It's A New Year

Rode up to Torrey Pines today.

It was a chilly 42º Fahrenheit (again!) when I took off at 7:38, but it warmed up as I approached State College. Nice, I thought, I'll be able to take off the saggy leg warmers.

No, No, No! When I dropped down Montezuma into Missing Valley the temperature dropped maybe 10 degrees. It was COLD! I stopped and put on my heavy duty gloves under the 805, but it took several miles until my hands warmed up.

Near Morena and Friar's Road there was a car facing the wrong direction in that goofy separated bike path, you know the one. There was a lady picking up car pieces from the road. The front right tire seemed to have disappeared, and I don't that rotor is ever going to brake again. The car had Oregon plates. A guy got out of the car, he said he fell asleep and hit the median, spun around, ended up where he did. He picked up some pieces of his car, then got back in. He said, "Oh f***" quite a few times. He didn't appear to be hurt, so I headed on my way. It occurred to me later that there is such a thing as shock, and I might have been of some help. Oh well, 'weak as water", as they say. And I didn't get a picture!

Oh, and I had only seen one bicyclist to this point.

Stopped at UCSD to take some pictures.



These comprise what I call the "Is This The UCSD Library, Or Is It Snot?" series. You surely will want to click on them to see the bigger, gooier, versions!

I changed to the mesh gloves at this point, as it was getting warmer.

Oh, and I had only picked up three cans to this point, which is around 20 miles.

It was quite warm (60º) at the top of the hill at Torrey Pines State Reserve. I rode the park road down to the entrance. There were many walkers and a several cyclists. It got cooler and cooler and I descended, and it was downright COLD again, and windy, down at the bottom.

Here's the Fat Cyclist Pink Jersey posing at the showers:



Who is that to my right? Are they making fun of me?

I started finding a LOT of aluminum cans now. Especially beer cans. And now the bike and my gloves stink of stale beer!

I felt pretty good going up the Torrey Pines grade. Stopping every hundred feet to pick up and crush a can is entertaining and restful.

Moving on, I noticed three riders following me down from UCSD, and just before we entered the Rose Canyon Bike Path they passed. It was Team DeWalt, resplendent in their black and yellow outfits. One of the women said "Good morning" to me. I wanted a picture of them as they slowly leaving me in their dust, as it were, but sadly the camera was in the rack trunk, and by the time I got it out they were LONG gone.

Coming out of the Rose Creek bike path (where a homeless person wished me "Happy New Year") near the golf course, I felt the rear tire softening. Another flat!



This time is was caused by a tiny piece of glass. It took me forever to fix it, and I had to endure the loud voice of a guy on his trailer patio across the road explaining to someone on the telephone the state of the world, economics, and secret health cures through nutrition. Or something.

Now there seemed to be some kind of headwind, slight but there, but I was still clipping along at a good rate.

Three cyclists stopped at a red light on Mission Bay Drive that refused to change. I said, "Where is a car when you need one?"

The car wreck was gone. No picture for you!

Heading up Montezuma I saw these shoes:


Aren't they purty? What's the story, do you suppose?

Going up Montezuma in almost Granny I picked up a couple cans. Yes, that's the excuse, cans. Not resting. I had stopped picking up cans as the bag was getting FULL, but I couldn't resist a couple more.



There ended up being 35 cans in and around the bag today! A new high!

Did you take the Can Poll yet?

So eventually I got home, and I was not totally wasted, so I feel pretty good about the trip. It's too bad I couldn't power up the hills, but, there yah go.

RIDE STATISTICS

Ride Distance: 51.32 miles (82.5 km)
Ride Time: 4 hours 13 minutes 14 seconds
Average Speed: 12.16 mph (19.5 km h)
Highest Speed: 30.17 (48 km h)

Total Elapsed Time: 5 hours
Apparent Goofing Around Time: 45 minutes 46 seconds