Tuesday, January 17, 2012

A Good Day

 

Jim with Charlie, one of our favorites.

Charlie 

Last week one of our neighbors turned 60. In honor of her birthday she rode her bike 60 miles. She challenged me to ride 57 miles on my 57th birthday, which was today. So this morning we started out with the group breakfast ride. 24 of us rode about 7 miles to Las Cazuelas, an authentic Mexican restaurant in Mission. Mexican breakfast food consists mainly of eggs, cheese, and meat, but they did have oatmeal, which was pretty soupy, but better than nothing. On the way back to the park, several people were talking about going for a longer ride, and 5 of us ended up doing 23 miles. That meant 34 more miles for me today. We stopped home for a bite to eat, then got back on the bikes and rode another 20 miles.

Still smiling after almost 40 miles. We stopped here to peek through the gate of a mansion that takes up an entire block.

DSCN1082

We had to get back to the park by 3:00 because I didn’t want to miss the produce vendor that comes every Tuesday afternoon. We filled our bags with grapefruit, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, avocados, bananas, plums, and a jicama, all for $10. So much better than the stuff at the grocery stores.

I told Jim since I was only 14 miles shy of the 57, I just had to go finish the ride, which I did. And I felt pretty good when I got done. It was such a lovely day, mid 80’s, sunny, just a slight breeze, perfect for a long ride.

Capped off the day with dinner at BJ’s Brewhouse. They started in Chicago as a deep dish pizza place, and when we ate lunch there a couple weeks ago we had pasta, so we just had to go back and try the pizza. Excellent! They even have whole wheat crust. And their beer is great. Birthdays aren’t such a bad thing!

12 comments:

  1. Happy Birthday to you. Kudos to you and your bike riding friends...those are some impressive numbers.

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  2. Happy birthday! But after looking at your pic and reading your itinerary for the day, I think I should let you know that you have a typo. Because I'm quite sure you meant to type "37!" :) Way to go! Have a great year too.

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  3. WOW Gayle you are in great shape to ride 57 miles in a day! Congratulations and Happy Birthday!!

    Sherry
    www.directionofourdreams.blogspot.com

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  4. A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you Gayle. 57 miles...don't think I could do that. Great job!

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  5. Happy Birthday, Gayle! And contrats on making that long bike ride.

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  6. Happy Birthday Gayle!! You rock girl! Congratualtions on that long ride.

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  7. Happy Birthday, Gayle! Each year, one extra mile! That will keep you going to 100, at least.

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  8. Tell Jim he robbed the cradle! Too bad you had to wear that funny lookin' hat on your B-Day ;)

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  9. Looking up blogs to help with our March trip and came upon your posting about your 57th on January 17. That's me too. Didn't ride 57 miles, but worked out as usual. Happy Birthday to us. I will now read through more of your blog!

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