WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE

31 March 2002

When one's virtual life crosses paths with one's real life and it all works out, it's very special.

Today was the day Olivia and I planned to make our second bike trip--back to the Naval Air Station again. Having read about our plans in my journal, my friend The Bitter Hag expressed an interest in joining us. We enthusiastically invited her to come along.

What a fantastic day!

Olivia and I picked up lunch at Safeway again and then met Haggie on the base. We got our bikes unpacked in short order (we're getting expert at this) and in no time were up on our wheels and headed back to The USS Hornet. The weather wasn't quite as clear as it had been last week, but still very pleasant to sit there surrounded by big ships and eating our lunch.

Bev and Haggie

Over lunch we trashed big business and the legal profession. Olivia and Haggie had a lot of experiences in common that they enjoyed sharing. Next time we'll get into the vagaries of the medical field.

Olivia and Haggie

Then back on the bikes for another tour of the base. We retraced our steps from last week, only adding another jog to it, so we went farther. I'm getting to feel more solid on the bike. I may try city streets any day now.

When we returned to the parking lot, Olivia decided that we needed photographic proof that we were all there, and that I can actually ride a bike. The photos are a nice representation of the day--and only took four tries to get. 

By the time we were loading bikes into the car, Haggie was coveting the soft seats that Olivia and I had on our bikes, and I was really wanting an odometer so I could keep track of how far we've biked. There was only one thing to do.

We returned to Alameda Bicycle and our friend Gene.

We finally convinced her that she really looked fetching in a gold-colored Specialized brand hat and she was happy to see that this hat was small enough to fit her extraordinarily small sized head (she and Olivia both wear size XS and I wear a size XL. I'm not sure what that indicates!)  Haggie discovered that the price of her doodads exceeded the cost of her K-Mart special bike, so we're sure that in the foreseeable future, she's going to upgrade so that her bike is the same quality as her doodads.

We left the bikes with Gene to be outfitted with new seat (for Haggie) and odometers (for Olivia and me), and we went back to Olivia's house to feed the squirrels, and to look at all the photos the three of us had taken during the day.  (Haggie took a sum total of one, count 'em, one.)

Olivia and Haggie got involved in Computer Stuff and the time passed quickly. We also took two silly MPEG movies with Olivia's new camera (finding out how to take and then retrieve the movies took a long time).

Ultimately we presented ourselves back at Alameda Bicycle to pick up our newly decorated bikes. (and yes, Gene gave me a discount--thanks, Gene!)  Olivia got on her bike to ride home, Haggie and I packed our bikes into our respective cars, and the three of us went off in different directions. We already have plans for next week (and Gene showed Haggie and me where we could find some other relatively flat trails to check out in the coming weeks).

It appears we're starting a cycling club for rank beginners.