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Send me your thoughts!Vilmar's Pacific Coast: Week 6 |
DAY MILES/TOTAL MILES: 51/1374 AVG SPEED: 12 WX: CLOUDY/SUNNY HELLO!! LA-LA LAND!! Today was a day to remember! Although it broke cloudy, the ground cloth and fly were dry. It is so much better to put away dry gear. Much lighter, too.Climbed towards Pepperdine University and then cruised downhill right into Malibu where mansions proliferate on the hillsides and ocean bluffs. Also saw lots of places that required tremendous work to restore. I can only assume they were the result of El Nino’s many storms and lack of insurance to repair. Also lots of row apartments on the water with parking spaces on the Highway 1 side. There was no lack of front ends and rear ends of BMWs, Mercedes, Vettes, Lexus, Infiniti, etc. Finally got to the bike path which was a welcome departure from the stress of traffic. Rode past the amusement park area in Malibu right into Venice Beach. WHOA NELLIE!!!! All sorts of humanity and weirdness was there. Massagists, tarot card readers, spiritualists, women drummers, assorted and miscellaneous other musicians, people flat out asking for beer money, artists, Sea Shell Queens, etc. One thing I noticed, though, while cruising the beaches was that there was a veritable paucity of drop dead gorgeous women. Can’t explain why but I sure was expecting to be impressed with babes sunning, rollerblading, and displaying themselves. Maybe I read too many tourist brochures! What was not lacking anywhere in this area was advertising. It was everywhere. Even the trash cans and those little bars that separate peoples’ groceries had advertising for "Blade." What a stupid movie yet the target audience is the pre-teen, teen, and younger 20s crowd which explained all the ads on the beaches. Finally about 330 I called my friend Tom and found out we were far, far, away from his house. 20 miles far away as a matter of fact. A very big hill far away. And the sun decided right then and there to come out blazing!! Temperatures immediately shot up 15 degrees. Had the sun been out sooner, there would have been quite a few more people out and about so I guess in that respect we were spared. After much sweating and cursing, we made it to the general vicinity where Tom lived but could not locate his street as the streets in that area appear on one block, disappear for a couple and then re-appear. We were close enough, though, that he walked over to meet us. Prior to calling Tom, I asked for directions to his street from a guy hanging up a store sign. He flags down a lady friend of his who volunteered to help us by using the voice activated direction finder she had mounted in her truck. It was cool to observe how it worked. Due to considerable construction in the area, many of the addresses were altered so the machine could not give us specific directions from where we were. We thanked her for her efforts anyway. Didn’t really expect that degree of cooperation in a big city. Got to Tom’s place, were introduced to Reggie, his cat, showered and then went out to eat at Acapulco’s after which Tom took us on a windshield tour of various landmarks. We got back about 10 and it had cooled considerably so we slept quite well.
Tom took us to NBC studios where we picked up tickets to be in the Jay Leno show. Not being familiar with the area, we tried to find out how to get to Universal City but after talking to two bus drivers who couldn’t empty a boot full of piss even if directions with pictures were on the heels we gave up. I then tried calling the MTA and that was another effort in futility. What a bunch of incompetent assholes. So we walked a few blocks, located a place for breakfast, and hung around. Then we went to lunch at the Acapulco restaurant—yep, same one as last night. Stomachs full, we got in line for the Leno show. We were among the first 20 to get there and as luck would have it, someone from the Howie Mandel show came out asking for volunteers to go to that show’s taping. They promised we’d not lose our spots in line so off we went to watch Howie. While in line I got to overhear people talking about their efforts at getting autographs, "seeing" famous people in different places, doing the tour of stars’ homes, etc. A fascination that bordered on the SICK! Sure was interesting to see the behind the scenes actions during a taping and the technical aspects of how a show is put together. They have an "opening" guy who gets the audience warmed up. In this case, the guy was actually quite good and kept things moving during commercial breaks. So now I know what the audience does while folks at home watch commercials. Howie’s guests were Jean Claude Van Damme, Mike Judge (Beavis and Butthead), Mary Stewart Masterson, some wack-o animal psychic, Howie’s wife and some woman named Mia something or other from a new show. Not having a TV I am at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to TV personalities. From there we went straight into Leno’s show and it was another world altogether. Leno himself warmed up the crowd, his people made sure only pretty girls sat in the front, he gave stuff away, and allowed people to come up and get pictures with him. His guests were Van Damme (again), En Vogue, and an actress from Mad TV. She was good. And no, Van Damme did not talk about the same things he did in the Mandel show. However we were treated to clips from his new movie (it looks like it will suck very much.) Too bad, as Van Damme was the most personable of the bunch. Also the only one who’d turn as he left the stage and complement the audience and thank them. After Tom got off work he picked us up and we went to Mel’s Diner (of American Graffiti fame) to have dinner. Did a bit more touring and Tom gave us great directions for getting out of town tomorrow morning.
