Brentwood to Hermosa Beach trip

On Saturday, June 16, I met up with a friend at 7:00 a.m. in Brentwood.  I motored the bike over, which worked just fine although the bike was strapped down quite heavily to keep it from moving around too much seeing as the trunk rack was broken when I purchased it.  Ugh.  What an idiot I can be.

The ride basically started from about Bundy/San Vicente, and I had a sinking feeling right from the start that the gal I was riding with was going to seriously kick my butt.  Riding down San Vicente was exhilarating - got the bike up to 22 mph, which is the fastest it has ever gone... but it made me nervous that going back up San Vicente would be a real bear if I could get to that speed going down. Plus, San Vicente going up would be at the end of the long ride.  Yes, she was going to kick my butt.

Our goal was to reach Redondo Beach, and I'm sure that if she didn't have me tagging along, she would have made it, but she was on a time constraint - when it got to be 9:15, she wanted to turn back.  We stayed together pretty well through Santa Monica and Venicedo until we got to the Marina, and the she pulled ahead and waited for me at the Ballona Creek bike path entrance.  I followed her through some back streets to an access road, (was grateful not to be on the bike path)  but eventually we were forced onto the bike path.

When we got to Hermosa Beach pier, which is the farthest south I've been, she snapped this picture of me before we turned around and headed back. I was feeling the need to eat something as we'd gone 20 miles and I could feel my energy waning.

What I have learned is that I need to eat even just one bite of a fig newton every 10 miles, plus have plenty of water.  I had plenty of water with me, but we never stopped!!!

We turned around and headed back.  We stopped at Urth Cafe on Pico/Main and I got a vanilla milkshake and an almond croissant, and she got something, and we sat for a few minutes and talked while I gave my body some fuel, but I could feel that the damage had been done.  I was already exhausted, and the sun wasn't out, and the ride hadn't been particularly difficult, but the fuel issue had been fixed too late.  I just need to put my foot down in the future and say "I have to stop ever 10 miles for fuel.  Period. And if I have to stop more for water and it slows us down, so be it."

Well, the climb up San Vicente, which didn't seem like it was steep or anything, was a real drag on me.  I was wasted for energy.  Sometimes my speed was only 7 or 8 mph. 

So, 40 miles round trip and I was exhausted.  So exhausted that I couldn't hardly do anything for the rest of the day.

I'm not sure if I will change out my tires to slicks.  Certainly I won't do it before my friend comes on July 5. The bike I got for her doesn't have slicks either but the tires are probably a little slicker than mine, but regardless, I will be leading her down to the beach but will not let her get out of my sight.   She will be within a bike length or two max of me.