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Aug. 2nd, 2005 09:47 amAt 7 pm I left on a bike ride that I planned on being around 15 miles. It was so cold, windy and my underenthusiasm was so great once I got out on the street I decided to subtract 5 miles from the ride and take the easier route through Hope Ranch and down towards the beach. The ride through Hope Ranch was uneventful. There are hills, trees, incredible houses, and fancy cars that are actually pretty good about sharing the road. There is a horse trail, that some days I am lucky enough to see people on horses, I had no such luck last night. I felt pretty good by the time I got to the top of the hill and was rewarded with a great view of the ocean as I turned the corner and started going down Cliff Drive.
Going down Cliff Drive is pretty scary. I get up to 30 miles per hour and I am not even pedaling. I ride a steady 35 and my hand is on the brake and my decision to wear shorts and have blood in my body seems like the absolute folly. While heading down the hill towards dog beach I saw a long skinny cat come out towards the road sniffing on the edges of it. I was about 25 feet away when I realized it was a fox. And, as it was a fox it was of vital importance for me to slow down and see it up close. I sat up straight to catch all of the wind. I pulled on the brakes to go as slow as possible. There was burning rubber through my nose, the air was filled smoke, my ears were filled with screeches. I wasn't able to stop - even with all of that effort. I did slow down enough to get a closer look at the fox, though. He laughed at my stopping attempts and ran away. In retrospect, it's clear that I just slowed down, there was no burning rubber, there was no smoke, and there certainly was no screeches. But, in my constant effort to live life as if in a cartoon those things all seemed to exist. Man. I have never seen a fox in his real life living spot. Well, I have seen them in the zoo, but they don't count at all. That was extremely cool. I got a pretty good look at him. He was a cute little guy.
The trip down the hill to dog beach was anticlimactic after seeing the fox. How could you possibly top that? You might be able to, but I could not find a way to do it. I just rode the bike. There is a hill that starts right at the Wilcox/Douglas Preserve and goes up to the Mesa that I always have some trouble with. It's not so bad that I have ever had to walk the bike, but it usually cuts my speed down to 6 or 7 mph. Last night, I was able to stay in the rough gear and really push up the hill at between 10 and 12 mph. I was really surprised that I was able to keep that sort of speed all the way up the hill. In fact, my breath was holding me back far more than my legs were. I was huffing and puffing a bit, but my legs just kept pushing through the bits of pain they felt.
After that hill the and the downhill past City College I decided there was still plenty of sun left so I would take the beach path towards Milpas and turn around there. The beach path was clogged with joggers, tourists, people in surreys and roller bladers. As oblivious as some of my fellow trail users were, they were never so bad that I ever had to slow down very much. The path is mostly flat, so I was able to keep a pretty steady speed of 17 18 mph all the way to the end of the trail. I was still feeling good, so I decided to keep going along Cabrillo up along the cemetery path and towards Butterfly Beach in Montecito. At that point my goal was to get to 15 miles and turn around. But, I had already gotten to 15 when I got to San Ysidro so I changed my goal from 15 to 16 and kept going up San Ysidro until I reached the goal. I went a few minutes past 16 miles for good measure, then turned around and coasted down the hill I had just climbed and made my way back home. Taking Milpas to the end at the Santa Barbara Bowl (nothing was going on there last night) and up Anapumu.
On City Hall at Anapumu there was a dance recital going on. The music enticed me to turn around two blocks after I passed and to watch the performance for 10 minutes. It was fantastic stuff. Great music, and neat dancing. Atleast, as far as I could see. The stage was pretty far away from where I was. I sat and watched one performance go through. The music accompanying it sounded famous. But, I don't remember what it was. Probably something from a ballet. Or maybe something from the Ramones. Same thing, basically. After that, I headed home. It was a great trip. It ended up taking me an hour and fifty minutes to go 25 miles. That's not superfast, but it is really good for me. Today I didn't wake up sore at all. Just a bit hungry.
Going down Cliff Drive is pretty scary. I get up to 30 miles per hour and I am not even pedaling. I ride a steady 35 and my hand is on the brake and my decision to wear shorts and have blood in my body seems like the absolute folly. While heading down the hill towards dog beach I saw a long skinny cat come out towards the road sniffing on the edges of it. I was about 25 feet away when I realized it was a fox. And, as it was a fox it was of vital importance for me to slow down and see it up close. I sat up straight to catch all of the wind. I pulled on the brakes to go as slow as possible. There was burning rubber through my nose, the air was filled smoke, my ears were filled with screeches. I wasn't able to stop - even with all of that effort. I did slow down enough to get a closer look at the fox, though. He laughed at my stopping attempts and ran away. In retrospect, it's clear that I just slowed down, there was no burning rubber, there was no smoke, and there certainly was no screeches. But, in my constant effort to live life as if in a cartoon those things all seemed to exist. Man. I have never seen a fox in his real life living spot. Well, I have seen them in the zoo, but they don't count at all. That was extremely cool. I got a pretty good look at him. He was a cute little guy.
The trip down the hill to dog beach was anticlimactic after seeing the fox. How could you possibly top that? You might be able to, but I could not find a way to do it. I just rode the bike. There is a hill that starts right at the Wilcox/Douglas Preserve and goes up to the Mesa that I always have some trouble with. It's not so bad that I have ever had to walk the bike, but it usually cuts my speed down to 6 or 7 mph. Last night, I was able to stay in the rough gear and really push up the hill at between 10 and 12 mph. I was really surprised that I was able to keep that sort of speed all the way up the hill. In fact, my breath was holding me back far more than my legs were. I was huffing and puffing a bit, but my legs just kept pushing through the bits of pain they felt.
After that hill the and the downhill past City College I decided there was still plenty of sun left so I would take the beach path towards Milpas and turn around there. The beach path was clogged with joggers, tourists, people in surreys and roller bladers. As oblivious as some of my fellow trail users were, they were never so bad that I ever had to slow down very much. The path is mostly flat, so I was able to keep a pretty steady speed of 17 18 mph all the way to the end of the trail. I was still feeling good, so I decided to keep going along Cabrillo up along the cemetery path and towards Butterfly Beach in Montecito. At that point my goal was to get to 15 miles and turn around. But, I had already gotten to 15 when I got to San Ysidro so I changed my goal from 15 to 16 and kept going up San Ysidro until I reached the goal. I went a few minutes past 16 miles for good measure, then turned around and coasted down the hill I had just climbed and made my way back home. Taking Milpas to the end at the Santa Barbara Bowl (nothing was going on there last night) and up Anapumu.
On City Hall at Anapumu there was a dance recital going on. The music enticed me to turn around two blocks after I passed and to watch the performance for 10 minutes. It was fantastic stuff. Great music, and neat dancing. Atleast, as far as I could see. The stage was pretty far away from where I was. I sat and watched one performance go through. The music accompanying it sounded famous. But, I don't remember what it was. Probably something from a ballet. Or maybe something from the Ramones. Same thing, basically. After that, I headed home. It was a great trip. It ended up taking me an hour and fifty minutes to go 25 miles. That's not superfast, but it is really good for me. Today I didn't wake up sore at all. Just a bit hungry.
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