Saturday, December 13, 2014

PEDAL Ride, AKA Finding My Smile Again



Last weekend I rode my bike a lot. In fact, I was sitting in the saddle for over eight hours Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I have not been riding all that much the past few months because of all of my agro running mileage, and because I wanted to take a breather from riding altogether. I was getting to the point where I really enjoyed my “running” life, not having to worry about fitting in swim work outs, or long bike rides, but then I remembered I committed to take part in the first PEDAL ride from San Diego to Los Angeles for my friend Steve, a good friend and former colleague. The ride would benefit Pangea Educational Development’s campaign to raise money to build a piggery in the Gulu Remand Home in Uganda. So, around early October I started to get my act together, and put in some time in the saddle. 

I knew I would not ride on my Triathlon bike because that would just be silly riding that thing in a group setting for three days, so I commandeered Marion’s road bike instead, a Fugi Gran Fondo. It’s a good thing he chose the medium frame, because it fit me perfectly. I attended two training rides, the first in early November, the second in in early December, the latter was in the rain, good times. The people I met those two days were excited, and kind; my favorite combination. The best part of my ramp up to the PEDAL ride was I started to get excited about riding bikes again.  I had been living in my running bubble for months, and now I was starting to realize “I DO love riding bikes!” Next, of course came a flood of training ideas and expectations for triathlons to race in 2015, but first was the PEDAL ride.

I signed up for this event because Steve asked me to, I am always up for a physical challenge, especially when I can help others with my efforts, but what I learned throughout the weekend about the charity, and the people who run it, just about bowled me over with warmth and faith in humanity. The funds raised for our ride would go towards building and funding a Piggery for the Gulu Ramand home. The Piggery would provide funds to boost the teaching staff from one to three, and provide real-world skills for children awaiting trial to utilize once released and make a successful life for themselves. The fundraising goal was $7,500, and we raised over $8,000, amazing.

http://www.pangeaeducation.org/pedal-riders-raising-funds-piggery-project/

We decided to take the Amtrak Surfliner train on Friday morning out of Union Station in Los Angeles to downtown San Diego where we would then hop on our bikes and start riding north. Our first stop was Carlsbad, nearly thirty five miles north from downtown, and at 12:30PM we were off! The first few miles carved through the city, and then we were out on the rolling hills leading into La Jolla, where we stopped for a special photo op in front of the Pangea Parking lot at UC San Diego, cute. 

Next, we cruised up, over, and down into the Paragliding Launch just off campus when one of the most courageous riders, Judy, screamed, “This is the best time of my life!” Suddenly, I heard Clinck, clang, her left break fell off her bike! “What? The what?” My heart sank, especially because she was riding a single speed bike, not a fancy, schmancy one like me, which basically let me choose how much pain I wanted to feel, every hill was a grind on Judy’s bike, but she was loving it! I was impressed with her gumption, and felt horrible about her brake falling off, but her spirits were not deterred, she was my hero.

We stopped for too long in the parking lot of the Hangliding launch, but it was worth it because I had the chance to chat with most of the riders, and fuel up on a peanut butter sandwich.  There were twelve of us total, and they were all such magical, hilarious human beings, I knew I was among my people. Then we met Scooter. Scooter is a pot-bellied pig who lived “in the back” of the Hang glide house and is parented by a man who is not a huge fan of the justice system, but apparently a friend of livestock. After many, many minutes waiting for the Red Bull car to meet up with us for a photo op, we decided to roll out and start making our way up north through the quaint and enviable coast towns, Solana Beach, Del Mar, until we would stop at a bike shop so Judy could get her bike fixed. I felt a little queasy because we would indeed be riding in the dark, honestly not something I expected, and I had no lights. Thankfully the bike store was fully stocked, so I bought a rear light, and said a prayer that we would make it safely the final ten plus miles in darkness to our campsite in Carlsbad. However, the best news of the day was Judy got her bike fixed free of charge, aren’t people wonderful?

I am not a fan of night riding; I do like Michael Hasselhoff, but not getting dizzy staring at a red blinking light fifteen in front of me while perplexed drivers whir past me in darkness. The scariest moment of the ride was when shrouded in pitch black we careened down a hill which ended at a stop sign, then started right back up again into a steep incline, which was exhilarating, and terrifying. Thankfully, we all made it to the campsite in one piece, but the first day was long, longer than I expected, and we only rode 33 miles… We had an 80 plus mile day ahead of us on Saturday, no doubt a much longer day in the saddle.

