Consider a man riding a bicycle. Whoever he is, we can say three things about him. We know he got on the bicycle and started to move. We know that at some point he will stop and get off. Most important of all, we know that if at any point between the beginning and the end of his journey he stops moving and does not get off the bicycle he will fall off it. That is a metaphor for the journey through life of any living thing, and I think of any society of living things. --- William Golding
Recyclers Weekly Bulletin: August 2, 2006
HI FOLKS (Paul Shragg, yet again, filling in for Marty Weiss),
LAST WEEK: Well, last week the forces of nature (rain) and man (Solana
Beach Triathlon) combined to make the Recycler’s Sunday morning get
together and ride quite an experience. After a good amount of
discussion
and confusion, the ride actually took place (with apologies to Bob
Calhoun…Bob left after we, “called the ride off”…prematurely, it turns
out.). So here’s what went down. Saturday morning, Walt Zybko
called me
to let me know that the Solana Beach Triathlon was being held Sunday
morning and that parking at the train station, among other things
(like the
PCH being closed), was going to be an issue. I relayed this news to you
all, Saturday, vis a vis email (as I can’t post to the web site yet), so
that you folks wouldn’t be discouraged by the zoo of people and cars
upon
arrival in Solana Beach Sunday morning. Because of the late notice,
however, I felt it best that we stick with the original plan and at
least
meet at the train station. In any case, the Triathlon, coupled with the
fact that it was raining kept attendance down…way down. I showed up at
7:15 (in my van…normally, I would ride my bike from my house in
Cardiff) to
scout the place out. No parking at the train station, and a very wet
track. At 7:30, Greta called to tell me that she was coming,
primarily so
that I wouldn’t feel bad about no one showing up for the ride, after
all,
it was my first call, and she thought my ego couldn’t handle that
(probably
correctly so). Thanks Greta, you’re a true friend. Walt Zybko
showed, I
believe for much the same reason. All of us in cars, and all of us
pretty
much convinced we weren’t going to ride. We reconsidered our position
briefly, however, when the epitome of the true biking enthusiast, Bob
Calhoun, rode up on his bike (from Encinitas). Bob was treating the day
like any other day in paradise, as evidenced by his asking, “Where is
everyone?” I, on the other hand, couldn’t believe that any one would
show
given the conditions. In any case, we all coerced Bob, who was quite
wet,
into acquiescing to our non committal (or worse) attitude, so Bob
decided
to ride back solo to his car in Encinitas. After bob left, Dennis Webb
showed up, just because he’s the biking animal he is. I believe his
initial question was something like, “are we going to call it off, or
are
we crazy?” At that point, Walt, Greta, and I said we we’re going to
call
it off. I’m not sure if Dennis was relieved, perplexed, or maybe even a
bit disappointed? At any rate, Walt and I leave, and as I turn onto
Lomas
Santa Fe Dr., to head home to a warm bed (or something like that), I
decided to turn back around and head back to the train station. I could
see that Dennis and Greta were still talking. As I drove up, I shouted,
“let’s frickin do it.” Just then, to add fuel to the fire, Brian
Thornburg
showed up very eager to ride. Brian, in fact, was all the final push we
needed. Great call, Brian. We (Brian, Greta, Dennis, and I…the four
die
hards…Bob, you’re the number 1 die hard) decided to caravan it to
Manchester Ave (a mile north of Lomas Santa Fe Dr.), where we parked
above
the infamous surf spot, Cardiff Reef, dawned our biking gear and set
off to
the Oceanside Harbor, vis a vis the PCH, Neptune, and the ocean front
streets in Oceanside. As it turns out, the ride was delightful. The
weather dried up quickly and quite nicely. The cloud cover actually
made
the day very pleasant. We stopped, of course, for coffee and muffins at
“The Bean” in O’side and then rode back the way we came, with the
exception
that we took Vulcan St., instead of the PCH, from LaCosta Ave south (32
miles in all). Greta and I took an additional 11 mile run (last week’s
“additional ride”, amended a bit). That, too, was very enjoyable.
I apologize to you, Bob, in particular, for calling the ride off
prematurely. Maybe the next time we run into some poor weather we’ll
remember this last Sunday, and find ourselves a coffee shop to give the
weather time to pass
OTHER NEWS: A reminder. The Recyclers’ weekly Bulletin will now be
posted
on our web site, http://www.sdrecyclers.org/ . We will, at least for a
while, continue to send it out vis a vis email. I apologize if you
received the bulletin more than once last week, as I had the cycle
list as
an email recipient in my address book, along with you all. I’m going to
remove that now. That means that the Bulletin will only be sent to you
folks (The Recyclers) whose email addresses we have, and won’t be
forwarded
by the cycle list, itself, to the rest of the cycle list recipients.
DE RIDE: We’re going to try it (Solana to Oceanside) again, if that’s
OK
with you all. I’m not familiar enough with other routes to lead, and it
seems that being near the coast is a good idea during these warm days.
So,
it’s the Solana Beach to Oceanside run scheduled for next Sunday, August
6th. Let’s meet at the Solana Beach Amtrak station at 8:00 for an 8:15
departure. Remember, we decided to park at the northeast end of the
parking lot but not actually in the parking lot. We'll head north
mostly
along Pacific Coast Hwy and Neptune St and take a break at the Oceanside
Marina, shoot the breeze, refuel, and then return along PCH and Vulcan
St.
DE ADDITIONAL RIDE: The same as last week, but I think we’ll stick to
the
15 mile version, rather than 11 mile Greta and Paul route (I’m going to
scout it out more fully this week), so I’ll furnish the exact route on
Sunday. But, it’s essentially the route that was posted in the Tribune,
heading east from the PCH, up Chesterfield to San Elijo Ave, past some
beautiful wetlands, onto Manchester Ave., into Rancho Santa Fe and back
over to Lomas Santa Fe Dr. Again, I’ll provide the specific
directions on
Sunday. The entire group will return in mass to Chesterfield Ave.,
where,
those of us who want to ride the additional miles will head east, and
those
of us who don’t will ride the final ½ mile south back to the train
station
(REMEMBER…NO ONE GETS LEFT BEHIND).
FINAL TID BITS: Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention that I called Dave
Nunez Sunday morning also, since he’s been such a staple on all of our
rides. I figured if he wasn’t going to make it, no one would (I was
wrong). In any case, I thought I was calling his cell phone, but no, it
was the house phone. I must say that I don’t know Dave that well, but
he
really does sound different when he’s asleep. “It’s wet out there,
Paul.” Oops! Dave, apologize to your wife for me, when she starts
talking
to you again. Hey folks, I’m really looking forward to seeing you all
next
week.
Please, you all should feel free to suggest a ride for the following
Sunday
(Aug 13th), as long as you know the route and would like to lead. We’re
all sort of filling in for Marty this month.
Thanks for listening, and if you have any questions, comments or
suggestions, be sure to phone me at 760.420.6471.
Until then, be safe, keep riding, and don’t forget to head ‘em up, and
move‘em out (OK Greata?).
I hope to see you all Sunday at 8:00 for our 8:15 departure.
Kindest Regards All,
Paul Shragg