ON THE BOARDWALK

We love our bikes and we're having a great time getting out and riding them.  However, I have to admit, that when it comes to the open road, me and my bike shall never be brave enough to roll together with CARS and TRUCKS and BUSES. We have been sticking to primarily bike/pedestrian routes and paths.

My opinion is that cyclists (I keep wanting to type bikers and realize that is a completely different form of two wheel rider than me) belong on the sidewalk (away from traffic) and should then defer to pedestrian traffic).  I agree that if no sidewalk exists, the cyclists should have the choice to use the "bike lanes" but this should not be our only choice when a sidewalk exists.   I will probably venture out into my neighborhood for bike rides, but cycling with lanes of traffic does not sound like a good time to me.  Give me a bike path, please.

The system of sharing the route with pedestrians works pretty well on boardwalks.  We had our first experience yesterday "sharing the boardwalk" with walkers, strollers, leashed dogs, little kids on little bikes, tourists and joggers and it was not too bad. 

It's kind of cool (in a nerdy sort of way) to look ahead of me and to calculate whether I should speed up and go around the folks strolling ahead of me, before I get to oncoming walking or bike traffic on the other side, or just slow down and bide my time.  I guess it's another form of 'puzzle solving' and should be helping my aging brain from succumbing to "forgetfulness"...biking the boardwalk and Mahjong. haha!  Whatever keeps me young....biking is sure an awesome way to get exercise!

We got to the beach Saturday morning at 8:00 a.m. hoping to avoid most of the touristy crowd and bike Ocean Front Walk from the jetty at South Mission Beach to a few blocks past Crystal Pier in Pacific Beach.  It was overcast and damp (typical early morning San Diego weather) and we had hot cups of coffee perched in our Electra cup holders because that's how we roll. We must have coffee in the morning.  Every morning! 

We parked at the Jetty, hopped on our bikes and began peddling our way down the boardwalk.  Most of the residences lining the boardwalk are summer rentals and the visiting peeps were emerging from inside to their patios to read the paper. people-watch and sip cups of coffee. Several greeted acquaintances they recognized and quickly became engrossed in easy conversation (as we swerved around) making our way north. 

We stopped for a couple of photo taking opportunities and after we reached the end turned around and rode back to the jetty.

Going earlier in the morning on a weekend made our first trip down the boardwalk a blast!  We're planning on many repeat rides this summer.

There is also a Baywalk route that connects from the jetty that we plan to add on, too!  Tomorrow we are heading back to the Bay to ride for a couple of hours before we join our friends around a fire ring for dinner, conversation and laughs.