Riding, riding, riding ....

The Carlsbad, CA, pier as seen from the location of my timeshare sales presentation

Since coming back from Europe about two-and-a-half weeks ago I've been continuing my bike-riding (and globe-trotting) lifestyle without much interruption. What is a retired guy supposed to do? Sit at home and read National Geographic and watch reruns of Cheers? Nah, that can wait for a few more years. Now is the time to do stuff.

Riding on the way to Ft. Worth, around the Ranger area, and in the metroplex itself

And so I did. Granted, I did spend a few days in Lubbock, just long enough to unpack, do laundry, buy a few groceries, mow the weeds, and catch up with who had died in the neighborhood. (No kidding, after Mr. Pope's death last year, now Kelly's neighbor to the left was found five days after dying in what seems to have been an alcohol/drug-fueled bathtub exodus. I didn't know this man but it still leaves you with a sense of sadness.)

With my buddy Smitty and his family (mother-in-law Pat, son Joseph, and wife Lori, from left)

Lubbock has had its share of early summer rains

A rare windless day in green Lubbock

Free barbecue at a local bank!

My daily bike rides through our Canyon Lakes area soon became monotonous, and so I decided to drive down to Ft. Worth for the July 4th holiday to stay with Janetta and Jon for a few days and continue my bike explorations down there. Honestly, I was impressed with the Ft. Worth trail systems and generally decent bike infrastructure that allowed me to ride from Benbrook all the way to downtown FW without having to use any streets. Thanks to my Locus app, I mapped out some fine rides, all one-ways where I would meet up with Janet at a brewpub and we'd drive back up to Benbrook.

Riding with Keith in Ft. Worth

As a nice benefit, my old friend Keith (formerly of Albuquerque) saw one of my Facebook posts and we reconnected for an afternoon's ride after not having seen each other for at least a decade. That was a fun afternoon, of course also ending at a brewery where we were joined by Keith's GF, sister, and mother (who was visiting from Minnesota). Janet met up with us, and we sampled some pretty weird brews at Martin House Brewing Company. Truth be told, HopFusion took the cake with not only really fine-tasting beer but also free hotdogs on July 4th!

If it hadn't been for the torrid conditions in the metroplex I could have almost been talked into looking for a house to buy. But holy cow, how can you breathe when it is 96F and the humidity is 90+ percent? Even early in the morning it feels as if somebody is trying to suffocate you with a wet blanket (wool, for sure, and moist and heavy), and after my 35- or 40-mile rides I was simply bushed. Lubbock is hot, and after recent rains people complain about "humidity," but they have no idea how bad it can be.

My rides in Southern California took me both inland as well as to the coast

And so I left for West Texas again, riding a few more days in the Canyon Lakes before heading out to Southern California. Back in early spring I had jumped on a Wyndham Resorts offer to purchase a three-night, four-day hotel package for $200 in Carlsbad, CA, just north of San Diego. In itself not much of a great deal, but coupled with a $200 American Express gift card after attending a two-hour timeshare sales presentation, well, a pretty damn good deal. For some odd reason, Wyndham put me up in a brand-spanking new Holiday Inn (part of rival chain IHG), and so I used some points and an $80 co-pay to extend my stay by another two nights. That took care of the potential need to switch hotels, and thus I really didn't need a rental car--Lyft and Uber are everywhere. So, make a long story short, I spent less than $200 on accommodations (I had to pay the room tax for the Wyndham part of the deal) and transportation from and to the airport for the entire trip. One purchased night in that particular HI costs $257. Sweet.

This was the second trip with the Ritchey Outback, the travel gravel bike. Granted, I did much less gravel riding than anticipated, but when I did, I needed this bike versus the regular road Ritchey. Every day, I went out for rides varying from about 30 to 55 miles, and even for the sales presentation in Oceanside I used the bike for transportation. Incidentally, that was the only day when the marine layer did not obscure the coastline, and it was a truly fun day down to the beach, the pier, and the surfers.

Because of the foggy conditions in the mornings (burning off around 10 or 11 o'clock) I usually had a late breakfast that also served as lunch. I have no idea why they gave me a free breakfast plus two free drinks in the nice hotel bar (where they had some good draft beers), but I know that it helps to be nice to the front desk personnel. Also mysterious to me is the fact that all kinds of IHG points have been deposited into my account, but I know when not to poke a stick into a hornets' nest.

My rides took me mostly inland. If you've seen some of my FB posts or Strava data you know how much I have been gushing over the almost ideal riding conditions in this part of the world. I don't think I've ever been anywhere in the world where bicycles are being given as much respect, protection, and recognition as in San Diego county. Roads and streets without wide bike lanes are the rare exception, except in quiet neighborhoods where the speed limit is 25 mph and there is no traffic to speak of. Striped bike lanes, buffer zones, signage, traffic lights that respond to a cyclist's input, physical dividers to keep motorists and cyclists apart, road markings indicating that bikes are entitled to the entire lane of traffic--wow. Add to that Ft. Worth-like trails away from the streets, such as the Inland Rail Trail, and you think you've arrived in heaven. It's simply amazing.

Equally stunning is the microbrew scene out here in San Diego county. Yesterday I was told at Wild Barrel Brewing that the current count of registered microbreweries in SD county stands at a little more than 160, but it seems to be difficult to keep up with that number since new ones keep popping up. I think I added something like 15 new breweries to my list (to the right), which as of right now stands at 299.

Two memorable ones were #299, Rouleur Brewing Co., just a mile or two from the hotel, as well as Stone's flagship location in Escondido, Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens. Now, Stone really can no longer be called a microbrewery, not with the volume they have. But they started out small and from what I tasted, their beer is still damn fine. Rouleur, which has been in existence just a few years, is totally cycling-themed with bikes, framed jerseys, race numbers, and lots of vintage photos on the walls and beers with names that have a distinct bike touch. OK, so I drank the Dopeur, a nice IPA, sitting under a flag with the Lion of Flanders, and I didn't feel like a cheat at all. Indeed, this was a good one for number 299. It'll be interesting which one will be 300.

So, this was another cool trip that had at its heart the bike. Really, what would I do without it? Well, we'll see how I'll keep my sanity as I will be in Winter Park, Colorado, for our 2019 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships starting tomorrow (I'm putting the finishing touches on this blog entry in the Lubbock airport after a final ride in the heat this morning with my buddy Smitty) and there won't be a bike in the hold of my plane--just no time to ride for the next 10 days. But I'm sure I'll have lots of fun nevertheless.

Jürgen