Learning to ride in SoCal
So I finally got out for another bike ride this weekend. I really need to get my schedule in order and start riding more regularly. But seeing as I get home most nights just after 7:00 and the sun goes down within a half hour of then there isn’t much riding time to be found. Consequently I’ve been left with weekend riding, which coupled with a desire to sleep in for a change isn’t the best combination.
Saturday I decided to go riding once I had finally rolled out of bed, so I think I hit the roads sometime around 11. Now this being a long weekend I figured it may be safer to avoid the coast highway again. Actually, that may have been more driven by a desire not to come crawling back home utterly exhausted again. So I decided to ride inland, hoping to go uphill on the way out and having an easier time on the way back.
Well the ride was unspectacular, not knowing the area it’s hard to figure out what roads are good for riding and which will just lead you to dead-ends at developing suburbs. But I did learn a few things about the bike paths that seem to be along just about every other road
- Nobody rides the bike paths - sure maybe it was the fact the temperatures were approaching 95 degrees, but I have seen more runners on the bike paths than cyclists
-The bike paths are only there as lip service to cyclists - they seem to disappear without warning, usually just when you would need one most, like when the road narrows under an overpass
- Drivers see the bike lanes simply as extended turn lanes - at one point I was stuck behind one dick who though that he could use to bike lane as a turn lane, from half a block away!
So despite all that I may have been lead to believe about the bicycling in SoCal it’s really not turning out to be all that it’s cracked out to be. I’m sure it’s just a matter of my expectations at this point, I don’t think I can really just roll out of my front door and go for a great ride anymore. It’s looking more and more like I’ll need to be one of those unfortunate saps who has to drive for thirty or forty minutes just to get to a point where it’s nice to start riding from...that really sucks ass.
posted by Christopher Robin at 11:04 a.m.
3 Comments:
That sucks man. Hopefully it's just a matter of familiarity, though. The situation could look a lot better when you've figured out the best rides. I usually don't have much luck when I go "exploring" for a good new route...I have to consult a trail map or another cyclist.
I've been feeling sorry for myself about not having easy access to the open highway here in Edmonton, but at least there are some good trails in the river valley (the city is apparently expanding the paved trails to run all the way to Devon in the next year or two).
4:51 p.m.
Yeah, I think it's just a matter of getting used to things, it was the same thing in Edmonton and Minneapolis when I moved there.
It's good to hear that you're still riding. How's the bike holding up for you?
If they finish a route out to Devon that would be really nice; it was nice to ride out that way but the roads were always so busy and too narrow to really feel safe.
9:10 p.m.
Yup, I've been riding quite regularly (except in the winter) since I bought that bike; it helps that Erin is fairly serious about cycling too--we often go together.
Unfortunately, the roads have become even more busy than they used to be, because Edmonton has become so crowded these days. So I go out of my way to find separated bike trails whenever I can.
The bike has held up very well, except for a persistent creak that comes from the bottom bracket when I shift my weight on the pedals. Somehow I keep loosening it--I take it in to the guys at redbike, they tighten the heck out of it, and a few rides later it starts creaking again. I even bought a new one this spring--and they installed it with pipefitter's tape--but it didn't make any difference.
(Which suggests that its something I'm doing, not a faulty component.)
At least it's only a minor annoyance--and one of these days I'll figure out how to get rid of it (any ideas?)
9:01 a.m.
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