(Friday)
Another beautiful day in San Diego was calling name, urging me to come out and play! So I heeded the call and hopped on my bike and headed out... Ok that's the short story. Let's get to the adventure of it!! The main reason for the bike ride was to go look at a car down in Mission Beach where I figured that I could grab some lunch and then head down to PB and see what kind of trouble I could muster up. The car is a 1983 Alfa Romero Spyder (little 2 door convertible), now I know what all you are saying, "Justin what about the Gladys (my Triumph), when you gonna finish her?" Well I would much rather be putting the money back into her, and spend some much needed quality time with her... but it seems now that I have a permanent resident in my garage (all of Loomis' crap) so that is out of the question. AND DAMNIT YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE AND I'M TIRED OF WAITING!! (But Gladys will one day reign supreme!)
Well I got a really rough start! So I knew that this ride was going to be a little more relaxed and slower than my normal road bike pace, so I dusted off the mountain bike and fully intended to sputter around the beach area. Both tires were flat and I proceeded to pump them up, got them to a sufficient level and took it for a quick test ride. I love riding bikes, something about it brings me right back to my childhood tooling around on my Huffy BMX bike. After a few laps I decided that the front tire needed some extra air, and that's where the debacle began. While increasing the PSI, I F'ing broke the stem from the F'ing tube!!! DAMIT!! STRIKE 1! Well already running late, I decided to head back to the office, to get the road bike and hurry about my way.
With the negativity out of the way, I was really enjoying my leisurely pace making my way from my office down to the Balihi Hotel. The scenery was breathtaking, as most of all San Diego is, over the bridges in Mission Bay, the roller coaster at Belmont Park, the sandy Boardwalk (for all you east coasters that say it's not a true boardwalk, ok you got us... Concrete Walk!). I met the guy selling the car, a nice Aussie fellow and the car was in pretty good shape and I am seriously considering a new acquisition. But for another day... I made sure to stop by the front of the hotel and say Hi to the Seal (a small environment but he has some pretty sweet diggs!). After leaving, my tummy was rumbling and since that hasn't been happening often I decided to immediately grab a bite. I ended up at the Sand Bar, meeting up with an acquaintance who was re-modeling the upstairs. The food was good, lots of laughs, and a nice bar tender who was putting up with a lot of shit from the workers who had just finished their day and were partaking in some libations. I could of sat there all day, but decided to get on my way and down the Concrete Walk I went, weaving thru the crowds narrowly missing a couple of rollerbladers. Which are just inconsiderate people BTW, they think they own the roads with there stupid 90s headset radios with the antenna, the un cool 80s Varnet sunglasses, and of course the outdated Lightning TRSs.
Moving on and off the boardwalk I decided to ride down Grand and then Double back down Garnett before peddling my way back. For those of you have driven down that area you know that the roads are not exactly the smoothest flat surfaces in the whole world. Therefore the ride on the road bike wasn't very enjoyable. After a few blocks I decided that I should cut it shorter then I intended and I happened to be next to Bogart Yogart :0) !! After a small vanilla with Oreo cookies, and Andies mints I met up with a fried who was down in the area, and that's when the "fun" began... While getting on my bike I notice a sinking feeling... another Flat!!! Needing to make it to meet my friend, I threw the bike on my back an jogged about 6 blocks... ugh! Not as relaxing as I had hoped. When I got there I sat down next to the sidewalk, breaking out my mechanic skills. The tire change happened faster than a NASCAR swap... Was back up and riding faster then Speedy Gonzalez, and was back down even faster!! I had bent the F'ing Rim on one of those damn pot holes... Now I am stranded in PB, with only 90 mins to be at Grandma's hose for Friday's family dinner. So with a Great Big S on her chest... Super Grandma came to the rescue!
With the bike in the back and my tail between my legs I got into the car pretty damn embarrassed (I used the word damn a lot this blog didn't I). I crammed in a lot on Friday! So dinner with the family was no different then the others, it's always a wonderful experience sharing laughs, remembering stories, and the food just tops it off! I am so glad that we as a family unit make sure that we make the time on a regular basis to see each other. Too often in recent past I have been stand offish, I would put myself in a prison cell without even notice what I was doing to myself and mental health. I thought that my family was always there, that I couldn't escape them, but do you hear how ridiculous that sounds? Why would I ever want to escape from them, I have been truly blessed and I need constant reminders of that simple fact. Make the time people, because they will be there, you can't escape, no amount of running away will ever rid you of them... and in my case it's because I am a slow runner!
Remember though, Families are like fudge, mostly sweet with a few nuts!
- Cheers
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