We were treated to a delicious pasta dinner prepared by Steve’s roommate Eric’s sister, Heather, and their Uncle, I ate two heaping platefuls, and felt fine about it. Next, we spent hours swapping stories and delving deeper into each other’s souls while roasting marshmallows and pitching tents overlooking the magnificent Pacific Ocean. I was very proud to be among these wonderful people, and thrilled to be right in the middle of such a looming adventure, the only way home was on our bikes.


Saturday morning came quickly, which was wonderful because it meant that I slept. Steve had us up, packed and ready to roll by 8:30ish, pretty impressive. At breakfast we laughed over Larabars and bananas, while dreaming of coffee, but were excited to be roughing it, and ready to start pedaling.


As we cruised through the heavily active cycling community of Oceanside we were jeered a few times by the peloton’s in spandex who had egos as over-priced as their bikes, I felt protective of the team, and did not want any of them to lose their spirit by those jerks, and they didn’t, again, an amazing group of people.

Soon we were showing our ID and pedaling through the rolling hills of Camp Pendleton, the US Marine base in Oceanside. I had ridden there a few times during triathlons, so it was a little strange not to be killing myself those first few miles like I do in a race, but this was not a race, and it felt good to encourage people up the hills, instead of zooming past them.

The day was getting hot and the miles were slowly ticking by as we rolled into San Clemente Cyclery bike shop just before Noon. Then a few more hours of riding, and another stop
behind a Costco, in their rear parking lot I should say, so, still on their premises, we found out later they did not like our intrusion, but it was a needed respite before our last long push of the day. We fueled up and got psyched up, because the steepest climb of the entire trip was on the other side of our break. We crossed the busy street packed tightly in a single line, thundered down the hill outside of Costco, made it through the light, then powered up the hill like maniacs, it was awesome! I was so proud of everyone, the hill was scary steep, but we all made it to the top in one piece with spirits intact. There were smiles and relief all around because we only needed to cover a mere thirty miles until reaching our refuge for the night in Huntington Beach, it was 3PM, we had less than two hours of daylight.

The course sent us on gorgeous trails along the freeway through Irvine and up to the lip of Huntington Beach. The trails were fun in the daylight, but treacherous in the dark. I nearly crashed making a tight right turn from the street down the path parallel to a waterway, but thankfully I righted my wheel in the nick of time, and no one was the wiser. The remaining miles on the strand along Huntington Beach were glorious, but never-ending. It was nearly 8PM when we reached our exit toward the Promised Land, Ben and Annie’s house in a lovely gated community on the northern tip of Huntington Beach. We all stuffed our faces with pizza, shared our “highs and lows” of the day, and then slept soundly for the night, because there was talk of coffee awaiting us in the morning.

When I woke up Sunday morning I was surprised and pleased that I was not sore from two solid days of riding, it had been months since I had spent that many hours in the saddle. That said, I was not exactly excited to be riding another four plus hours until we reached our final destination of South Central LA at CicLaVia. Nevertheless, we were in it together, and I was looking forward to finishing this epic journey alongside some of the most kind-hearted, and hilarious human beings I had ever met.


The first twenty miles or so felt fast and fun. The ladies in the group huddled up near the back of the pack for some delicious girl talk, a luxury I have rarely indulged in since college. Next, we spent most of the latter part of the day riding along the Los Angeles river trail that starts in Long Beach and continues through Compton, Bell Gardens, etc., until we hopped back onto the city streets in the not-so-pleasant smelling city of Vernon. One and done for me, Vernon, thank you. Soon we were in the middle of South Central LA, and the road was closed to traffic, which meant the finish line for us! We made it to CicLaVia! They close the roads off to all vehicles so people of all ages, shapes, and sizes can pedal up and down the city streets on their two-wheeled Freedom Riders, their bikes! I was proud to be among my fellow Angelenos, and to share such a special finish with my PEDAL comrades.

We hurried through our good byes, gave quick hugs, and then scattered to find our various transports back to our homes, and reality. I was happy that my Uber driver arrived quickly, because I missed Marion and Hannah, but it felt strange to be sitting in a car, rather than riding my bike.

I arrived home happy, because I gained my sense of humor back, finally. I have spent so many years as a “responsible” grown up, that I lost the part of me that laughs with others, but also makes others laugh, too. This past week was the easiest and most authentic I have felt in my own skin in a very long time, and I give much, if not all of the credit to my fellow PEDAL riders. I hope that they all continue to ride bikes, for themselves and for others, I know I will.

P.S. If you want to laugh, and appreciate brilliant comedy, check out my girls Caitlin and Katie here: http://www.teacherswebseries.com/episodes/

Then, watch your listings on TV Land in JULY:)