"beautiful day for a ride"

It was 8:20 a.m. yesterday morning when I got on my bike and was about to pull out of the driveway when a teen age boy rode by on his bike and said "beautiful day for a ride". All I could respond with was "Yep".

I couldn't stop thinking about those 5 words my whole way to work. "It's 43 degrees out. Most people I know would think it was a bit cold for a ride."......"Most kids I come across in my neighborhood don't say anything to me, or if they do it's a smart ass comment"........"That boy must have good parents."......."The sky is clear and blue, the sun is shining, I'm riding my bike. It truly is a beautiful day for a ride."

~Monica

For the birds

Brian and I went to the Yolo Wildlife viewing area today. It's between Sacramento and Davis and can be seen from the Yolo Causeway on Highway 80. Speeding by it at 70 miles an hour the acres of wetlands and rice fields probably go unnoticed by many. When we first started walking around it seemed like there wasn't much to see but once I took the time to slow down and zoom in on what was right in front of me, there was so much to see. Here is some of what we saw.

Bike Tour 2009

Sorry we've been neglecting you for so long blog.

In September Brian and I took time off work for a bike tour. As we were deliberating about where to ride, we decided against flying or taking the train to our starting location. After finding out that the Power To The Peaceful festival was taking place in Golden Gate Park the last weekend of our vacation, we decided this would be our final destination. We decided to ride the northern coast from Fort Bragg (we were dropped off a little south of there) to San Francisco (where we were picked up after the festival).

Here are some pictures of our adventure.

Entrance to a cemetery

Gualala, CA - Our destination for Day 1

We found this spot with a beautiful view to eat our lunch

Gualala Point Regional Park. Home for the night...

Our site was right next to the Gualala river

Some shots from Day 2:

Entrance to Fort Ross Cemetery

As we were stopped, taking a much needed break after some serious climbing, we watched this car ascend even further, and disappear into the fog. I was grateful that I was on my bike, able to take in every inch of the scenery rather than speeding by in a car, having to pay attention only to the road.

Lunch and coffee at Cafe Aquatica in Jenner (if ever in Jenner, go here!)

After riding down the most beautiful, long, smooth, curvy hill (I actually laughed out loud while riding down it) we rode into Bodega Bay, our destination.

Home for the night, Day 2

We were looking forward to that hot tub ALL DAY. It was everything we hoped for.

Wanting something healthy for dinner I was disappointed to discover our options were a fish n chips place or a fancy looking italian restaurant. We chose the fish n chips which ended up being super delicious.

Day 3:

After filling up on the complimentary breakfast and coffee at the office in the morning we made our way out of Bodega Bay.

We stopped at this market in Valley Ford for lunch

Leaving Tomales heading to Point Reyes Station

We rode past this boat junk yard and I found it fascinating

We stopped on the side of the road for some fuel (fresh fruit and trail mix) and rest. I collected some oyster shells after noticing they were all around me.

Entering Samuel P. Taylor State Park on the cross Marin trail

This trail is so beautiful, and peaceful.

My bike - Surly Long Haul Trucker

Brian's bike

Our secluded hiker/biker spot at Samuel P. Taylor

Riding out of the park, on our way to Lagunitas Market for coffee and the best breakfast bagels.

Riding from Lagunitas to Corte Madera, the weather was unusually hot. The thermometer on my bike computer reached 103 at one point. It was a rough day and we decided to rent a hotel room in Corte Madera instead of riding on to the Marin Headlands like we initially planned. We had no regrets about that decision.

We woke up to sporadic rain fall which added to the enjoyment of the day's ride from Corte Madera, across the Golden Gate Bridge, and into the city.

Michael Franti @ Power To The Peaceful

Chicks on stilts, dancing

I know, it looks scary, but it wasn't.

After hanging out here most of the day we rode down to the beach where our ride was patiently waiting for us. We were both sad the adventure was ending. At least until the next one....

things happen for a reason

I don't want to get all yoga but sometimes things do seem to happen for a reason. I HATE what I do for a living and have been desperately seeking something that involves using my creativity and skills.

My grandpa did upholstery for a living, he had his own shop at his house. About 8 years ago he gave all his equipment to my mom, she kept it in his shop and did some furniture and a few cars for my dad and I. My grandpa passed away about 4 years ago and the stuff has not seen much use since then. I often think of moving up there just to use the shop and learn to make bicycle panniers. I mess around on Monica's machine at home sometimes. I've made a couple small bags and done some repairs on my xtracycle bags.

A couple weeks back we were visiting my mom and she said she needed to get the stuff out of the shop before it was ruined and asked if I wanted it. I of course accepted the offer and quickly brought the sewing machine home and made room for it.

My plan is to practice sewing with it every night and work on some bag designs. In the last few days I've already made two dog beds and one pannier. I'm learning how to set the tension on the machine and sew small stuff without running my fingers under the needle.

My next step is to sell some of the stuff we have been collecting for the past 16 years and use some of the money for supplies. Hopefully by then I will have enough practice to make bags and sell them.

Here it is singer 16-188, no zig zag, no reverse, no embroidery, no button hole option just straight strong stitches. I'm not sure of the year but the parts book that came with it is dated 1923. My mom said it belonged to my grandpa since before she was born(1949)

I dont wanna grow up

Brian's new commuter

I want to ride my bike to work, and I did for a while. But its a 24 mile one way commute. By the time I got home, and got my stuff ready for the next day I would be exhausted. A few days in a row would kick my butt. I know the right thing to do would be get a job closer to home, but until we make some major lifestyle changes this job works out well for me. So after a lot of thought I purchased an ezee electric assist kit with a 48 volt battery upgrade, and another xtracycle base kit. I combined it with some extra parts I had laying around and built this urban assault vehicle.
This thing is bad ass! I've been riding it for a few weeks now. I average 24 miles an hour. With time for stop lights it takes me about 1 hour and 10 minutes to get to work. In the car it would take me 35 minutes to an hour depending on traffic. I charge the battery at night and recharge when I get to work. Now instead of sitting on my ass on the freeway, I get a couple of hours exercise a day. Plus we spend a lot less at the pump.

marin headlands

We are doing a bicycle tour next month from Corvallis Oregon to Fort Bragg CA. We have not been training at all this year, so we headed to cooler weather to ride some hills. We spent a lot of time looking around the bunkers buried in the hillsides. It was near 100 degree in Sacramento, it was quite a bit cooler down there.





Down these stairs was a very creepy metal door that only opened a little bit, Monica had a panicked look on her face after walking down there. After seeing some people emerge out of the darkness we finally stepped inside.

looking past the doorway was PITCH BLACK, I snapped a few photos, expecting to see monsters hiding in the shadows, unfortunately it was just this.




There are hidden entrances all over the mountainsides.

This deer was 20 feet from the road and about 50 feet from grass, trees and water. Not sure why she picked this small patch for lunch.