HOLLYWOOD A GO-GO AND L.A. A BYE-BYE Fatigue. Burnout. Exhaustion. These words best capture today. Thank goodness for bike paths! If it weren’t for the decent paths in this area, today’s ride would have been beyond miserable. Six hours on the saddle fleeing 75 miles from North Hollywood headed to San Diego.We started about 7 AM and first sight of the morning was one of Tom’s neighbors praying or meditating or something to some Buddha looking statue. WHOA! Said my own little prayer and then we went off to face 18 miles of LA traffic. Hollywood Blvd. was fun as we got to see lots of stars on the sidewalk. You name a famous actor, he/she had a star. Also got to check out the hand and foot prints of many stars in front of the Chinese Theater. Especially notable were Jimmy Durante’s nose and Roy Rogers’ horse Trigger’s horse shoe prints Had coffee at a restaurant on the boulevard right by Alfred Hitchcock’s star and then checked out the film site for Jim Carry’s new movie based on the life of Andy Kaufman. Shot down La Brea to Santa Monica Blvd. for seemingly endless miles and ended at the beach where we began this little mini-adventure 2 days ago. What made today’s ride from North Hollywood so much better was that it avoided the nasty hill on Sepulveda Blvd. that we climbed to get to Tom’s place. Sure wish I knew about this route on Monday! We rode the serpentine bike path for a few miles, threading itself along the cloudy coast and then found ourselves in the sun. Near Hermosa and Redondo Beach we came across a filming of a music video by some guy calling himself "Shaggy" doing his half of the video while Janet Jackson did her half in New York. While in the area, bought some lunch and Scott went swimming. He got caught in a nasty wave and found himself pounded back into shore. He said it was exciting; his description reminded me of the beach I loved so much in Portugal where I did the same thing and just loved it for the adrenaline rush. Along the way, found a good artist's rendering of what direction our lives should take. Then we rode into nastiness. Wilmington must definitely be the wrong side of the tracks. Lots of poverty, lots of graffiti, lots of kids, Blacks, Hispanics, dirt, decay, unkempt homes, decrepitude, disrepair. Like being in a third world country. Then we were through it and into Long Beach where we stopped at a swanky coffee shop to relax a bit. Got a good view of the Queen Mary at its berth. For those of you reading this and contemplating a ride through here, my advice is to get past this area as quickly as possible. You have NO reason to stop. Crank on until you get to Long Beach. Proceeding on our way we were blessed with this lovely visage of a young lady rollerblading along fast enough to pass us in our leisurely pace. Not to let this opportunity go by, I accelerated in my MCP way, got closer behind her, pulled out the camera from my handlebar bag and put the zoom to work. Finally made it to our camping location for tonight: Newport Dunes Aquatic Park—a swanky little RV park where we could put up tents but could not stake them out. Good thing there were no winds. Before checking in we needed groceries so decided to go to Newport Beach. Wow! Is this place ritzy! All the women in the grocery store were dressed to kill. Made up, manicured, pedicured, suntanned, nipped, tucked, rolled. And it is expensive here, too. But of course, you knew that already. The day wasn’t quite over though. Went to take a shower and the whole area of town we were in had a power failure. What a pain. The bathhouses had no windows and I could find nothing to prop open the doors so I had to wait until power came back in order to take a shower. Finished with the shower I emerged to find Dennis and Scott engaged in conversation with these 4 young ladies (one might have been over 21, the others definitely under 18. Warning flags flying, I went over, said hi, we chatted for a bit and the over 21 one had something in her hand, (a can, I think) and flung it over us onto the ground. I expressed mild dissatisfaction at that, picked up the can and basically wrapped up my involvement. How crass! Obnoxious little shit. Of course, its to be expected as she lives there in a tent next to her Aunt and Uncle’s RV because of some disagreement with her parents. With an attitude like that, I’d have kicked her ass out of the house myself and not waited for her to leave. A veritable ocean of patience that I am , eh?
