In 1989 I lost a lot of weight. Over a period of 3 years, from 1989 to 1992 I dropped about 150 lbs. from almost 300 to just under 150. I lost the first 90 lbs. from 1989 to 1990. That's when I decided to take up cycling again.
I bought a Peugeot ladies cross bike, which was designed to be used on pavement or dirt trails. It was mainly a comfort bike and easy to ride. I lived in Culver City back then and was very close to the bike path along the Los Angeles River to Marina Del Rey. For those of you not familiar with Los Angeles, the "River" is a paved over river bed that is empty most of the year, but fills up with water during the rainy months.
The ride from Culver City to Marina Del Rey is about 6 miles. There's head-wind going and a tail-wind coming back. They held Jazz Concerts in the park there on Sunday afternoons, and I used to ride down, listen to the music, and take the tail wind back home. I lived about two blocks from the bike path, which made it very convenient to get there and back.
I subscribed to a couple of cycling magazines and even sent a letter with a photo of me and my Peugeot bike, which was published in one of them. This put me on a mailing list for a host of cycling-related products and organizations.
I joined the WOMBATS (Woman's Mountain Bike and Tea Society) and went on what was billed as a beginner's trail ride. Everyone was very nice to me even though neither I nor my bike was in suitable shape for this easy ride. I still have my WOMBATS T-Shirt somewhere but it is too small to fit me now.
Around that time I received an invitation to join Rails to Trails. This organization is dedicated to converting old, abandoned railroad tracks to walking and biking paths. It sounded like a good idea so I joined.
Well you already know part of the story. I moved from Los Angeles to Morro Bay and then from Morro Bay to San Ramon. I've lived here for 18 years now.
I gained back most of the weight I lost, and then lost some weight again, and bought an adult-sized tricycle to ride on the Iron Horse Trail near my house.
About a week ago I received another invitation to join Rails to Trails. I thought "how ironic." I contributed to Rails to Trails when they started converting the old Southern Pacific railroad tracks between Concord and San Ramon.
I never heard of San Ramon before I moved here, but I helped to build the Iron Horse Trail 20 years before I knew where it was. Now I can look out my office window, where it is almost dark, and see the Iron Horse Trail a few hundred feet from my backyard. How weird is that?
