it’s harder to go 100 miles on a bicycle than you might think. actually it’s not that hard physically or mentally, it’s hard to find a good path to take.
los angeles is huge. sprawling. roads that go on for uncounted miles. but in the end, to hit 100 miles you have to…hmmm. look, i could ride around the block 100 times. that would suck. it sucks to even think about. there’s a million ways to go and really just about all of them seem to suck. so unless you’re prepared to drive 100 miles so you can ride 100 miles you’re stuck with suck.
i rode out and back and up and over and topanga is cool except that the wind blows hot ass right in your face the whole way so when you feel like you should be doing 40 mph down that steep ass hill you’re literally pedaling hard to do like 23.
i managed to hit like 35 and then rounded a corner to get slapped in the face by a vicious wind that literally brought a tear to my eye.
topanga creek bicycle shop was a dumb bust. literally the only place to buy the bmc i want in all of los angeles and they were total idiots. booo!
i did get passed twice today. which makes three times in like 2 days or something but the first time today was crap cuz the two doods rolled me at a stop light and then i caught them and then they split up and i went straight.
the second time was about a half mile from the bottom of topanga canyon and the guy that passed me was on a $9,000 bike (estimated from stock - it could be 12) and he just barely squeaked by and at the light he mentioned the heat. i mentioned the wind. i asked about his specialized bike and jersey. he admitted to being “pro”. though he actually said in his australian accent “i get paid to ride and i had to bust me hump to catch you.” and then i asked how far he’d come and he said “not far, maybe about 12 miles.” he asked how far i’d come and i told him about 75 and he said “ouch. you just hurt my pride.” we rode down the pch a bit and he let me keep up. i say that because he said “well, see ya later.” and then blasted off and i couldn’t even begin to think of how i might be able to keep up.
then i found a way! a traffic jam! pch was blocked for miles and miles and it was super fun to ride past all the stupid cars just sitting there being super inefficient.
then i came home. all in all not a bad day. i still want topanga hill to be more faster and stuff but what are you gonna do?
chirp,
hillary
1 year ago