At some point in the middle of the night I woke up because I thought I had heard sprinkling. That forced me to get out of my tent and cover all my bags with a rain cover. I also decided to fasten the rainfly down on my tent just in case. I did notice while I was up how comfortably warm it was. I was only covering my body halfway with the sleeping bag and was totally comfortable. At sunrise I woke again to what I thought was some people talking off in the distance, but didn't hear or see anything after that. I also don't think it had rained at all. Maybe that echoey canyon carries more than just the sound of waves.
I hit Malibu quick, but according to the signs Malibu is "27 miles of scenic beauty," so I didn't expect to be leaving anytime soon. The morning was blue skies and clear, but the forecast was that rain would soon be on the way. I decided to stop at a Starbucks/Pavillion (which is like Safeway or Vons) and made myself some breakfast and got some tea to warm my insides. Before I knew it two hours had passed and the clouds had come in and they were threatening rain!
As I headed out of the little strip mall area, deI ran into a retired Swiss couple that had spent 3 months cycling down the coast from Vancouver, BC. We got to talking, and somewhere mid conversation the rain came pouring down. I had been there for three hours with dry weather, and now as I was trying to leave the rain started in. Maybe I should've planned better. I wasn't too worried about it because LA seemed within reach, so as the Swiss couple went to get some lunch for themselves, I made myself something to eat and watched as the drops of water falling from the sky turned into puddles around the parking lot.
The rain continued to fall and I figured that I should probably get going despite the weather. I headed over to where the Swiss couple was so I could say goodbye, but we got caught up in another conversation and soon the rain had turned to a sprinkle and we all decided to hit the road. I thought that I better cover my bags and put on my rain gear just in case it started up again, so now all three of us were suited up and riding toward LA. Of course, we didn't end up needing all the rain gear, and a few miles down the road the sun was blaring and we suited down.
The Swiss couple, Werner and Elisa (I think?), were super nice but I felt that they were moving a little slow for me. Once again we said our goodbyes and I shot forward to Santa Monica. When I got out of Malibu, I was able to ride quite a nice beach bike path that took me all the way to Venice Beach. It was good to get away from the crazy LA traffic that crowded the streets, which may have been more crazy since drivers seem to freak out when it rains. The beach, from the Palisades all the way to Venice, was pretty unoccupied, I'm guessing due to the rain. I had decided to take Venice Blvd into Hollywood rather than Santa Monica Blvd because Venice has a bike lane. When I checked my phone I was surprised to find out that I still had about 18 miles until my destination. Damn LA is spread out.
The ride to my friends place in Los Feliz near Hollywood actually went quick. Even with a fully loaded bike I was faster than the buses, and as fast as some of the cars. Commuting by bike didn't seem like such a bad idea in LA, although I always imagined it would be hellish because of the traffic. I did have to engage all my senses to deal with the typical city riding obstacles like pedestrians crossing between intersection, reckless cyclists in the bike lane, cars changing lanes and turning at the last minute, and of course buses cutting me off to get to their stop. In fact, it seemed to me that the buses were some of the most erratic vehicles on the road. Watch out for those LA bus drivers!
Around 4pm I made it to my friend Nick's place, who was just trying to park his car after returning from the gym. Perfect timing. It was good to see my friend. We were friends since about the age of seven, but lost contact with each other after 5th grade until the wonderful world of MySpace reconnected us about 5 years ago. He was living in Washington at that time so we managed to hang out a couple of times before he moved down to LA. I was looking forward to hearing all about his life in LA as a struggling actor as well as seeing a bit of the city from a local's point of view.
The rest of the evening Nick and I just caught up and talked about what we've been doing with our lives. We got some awesome tacos, like only SoCal can do, at a little taco stand near his place. We also got a steak that we would be broiling for dinner, and picked up his roommate, Andrea, from her work. It was good to hang out with Nick, and his roommate was super awesome and they invited me to stay another night if I wanted...well, I kind f invited myself, but they said it would be fine. Haha.
As usual, I hit a wall in the middle of the night at about 12-12:30, and crashed out early on the couch. I guess just because I've been on a different schedule and spent my day being pretty active, I really have a hard time staying up as late as I used to. All-in-all, I'd say it was a good day and I was happy to have made it so far down the coast by bicycle. Now I just had to decide where, when, and how I was going to head east...
Miles: 54 miles
RRD: Half a surfboard. Wipeout?
-D
It's fun to read what you were up to a week ago, and to have teasers on your other site about what you will be writing about here. Keep up the stories, D! ~k
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