Sunday, May 13, 2007

Crystal Cove, there and back again...

The ride this weekend was awesome. It was long enough that you felt like you got to stretch out your legs, but short enough that it doesn't eat up the entire day. We had a bit of a late start on Saturday but still made it to the cottage in good time. We had a slight tailwind most of the way.

The fixie and Delta Postporter rack performed remarkably well. I half expected to snap the rack in half after all of the negative reviews I've read about it. Many people have complained that the welds are weak and will crack. Granted, I've only had the rack for less than a week, but so far it has met my expectations.

I rode to Crystal Cove on my regular gearing (46x17) but switched it to (46x18) on the way back. I figured I would be tired and would be hitting a headwind. The steepest climb of the whole trip was getting out of the cottage and back to PCH, after that it was smooth riding. We lucked out and got a tail wind on the way back to Long Beach. We were going at a pretty good clip and managed a trip average of about 14mph, which means we were traveling around 16-18mph most of the time.

On the way back we were passed but managed to keep up with a flock of roadies for a few lights. I have to say, it was surprising to see how unsafe they rode in traffic. They were ducking in and out of the parking lane, switching to the thru lane at the last possible minute and generally were erratic with their ROE when it came to cars. Not to say that this is typical of all roadies, but it surprised me that given the obvious investment in their gear they didn't ride a bit more safely.

As a daily commuter I've learned what things get me into tight situations and how to negotiate traffic situations. When I tell people I commute by bike they always comment about how dangerous it is. It is dangerous, I suppose, but so is getting out of bed. There are also many tricks to riding in traffic that will keep you from becoming road pizza. Watching how many casual cyclists ride around the city, it's a wonder there aren't MORE accidents. I've seen some cars do stupid things, but I've also seen lots of cyclists do stupid things as well.

1 comment:

nollij said...

I see the same thing in the Mission District... well, all over San Francisco to be totally honest. People do the dumbest things on bicycles.. people do the dumbest things in cars too though and there's a lot more of those!