blowin' in the wind

I was invited on a spontaneous roadtrip to the central coast this weekend so naturally I wanted to bring my bike (my old KHS road bike, not Karla) Unfortunately, when I loaded it in the truck on Friday after work to meet up with my friends Lisa and Anita and Syd the dog, I left the front wheel in the parking lot. Didn't realize that's where it was until three hours later when I arrived in Santa Rosa. A friend of Lisa's had a spare wheel I could borrow though. A much nicer wheel than the one I left at home, in fact. So it all worked out.

We stayed in Watsonville in a somewhat funky motel chosen for its alleged pet-friendliness. Yesterday around 4:00 I set out riding south to Monterey. Didn't figure on how strong the wind would be blowing off the bay. As you can see in the picture, I got there, and my friends met up with me for dinner just a little bit before hypothermia set in.

Today I rode north to Santa Cruz in the late morning sunshine and not nearly so much wind. Made it all worthwhile. Rode out to Lighthouse State Beach and watched the surfers paddle out, ride in, paddle out, ride in.

I've been having some sinus issues...without wanting to go into an unnecessary level of detail, I just really wanted to spit at one point on my ride today. While this behavior is not culturally inappropriate for distance runners and bikers, it's not something I tend to do. But sometimes even a young lady of good breeding (and not such good breathing) can't take it any more. So I spit, as daintily as possible when pedaling at a good clip, over my left shoulder. Only seconds later two guys passed me on the left. Either I didn't hit 'em or they didn't pay it no mind.

Total bike mileage for the weekend: about 50 miles. With several good refueling opportunities. Hoping to finish it off with a spinning class tomorrow night before I get on the plane for New Orleans on Tuesday.