A Sunday ride

Just got in from a BEAUTIFUL Sunday ride with my friend Dan.  We ended up doing 14.74 miles, which on a day off from bike commuting was pretty good!  I mapped it out just now using MAPMYRIDE.  That site can be used for biking...and they have sisters sites for running, among other activities.  I have an app for it on my phone which I haven't used yet.  I'll test it out tomorrow on the way to work to see how accurate it is.  There's something about seeing what I've just ridden on a map, with distance, etc that is very high on the cool scale.

We stopped to take a few pics I wanted to share:

Florida Canyon....The yellow wildflowers are breathtaking....Rolling beds of them all over the place.

Another Florida Canyon shot, heading south.

And another, going up one of the many running trails.

Over to the neighborhood of Mission Hills.  You can see thru the tree a few skyscrapers of downtown San Diego.

Mission Hills for this pic as well.  Thru the trees you can see the houses on the other side of this grove of trees, bushes and shrubs.


So many people out today, walking, running, biking.  The ride thru Balboa Park was fantastic...families, couples, friends...volleyball games, flag football games.

I LOVE THIS TIME OF YEAR IN SAN DIEGO!

Department of Transportation

I try and not repost from other sources in this blog to make up an entire entry.  I really try and create my own "original thoughts".  But this article about the Department of Transportation is great.  

Here's just a taste:  In what amounts to a sea change for the Department of Transportation, the automobile will no longer be the prime consideration in federal transportation planning. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says the needs of pedestrians and cyclists will be considered along with those of motorists, and he makes it clear that walking and riding are “an important component for livable communities.”

In a word: TERRIFIC!!!! 

On a related note.....

Bike to work day is coming up too.....May 21st.  More on that later....

Start planning now!!  ;o) 

                                           

                                              This is "Walking Bike" by Max Knight.  

Google maps for bikes

I've been using Google Maps so much since I started this car-free adventure.  I've gotten pretty good at it, using all of the features in it, the various options, etc.  In case you don't know, for directions, it offers options for car, public transit, and walking.  That has helped tremendously figure out how to get from point A to point B for me without a car.

Now, it's gotten even better.  They just introduced, in beta, an option with bike routes!

Go to the main page, and then click, GET DIRECTIONS.  After you enter your point A and B, you'll see the default option of BY CAR.  Click and that for public transit, walking, or bicycle.

I'm not going to walk you through all the different things you can do with it.  Play with it.  Even if you're doing the directions for going by car, you can play with it.  You can choose, under options, AVOID HIGHWAYS, among other options.

Once you have the map up that they give you, one of the coolest features is the drag feature.  You just pull the line they tell you to go on to a different street, and the whole map resets itself according to your new route you've chosen.

Play with it.  I find it's pretty fun to play with and come up with new ways to go somewhere that I hadn't thought of, new things to see.

Easter morning ride!

On the Georgia St. bridge over University Ave this morning about 7am...chilly, overcast, beautiful.


I went for a ride this morning to the beach from my place, to a friend's to meet up with him, and from there we went to the beach....

Total was about 20 miles from what I can tell from imapmyride.com.  Very cool.  I almost didn't want to do it, thinking that it would wipe me out for the weeks riding.  Wow was I wrong.  I feel more motivated than ever.  Especially motivated to get a new bike too.  I put that off for so long.  We'll see how that shopping goes.

                                                                   Ocean Beach Easter morning

There were a bunch of people out too....running, biking, walking dogs.  Love being out early like that.

I've feel like I'm in a great mode....two weeks in a row now of three days biking to work....my goal is three this week too, then on to four weeks....Feels really good.

Totally unrelated....saw a very bizarre, intense movie last weekend.  From South Korea, called MOTHER.  It's about a mother whose son is accused and jailed for a murder...and she sets out to find out the identity of the real killer.  NOT what you would expect at all.