A great ride

Yesterday Karin and I did a 42 mile bike ride.  About 10 miles in I accepted the fact that this would definitely not be a good training ride.  The first few miles of road were in terrible condition (Karin said her feet got thrown off her pedals at least twice; needless to say I did not clip in for that portion!) and a good part of it was on a busy boardwalk-type path, followed by a construction zone.  And then, of course, we got lost, several times.  I estimate we spent a good 30 minutes overall just figuring out where we were and where the bike route was.  So I just treated it like an adventure; a great way to spend a free day.  It really was a great ride.  After you work your way through the coastal city areas you are rewarded with about 12 miles of awesome dedicated bike path that eventually has the bay on one side and the ocean on the other, which takes you all the way to Coronado Island.

Bikers on the path.

The bike path follows this strip of land between the
bay and the ocean to Coronado Island.

Once we got to the ferry dock on Coronado Island we got a seat on a restaurant patio on the water and had beer and pizza fries.  (I would definitely rethink the pizza fries next time.  We still had 10 miles left to ride!) The view was great, but since we didn't have bike locks, I spent way more time keeping my hawk-eye on our bikes than enjoying the view.  After our break and snack we got on the ferry with our bikes, which took us across the bay back to San Diego, where we pedaled the 10 miles home.

Karin on the upper deck during ferry crossing.

Getting ready to disembark with our bikes.

With all our navigational stops, traffic and slow-going on busy boardwalks and sketchy roads it took us about 4 hours of riding to go 42 miles.  Like I said, definitely not a good training ride.  But the bottom line is: 4 hours with your butt on a bike is still 4 hours with your butt on a bike.  So though it may not have been great training for my muscles and my speed, it was great training for time in the saddle, bike handling, and just being out on a bike for hours on end (which, honestly, is the hardest part of a long ride).  More importantly, I can't think of a better way to spend a beautiful day in San Diego!