Has to be today's.
I did my first annual Balboa Park Fountain to Cabrillo National Monument loop (tried once before and made a wrong turn and ran out of time so I didn't reach the lighthouse). 43 miles, door to door, so I did some neighborhood miles to make it an even 50.
Anyway...got started, swept through Balboa Park, drifted downtown, cruised around Petco Park, turned toward the harbor past the convention center and ran smack dab into...
the 2005 Holiday Bowl Parade! Thousands of people! Use the very route I intended to take (Harbor Drive)!
As I got there, the bands from the University of Oregon and Oklahoma filed past. There was actually enough room to "safely" ride (slowly) alongside the parade -- and soon, people acted as though I was IN the parade, and began waving at me!
Oh -- and by coincidence, I was wearing a short and long sleeved tee shirt, giving me the color scheme of USC -- playing next week for the national championship!
The funniest site was those little Shriner cars, and one clown (literally) who couldn'dt get his miniature tow truck pulling a miniature car to start. He tried and tried and tried as float after float went by, his own group wayyyyyy down the road. Finally gave up. It was so sad -- he had waited all year for this. But to see this guy in his purple hair trying to get that little truck started...I was SO sorry I hadn't brought my camera!
After that, I got into a bit of hills on Pt. Loma, and much to my chagrin, gave up on one and started walking what turned out to be the final 100 yards (the bend concealed the crest). Darn! I would have kept going!
Last thing to report. At mile 28 I stopped for lunch and, being a Big Stupid Idiot Who Does Not Ever Learn, I ordered a burger and fries. Well, that made the next 22 miles a living hell, with a tummy that felt like it had more helium in it than the floats in the parade, and a steady toot! toot! toot! that would have really ruined the ride for anyone dumb enough to draft with me.
Other than that, the ride was just pretty fun. But joining a parade was a highlight!
So..what was ĽOUR Strangest Ride of 2005?