SC SC LIVING San Clemente
PROFILES OF OUR COMMUNITY
GUEST OPINION: On Life and Love After 50 by Tom Blake
Senior Cyclist Leaves No Carbon Footprint
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met John Bates in Dana Point in 1990 in the parking lot of the Dana Niguel Bank, which is now the Pacific Western Bank. My deli, Tutor and Spunky’s, and other local restaurants were serving food at an outdoor Chamber of Commerce mixer. John has always been interested in local transportation. In 1990, he was a commissioner on the Dana Point Traffic Improvement Commission. I recall him telling me that day, “Our first recommendation was to ON LIFE AND LOVE AFTER 50 get rid of Caltrans and By Tom Blake return to two-way traffic on PCH and Del Prado.” Over the years, John and I have stayed in touch. Recently we met for coffee in the Dana Point Harbor at Coffee Importers. He is still interested in local transportation but on a more personal level. To get to the Harbor from his San Juan Capistrano home, he rode his bicycle. I asked him how often he rode. John said, “All of the time. Before I retired 12 years ago, I sold my car and used my bike to commute to my Dana Point office from my home.” “Have you always been a bike rider?” I asked. He said, “I got my first bike at age 8 when my family moved from Los Angeles to Pasadena. That bike was several sizes too large for me. I couldn’t sit on the seat because my feet didn’t reach the pedals, so I rode around all day in a standing position. “But, I loved the freedom and the extended range that that bike afforded me,” he continued. “I soon learned the
streets of Pasadena, the Rose Bowl, Devil’s Gate Dam, Colorado Boulevard and the Rose Parade. I knew it all and thought it was cool. “I had several bikes during my youth and graduated from fat balloon-tire cruisers to thin-tire hot racing bikes,” John said. “I used them all for delivering newspapers and for my basic transportation for years. However, when I turned 16 and got my driver’s license, I put my bike away for several years.” John said when he and his wife Judy had children, they got their son and daughter bicycles as soon as the children were able to ride. The family went on riding trips together, including a three-day trip from their Mission Viejo home to San Diego. John added, “Years later, when my daughter graduated from the University of San Francisco, she and I rode our bikes from San Francisco to Santa Barbara, a 360-mile trip down Highway 1 that took six days. She and I still have occasional half-day rides and always talk about the highlights of our six-day trip together. “Now that I’m retired, I bought a battery-assisted bicycle and use my bike to get to and from the Mission San Juan Capistrano, where I’m a volunteer docent, and zip around from Mission Viejo to San Clemente and Dana Point for lunch, coffee meetings, shopping and various errands,” he said. “At age 78, I consider myself very fortunate to still enjoy cycling,” John added. “My bike is again my basic transportation, and, even after all these years, I still get a thrill from the freedom that riding a bicycle gives me. Once in a while I fall off, but after 70 years of cycling, I’m still in one piece and enjoy every minute on the road.
By riding my bike instead of driving a car, I get valuable exercise and am pleased that I don’t leave a carbon footprint on the environment. However, I will admit that my wife still has her car and sometimes I ride with her. “And regarding the 1990 Traffic Improvement Commission recommendation about the two-way traffic in Dana Point, it only took 25 years to make it happen, but we were right. It’s much better for all concerned.” If more people would follow John’s bike-riding example, our cities might start to resemble European cities such as Amsterdam where bicycles outnumber automobiles. Wouldn’t that be nice? Tom Blake is a Dana Point resident and a former Dana Point businessman who has authored several books on middle-aged dating. His latest book can be found online at www.smashwords.com/books/view/574810. See his website at www.findingloveafter60. com (Yes, after 60, time rolls on). To comment: tompblake@gmail.com. SC
Business Beat News from San Clemente’s business community BY ERIC HEINZ, SAN CLEMENTE TIMES
Now Open SC EYE LAB 1311 N. El Camino Real 949.388.6072 Website and Facebook coming soon
Sudoku BY MYLES MELLOR Last week’s solution:
Each Sudoku puzzle consists of a 9x9 grid that has been subdivided into nine smaller grids of 3x3 squares. To solve the puzzle, each row, column and box must contain each of the numbers 1 to 9. Puzzles come in three grades: easy, medium and difficult. Level: Easy San Clemente Times February 11 - 17, 2016
Cheryl Cavanna opened SC Eye Lab a few weeks ago with the hopes of making glasses more affordable for her customers. Photo: Eric Heinz
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John Bates. Photo: Tom Blake PLEASE NOTE: In an effort to provide our readers with a wide variety of opinions from our community, the SCTimes provides Guest Opinion opportunities in which selected columnists’ opinions are shared. The opinions expressed in these columns are entirely those of the columnist alone and do not reflect those of the SCTimes or Picket Fence Media. If you would like to respond to this column, please email us at editorial@sanclementetimes.com
Cheryl Cavanna, owner of SC Eye Lab and a 30-year San Clemente resident, is hoping to make eyewear more affordable for everyone who needs glasses. “I worked for an optometrist for several years,” Cavanna said. “The thing is, people with the state of California insurance, after the age of 21 (California Care) only pay for exams and not materials, so the cost of eyeglasses is extremely high.” Cavanna said a basic pair of glasses can run $175-$200, but she makes glasses in her lab for as little as $99 or $49 if the customer already has their own frames. Behind the scenes, Cavanna chisels the frames using a machine designed to make various prescriptions for polycarbonate or glass lenses. “The wait time with me is only a day or two, whereas at other locations you may be waiting 10 to 15 days,” she said. “If I have the lenses, sometimes I can do it in an hour.” At this time Cavanna is the only person who works at SC Eye Lab. “It was kind of a fluke. My background was in skincare and I worked in restaurants for years, and I really just fell into it and I really love it,” Cavanna said. “I felt that people needed a low cost to get their glasses.” Although affordability is key, Cavanna does stock higher-end bifocals. SC Eye Lab will offer a discount of half off prices to people with a military ID or CalOptima card during the month of February. SC www.sanclementetimes.com