May is Bike Month, and it’s been a busy bike month.
So on May 1st we thought we’d pedal our ebikes to the trolley, and then pedal San Diego’s Embarcadero. But after Saturday’s mega yard cleaning, there wasn’t any enthusiasm left for that.
Instead we took Lucky and Shelby shopping. We attached the trailer and off we went to Lowes for plants.
Everyday and just down the street from me there’s this electronic sign. It loves to tell me to SLOW DOWN! I’m doing 15mph. But it registers 56mph. It’s been doing this for at least 6 months. I wonder what kind of data it’s recording, and how they are going to modify the traffic from that data. The street definitely needs calming. It’s more like a highway at times.
After quick meander around the garden department and a dash to the landscape plumbing area, we were done.
Now to load up. Well that was easier said than done. So many nice people wanted to talk. It took us almost 45 minutes to get out of the parking lot.
Then a stop to feed the ducks and the 2 geese at the Gillespie Field Duck Pond. And yes, we nearly always carry a container of real duck food in our ELFs just for them.
The entire pedal home was against the wind and was a workout even with the e-assist. It seemed like every time we stopped even at the red lights, someone wanted to talk. Between the wind and all the friendly people, it took a lot longer to get home than planned. Now it was time to plant.
Everyday in May we’ve ridden the bikes somewhere. On this day we took our Rad Bikes in for their warranty check up. The two bikes on the Hollywood bike rack makes it so easy to transport. These are the folding Rad Mini’s. When folded they both tightly fit into our little Hyundai Accent. But honestly it’s so much easier even for one person to lift the bikes up onto the bike rack. First the front wheel then the back wheel. It takes maybe 5 minutes to load the two bikes. You’d think using the truck is a waste of gas. Not really. It’s a V-6 Chevy Colorado that drops down to a 4 cylinder 50% of the time. We’re surprised just how efficient it is on the road.
Once at the Rad Bike shop, they took it from there. 90 minutes later the bikes were cleaned and all tuned up. Best of all if was all party of the warranty. Free!
While at the shop we borrowed a couple of bikes grabbed a bite to eat and tootled around town and the Bay Shore Bikeway.
On the drive home we decide to go through the City of Coronado. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many bikes at a school in my life both the elementary and middle school had so many bikes on their campuses, that they over flowed everywhere. It was an amazing sight to see. It didn’t get close or take too many pictures here. I didn’t want people thinking I was stalking the kids.
As usual, every day I ride one of my bikes. This week was no different. I rolled Shelby out of the driveway and managed to get about 1/2 a block when a crunching metal sound came and the rear brake locked. It seems the spring had come loose and bent. By the looks of things it probably started on a previous ride. Oh well we just removed the brake entirely and pedaled home for repairs later in the day.
Every Wednesday theres a Classic Car Show in my area. Hundreds of cars and some motorcycles line the street and onto the plaza in the park. All the downtown restaurants (all three of them) have outdoor seating and they are full. We pedaled over and chained Lucky and Shelby in their usual spots.
Now it was time to chill. The carnitas fajitas dinner plate is huge. It’s perfect and filling for 2 people. Of course we each had a margarita.
On Thursday we finally did a bike adventure like the one we had planned for on May 1. We packed up the bikes and rode the trolley 18 miles to the Bike Coalition event/ride..
Omg what nice bike lanes in the City of San Diego’s downtown area, especially compared to the city I live in.
We got home a little later than planned.
We missed the trolley! We just missed the return trolley by 2 minutes, because we stopped to talk.
I guess we could have made it to the trolley had we run, but we were walking the bikes the one block on the sidewalk. It would have been rude to push thru the crowd on the sidewalk .
Hence a 20 minute wait and a full trolley ride home with people leaving the Padre game.
So that’s the first 6 days of May, 25 more to go! Bike On!