Return from the Land of Awesome Smoothies
California. Where to start...It would be so easy so be a great cyclist living in San Diego; there's miles and miles of straight flat roads if you want them, hills and mountains to climb if that's you thing, bike lanes everywhere, tons of other cyclists to ride with and plenty of bike shops to keep you going (the one I really liked was Nytro in Encinitas).

The MS Bay to Bay 150 went.... pretty well. The first day, 102 miles, was unfortunately plagued with mechanical problems: The wise and mysterious Ass Master Guinass' rear derailleur broke, Buzz got two flats and between miles 58 and 80 I got three, count'em, THREE FLATS - more than I've had in the past two years!! The general consensus about that was that in California, there must be large crabs that live at the roads edge that have a sort of chameleon ability to blend in with the pavement (a la the Predator) and love snapping at valve stems...strange but true...ok, what ever. In the department of famous last words, at the mile 60 rest stop Buzz said something to the effect of "hey this route's pretty flat, there's not as many hills as I thought". Like I said, famous last words; after that it was ALL hills. Nice of them to save all the serious climbing for the end of the route, but hey, I like a good challenge :) Speaking of challenges, the best climb came at the beginning of day two, the climb up from Torrey Pines beach up onto the mesa. This is about a two mile climb with about a 7% grade. I haven't done a hill like this since Bear Mountain NY 3 years ago! It felt good though. It was nice to see that all the training I've done this year payed off. When I reached the top I thought to myself "this is why I ride".

Since I got back, people have asked me what I thought of California. Here is my list of observations:
1. It's much cleaner than Massachusetts. There's very little litter by the side of the roads; the city streets are clean; the barley any graffiti.
2. Everything is far more landscaped.
3. Drivers have alot more respect for cyclists and are in general more layed back.
4. Streets and roads are very well labeled which makes it so much easier to get around.
5. A cliche but true - the people seem less angry; especially those in service or retail jobs.
6. There was far, far less road kill (Mass has been a blood bath this year for some reason)
7. It seem, at least in San Diego, that restaurants have fewer vegetarian choices. (yes, I am vegetarian..not vegan..just vegetarian)
8. There's a Starbucks on every corner...This absolutely ROCKS!!
9. Bedspreads taste the same here as in Massachusetts (see photo).

Well, it was great to get away for a couple of weeks, but, its nice to be home. As, I said to D, I think I would fit in really well in Cali , but I don't think it would fit well with me.

Oh ya, almost forgot, new pics should be up shortly, check'em out!

 
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Posted by PunkAss at 10:37 AM