After Friday's two short rides, my, ahem, ass was already sore. I took an Aleve and instantly felt 20 years older. I gave the bike a rest yesterday, but this morning, woke up early and kind of knew that if I let another day go by without a ride I'd feel guilty and it would start this weird cycle (seriously, no pun intended) of knowing I should go for a ride, and wanting to ride it but finding multiple lame reasons not to, even though I knew how fun it would be to go out.
This is what I do with things that I love, such as flute playing. I am my own worst enemy, yes, thank you, I know.
Anyway, I sat around the house and read for awhile, and had a bowl of cereal, and some strawberries, and then I tried on my goofy bike shorts (I didn't wear them Friday, and knew I needed the little extra padding they provide), and my Powell's Bookstore t-shirt, and got on the bike and went for a ride. Oh, and this time I took an Aleve first. Smart? Yes, us old people are smart. It's how we got to such an advanced age, junior.
The bike path in LB is pretty cool - lots of green stuff and ducks and park views, and dudes actually fishing, and there were a ton of other bike riders (am I supposed to refer to us as "cyclists" now? Well, maybe they are, but I don't know about me yet) and a few joggers and one guy who looked unconscious (I hope) lying on the rocks. The path I was on is the San Gabriel River bike trail. I caught it at Carson and road (west?) toward the beach. It took me about 40 minutes to get to whatever street it is that crosses the bike trail after Pacific Coast Highway. The bike trail ends there, and you can ride in the street for a little while before you get to the beach part of the bike trail, and from there, head to Seal Beach and Huntington Beach and various other southern beaches. I've done that before (on a much crappier bike, and regretted it), but the wind had been pretty much in the my face the whole way and I was tired.
There are some pretty good photos, here. I was nowhere near Downey - scroll down until you get to the photo that says "the bike trail turns into leaves at El Dorado Park." I'm not sure about that - you can get off and ride through El Dorado Park (it's beautiful!) but you don't have to. I considered it - again: I was tired - But I didn't.
So, everybody (my family) seems to be concerned that I am going to take a spill on my bike. I haven't yet, but I did have two close calls. When I got to that street at the end of the bike path, I was moving a little faster than I thought, and there's not a lot of room to maneuver there - if you don't stop, you will get hit by the cars. So of course I stopped. I've still not gained back the mobility I used to have, so hopping off my bike sometimes looks awkward and stupid. I may have uttered an "Oh shit." But I didn't fall, and the guy who watched the whole thing smiled at me, so I felt fine.
The other close call involved my shoelace and my pedal, and turned out okay. I am much more limber than I appear, I guess, and I didn't hurt myself or my bike. It was fine. And my shoelaces have been tied much tighter and will be under control next time.
The ride back home (without the wind in my face) was a lot more fun, and I pushed myself as hard as I could. I felt like I was going pretty fast (my speedometer had me at 17-19 mph a few times) and sure, I passed a few people. Mostly people with children, or riding skateboards! One or two joggers. There were a lot of cyclists out today, though, and they all sped right by me. That's fine. I like seeing them out there. I have to say that my favorite part is going fast, and I'm going to work that up as quickly as I can, but I realize that my idea of "fast" is probably nowhere near their idea of fast.
Oh, and the other thing I want to work on? I have some seriously white legs.
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