79 miles, 5:11 ride time, 1868 feet of climb, and 1940 calories.
At last! After many months of waiting and preparing, the journey began this morning. I didn't think I was excited, but I didn't sleep much last night. I got up before the alarm went off and went in search of a cup of coffee at 5:00 am. The breakfast buffet was at 5:30. We had been told to have our bags ready at 6:30 and be ready to depart the hotel by 7:00. I figured with a large group that the departure would be delayed, waiting for stragglers, but everyone was on time and ready to go. The CrossRoads staff had the cyclists line up in pairs, with an escort vehicle in front and one in back. We paraded through the streets of el Segundo, eventually merging onto the bike path at the beach. A short ride took us to the Manhattan Beach pier. I was met by the Palos Verdes Bike Club, one of my "Presyterian" bike buddies, my wife, daughter, grand puppies, and dear friends, the Webbs and de laneys. What a great send off. Thanks guys, I really appreciated your coming out to see me off.
Some cyclists took their bikes down to the water for a ceremonial wheel dip in the Pacific Ocean. I chose to keep my wheels salt-free, thank you. We gathered for group pictures and, after a brief pep talk by our leader Tracy, we headed east, up the short hill on Manhattan Beach Blvd.
It was a great day to ride, with overcast skies at the beach and cool conditions. The ride across Los Angeles isn't very exciting, lots of traffic even on Sunday morning and lots of lights and stop signs. The pace was good, not too fast and we covered the miles in good time. The ride up Santa Ana Canyon was very pretty - the sun was coming out and the river bike trail is great. Once we got to Riverside, our route took us on Victoria through the orange groves. Forty years ago, this is what most of Southern California looked like, too bad the groves are long gone, replaced by ticky-tacky homes.
We were into the hotel by early afternoon - time for a shower and some carbo-loading for tomorrow.
Hey there DareDevil. It was quite an enjoyable morning today. Much less crowded yesterday then today, but enjoyable just the same! : )
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that you have been setting the bar high all your life, but this one is quite the mark. With a start like this near the shore, but far from the tide as to never be erased. It was GREAT to see you nd send you off on your journey. We will stay in touch and monitor your joutney with enthusiastic anticipation over the next several weeks. Main thing Jim, Be Careful & Have a Blast!
Thinking of you ... Mike & Sue
Jim....we really wanted to be there, but decided it best to keep the germ-ridden Mia, with her 104 temp FAR away from you. When Emma woke up the first thing she asked was when were we going to see Jim ride his bike. We are looking forward to tracking your progress.
ReplyDeleteErin, Tony, Emma, Mia