DAY MILES/TOTAL MILES: 55/1504 AVG SPEED: 13.5 WX: SUNNY CLEVER BIRDS A fine end to a day begun with a cloudy sky.The ride in and of itself was uneventful. While in San Clemente I completely forgot about checking out any of Tricky Dick’s hangouts. I did, however, lose contact with Scott and Dennis. They were ahead of me in town and as I rode up, they had turned around and were going the other way. I had overheard Dennis saying earlier he needed an ATM machine and since I’d just passed one, I figured that’s where they were going as they said nothing when they went passed me. I stopped, turned around and they were gone. I waited 15 minutes, went back to check out the bank and they weren’t there so I headed off. Rode through Camp Pendleton and made it to Oceanside where I stopped to get something to eat. Then they showed up. Strange. Still not sure where they disappeared to. Since I decided to ride shirtless today I ended the day with a nice red tinge to my back. Not serious sunburn but could have been worse had I stayed shirtless much longer. Very deceiving when the day is relatively cool and a nice breeze blows. Unfortunately, I missed the turnoff to Capistrano. It would have been interesting to see where the swallows return to. Also noticed something else: south of Wilmington, the signs and directions, etc. were no longer in Spanish. Only the quaint little street names were. So I guess the more affluent the place, the more Anglo it is and the Spanish influence disappears completely. What does appear is lots of little closed communities with security guards and gates where entrance is gained only with proper ID. Around the Pendleton/Oceanside area, the riff-raff began to reappear---and so did the signs in Spanish. Ended up at South Carlsbad State Beach Campground. Got a nice site on a bluff overlooking the beach. The roiling of the surf will cap off the day and put me right to sleep. It is only fitting that the last camping day should end so well. To top it off I witnessed a sight I’d never seen before. Being somewhat familiar with the habits of birds, especially large ones like pelicans and seagulls, and albatrosses to fly behind one another and use the benefits of drafting to minimize exertion, what I saw bordered on the genius. These pelicans would be flying along, locate a wave breaking onto shore and well before it did they’d "surf" right along its crest (in the curl) taking advantage of some upward draft created there. They’d fly along parallel to the wave for a couple of hundred yards and just as the wave would break they’d beat their wings and fly up over it to safety looking for another wave. A couple almost got nailed. At first I thought it was a fluke then I watched a couple more times and called Dennis and Scott over to witness it. Marvelous!
DAY MILES/TOTAL MILES: 40/1544 AVG SPEED: 12 WX: SUNNY A CHANGE OF FOCUSToday was the first day I realized that I was approaching the end of the trip and my mind started to drift from issues associated with riding to issues associated with what I needed to do when I returned home. I found myself building mental "to-do" lists. A completely different shift of focus. The end was near and the sooner it got here, the happier I’d be. Not to say I didn’t enjoy myself or was not enjoying myself but I realized I was now in a big city, would be staying in a big city for several days, and it did not interest me all that much. Rode along the coast for the most part and then headed inland to climb into La Jolla. All in all a pleasant ride with a nice approach to the city’s coastal park. Ambled and drifted for a while, took photos, and then headed into San Diego. Stayed on the bike path a bit too long and then head to double back to get to the road that’d take us to the motel. In no time at all we were there, unloaded and made like vegetables. Killed some time by going to a local bar and having outrageously priced beer. As there was no other place to go in the local area, this turned out to be our excitement for the night.
TIJUANA, MEXICO DAY MILES/TOTAL MILES: 42/1586 AVG SPEED: 11 WX: SUNNY FINALLY, WE GET TO DRINK OUR TEQUILA!! The motel offered a continental breakfast so I, having gotten up early, left the room to get some coffee. Remembering that the local paper was going to publish the Starr report in full, I bought it and began to read the saga. What a despicable President we have. Using his office and power to take advantage of a 22 year old. Granted, she may have offered herself to him but being President carries certain moral obligations none the least of which are the decency to not misuse his office and engage in superior/subordinate relationships. He committed the same violation that, as Commander in Chief of his military personnel, he punishes through jail time or kicking out off the service with absolutely no benefits, Generals, Colonels, and Sergeants Majors for doing exactly what he did. Will his conduct imply there are two sets of rules governing infractions of laws? A disgrace of a man. We must never forget that the road to tyranny begins when those in high office are allowed to commit crimes and then go unpunished for them. OK, on to the ride. Made it to Tijuana but not without first having to climb several pain in the ass hills to get down towards the ocean where our path was located. The ride was a pain because of all the traffic which magnified itself as we approached the border. Got to the border and flew right by customs. Not sure of myself, I actually sought out a Mexican Customs agent to make sure we could go in. The last thing I needed was a hassle trying to get back into the country. The city itself was very seedy looking. A marked contrast to San Diego. People lurk in their doorways or on the sidewalks trying to lure you in. Many was the time we’d here, "come in, free parking for your bikes!" Not what the hell was up with that? Parking??? For bikes??? It all reminded me very much of Athens (and most of Greece