left coast update

I visited University City Cyclery in La Jolla this morning. i bought a pump, a bunch of CO2s, tubes and some lube. Abraham also wrote me up a invoice for a new bike box when i speak with UPS. Nice shop. He also explained to me that a portion of I-5 has a bike lane(!?) for one exit and it is safe to ride there. Okay, i may investigate tomorrow. i got out and rode south. there is a bike path. after the mornings escapades, i decided that i'd just tool around. this was the bike path from hell. the first thing once i got on it was a sign. "dismount bike and walk". I'm like yah, whatever... No really, i almost endo'd. i did jam the brakes and stopped, i slid down this little section with my cleats. the path was covered with sand, frost heaves (or whatever the hell causes them out here). It isn't maintained as sections have growth pretty much covering the entire path. i wish i had my video camera on for the ride. there is a section where you ride with traffic and go by the Karl Strauss brewery and what looks like a budweiser distribution plant. More investigation to follow...

back on the path, it is now even narrower with chainlink fences on both sides. lots of blind corners. i would not bring a kid on it. at the end, there was a big parking lot and a blonde was putting her bike in her car. NICE!!! It was a specialized tarmac. in hindsight, the blonde wasn't too bad either.

coming back, i passed a bunch of older gentlemen riding the bike path (maybe a dozen). luckily it wasn't in one of those bad sections. i tooled by the hotel and then down towards the beach enjoying the steep decent. i tooled about the beach for a while, then headed back up. eventually, i'll post the garmin data. let's just say it was a good climb. i saw 12% for a while. one hairpin turn.

got in 29.22 miles. to end my wonderful day, i'm bombing down the hill to the hotel. i hit a reflector and hear a noise. i look to see how fast i'm going. holy crap, it is my garmin!!!!! this is a busy road. i lucked out only two cars behind me and no one ran over it. a nick on the plastic underside was the only issue.

man what a day. time to go to work now.