A Rider’s Almanac

I’m constantly reminded that in San Diego, this means that there is a 90% chance of it being a perfectly glorious day - mostly sunny with some lingering storm clouds in the sky, no wind, large sun drenched waves along the coastal route, cool and crisp… I know the math doesn’t quite work out on the percentages, but the reality is that this is the reality. We only get about 9 inches of rain a year here, so the odds are that it’s not going to rain… and it didn’t!

The mantra for today’s ride was, “rain or shine… sickness or health… we’re riding.” Everyone on the team has been very busy with life, so we’ve each been riding quite a bit on our own and to tell the truth, I was growing weary of the solo riding.

Today’s ride profile called for us to meet along the coast in Solana Beach and go for an easy 40-45 miles with a quorum of Team Climb On Riders. As it turned out - for various reasons (…Dave…Ajay…) our large team ride turned into a small group ride of three riders. After recovering from the disappointment of The Team no-showing, we headed north along the coast at an easy, comfortable pace. It was such an unexpectedly nice day that we just kept going; through Carlsbad, through Cardiff, through Oceanside, and through Camp Pendleton where we decided to head back South.

Our ultimate destination was to meet back in Solana Beach at Pizza Port for some of the best pies in San Diego (I highly recommend the Pizza Vallarta - Canadian style bacon, olives, onions, & jalapeños - Delicious!). Our team may not always be motivated to ride, but they are motivated to eat. On arrival at The Port, we were greeted by four additional team members. It was nice to see some old faces and to meet some new ones.

When all was said and done, I racked up 72.5 miles on the day, had some really tasty pizza and got to hang out with some really cool people. It definitely beats riding alone and it’s a definite reminder why I live in San Diego.