 2011, 0 Comments
Yesterday was a perfect day to get out and ride. Crisp clear blue skis with thin clouds. The shipping and receiving team headed out to run some errands.
Once the hard stuff was done, it was off to the beach,
This is the kind of weather we pay extra for, just a little chilly, but you can not complain if you are wearing shorts still.
Finally made it to the end of the week, one of those weeks where days feel like weeks and the week felt like a month. This morning it was trying to rain with a false start, not fog and not quite thunder storms. Just gloomy out. Then it gave way to an incredible day. I loaded up the team on the family truckster and headed down to the beach to get some sun, air and check the surf.
Happy Friday, enjoy the weekend and play outside!
All or Nothing September 07 2011, 0 Comments
The summer sun and heat made their appearance this morning.
Lots of nice stuff at the swap meet, but too rich for my blood today.
The fog has moved out to see and it was a fantastic morning for a cool crisp ride across town to get some groceries.
Our little girl is growing up fast, 15 months now, and we can head out for multi stop errand rides well over an hour and up to 12 miles or so. Snacks, water and breaks in the trip are critical to success, but easy to do and keep the rides fun. One of the bigger challenges has been in re-assessing the routes to minimize busy roads that I would otherwise ride my own bike on. We get to see a bit more of the neighborhoods we hope to call home in the coming year and scope out the cool playgrounds. As with kids in general the only way to understand how fun can be is through doing it.
Ghost Town August 15 2011, 0 Comments
At least it feels that way with the fair finally packing up and moving on. It is finally safe to come out of the house. After lunch we went for a quick spin to pick up my entries from the photo exhibit.
The food wagons have almost completely moved out. Quite a different scene than saturday. We stopped at the last hall to pick up my pictures and honorable mention ribbon. I am already plotting and planning for next year's entries. I decided to take a quick peak at the midway:
Not nearly as exciting with trash everywhere and things three-fourths picked up. Then we took the long way home to check the surf.
The low clouds and fog have been relentless this summer, after a while it starts to get really old. I know, it is better than heat waves or ice storms, but after weeks of flat gray light, bright enough to need sun glasses, but never sunny, you start to appreciate the clear blue skies a bit more.
Fair Days August 05 2011, 0 Comments
One of the many fringe benefits of where we live is being within a block of the County fairgrounds. It is really not that bad most of the time, but for 10 days every summer the whole county and then some seems to descend upon out neighborhood. It is best to get out early and then home before the "Lot Full" road rage spreads for a 3 mile radius.
Today we made it out for some quick errands we before the crowds,
It looks like the fog is going to pull back out over the ocean too, making for a great Friday.
Enjoy your weekend, and get outside. We will be at the Fair
Today was a slow starting day for the Co-pilot, sleep has been rough lately with the teeth in the rear starting to make their appearance. After yesterday's long ride I thought we could go out on the river trail for a bit and see how long things hold up. Once again the fog was pretty thick.
Things were going well at mile 6, but the fog was making everything damp. I decided to pass on the playground and detour out along Canada Larga Rd. I was thinking that some ponies and cows might make the morning a little more interesting.
It helped wake her up a bit, but like I sad we were slow starting....
after a couple hundred feet of altitude gain on the back roads the motor was feeling the slow start too, and decided it was time to point things back down hill.
The cows and bunnies were just OK, but scarring up a flock of birds was almost like a cup of coffee,
And then we were back to the ponies!!!!
Pure stoke! just enough to keep her from falling asleep on the way home. All in all we squeezed in about 14 miles in an hour an 15 minutes, not too bad for a loaded down xtracycle.
Crisp, cool and clear with just a light breeze. Traffic was not too bad yet, but the stores were jammed. Appropriate transportation choices ensured that parking was a cinch.
I am still always surprised that my bike is lonely at the racks. This shopping center is even graced with the local Trek store, but being on a bike still seems to shock the average shopper. All in all, just a nice day to get out and run some errands, while gliding through the seasonal mayhem on two wheels.
Parting shot, I wonder if the baby is still available? While only a few days past "almost new" it could be a deal at this point with a little shop wear ;)
Happy Holidays (in case this is my last post for a bit), have fun and play outside!!!
