Yakkity Yak, He Go Smack!

Please note, this is a public service announcement for all those that feel cycling with their cell phone is, in fact, a wise thing to do.

Friday, I knew I did not have a lot of time to ride so I thought I would make the most of it by doing laps on San VIncente (false flats – work those muscles!) in a higher gear, head over to Helen’s to pick up a few things that I had been meaning to and then take the flats at double speed. I felt very productive and just a little smug. As I was coasting and mulling over my plan for the days ride, some guy passes me without calling out and actually looks over his shoulder at me, as he swings one leg over the saddle and starts doing circus tricks. Honestly, that woke me up and I realized that I was not doing what I was out to do. I buckled down to get back to work and started to peddle, passing clown boy and then forgetting all about him.

A few miles up the road, I dismount, make a call to Dave, “Hey Birthday Boy, want to meet me for lunch?” (btw, when its your husband’s b-day he still pays). I get back on the bike, scoot over to the left turn lane when I hear coming up behind me “Yeah, I’m out on the bike in Santa Monica” then THUD! as he slams into the back of the car that was waiting at the light for the turn

There are a few things that you should know:
1) He never missed a beat and continued on his phone call while rubbing his injured parts.
2) The drivers wanted to know what happened but since the cyclist didn’t think it was important to hang up, I felt that maybe he owed them more of an explanation than I did
3) And this should not be surprising.. he did not have a helmet
4) Its a day later and I still can not figure out how you can miss a large white car, or why he was in the middle of the lane instead of off to the right.

Reason No. 10 to Ride

Reason number 10 to ride is that you see the coolest things!

So I’m tooling down the beach path, which is one of my favorite relaxed day rides (46 miles round trip if you are wondering) and I see this sign that says “Hang Glider Xing” , not your most common traffic post so I take notice. Right there, I mean right there! are the two most beautiful hang glider thingies practicing landing and taking off. It was amazing to watch. I also think that Southern California just may be the only place where you would see an official traffic sign for this.

Since I ride through Venice, Ca — land of the beach walk freaks you see on TV — I also viewed no less then 6 sidewalk Henna tattoo artists, body piercing and a guy on an oddly adapted mountain bike that had tires about 12 inches thick that looked like the kind of intertubes you may have used as a kid. Oh… and you know this was the same guy I saw with 2 large parrots on his handlebars!

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A Coffee a Day…

So here’s the thing… I am exhausted. I am up all night, dropping by day and reviving myself with cups of my favorite caffeinated elixir, coffee.

And the real thing is I know what the culprit is. It is the coffee. Keeping me in a glorious catch 22 of coffee high, dependency crash, and back again – each day increasing my use by one more cup. Its call worse than those dealers you hear about around the schol yard “the first one’s free..”.

I’ve been this route before. Years ago I realized that I was the only one in the office drinking the two to three pots of coffee we made made daily. I removed the evil liquid from my diet for over 3 years. Then I had just one…

We’re going to try it again, removing coffee, I mean. And I say we because my family will be along for this emotional ride and perhaps, so will my blog <insert ominous music>. It will be interesting to see how this affects my hydration, etc. I’m not so sure it will be interesting to see how it affects my mood.

Reason No. 9 to Ride

Reason number 9 to ride is that it is just so frickin’ beautiful!

If you are jealous that your morning commute didn’t include this, I strongly suggest you start planning your meetings around your cycling time. Its one of the few ways I can get my miles in and enjoy the day.