Reading (For Dummies)

Washington, Ho!

Laura has been in western Africa for the last month, hanging out with the Peace Corps crew, soaking up the rays atop Mount Kenya, drinking sketchy water in Dar es Salaam, and that sort of thing. When she came back and moved to her new school, I figured it was time for a visit.

Laura, showing off some homemade Spring Rolls

We've had a ball in the Middle of Nowhere. Laura and I went riding in the Palouse. What we meant to be a 20-mile introductory ride for Laura's new bicycle turned out to be a 65-70 mile ride along a very windy, very hilly, very windy road through wheat fields. She continues to impress -- I didn't wake up in the middle of the night with her crank arm impaled in my face.

Laura's new bike: a Trek 1000

I've always considered Trek bikes to be a little "meh". I loved my trek mountain bike, don't get me wrong. But seeing a Trek is like seeing Lance Armstrong anymore: we know you lost a testicle and are good anyway, and everybody wants to ride you, but can't we have something a little more obscure?

One great thing I'll say about the company is this, though: geometry. Laura is a shrimp at 5'1", and Trek makes a dinky little 43cm frame with 650c wheels that fits her like a glove. Manufacturers like my Felt just don't come in such small-person-friendly sizes. The fact that she could still walk and lift things after riding so far with no long-distance-cycling experience is a testament to their concern for the smaller rider. Or at least their computer modelling abilities. Everybody should be able to ride a bike, after all.

La Jolla, Ho!

On Saturdays I often wake up early and go, you guessed it, bike riding. I hit up La Jolla this weekend, intent once again on stalking my long-lost great Aunt. Every time I go, I look up her address on Google Maps, try to train my brain on the pattern of weird twisty roads up there, and plot a bike-friendly course that will lead me to her doorstep. Every time I go, I fail.

Lost again: at least I made it someplace newsworthy/noteworthy

I failed again this weekend, instead leaving Mount Soledad and accidentally getting on Route 52, one of southern California's smaller mega-highways. 3 lanes of traffic going 75mph+ in my direction was cause enough for me to get off at the first exit, though. I ended up riding right past my destination for the evening: my friend Darren's house (I met him at the SELinux Symposium back in February). I kept going, eventually making it to Fry's Electronics, and eventually again back home. My roundtrip was something around 70 miles, in 4 hours (plus stops). Not too shabby for a sad out of shape sack like myself.

The wheels on the bicycle go rip, rip, rip

The most fantastic thing about where I work and where I live is that I bicycle to work every day. It's a 30-40 minute round-trip commute, mostly dependent on how hardcore I feel when I wake up and when I leave work. Riding has been so nice that I even bought myself a nice rear rack and commuter bags (the 'over the wheel' kind) so I wouldn't have a sweaty back from backpacking it to work.

This post's title. Paper added for dramatic effect.

Today the ride home turned into a walk home, though, when my rear wheel started making a klunking sound and them my tire went flat. At first, I thought I had just run over a particularly sharp rock or piece of glass or something -- no problem, since I carry a tube and a pump with me everywhere. Not so. Time for a new wheel.

The lesson of this story is that you'll save a ton of money on gas by not driving to work. I filled my tank up on July 15th, and I still have half of a tank left almost a month later! But the money you save on gas will probably go right into your bicycle.

The Great Outdoors

I went to the local REI on my Friday off, and talked to some congenial rock climbers who gave me tips on where to go for just about everything that's close by. I picked up a couple of books, and some maps, and went on my way. Saturday (this morning, that is), I woke up at the crack of dawn and headed to the Cuyamaca Mountains.

Heading towards Japacha Mountain: Fields good enough to graze on

I started out in Green Valley Campground, towards the southern end of the state reserve. I didn't really know where I was going, since I hadn't purchased a good map of the area (and still haven't) -- I figured I'd see if I couldn't get lost and kill myself. What is life without a few adventures?

Monument Trail's meaning: Airplane monument

I picked up Monument Trail easily enough, and strolled through pastoral fields full of thrush grass and quite a few leftover bits of burnt-out trees. I lost the trail through a series of switchbacks, and ended up bushwhacking for ~2 miles. It was during this jaunt that I became surprised at just how flaky cretaceous granite is -- a series of dicey bouldering exercises left me with slats of rock in my hand, and a few flat pieces broke off of rocks on my hike down, sending me for tumbles.

Bumps and bruises aside, this is a totally awesome park. Hiking out here is a lot different from back east, though -- water is definitely an issue (I was intending to hike all the way out to Cuyamaca Mountain, another 3 miles, but decided at the top of Japacha that I didn't have enough water to go on; there is no flowing water to speak of at elevation in the summer), as are trail markers (the Adirondacks perhaps made me lazy, with markers seemingly every ten feet). The latter got me into trouble, actually...bushwhacking back down Japacha after losing the trail again, I ended up jumping down into a ravine full of poison oak. And I was wearing shorts. I guess we'll see how well my 'immunity to poison <whatever>' holds up.

The view from Japache

The views totally make up for the trouble, though. The air is so dry here that one can see almost to the ocean. On Santa Ana days, my REI friends tell me that I would see for a hundred miles in all directions from the top of Cuyamaca (which, incidentally, is the highest place in all of San Diego County). I think that that makes a fall visit in order.

A Ride in the City

Since arriving in San Diego, I've been busy cycling just about everywhere that I can get to on two wheels. I finally managed to bring my car in for a badly-needed oil change, and have explored much of the regions of La Jolla, Point Loma/Ocean Beach, Mission Beach, Mission Valley, and points more Norther and more Easter.

I figured it'd be nice to get a few shots in of the area around my place...

Essentially where I work

My office is indeed beachfront (or cliff-front, if you will), and I can stare out the windows daydreaming the afternoon away, if I so chose. But instead I generally geek out with code, or at the very least with cool hardware.

Already pretty high up: The Point Loma Lighthouse

More to the southern end of the peninsula is the Cabrillo National Monument, which can be a hoot to ride through. Bicyclists are supposed to pay a fee to enter, but if you can cycle down (and back up) the 300 foot hill fast enough, you can probably do it for free...

Where I almost lived: Shelter Island Drive

Like I said, the renting market here has a nearly less-than-24-hour turnaround, whih can make getting a place to live rather difficult. Prior to finding my current abode, I had focused my efforts on renting in the area above, even going so far as looking at boats for sale (kinda glad I didn't go the liveaboard route, now that I look back on it).