Dave and Allyson: The Amazing Bike Ride...

Catalina Island. What a pretty place! Dave's bosses, Doug Angus and Terry Hansen and their wives were going on a bike ride when they got to the island. They invited us to go. Dave is a cyclist and enjoys bike riding very much. BUT...the last time I rode a bike was probably in junior high school! Well, there was that one time a few years ago I rode Amanda's beach cruiser to the park with the kids, but I wrecked on the way home and jammed my thumb! I don't ride bikes! I knew how much Dave would enjoy it, and I wanted him to have some kind of fun on this trip (he wasn't feeling the best) and I knew that would make his day if I joined him in the adventure. So it goes like this...this man loads the bikes on a rack on the back of his jeep and as he is driving you to the VERY TOP of the island, he tells you some of the history and interesting things along the way. I don't know why about half way up I didn't tell him, "Just let me out here!" But I didn't. We made it to the top! It's called the airport in the sky and that's where we would start. He unloaded all the bikes while we went in to the little "airport" and used the bathroom and bought a cookie and I bought a hat! Then it was time to ride. I was a wee bit nervous! Turns out you don't just ride DOWN the island...there was a lot of uphill work first! I felt like a kindergartner learning to ride a bike. Doug said my bicycle seat looked a little too high, So we got that adjusted better. I know I slowed everyone down. And finally at one point I got off and went down to my knees on the ground. I felt literally sick. Like I might throw up. Everyone of course stopped and wanted to help however they could. There wasn't anything anyone could do. I told them I just needed to walk for a bit. So I walked my bike for the next little bit. Turns out after that "walk" that we really were to the all downhill part. Now it was fun! And almost scary! Glad there are good brakes on the bikes! The views were so pretty all the way. We could see our ship. Oh, and the captain had said the water was a bit choppy as it was so windy. He would pay close attention to the weather. If we heard three honks from the ship's horn, we were to get to the shuttle craft and get back to the boat ASAP. We were not even halfway down the mountain when we heard the horn blast. Nothing we could do! We were on bikes halfway up Catalina Island! The downhill part really was so much better. It went fast too. Before we knew it we were back in the little town and taking our bikes to the drop off point. It was 100 dollars each for us to do that, but I know Dave really enjoyed it and it was worth it. As for me, I am so proud of myself that I did it!!! It really was a highlight of the trip! My sit downer was awfully sore for the next few days though! I felt bad that I probably made them all go slower than they wanted to, but I really did enjoy it once I got over the rough patch. We went through the choppy water back to the ship. They still let us on. ha ha. Then we pulled out and started course for Mexico. Dave wasn't any worse for the wear, but he really didn't want to do much but sleep. I would read in the cabin while he slept. Then we would go for a walk around the deck, and somehow we always ended up where the food was! We were fond of the little ice cream cone machine! We did go to the infirmary and get him some "good" medicine to help with his congestion. On to Mexico!