October catch up: catty neighbors, scenic cycling, Lisa Batiashvili

Casey (the black cat) and Theo still ambush me by my front door every morning. I swear I don't feed them (their owner does a good job of that himself, Casey is now so rounded she looks like a black furry basketball with big yellow eyes at night!), but I do find it hard to walk/bike off without first giving them a good petting session. Casey is good about letting me leave... after having dished out some returned petting of her own, that is (she likes to lick... and you know how cat tongues are!).

Theo is a more curious character... She is longer and more slender, and almost surreally elastic! You bend down to tickle her ears and the next thing you know she is completely wrapped around both of your ankles! I don't know how she keeps her sense of direction being nimbly twisted around like that, but she's coordinate enough to give you a good whack with her paw if you try to disentangle and sneak off...

The relatively new feline addition to the neighborhood is Ally the alley cat. Apparently she was a house kitten until a few months ago when her owner moved away to a new pad that doesn't allow cat, so he left a bag of dry cat food with a neighbor and just 'released her to the wild'. Ally isn't more than a year and a bit old, I think... A really street smart calico. It seems everybody feeds her, but she remains as thin as a stick (probably has worms). She usually turns up at the alley carport outside my window late in the afternoon and meows to see if I'm around and have a tin of cat food handy.

Nowadays she has also memorized the sound of my bike! I'd turn into the ally on my way home, and the next thing I know she'd jump out from one of the bushes and then walk all the way home with me to get her supper! Even my 'I don't like cats' 92 yrs old neighbor finds Ally amusing.

Anyhow, I've been riding around town a lot, of course. A lot of people like to pit 'commuter cyclists' against 'recreational cyclists'... Well, I do both! Luckily enough my part-time job is just 45 minutes ride away (well, 55 min on return trip due to hill climbs). And when I'm not working, there is still nothing quite like a good ride into the traffic-free San Diego countryside to sweat off the stress while enjoying fantastic change of scenery!

I'm not telling you where my favorite cycling hang outs are... I'm liking them remote! ;o)

Can you believe the last two photos are just 30 minutes ride apart??? San Diego is a blessed corner of the earth!
Now, if only we can lure one Vesselina Kasarova or Lisa Batiashvili into town for a concert or two, life would really be perfect in America's Finest City!