Shortie Route: 7 Bikes For Pick-Up!

Searching for a quality cart wheel today

Time for a short ride today. No leaving early today. Much cooler today. Looks like California Fall is here. Expect night temps to dip into the 40's F soon. Bummer. Time for long johns and jackets in SoCal!

Mounted up the SOMA this morning. Added the HB bag and rolled out after 0900. Wore a long sleeve under the jersey for the first time in months. Ended up being too warm later along the coast. Not much going on on the ride over to Oceanside. Was planning on stopping by and see Dan Phillips at his shop  but never made it. His buddy Bill Stevenson finished up the Ursa Minor yesterday and now will be out of town till December! Ankle tendon felt a little "itchy" on the slow cruise down the coast

I rode over to Avenida Encina and stopped at the ACE Hardware store there. NCCC rides used to stop next door at the Ralph's store for a regroup sometimes. I was checking out some replacement wheels for Zaharah's shopping cart. The frame is good, but the wheels are trash. Cheap plastic wheels just didn't last. I was looking for some steel spoke wheels. None there. All they had were heavy duty wheelbarrow wheels  and the like. Off down the coast to Encinitas. Sun was coming through now and it was warming up . Almost perfect riding with a slight tailwind. Stopped at the Coast ACE store in downtown Encinitas. Same wheel selection there. I did manage to do earlier online research and thus ordered a set delivered to the store with no charge for shipping! This crowded store was really busy today. Nice people there. Looks like they do a good business with the location and no Home Depot nearby.

Joe had 7 bikes lined up for pick-up today. Cha-Ching$

Rolled over to Nytro to check things out. Harvey and Joe were at the front counter doing nothing. Got some time with Joe to check on a price for a Surly Ogre frame and fork. Frame and fork are 40% the price of a full bike. I think I would need a medium size. Also did a followup on the Cygolight 800. Looks like that light has the best run time and specs for the money. Nytro isn't a dealer for Cygolight, but is for Niterider. I don't believe NiteRider has a high lumen light witha removable rechargeable battery. I'll check again.

Noticed a row of various bike parked next to Joe's office space. Different brands including Quintana Roo, Cervelo and Cannondale TT's. I counted 7 of them all waiting fitting and pick-up. Looks like they all had various seats per rider preference in addition to other extras. Looks like a good way to start the week. I was wondering why they laid down big money and hadn't picked up the bike yet?

Put my stuff in this tough BMC carry bag.

Next up was a chat with Joe on my month long outside the ankle tendon pains. I figured it was the shoes or the cleats. He noticed my sore ankle shoe cleat was off and readjusted it straight. I picked up my usual Carbo-Pro 2 lb. packet and a few Shot-Bloks and some Vanilla GU (for those Choc. Sundaes). Put everything in a well made BMC carry bag. This bag was stylish and tough designed. Fits your back good and is strong too! I've had several various mini-bags and they all seem to rip out after 2 uses. Not these!  A big gift pizza order just came in for the crew there. I opted out and hit the road.

Stopped over at Swami's for a banana break and a chat with a couple of riders there. Notice the surf look real good today with a NW swell so I stopped at Cardiff Beach and watched the surfers there. The waves looked to be 8-9 feet and surfers had long runs on them. Guess those guys were more than regular 'ol surfers. Rolled down to Solana Beach and turned inland through Rancho Santa Fe. Ankle felt a little better but still had a few pangs in there. Heel of left food was still a bit in toward the crankarm. I couldn't adjust it out because I left my handy multi-tool in the other bag. Do it when I get home. A few rides along the Del Dios stretch, but it's late in the day to see any riders at all. Did the normal reverse loop back to San Marcos via Barham Dr. Rode home and unpacked in the garage. Adjusted my left cleat and rode around the block a few times. Felt better now. No challenging routes till I get this dialed in good!

Mostly cloudy with patches of sun
Hi: 76     Lo: 63
68 miles

-randorides