PETER AND SEAN SPLIT OFF FROM OUR GROUP AT DIFFERENT TIMES THIS MORNING.  Each had the same sentiment upon parting, it’s one I share… often, not just on bike rides.

Which way are you heading?

Wherever my bike wants to go.

Peter explained that having no plan is a great way to get to know a city.  He’s totally right about that.  He also shared that sometimes you find something cool… a view or shop of some sort… only to realized you can’t get there the same way by car.

Roads are awesome and efficient, but they also determine the only way you’re going to see the city or the country side.  The paths our ancestors laid down, have become wagon trails and then dirt roads and then paved roads and in some cases highways.

And so, we go on seeing the world as they saw it.

We climb Palomar from the South side or the East side, but we’ll never climb it on a bike from the Southeast because there is no road or trail.  Sometimes that’s a great thing, sometimes it’s quite stale.

It is what it is… just remember that it is because someone did it that way first.

I’m reminded of this as I’m guided through the history of science in Bill Bryson’s book, The Short History of Nearly Everything.  Standout thinkers, such as Newton, ruled thought for generations until a better thinker came along and gave us a new way to understand just what’s going on here.

It is what it is… just remember that it is because someone figured it out that way first.

Which is why it is so fun to go wherever your bike goes… down a sidewalk and through an alley, on a bike trail to secret beach, and so on… you’re guaranteed to find something most of your friends will never know.

It is what it is… because you figured it out, and now it’s all yours.

One of the things I figured out once was what a pleasant place Kaylani’s is to hang out after a bike ride.  The ocean breeze is fresh.  An occasional train rolls through picking up and dropping off people so different from me in my lycra.  Inside, you’ll find a very non-corporate, non-cookie-cutter experience:  coffee and pastries and weird “energy” bars and shave-ice.

It is what it is… because a local family figured out just the things people like me and beachgoers are searching for.

If you don’t go wherever the bike wants to go you risk only see the world through a cars eyes.  And sometimes, these treasures like Kaylani’s disappear forever.

It is what it is… let’s just hope Starbucks doesn’t move in.

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Save the dates:  HUNKR 3/17, 6/9, 11/10 – TMWC 7/10

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