I just did a time trial by myself along the beaches of Los Angeles on Saturday. Okay, I didn't race anyone, just myself. It was a race against the clock. Going up and down the coastline took less than 3:00 hours. The distance was 50 miles from Pacific Palisades all the way down to the end of the bike path in Redondo Beach. It was pretty windy. The beaches were nearly empty. There were sandstorms in certain areas. Sand constantly hit my face for many miles. Sometimes the wind helped me, but most of the time it slowed me down. There were times when I could lean against the direction of the beach 10 degrees and the wind just held me up. I can see why you wouldn't want to have full aero disk wheels on these days. I was struggling to keep straight when there were strong gusts of wind. It was still a good day overall. I passed everyone on my Motobecane Nemesis. I love passing people, especially other road bikers.
Riding to church on Sunday was really cold. My fingers and nose felt frozen. I have to ride downhill in the beginning and that is really cold. But, during the middle of the ride I still get hot enough to break into a sweat.
Monday, I had to deal with another road rager. This stupid Chicano guy in a dark gold Civic Si kept yelling profanities at me and kept trying to run me over. He pulled over 3 times and tried to stop me to pick a fight. I should have got his license plate to report him to the cops. Man, drivers are such @ssholes!
2 comments:
Wow, you sure run across some lunatics riding your bike in a city like LA. You should definitely report someone like that guy, although it's the sort of thing that wouldn't occur to me until after the fact.
Church too? You really do ride everywhere! Does Sarah ride too? I'm impressed by your determination- esp dealing with sandstorms! I'm sure all the adversity makes you a stronger rider, kind of like how in life it "builds character" right? :)
Portia,
I wanted to get out my camera or cell phone, but I didn't want him to punch me while I was fumbling around my backpack for it.
If I reported everyone who had road rage, the police would think I'm overdoing it, because I would be calling nearly every day.
Sarah doesn't ride that much. She wants to get a girly bike with a basket.
You're absolutely right about adversity building character. Fortunately, I love the challenge of riding my bike all over the place.
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