Bike Century from Orange County to San Diego

Since being back in LA, the place that initially inspired me to get into cycling, I'd been wanting to do the LA to San Diego bike ride. 135 miles was a little daunting to someone who had never even done a century so I looked around. I found that the Orange County Wheelmen, a cycling group embarks on their annual "Amtrak Century'" leaving from the Irvine Amtrak Station all the way to San Diego.

 Up at 5am, I met Felix and Chi at the Irvine Metro station at 630. Unlike the map above, we cut directly from Irvine down to Laguna Beach through Laguna Canyon. It was a slight uphill starting out but about 10 miles of downgrade until the beach. The Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) was two lanes and pretty mellow in terms of traffic. It had a few nasty hills that I wasn't quite expecting, especially because I was riding my fixed-gear bike in single-speed mode.

Why bring a Fixie on a long ride like this? Well, it was pretty much my only option and having it as a single speed made it so I could at least rest my legs. Needless to say, I actually led the group on the first few sets of hills. It was once we warmed up on the flats that Felix and Chi started to leave me behind.

I was surprised by the amount of closed-lane bike paths available along the route AND our ability to follow them without getting lost. We picked one up just before Dana Point and pretty much stuck to bike paths or bike lanes the whole way down. The hills disappeared after San Clemente and we were left with a beautiful, easy ride down the Southern California Coast.

Well, until we hit US Marine Corps' Camp Pendleton, which people had warned us "you'll have to ride on the freeway." No such thing, we rode to the front entrance of Camp Pendleton, showed our IDs and they waved us through, letting us cycle on the main road through the base. There wasn't as much activity around the base as I had seen in previous drives to San Diego (I've seen Huey Choppers and APCs in training exercises), but it was cool enough just riding through the base.

Upon exiting the base at Oceanside, we were treated to 20 more miles of straight, flat, beachfront riding. We saw "The Hill" at Torrey Pines looming up ahead: 1.45 miles at a  6% to 7% grade. We'd been warned of this before. Compared to a few of the hills I've done in Colombia, this wasn't too bad, but I was on a single speed, 75 miles into a ride at the heat of the day was getting bad. I stopped after the first 200 feet and sucked down some water. I stayed behind Felix, standing up and sitting down every 10 seconds. Finally we made the top and rested, finishing all of our liquids.

On our way into San Diego, we were subjected to several more hills as a result of getting a little off course, but slowly but surely, we edged our way into the Gaslamp District  of San Diego at 5pm. Our total riding time was about 9 hours, though our time on the bikes was considerably less. After a few beers and some college football we grabbed some very authentic Mexican food and hopped on the Pacific Surfliner ($23 one way) towards Irvine.

Our bikes fit perfectly in the racks below and to make things even better, they had Arrogant Bastard Ale (San Diego's finest beer) in the galley. We reached Irvine at 10pm, full, happy, tired AND beaming about our first Century. My advice to anyone wishing to do this ride is to leave early enough and bring more liquids than you think you need. Maybe I'll be able to get a group together to do it next year!

South Central Bike Tour

Towards the end of my time living in LA, I began to  feel remorseful for all of the wonderful things in the area I hadn't yet taken the time to see. One of those was Watts Towers, a defining monument of local significance in South Central LA.

 

My friends Luke and Chris accompanied me as we biked from El Segundo into the heart of South Central. We cycled somewhat apprehensively as South Central has a rough reputation and us being on expensive bikes in a place we'd never been before. Before long we realized we were in the vicinity of the towers but lost. Suddenly, three thuggishly dressed guys approach the three of us on our bikes.

Thuggish1: Hey y'all lost or something?
Me: Yeah, we're trying to get to Watts Towers, it's close to here right?
Thuggish2: yeah its right down the street
Chris: down 112th or something right?
Thuggish2: no no, you don't want to take that way, 103rd can get you
there faster

As all of us (with serious interest!) begin to deliberate the most parsimonious way to Watts Towers, a police cruiser who observes the situation stops dead in the street and rolls down its window, all 6 of us look over at the cop for about a second and then get back to the situation at hand)

Thuggish2: yeah man, its just on the other side of the park
Me: Cool, thanks a lot guys, appreciate it
Thuggish1: Na man its cool y'all came to check it out, don't see too
many white dudes on bike around here especially
Luke: haha, yeah especially ones that look like us, have a good one!

Continuing to ignore the cop, the 6 of us part ways. I left out how my friend Luke has a "space bike" and resembles something of a Terry Gilliam character when riding; we got lots of funny looks in the residential areas.

In any case, my return to Watts Towers was even less eventful. This time I noted the general good condition of the side streets and was only gawked at when I rode by a school: "Hey are you a superhero or spaceman/take me to marvin the martian yo!" I rode back on Manchester by the LA Forum, a staple of Inglewood and LA, 30 miles round trip.

Repatriation

First time back on U.S. soil since August of last year. Some initial adjustments have to do with everything being BIGGER and FASTER here. I also feel like people are generally more agitated, no doubt something to do with the economic state of things. Luckily I've been eating better than ever: Thai, Phó, Japanese, Mexican; everything I've been lacking in variety and the quality is just something cities like LA, NY and Mexico City can only provide.

The first Thai restaurant I stopped at was a perfect reintroduction to LA. Some screenwriters in the corner arguing how to make the perfect pitch, a washed-up former B-list starlet drinking wine by the bar and some "account executives" fresh out of college taking advantage of the lunch specials.

The spiciness of the jade curry I've just ordered invades my senses like a roundhouse kick of Asian chilies and coconut milk; washed down with the exotic flavors of an iced tea impossible to come by in South America. Yet, the scene still bothers me. Everybody in the restaurant seems like they are in a hurry and/or upset. The waitress brings me the check a minute after taking my plate (a feat at least 20 minutes in Colombia). I'm satiated with curry goodness, though still a bit culture shocked. Regardless, the fantastic dining options of LA are one aspect making my adjustment back to life here (for the time being) that much more bearable.