Bluffs, Birthdays and Bikes....

Looking west along the Ellwood Bluff...

Shades of gray....

Post- rainstorm puddles!

Hi all,
It’s a quiet Saturday morning here; another beautiful day. Last week’s torrential rain is just a memory. Of course, we missed most of the worst weather as we were out in Santa Barbara celebrating Sue’s birthday.

Happy Birthday, Sue!

After I get done blogging this morning, I’ll head outside with my shovel to refill the ditch around the new pipe drains. Last Saturday’s rain washed all of our hard work away!

Walking back to Sue's...

Our Santa Barbara trip was great. We enjoyed family time with Sue, Nan, Muhsin, and Dana. Along the way, we had rain, wind, and some nice sunny weather on Sunday morning. We celebrated a birthday, did some shopping, told old family stories, discovered a Monarch Butterfly Preserve, and on the way home captured a few cacti (do you recall the original Cactus Hunter blog 4 years ago?)

An old seawall, slowly being reclaimed by the surf...

And of course, one of the activities we never fail to miss when we are out to S.B. is a walk on the Ellwood Bluffs near Sue and Dana’s house. This wonderful preserve has been protected from development, and is a wonderful place to enjoy the great outdoors in peace and quiet.

Bird of Paradise...
In riding news, I was able to commute to work twice this past week. It’s still a bit odd, being able to ride to work in December, but, it’s better than ride commuting in July when it’s 110 degrees! I have added a new handlebar bag to the Surly LHT , which has made carrying all my basic stuff for work a lot more efficient. The security guard at the center still gives me quizzical looks when I pull up, but perhaps, he’ll eventually get used to the idea. With over 400 controllers assigned, I have never seen another bicycle on the property since I arrived last August. My workmates seem to think it’s utterly crazy to ride one’s bike to work when it’s 35 degrees! But of course, the lovely 58-degree afternoon ride home is the payoff.

I will no longer have to go hunting cactus, I'll just walk out to the backyard!
That’s all the riding and traveling news for today. Now, to go shovel some sand!
Jim

500 Miles, 500 Miles...

The 2009 Freeze and Wheeze...

500 Miles…500 Miles…A quite appropriate old lyric from a Peter, Paul, and Mary CD I have been listening to this week. In reality this morning, it felt like 500 except it was only 9 miles. Of course, when was the last time you walked 9 miles! Kathy, Leena, and I did this morning.

On our way to the nasty hill up to the Start Line...
We had signed up to participate in Palmdale’s 2009 “Wheeze and Freeze;” a 5km or 10km walk/run along the California Aqueduct. We of course, intelligently signed up to do the 5k, then, not so intelligently, walked right past the 5km turnaround, and walked the whole 10k! Add in the fact that we walked from our house to the start line, and we made a tidy 9 miles out of the morning.

Note the streamers blowing in the wind!

A nice turnout of all age groups!
I would also like to add, that after 10 days of lovely fall weather, Miss Wind made her reappearance in the Antelope Valley. Was it windy? Well, watching the “Portaloos” rolling down the hill was a clear indicator. The wind made it feel quite chilly, and the stronger gust just about knocked me down!

The runners have all left, and now the walkers can enjoy some peace...

A check of the local weather site showed temperatures around 45 degrees and wind gusting to 35 kts. So yeah, it was kinda breezy! Did we overdo it? Yes. Did we have fun? Yes. Do we have sore tootsies? Yes. Are we proud of ourselves? Absolutely!

The Surly parked outside my portable at work...
In other news, I have been doing some bike commuting to work the past two weeks. I have to say it’s kind of weird to be able to ride in December. The mornings are a bit on the chilly side; right around freezing, and the afternoon ride home is nice, about 55-60 degrees. The local wind is a bit of a downer, but the riding is phenomenal! It's only 7.5 miles each way, and I am finally getting all the bike stuff together to commute regularly.

A typical Palmdale road; note the bike lane!
That’s all for today; I need to go soak my blisters some more!
See you next week,
Jim