Bike ride in O'side

A ride on the San Luis Rey River Trail and beyond ended up being a good 29 mile ride with a few hills when we turned off the path. The return to the coast has pretty good headwinds. We came upon the finish line later in the day for So California's Ride Across America Bike Ride.

The cycling in Southern California is fabulous and  diverse.  The topography is the most varied of any cycling event around - avocado orchards and orange groves, the ridges and valleys of the Coast Range, the Anza-Borrego Desert – and the weather is beautiful this time of year.

 The 200-mile course is said to be the toughest “double century” in America. The Amgen Tour of California, a ride with pros, was also ridden in San Diego this weekend.



 

 Jacaranda trees are a beautiful mess leaving a sticky substance after the purple leaves fall.

At the halfway point of our ride was Guajome Park with two ponds that attract a wide variety of migratory birds and serve as home to a variety of fish. The 4.5 miles of park trails meander through diverse Southern California habitats such as woodlands, chaparral, wetlands, and mixed grasslands. 

Just 8 miles from the Pacific Ocean and has plenty of walking and biking trails.

 Matilija Poppy

The ocean has a different look on different days. Today was almost Caribbean like.

 

 

 

 

 We don't go to the movies very often. One morning, we woke to much needed rain, "Papa-Earnest Hemmingway" was playing and sounded like a good way to stay dry. With Cuba in the news and  where the movie was filmed, it made it more intriguing.  When we arrived, we were the only people seated until another couple walked in. For some reason, they thought they should sit directly behind us. I guess they felt safer being so close to us.  It was a nice treat when we walked out at noon to the sunshine.

We recently read a book called "The Boy Who Said No,  Escape To Freedom" about a young man in Cuba during the overthrow of Batista that I got on Book Bub for $0.99. It was so interesting and well written that we read the sequel.  

I guess we have Cuba on our minds. 

 

Bike ride in Temecula's wine country

Living in Calsbad,  CA, north of San Diego, and working in Escondido 12 years ago, we never made it over the hills to Temecula. While stopping in a Thousand Trails in Menifee it seemed to be a good time to check it out.

 Old Town district with history dating back to the early 1800's, has many boutiques, theaters, and museums dotted along its wooden boardwalk and we enjoyed walking around.  Rosa's was a good choice for some Carne Asada and reasonably priced.

Pretty fancy city hall. Temecula has remained small since it is surrounded by ranches and not a lot of places for sprawl.

Some of the artsy places.

We also took a bike ride through the wine country on a route I found online. We didn't have a printer so I wrote down the directions of the ride sheet and left out one street. That added a couple of miles. Riding in wine country anywhere can be a workout since most vineyards are planted on hills for drainage. This route met that criteria.

The cactus were in bloom.

We didn't do any tasting since we still had 12 more miles to go. Make that 14 since I messed up the directions.

More than 30 wineries and plenty of spas.

Rural in nature, sustainable in farming practices and including an agricultural preserve known as the Citrus/Vineyard zone.  Less than 60 miles north of San Diego, California and 90 miles southeast of Los Angeles, California lies Temecula Valley. Temecula has built a reputation for being the wine country of Southern California.

It turned into a very nice ride through some nice places. The traffic was nothing compared to that in Napa. But I can imagine the weekends can get pretty busy.

I really liked these cactus flowers with the bee on the left. So I had to add another with a bee that Mike took.

Door County Century

 

Fall is definitely in the air with crisp 55 degrees in the morning and the sound of the leaves in the breeze. Perfect cycling weather.

Where did the time go? We left 7 weeks ago and are starting our way back to the southwest. It has far exceeded our expectations. We started this blog to help us remember as we go and share our adventures with our friends and family. We have used it a few times to remember where we were when something happened.

The lighthouse in the park overlooking Green Bay. Watch out for the poison ivy and wild parsnip.

What a fabulous route and sunshiny day for a ride along the peninsula and bay with a temp of 47 degrees at 7 am. Thankful for Tylenol and ice for the knees after 50 miles. With over 3000 riders today, these Midwest people love to ride their bikes.

 

Here come some of our friends.

Fish Creek Beach

Sometimes, it is difficult to decide where to ride next. We are trying all of them, yeah right.

 

 

A new jersey is always a conversation starter. Mike wore his Colorado Copper Triangle jersey and people just had to discuss it. People have been very welcoming and happy to give us hints on places to go and see or good places to eat. That would be all of them and we tried.

The overcast cloudiness made riding quite comfortable. The ride from town to our campsite is only 3 miles. It can seem longer after a long day but nice under the canopy of trees.

Egg Harbor

Artisanal breads and hot soup for lunch

Cheese curds have to squeak when you bite into them to know they are fresh. Nothing but squeaky cheese around here so far.

Checking out the local farms on our bike ride.

 

 

Yep, the goats are up there and the Swedish pancakes pretty darn good at Al Johnson's in Sister's Bay.

The bike ride thru Ephraim.

Thirty minutes after sunset, the bats come out of their homes. Most of the bat houses are on the side of buildings. This one was built with a special grant. But the seagulls would sit on top and catch the baby bats when they come out and eat them. The whitenose syndrome is killing off the bat population, not so good for the environment. Between the seagulls and whitenose, the bats aren't doing so well.

A camp host was watching the sunset with us and told us stories of the area and how she volunteered as a docent the Rock Island lighthouse for a week. It is very rustic but she had a bed, gas refrigerator and stove. Everyone else on the island had to bring in what they needed and walk to their camping sites. No cars allowed.

Another great sunset along Lake Michigan.