Today was a gorgeous day for a long mountain bike ride on the single-track, hill-trails around the Palos Verdes Peninsula in Southern California. The views are breathtaking. I do not often stop to admire the view, but today I did.

A color photograph of the Santa Monica Bay in Southern California from a narrow trail that traverses the north face of the wooded hills of the Palos Verdes Peninsula. In the foreground is my mountain bike positioned on the narrow dirt path leaning against an old, downed tree trunk. The view of the bay is framed by trees and brush, the blue water edged by a gentle curving coastline more than 20 miles long through nearly a dozen beach cities. The sky, the same color as the ocean, is painted with soft, white puffy clouds.