Pt. Loma

I've been hanging in San Diego while Kyria is finishing her trip to Spain and Denver. It's chilly this week - by Cali standards. But today it was perfect - 70 degrees and bright sunshine. So, after a couple of hours of coffee and breakfast, I headed out for some morning recreationalization on my bike. I rode for nearly 5 hours on Tuesday and I'm still feeling it in my legs - especially after taking 8 days off the bike.

My boat is moored in the Shelter Island Yacht basin facing a peninsula called Pt. Loma. It is the entrance to San Diego Bay. From my boat it is a 30 minutes bike ride to the top of Pt. Loma. From there you can see for miles in every direction.

In fact, the Point is also a National Park. I have a season pass but I always forget to bring it along so I pay each time I ride in. There is a nice winding road from the top down to an old lighthouse where there are some cool tide pools. I like doing hill repeats there. But today, I didn't have a chance because I flatted just after entering the park. When I started to change my tube, I realized that I had packed a tube with a 48mm stem and I happened to be riding 50mm carbon clinchers. So I had the pleasure of riding home, around 10 miles, on a flat rear tire. I have a trick whereby I just remove the tube all together and just ride on the flat tire. Of course, the tire is usually ruined by the time I arrive home. A cab ride would probably be cheaper than replacing the $100 Continental tire. But today I got lucky. The roads here are much smoother than AZ roads and my tire was just fine.

Later in the afternoon I met up with Dan, one of my neighbors, and we went out for Thai food. When I'm here alone I rarely go anywhere other than the marina for dinner. I don't really enjoy dining out alone and at least here are the marina I know lots of people. It's kind of like social hour at the bar/restaurant from 5-7. 

Bay Club Marina on Shelter Island facing Pt. Loma. In foreground is the gangway to our boat. In the background is Pt. Loma. Real Estate on Pt. Loma is crazy expensive.

Taken from the top of Pt. Loma facing southeast.
This view overlooks the condos on Coronado and behind them - Tijuana, MX

This is the new lighthouse - built high on the point.
The old lighthouse is still functional but placed lower on the point.
It was the very first lighthouse on the west coast.

 

It was a unusually clear day today. The islands in the background are The Coronado Islands (Not to be confused with Coronado). The Coronado Islands are 12 miles from where this picture was taken and are located in Mexican waters. We recently obtained Mexican permits and are planning a trip to Ensenada for next month