Lake Solano Park

Geno, Peter, Saxon and I head over to Lake Solano Park for an overnighter with our loaded bikes as part of a trial run for Saxon's wife, Wendy, who will be catering 15 cyclist on a 10-day loaded bike tour from Sacramento to Kings Canyon National Park in May. Wendy wanted to get a feel for her new outdoor cooking appliances and a sense of the routine and needs of loaded cyclist during a multi-day tour. It was a great start with us being the recipients of a tasty outdoor dinner and breakfast during our camp out. What a treat! Thanks Wendy, I'm looking forward to our spring tour. Click on the picture below to go to my photos on Picasa. Once there, start a slideshow or view manually.

2012 NAHBS

The 3-day 2012 North American Handmade Bicycle Show, NAHBS, held at the downtown Sacramento Convention Center and featuring 172 exhibitors worldwide, was a great success with attendance of more 8,000 bicycle enthusiasts from the region as well as from out of state. The event also included bike art, film, parties, local pizza and beer tours, and an organized bike ride to the US Bicycle Hall of Fame in Davis. For me, the beautifully handcrafted bicycles was more about innovation, simplisticity and fine art as oppose to function. To go to my photos on Picasa, click on the picture below, my favorite for the show. Once there, start a slideshow or view manually.

Beyond Pacific Beach

To start the new year, we again ventured south to San Diego looking for a break from winter. This time we stayed for a month rather than two weeks. Like before, our place was the 4th floor one bedroom condo with a seaward window overlooking the Pacific Beach boardwalk. When not out and about biking, walking, hiking, shopping, you get the idea, our entertainment is the sea and surf, and the countless number of people parading just below our window view. Better than reality TV I would say! Mornings are the best time to look for dolphins and whales with our coffees in hand. We had numerous sightings of dolphins but only 3 sightings of whales. I'm surprised how closely dolphins are to shore. This was our second year at the condo which is beginning to feel like a second home. I think perhaps this is the way to go, eschewing ownership along with the headaches.

As much as we love staying in the Pacific Beach area and revisiting the familiar with our friend Steve who winters there from Sacramento, this year was more about exploring life beyond Pacific Beach, connecting with friends, and making new friends. We were able to spend some quality time with friends Dennis and Debbie from Pendleton, Oregon as well as our nephew Brandon and his wife Wonny. I also hooked up with my friend Doug from San Clemente whom I met riding across the U.S. in 2008. Overall, our activities took us from Oceanside to Chula Vista, at least half by bike and foot. Steve and I also connected with a local bicycling group on 4 occasions exploring unfamiliar roads and routes. Their friendship and company during our bike outings was one of the highlights of this trip. Hey Bill, Dave(s), Bob(s), Steve(s), Tim, and the rest, thanks for letting me become part of the gang.

There was not much birding or photograph this year but we enjoyed our stay immensely and are looking forward to a return. Mean while, there no place like home. Click on the picture below to go to my photos on Picasa and see why we love the area. Once there, start a slideshow or view manually.

On The Hope Valley Overlook Trail

Soon after returning from Italy, I joined Howdy and his gang of hikers for a weekday hike in the Hope Valley area off Highway 88 in the Sierra's. The timing could not have been better for fall colors. The Hope Valley Overlook Trail starts near Sorenson's Resort and ascends 1,200 feet for a round trip of approximately 5 miles. Besides great fall colors, this hike offers great views of Hope Valley. Click on the picture below to go to my photos on Picasa. Once there, start a slideshow or view manually.

Bike Travel

Here are some of my favorite bike pictures from travel and locally. Go to my photos on Picasa by clicking on the picture below. Once there, start a slideshow or view manually. Comments welcomed.

Travels in Italy

Kay and I finally travel to Italy, a country we've wanted to visit for many years. We had one week each in Venice and Florence followed by two weeks in Rome. The amount of time allotted for each city was much more than the average visitor, but it gave us the time to proceed at a more relaxed and sustainable pace over the four weeks. We flew into Venice, trained to Florence and Rome, and flew home from Rome. It's a popular route and perfect for our first trip to Italy. Each of these cities exude its own unique character. Venice is romantic and mysterious with its maze of canals, narrow streets and alleys; Florence is charming and enchanting with a big city feel and the distinction of once being the Capitol of Italy; and Rome is exciting, bustling and timeless; but all were historic. To live in these cities is to live within your history. Historic buildings and sights can be found at every turn dating back hundreds to thousands of years, and older if you're willing to dig. For our culinary taste, Venice had the best pastas and cannoli, Florence had the best gelato, and Rome had the best pizza and tiramisu. Kay still talks about her lamb shank dinner in Rome. This trip was everything we had hoped it to be and more leaving us with many fond memories. For a pictorial of our travels, please go to our pictures on Picasa. The pictures are grouped by city. Click on the picture below to go to each photo set in Picasa. Once there, start a slideshow or view manually. I welcome any comments.

Venice


Florence


Rome

Northeastern Bike Tour

During the summer of 2011, four friends and I completed a self-contained bicycle tour through the northeastern states of New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. The four of us from California flew into the Buffalo International Airport and cycled to Niagara Falls, Ontario to meet up with Tom who cycled from his home in Watertown, NY. It was a good to have a local in our midst since this was my first trip to this region. Our pace was reasonably comfortable for a bike tour, the group had good camaraderie, and the touring conditions were better than expected. I feel comfortable in saying that the countrysides of upstate NY offered some of the best cycling roads I‘ve encountered to date. Weather wise, there were brief periods of high heat and humidity as well as rain, including a record setting day of 102 deg., but nothing sustained and unmanageable. Our accommodations, whether camping or in motels, were nice enough for the likes of us. The northeastern states proved outstanding for touring with lots of history, great local sights and eateries along with wonderful scenery. Our travels included places like Niagara Falls, Finger Lakes, Thousand Islands, Adirondacks, Kancamagus Highway and Acadia National Park to name a few. To conclusion, it was another great tour!

Although I had created an itinerary, we followed it loosely at best. The itinerary did prove helpful, however, in keeping us on track as we progressed eastward ensuring we would complete our tour within the allotted time frame since we had prearranged flights out of Portland, Maine. My Smart-phone and Bob’s GPS proved themselves as invaluable tools for bicycle touring. Besides making calls, the devices enabled us to easily get information on accommodations, eateries, schedules, etc., and to find bike friendly routes in uncharted regions. The devices gave us the freedom to head off the plan route and still meet our needs for food, comfort and shelter quickly. They are now a permanent part of my travel kit. It took time and effort to determine the route and to find accommodations for the five of us during this trip, but I love bicycle touring and I was glad to be able to share this tour with friends. Total distance was 1,360 miles with 60,100 feet of total climbing, 260 miles more than our itinerary. For a pictorial of our tour, go to my photos on Picasa by clicking on the picture below. Once there, start a slideshow or view manually. I welcome any comments.