First 50-Mile Bike Ride!

In this post: Bicycling, Billy's At The Beach (Newport Beach), La Palapa del Mar (Long Beach)
Note: This post is a follow-up to, "Beach Bike'n Fandango" (Dec. 5th) 
Map

Weather

WE DID IT!  Our first 50-mile bike ride!

The night before, the weather forecast sounded perfect; sunny, warm and no typical afternoon headwinds.  A.R., Kathy, Janet and I had never ridden our bikes further than 40-miles in a single day, but we felt like we were ready to push our "personal bests" up.  With a perfect day in the offing, we planned to get an early start, ride at a slow-to-moderate pace, take plenty of breaks, make a day of it and push our previous high mark up by 25% to 50 miles.

When we got to Newport, we decided to take the ferry across
the bay & ride to Billy's At The Beach for lunch.

Beach Bike'n Fandango

In this post:  Bicycling, Long Beach, Huntington Beach, Sunset Beach, Seal Beach, Newport Beach, La Palapa Del Mar, The Crab Pot, River's End Cafe, Sandy's Beach Grill, Rockin' Baja Lobster, Billy's At The Beach, Jax Bicycle Center, Trek Bicycles

Map/Directions

Weather

This 50 mile round-trip bike ride, which connects three of Southern California's beach bike paths via some street riding, isn't a good ride if you're in a hurry.  For one thing, there aren't nearly as many restaurant/bar/cafes right on the beach in SoCal as you might think and this route takes you right past three good'uns.

Winter wetsuits are de rigueur for the holidays in SoCal

A Death Valley Tale - Day 2

In this post: Bicycling in Death Valley, Furnace Creek Ranch

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Weather

Today we thought we'd tackle a 40 mile round-trip bike ride to Badwater. Biking in the Valley was fabulous, but the road consistently alternated between uphill and downhill.  We were never on a level grade.  It wasn't long before we started thinking, if half of our planned ride was going to be low speed uphill riding, 40 miles might be a bit too much for us.

It looked easy from here.

Swimming Pools, Dinosaurs and Bicycles – Day 3

In this post: Borrego Springs, bicycling, Peg Leg Smith Monument

Map/Directions

Weather

Questions: "When is a pile of rocks not a pile of rocks?"

Swimming Pools, Dinosaurs and Bicycles - Day 2

In this post: Bicycling, Borrego Springs, Ricardo Breceda sculptures, Pablitos 

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Weather 

The flower bloom this year, lacked the volume and intensity of some of the really spectacular years, but even in an ordinary year like this one, the road side flower displays are diverse and beautiful and so were the saber tooth tigers, elephants and horses.  What?  Saber tooth tigers, elephants and horses in the desert?   That's what we were wondering.

Swimming Pools, Dinosaurs and Bicycles - Day 1

In this post: Anza Borrego Desert State Park, Borrego Springs, Circle of Art, Stanlunds Resort Inn & Suites

Map/Directions
Borrego Springs Weather

The desert isn’t for everyone. To some the desert is a beautiful, mysterious, enchanting seductress; to others it’s just a bunch of dirt, rocks and weeds… or even less. My observation is, “There’s no learning to like the desert. You either like it or you don’t.” Janet and I happen to love the desert and the Anza-Borrego region of California’s low desert has long been our favorite desert destination.

Downtown Borrego Springs... it's a really small town!

Gear Report: Yakima Car Top Bike Rack

In this post: Yakima Car Top Bike Rack , Borrego Springs, CA, REI

We left Long Beach about 8:00 in the morning and arrived in Borrego Springs 3-hours later. Prior to this trip we had made a few local trips transporting our bicycles on top of the car, but this was our first out-of-town trip to put our Yakima rooftop bike rack to the test. The Yakima rack system is advertised to work on almost any vehicle and adapt to carry all kinds of fun outdoor toys. We bought ours on sale at our favorite outdoor adventure store, REI.

On the way to Borrego Springs - Montezuma Grade