Marina to Monterey....and Back

Amongst light aircraft pilots there exists the concept of the "$200 Burger".  The basic idea is that there is an overwhelming urge to fly but in order to justify the outing it needs to be one of those "fly somewhere nice for lunch" outings that you always told yourself would be possible "once you got your license".  The resulting burgers can be some of the most expensive ever ordered....all things considered.

We are getting to a matter of weeks from the Avon walk and I'm still finding distances greater than 12 miles to be ....well...not fun.  Solution:  eight miles out, brunch, eight miles back (a walking $200 burger). The end result should be 16 miles with rest and nutrition half way.  The venue:  The gorgeous Monterey Bay.

Now it just so happens that a few years back the entire Monterey Bay area was one huge military base, Fort Ord.  The US Army have long since moved out but there are still quite literally hundreds of boarded up army buildings, abandoned shooting ranges and, hopefully empty, ammo dumps.  The roads that connected some of the facilities (along with a reclaimed railroad that used to service the sardine canning industries down on Cannery Row.. yes, Steinbeck, the same) have been turned into cycle paths.  The route for today would take us from the Fort Ord Dunes State Park, down to Fisherman's Wharf in down town Monterey. 

The day started cold, foggy and in light drizzle.  For those of you familiar with Northern California, no surprise right? For the rest of you....long story.. trust me, bring a sweater.  The path was just spectacular heading off for mile after mile undulating up and down, left and right with none of that nasty camber that killed me while "Leaving Gilroy".

The routes passed by a few ammo dumps before dropping down onto the coast and hugging the beach behind huge dunes.  As the path dropped out of the "clouds" and down to sea level, Monterey started to come into view in a thin band of land sandwiched between the grey of the ocean and the grey of the sky.

A few miles along the edge of the beach proper and destination, Fisherman's Wharf and brunch!

So those of you that know me, know that I'm a frustrated meteorologist.  You have no idea how difficult it is to stop myself from explaining Monterey fog!! I'll resist.  Suffice to say that most of the time it clears back to the cost by lunch time or early afternoon revealing one of the nicest stretches of coastline you can imagine.  Finally! California!

Overall, a truly spectacular walk.  Well worth the 5am start to get it done and well worth doing again...soon.  More importantly, a 16 mile total for the day and perhaps a hint, just a hint, that if an 8, pause, 8 is possible now then by the time the real walk comes around, an 8, pause,8, pause, 8 might just work.  Progress, fun and a wonderful way to shrug off some stress.  Walk....breathe...smile...

 Thanks for following.....

We Have A Walk On Our Hands

HUGE! week this week.  Look down at the bottom of this page!!!  Thanks to your unbelievable generosity, we have managed to reach the target goal of $1,800 in donations.  I must confess that when I signed up to do the Avon walk, I had no idea whether or not I was going to be able to raise the $1,800 goal and I did very often wonder what I would do if I could not.  Not an issue.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!  We are making a difference.  If you are reading this and you have made a donation to the cause.....you rock!!!

Of course, now that we have raised the goal, I am eligible to enter the walk.  Suddenly it seems a lot more real. Second reason why this is a huge week.  I literally just got back of a short 10 miles hoof around town bringing to total number of miles walked so far in training to exactly 500.  Woohoo.  Difficult to imagine that I have covered 500 miles already.  What fun though.  I have walked through snow in Colorado, desert heat in Vegas, Garlic and Mushroom capitals, on Roman Walls in the UK and seen snakes of all shapes, sizes and colors.....the list goes on :-) 

The walk is only about six weeks away now.  The pace will pick up and I'll be blogging it.  Thanks for following.  Thanks for your support.  We're going to San Fransisco!

In the Steps of Legionnaires

In the middle of the first century BC, England stood at the extreme outskirts of a vast Roman Empire that spanned much of the European continent.  Julius Caesar led expeditions to England in 54 BC, defeated the Celts and withdrew when they agreed to pay taxes to Rome.  A century later the Romans invaded again and stayed.  By 47AD they controlled the entire country and set about building an infrastructure of roads and cities. Over the next 350 years cities such as London, Cirencester, York, Bath and the venue for this training walk, Chester, flourished.  With the decline of the Roman Empire and civilization through much of the 5th century, the technology, art and culture of the Roman period was abandoned, England was invaded by the Saxons and Europe plunged into the Dark Ages.  Some of the structures built by the Romans have survived however and can still be seen today.

Chester was founded by the Romans in 79AD and was one of the largest forts in the country.  A wall 2miles in length was built around the city and is still intact to this day.  A training walk (ok amble) around the 2 miles loop had to be done.

One of the nice parts of the walk around the walls is that it gives you a glimpse into all periods of English history without ever leaving the top of the wall.  For example, the walls were incorporated into the outer defenses of Chester castle when it was built in 1070

The site of the old Saxon church became a monestary in 1093 and then in 1538 (during the dissolution of the monasteries) became a cathedral.  For those of you of American persuasion, that means the church was about 300 years old when Christopher Columbus left in search of Asia and bumped into something else.

In the 13th Century, the area enclosed by the walls was developed into a Medieval market town and much of the downtown still comprises the most wonderful collection of buildings from the era.

Anyway, what were we doing here.  Oh yes, training walk.  Well in total it was probably 5 miles so doesn't really count.  There are some walks though that hurt and are good for the legs (10 miles at 5AM this morning in the drizzle for example) and there are some that are good for the mind and soul.  Both need to be celebrated.  Back to the training....