Mission Aborted

 None of us are getting any younger and I am the last one to succumb to the old age mentality.  Since my hellish week of riding into the wind through hilly terrain my legs have not been responding well.  Upon reaching Claremont and realizing a huge mountain pass was looming, aggravated by exhausted legs and dangerous weather at higher altitudes, a decision had to be made. Never in my 16,000+ miles have I been faced with such a decision. My approach has always been “damn the the torpedoes, full speed ahead.”   There is courage and there is fool heartiness with a thin line between the two. Pushing my ego aside, I have decided to abort the trip.  I knew this trip would be my last big ride but I didn’t expect such an abrupt ending.  Now I am back in Los Angeles packing the bike and making arrangements to get home.  From this point forward, my touring will be limited to no more than ten day/five hundred miles.  After my legs recover I will be investing in a computer simulated workout machine where my bicycle is locked onto it.  No time for lolly gagging!  

Eastward thorough endless lights

        Left the lap of luxury at my brother and sister-in-law’s house for the subway which brought me to Union Station.  There I had east on flat wide roads with bike lanes, however, the traffic lights were never ending for twenty-eight mikes.   After four hours of peddling I stopped for lunch and a break.  The constant stopping and starting took its toll on my legs but I knew forty miles was the bare minimum I had to cover.  Before moving on I messaged two warmshowers hosts in the approximate area I would end up,  somewhere around Upland.  As I was riding along  on a bike path in a area devoid of vegetation, off in the distance I spotted another cyclists loaded up with panniers. Alas, my first encounter with a fellow long distance cyclist.  We stopped and chatted for a few minutes.  John was from the finger lakes in New York doing a cross country trip, route 66 included. He had sixty miles to reach Santa Monica.  He mentioned he was staying at a warmershowers just up the road.  I checked my emails and one of the two warmshowers hosts had gotten back to me. Coincidently, we were staying at the place! Had I missed thus guy I would have overshot this place by miles.  We rode fifteen minutes and arrived at our destination next to Pomona College.  Carole and Win (John Winthrop Aldrich related to New London’s founder) took us in for a very enjoyable stay, dinner with plenty of good conversation. I learned from John that at the higher elevations there would be a very good chance of me running into cold weather and snow, not what I wanted to hear.  That was less than encouraging news; first the unrelenting wind now the cold and snow.  There is a mount pass ahead but at least the stop and go riding will taper off.

On the road again

   Today was spent taking the subway/train out to Santa Monica and bicycling back to central Los Angeles.  A long train ride with many stops, upon arrival I rode my bike down to the waterfront, took a few photographs, turned around and head for LA. A flat road with over three quarters of it bike paths, no wind, low traffic and a very pleasant ride. With the bike stripped down of its panniers my speed was a good two mph faster.  Once I arrived downtown I took the subway back to South Arden Boulevard where my Brother and sister-in-laws house is located. Tomorrow I can head east from downtown without having to start in Santa Monica. After lunch where I checked out my route for tomorrow I chilled out for a few hours before I went out to dinner with Ted, my other LA brother, and his wife Constance.  Now for some sleep.

Arrived in Los Angeles

    ThirtyFour hours from Kansas City to Los Angeles, you what you have to do. Loaded up with food for the trip I was able to stay clear of the snack cafe except for a vegatable-humus item and two IPAs.  The lounge area on the second deck with the overhead windows was kind of cool, being able to hang out in a spacious area.  Sleeping conditions were marginal but I managed. Upon arrival at 8;00 I navigated to the purple metro subway line within Union station. After six stops I arrived at Wilshire-Western where I had to use the escalator twice because the elevators were busted.  I damn near lost hold of my fully loaded bike as I struggle to enter the escalator and stabilize it as I ascended, a very scary experience. How in hell do the handicapped make it up to street level!? Once on the street I rolled up my pants, and put on my riding shoes. I figured put what direction to head and used the side walk due to the lack of a bike lane or shoulder and a steady flow of traffic.   Once on a side streets the road was near deserted and I arrived at my brother Jack’s house.  Shower, shave, breakfast, laundry, food shopping and a nap brought me down for a soft landing.  Tomorrow I take the tube to Santa Monica where I will ride route 66 back into Los Angeles. The real journey begins on the 21st.

