Where is an Island not an Island ?

. . . in San Diego.

When I first moved to San Diego in 2001 I quickly learned that Coronado Island, on which sits the lovely town of Coronado and is home to the Hotel Del Coronado, is not really an island but is connected to the mainland by a thin, lovely ribbon of sand called the Silver Strand. Likewise Harbor Island and Shelter Island are man made peninsulas almost surrounded by water with just enough land for a multi-lane road to connect them to the mainland. Despite knowing this, whenever someone mentioned Fiesta Island in Mission Bay I always pictured an actual island requiring a boat to access. Silly me.

Driving home from work today, with the top down and enjoying the nice afternoon, I felt energetic enough for something active and fun, but what to do? I finally decided to get out on my bicycle, which I haven't done for quite a long time. I used to do lots of cycling and I have all the stuff; helmet, gloves, padded shorts, shoes, and a really nice Trek road bike that I haven't been on much since last summer.

The challenge about where I live is that any bicycle ride from home must either go east—which is a horrible ride through lots of traffic and not scenic neighborhoods—or down: I'm surrounded by steep descents. Going out is fun, but the return trip is a challenge. They'd be hard enough starting fresh but are just mean after a long ride when you’re tired; although the scenery is nice (kind of like a couple of ex-boyfriends; gorgeous, but requiring lots of effort).

I decided to follow the main bike route through Mission Hills down into Mission Valley and resign myself to walking part way back. At the bottom of Presidio Hill I turned left towards Point Loma, to follow some roads I'd explored earlier this year in the car going towards Mission Bay Park, to connect up to some bike paths I found last summer. I turned right on Pacific Coast Highway, which had a nice designated bike path on it. Approaching the bridge over the San Diego River I noticed signs pointing to a bike path going towards Ocean Beach: note to self for further exploration another day. At the entrance to the park I wanted to go left to get to a bike path I knew, but instead of turning across a whole lot of traffic I followed a couple of other cyclist straight across, intending to double back.

Once out of traffic, however, I saw signs and a short, narrow road with water on each side going towards—Fiesta Island. Who knew! My nose led me to a 1-lane, one-way road going around an approximately 2-square mile “island” dedicated to summer fun: on the right sandy parking/boat-access/beach sloped directly to the water; on the left, between breaks in a high, man made dune, a wide, flat area that looked like a big beach volleyball court. Along one side a large RV park was full of folks starting their weekend; out in the water die-hards were playing on their wave runners in the fading light. So this is Fiesta Island. I'm so coming back here.

Coming off the Island, turning right, still feeling good, still some energy in the legs, still following my nose, I turned right again onto a bike path that paralleled a newly landscaped, paved walk along the bay: note to self, come back with the Rollerblades. I followed this path almost to Sea World, then crossed over to a path I'm familiar with and headed back towards home.

The only way to get from Old Town to Mission Hills is up. And even though the hill probably wouldn't raise the pulse of Lance Armstrong, I got off the bike and walked. But it's a lovely walk by nice homes with a terrific view halfway up across the 5 to Point Loma, Mission Bay, and on to the ocean. When I got home I had to pee like a race horse.

What a great ride! I had such a nice time. I went 12 miles. Along the way I saw some great scenery, found more places to explore, saw a Hunk, got a wave and a big smile from a Pretty Girl, saw Spiderman, and made it back home feeling like I could have gone a couple more miles.

I'm kicking myself for not taking my small camera with me. I'm sorry I have no pictures to share. Anyone know of a good, small video camera that can be strapped to a helmet?