Perspective...

can change suddenly.  I set out on an easy coastal cruise today.  I was nearing the San Dieguito & El Camino Real intersection & I was feeling rather cocky about the fact that I successfully completed my Long Beach bike journey.  Shortly after this period of self-congratulation I ran into a young man in Del Mar who completely altered my perspective on the magnitude of my accomplishment.  But I am getting ahead of myself.

As I cruised through Santa Luz & on down through Fairbanks Ranch I couldn't miss several groups of circling red tail hawks.  I have never seen so many at one time nor this particular behavior.  I don't know what was going on but they were all excitedly circling in groups of 3 to 5.  A lot of their very familiar vocalizations & a great show.  Don't make a habit of looking skyward at cool hawks when you are on a bike...I danged near ran off the road several times.  I took one of my favorite routes into Del Mar proper.  By taking the San Andres road off Via De La Valle you join the Coast to Crest Trail that runs along the San Dieguito River where it reaches the Pacific.  While seeing the usual egrets, brown pelicans & other shore birds I was pleasantly surprised to find a large group of western grebes just east of Jimmy Durante Drive.  I had never seen them here.  Very common at Lake Hodges when I make that loop, but never on my Del Mar run.  I was also happy to see the green heron right by the bridge over the San Dieguito River.  DWB & I have seen this bird on two occasions & pretty much in the same spot. 

Then on to Del Mar via the River Walk Trail that connects with the 101...there I got the big perspective shift!

As I crossed the 101 to head South into Del Mar proper I spotted a biker who had panniers on top of his panniers.  This guy was packed with so much gear I could barely make out the bike underneath it all.  I caught up with him when he pulled over to check some papers he was reading.  I discovered they were his directions.  This young guy had biked/camped all the way from Vancouver, Canada.  Thin as a rail & happy to be nearing his destination of downtown San Diego.  He hailed from Portland, OR & had already covered 2,000 miles plus.  He'll stay with friends downtown & return to Portland via Amtrak.  We exchanged a few tidbits on how to avoid the grade at Torrey Pines - I got the distinct impression he was going to go right up it anyway - & off he went.  My perspective on my wee journey sure got tweeked...but I still loved every minute of it.

Headed home & felt pretty good after a quick 27 miles at 10.7 avg mph.  I smiled to think that this wasn't even halfway to Dana Point.  Was that really just a tick over a week ago?  Carpe Diem

ps  our cooper's hawk is getting real comfortable in our yard...this was taken from the office window & he is on top of our bird feeders...come & get it!