In transition

   Hopefully switching from plan A to plan B will be like making lemonade out of lemons.  Getting myself to Springfield, a fortuitous ride to Kansas City and lucking out at the last moment with a warmershowers host is just the beginning of my transition over to plan B.  Tomorrow night I board a train for a thirty-four hour ride to Los Angeles, couch fair, no berth.  So I have my inflatable mattress and maybe the conductor will let me stretch out in the handicap section for the late night hours. Perhaps a bribe might convince him if he says no way?

Back to today.  Greg and Cindy drove me right to the door of Richie my new warmershowers host.  He was getting home late in the afternoon so I stashed my bike and gear behind his house and hiked over to the fabulous World War One museum.  A monument rivaling the Washington Monument and a museum with everything related to the war except a tank.  After seeing a displayed bugle almost identical to the one I inherited from cousin, I realized  it probably belonged to my grandfather who was a flight instructor during WWI.  Three hours later my mind was weary from information overload. I walk back the house and watched Kansas City play Buffalo. Finally Richie arrived home and I paid for takeout.  Other than having circumnavigated the USA  7,200 miles, he is a talented Jazz musician. The band members drifted in and  worked on recording each players part and electronically mixing them together.  Good tunes, fun listening and interesting guys. Now for perhaps my last night of decent sleep for the few days.

A day off

 Warmshowers hosts two nights in a row, what luxury.  I bicycled this morning a few miles between the two of them. First Dale with his amazing peddle assist bike and  our dinner out on the town and then Greg and Cindy. Greg took me to the bike shop so I could get a new tire and tubes followed by a trip to the grocery store for food for my thirty-four hour train ride.  Before leaving for his volunteer job he gave me the layout of his house, showed me where the beer was and gave me refrigerator rights. He made me feel totally at home.  I had the whole house to myself along with Rosco their 12 year Labrador. Cindy was gone all day but with Greg being around for an hour in the morning, we hit it off instantly, talked about everything, like we had known each other for years.  That night Cindy cooked up a first class dinner after which we searched online for a warmshowers host for tomorrow night. No responses yet so we are looking into inexpensive hotels near Union Station.  There is a local NFL game tomorrow which we suspect is the reason no one is responding. Finally with my train leaving late evening of the 17th, Greg and Cindy are giving me a ride up to Kansas City.  They are visiting their daughter so I really lucked out.  Great hospitality and a thankful ride up to Kansas City,  great people they are. I had a good day of relaxation.  

Flat road, same wind

 A bit chilly when I woke up in my tent this morning, forty-two degrees.  Amazingly with my outer tent flap and mosquito netting zipped closed my body heat keeps the interior of the tent reasonably warm.  After packing up I headed out to a nearby local restaurant in Marshfield.  No sooner had I sat down sipping coffee than the power went out and we were all told leave.  There was a smoldering fire up in the ceiling of the kitchen.  I vacated, chatted with a few locals and was directed to another mom and pop restaurant around the corner.  As I made the switch horns began to blare as the fire trucks drove into town. At the second place somehow I asked if by chance I was approaching the Ozarks.  “Oh yes, Marshfield is the highest part of the plateau.” Apparently, I had been climbing the Ozarks for two day and didn’t have a clue.  “But the road flattens out down the road”. Sure enough about five miles south the road flattened out.  No such luck with the wind.  It howled head on until I found sanctuary in the Springfield neighborhoods.  Ever since I left Joliet the wind has tortured me and apparently it only gets worse in Oklahoma.  Thank god I am heading out to Los Angeles Monday night.  Until then I will be staying with two warmshowers hosts in Springfield. The first host I took out to dinner.  He was an IT guy turned massage therapist.  He commutes to work on a bike he converted into a power assist with every imaginable high power light front and rear with an air horn which will get your attention. Seeing him ride down the road is like ‘Close  encounters of the third kind.’  I have met so many interesting people through Warmshowers.  Bikers helping bikers world wide, a fantastic organization.