Velo

I forgot to mention that we took a break from the madness to go on our first bike ride. Lots of hills. Lots of quiet country roads by our house too. THAT is why we decided to live out here. In Calgary we were neck deep in the city. If you wanted quiet roads to bike on, you pretty much had to drive, or do 3/4 of your bike ride through the city. Here, it's quiet neighborhood roads for about 5k (max) then nice windy hilly country roads. It was fantastic, and makes us excited for more riding. The other thing is that the busiest road has (GASP!) a BIKE LANE! The other thing that's nice are the copious amounts of "Share the Road" signs. We even had numerous cars yield the right of way to us. In the past, the only time that happened it was usually followed by a middle finger and a horn. It was a pleasant experience (this bike ride, not the middle fingers and horns). I think enough people here bike that it's not a foreign thing for people to see a grown man in tights playing in the street on his bicycle. I don't think anything is a foreign thing in California (except foreign drivers licenses; out of state vehicles; Canadian money; Canadians; maybe 'foreign' wasn't the best choice of words there....). I saw a discombobulated grown man in Concord walking around wearing old boxing headgear and a chain around his neck (think "I need this chain to pull them stumps outta the ground with my TRUCK" type chain, not "I am wearing this gold chain because it adds a little flash to my chest hair" type chain).

Marlene went for a run this morning, and discovered the closest entry point for the little paved pedestrian-bike trail. Yes. It's all becoming clear that our little plan is working. We can do city stuff when we want (downtown WC, or BART into SF), but for everyday ease of bike riding, running, enjoying not being in a major metropolis, our place will be just fine. Plus we really like our house, and yard, and garden.