I don't think we're in Kansas anymore...

I got all mentally prepared for my long ride today, filled my waterbottles, pumped up the tires, and stuffed a Clif Bar and some Gu into my jersey. You know you train too much when you start to like the taste of Gu; I used to squeeze the whole packet into the back of my throat to avoid any contact with my taste buds, now I catch myself savoring the taste. Anyway, I was all set to go, ready to hit the road, but realized immediately that "hitting the road" at two o'clock in the afternoon on a beautiful beach day does not mean getting into aero and coasting at 20mph on wide stretches of pavement like in New England. It means riding 200 meters, stopping at a red light, having your hear flutter every few minutes when oblivious drivers whizz by 6 inches away from you, and, of course, feeling that dust in your lungs every time you go to take a deep breath. But every once in a while, you look up from your aerobars and the white line in front of you, and at least for a moment everything is perfect.

 The view from Torrance was beautiful today. It was definitely a good day to be out on the Palos Verdes peninsula, I just wish it hadn't taken an hour and a half of stopping and going to get there!

There were lots of sailboats coming in and out of Marina Del Rey. I battled some strong wind along the shore, so I'm sure it was a nice day for sailing.

All in all it was a pretty decent ride, I got in 65 where the schedule called for 85, but given the chaos of the week, I was pretty happy with that. It's so frustrating to average just 12-14mph when you're riding 19 or 20 though. I have a feeling the trainer will be seeing some love in the next 11 weeks.  But it does seem to make it all worth it when you're at the top of the hill in Palos Verdes and you see the Pacific and the sky melt together at the horizon. They aren't lying when they say that LA has terrible pollution, ignorant people, unbearable traffic, and a huge homeless population, but they also aren't lying when they say that Sunny SoCal is one of the most beautiful places on Earth. If only the other 5,999,999 people here hadn't thought of that...