I’m officially on the way!

I rode from home to the Bonita Creek Park. Nancy met me there, along with Glenn, Kevin, Derek and Jim from the Trike Squadron. We all yakked for a while  and enjoyed the coffee, brownies and muffins Nancy brought along. Nancy also gave me a bright green Helium Star balloon that I attached to my flag pole.

Then we were off. The weather was perfect – warm and dry. We cruised around the Back Bay and into Newport Beach. Through Newport to the Beach Trail in Huntington Beach, then on to Sunset Beach, Seal Beach and finally Long Beach.

In Huntington Beach we picked up Janet and a few riders from her group BOBIE – Butts on Bikes Inland Empire. A few miles later in Seal Beach we met with two more trike riders – Charlie and Trent.

Here is a link to some video Glenn shot of me along the Newport Back Bay.

We all made it to The Long Beach Harbor without incident. We posed for photos at the lighthouse, then the group headed home. I’d like to offer a special thanks to everybody who came out to see me off – it was really special to ride with you all! I can’t wait to see you all again when I return.

You can see in the photo that the balloon survived the trip to Long Beach pretty well – it was tattered, but still intact after 30 miles of flapping in the wind. Unfortunately, it died a hideous death in the ceiling of the hotel parking structure a few minutes after this photo was taken.

Left to my own devices, I headed for the hotel, checked in, took a hot shower and then had a relaxing Mojito by the pool. A few hours later, Nancy joined me. We chatted for a while then headed for dinner. We dined at Michael’s in Naples. If you ever get a chance – go to this restaurant. Truly, one of the best and nicest meals we have ever had. Service, food and atmosphere were all outstanding.

Not bad for the first day! Tomorrow – the challenging ride out to Redondo Beach and then up to Malibu…