for that matter) where waiters would stand on the sidewalk and try to talk you into going into their restaurant. We resorted to walking our bikes as riding them looked to be very dangerous. From what I saw of the drivers, though, they looked courteous enough but the traffic was horrendous. After a fruitless search for decent postcards, we found a restaurant, drank our tequila, had a beer, got our picture taken, and got the hell out of Dodge. Back at the hotel, we showered and tried finding something on TV. Since we did not have real cable, just a smattering of syndicated stations plus one movie channel, the pickings were slim. Of course, all the movies on the movie channel sucked real big ones. We then headed to the "Boll Weevil" restaurant. Home of the ½ pound steer burger. Scott’s comment was, "you guys realize we’re eating at a restaurant named after a parasite? It’s like eating at "Tapeworm Bob’s" and my tapeworm wants a beer right now!" Very humorous, and very like Scott to notice the parasite angle. Yum Yum, makes me hungry just thinking about it. Earlier in the journal I asked these questions regarding why we did this trip: Is it love of cycling? Is it the bond of friendship? Is it boredom? Is it a lack of "a life?" Is it a desire to do something many dream of but few actually accomplish? Obviously I can not speak for anyone else but for me, after 40 some days on the road getting shot at, facing traffic, roads with no shoulders, fog, rain, etc., the answer is a little bit of all the above except "lack of a life and being bored." It should be pointedly obvious that rides like these are really quite a life. Achieving a dream is quite an accomplishment in a life. Having good friends along on any venture is quite a life. Struggling to stay alive under adverse conditions does not make for a boring life. How many people do we know who dream of just being able to visit San Francisco or any of our national parks across the country from where they live (and sometimes right in the adjoining state) but never get around to it because they are so wrapped up in their day to day existence? How many of us know of associates and friends who do not know how to relax and have fun? Who don’t know how to pursue their dreams? To me, having accomplished this ride and the one last year ranks at the top of my best adventures. I came out of those rides with new and hopefully life-long friends. We may never ride together again but I know we will have other adventures!
REST DAY I am very happy to report that Betty Boop made it almost 1600 miles with no flats, no problems. Sure made for a better ride without having to worry about the mechanical condition of your bike. We left for Adams Street where we knew there was a bike shop that would ship our bikes. Sure was great knowing the last 3.5 miles to the bike shop were the last hills I’d have to do for quite a long time. Dennis rode to the airport to pick up his rental car while Scott and I stayed at a nearby restaurant waiting for the bike shop to open. Slugged down some coffee then sent Betty Boop on her way. A word of warning, though! This particular bike shop (Bike USA) is not high on my list of places that do a good job. 10 days after I got home I called them as I’d not received my bike and wanted the tracking number. Turns out they’d just mailed it 2 days earlier (22 September!) Then on the 30th, UPS pulls up with a bike. Before the driver even took the bike out I immediately noticed it was addressed to Scott! At my address!! We peered in to find it was Scott’s bike. I had no choice but to return it to the bike shop and inform Scott of what happened. I had visions of my bike going to Scott and then both needing to be returned and re-shipped, probably not seeing it again until late October. The next day my bike arrives! Hooray!! I am happy! Boo!! I am sad----the bike shop totally dismantled my bike. OK, I can understand the pedals, the seat, the fenders, loosening the handlebars, the rear and front wheel needing to come off, maybe even the racks. But did they need to break my chain, remove my brake and derailleur cables, even completely remove my rear derailleur? This was ham handed and stupid. Not to mention incompetent. I was livid. So don’t use this shop!!!! I return you to the regularly scheduled journal: When Dennis showed up with the car we all returned to the motel and then checked out. Since he and Scott were headed to Vegas, they dropped me off at the hostel on Market Street in downtown San Diego. WOW! What a location. It was great. We all agreed that had we known about this hostel we would not have gone to a motel. Plus the hostel was located such that access to the bike bath was closer, easier, faster than where we were. To top it all off, access was 24 hours a day, they had internet access, huge kitchen, and clean rooms. Just around the corner "Street Fest" was going on, too. Dennis and Scott left and I went to do my tourist shtick. Went to Planet Hollywood, Hooters, Hard Rock, visited the festival, took in the sights, had lunch, listened to outdoor musicians, and eventually tired of the whole thing. For those folks reading this journal, using the book, and contemplating going to Tijuana the best advice I can give is to ignore where the book tells you to go to the Chula Vista KOA. IGNORE IT completely! Go to the hostel. It just can’t be beat. And the cost is not that much. If you are solo, it’s cheaper. If you are with one friend, it’s only a couple of dollars more expensive. Surely you won’t be so tight for money that you can’t afford a few more dollars to be within walking distance of the bus that takes you to the airport ($2), the bus that takes you to Mexico ($4), and boatloads of cheap restaurants. |
| PACIFIC COAST WEEK 1 | PACIFIC COAST WEEK 2 | PACIFIC COAST WEEK 3 |
| PACIFIC COAST WEEK 4 | PACIFIC COAST WEEK 5 | PACIFIC COAST WEEK 6 |
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Copyright Vilmar F. Tavares 2005