SF > LA

During this trek from San Francisco to Los Angeles, I completed my biggest week of riding ever in terms of mileage and elevation. While I've likely been faster and more fit, especially when I was riding competitively, last week is a new kind of physical accomplishment. As I'm resting a case of Achilles Tendonitis this week, I'm enjoying a rehash of the trip by way of the data. Here are the general stats.

Days Total Mileage Daily Average (Miles) Total Elevation Daily Average (Feet) 7 508 Miles 72.6 Miles 22,391 feet 3,199 feet

Looking at the information below, I note a couple things. The majority of the elevation gain is in the northern "half" of the route and our average speed increased as the trip progressed. I attribute this increase in average speed partly to less elevation gain, but also to tailwinds. Particularly later in the day, they were notable. I remember thinking to myself on several occasions that I was glad we were headed south. This is one argument for picking what seems to be the predominant direction, north to south, at least during the summer.

I also feel the mileage we chose for each day was about right. It was enough to make good progress in a limited time frame, but no day was monumental and the shorter days afforded us some physical and mental recovery time. I wouldn't have wanted to add or remove a day. Click on the Strava icon to see complete ride details for each day.

Day Segment Mileage Elevation Average Speed Strava Data 1 San Francisco to Santa Cruz 85 mi 4,291 ft 13 mph 2 Santa Cruz to Carmel 56 mi 3,002 ft 12.8 mph 3 Carmel to Ragged Pt.

76 mi

6,224 ft 12.9 mph 4 Ragged Pt. to San Luis Obispo 61 mi 2,070 ft 14.8 mph 5 San Luis Obispo to Lompoc 61 mi 2,096 ft 14.3 mph 6 Lompoc to Ventura 90 mi 3,081 ft 14.2 mph 7 Ventura to Torrance 79 mi 1,627 ft 15.0 mph

As I mention in my ride report for the first day, it took some time to get in the mode of thinking of this as a tour. For me, touring came to include backing off a gear or two, stopping to take a photo, resting or relaxing, eating a full meal, slowing to chat with fellow riders on the route and the like. Most of my rides at home have a purpose: getting to work, training for an event or simply working to stay fit. There was always, of course, a purpose on this route as well, such as getting to the next lodging stop, but there was also more time to simply experience the present. The only thing we had to do each day was ride and we had the flexibility to take time along the way as we saw fit. I must say the days that involved more stoppage time were generally more memorable and more rich. Thus, I put together one last table to ponder how we spent our time covering and getting acquainted with this space.

Doing the mileage we did each day, I became newly aware of the necessity of patience on the bike. There are times when you can only cover so much ground. Perhaps you’re facing a tough headwind, challenging terrain, ferocious traffic or mechanical issues. During these periods, It was essential to maintain the grind. This was less a physical challenge and more a mental one. In many ways, for me, preparing mentally and maintaining focus each day was the biggest challenge of this trip. I was confident my body would follow, but preparation began in the mind.

We were certainly not alone on this route. We saw lots of other riders each day, totaling perhaps 20 over the course of the week. The vast majority were riding solo and we're either young or old. Even though we were only two, I was grateful for the team. It’s a fun experience to share both on the bike and preparing for the next day. Two heads were better than one when facing a challenge. We both added different skills to make our version of this trip work. So here’s my formal thanks to my friend Ara for his teamwork and the initial proposition to do this ride.

Aside from the actually riding, I embarked on the added dimension of capturing the trip digitally. I enjoyed the dialogue around the experience when were en route, as well as in the days that followed, to understand how people experienced the ride with us. I assumed I would have easy access to WIFI connections everywhere we went. After all, this is California, right? It was particularly surprising to drop off the map figuratively between Carmel and San Luis Obispo and a reminder that there are places in this urban, technically-advanced state that are partly off the grid.

The last time I worked to document an experience daily was over fifteen years ago when I embarked on 365plrds. In the process of documenting what is, you also begin to think about the variety of possibilities of what could be. One is more aware of mortality and the variety of possible outcomes. How will it end? The process of documenting this trip heightened my awareness of the everyday and electrified this experience.

One of the things I never rolled into a ride report, was a reflection on the constant debris we saw along the road. There were lots of dead animals smashed my incessant traffic. There are many more birds, including hawks, than you might expect. The pace and frequency of our car travel takes it’s toll. Animals aside, the objects I noted the most were single shoes (almost never a pair.) I kept thinking of Terry Allen’s song from Human Remains called ‘Wilderness in This World.’

There’s an old shoe out on the highway That tells us of the wilderness of this world

As I wrote before I embarked on this ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles, I chose to carry my gear using a B.O.B. trailer largely because it was equipment I already had. We came across a number of different individuals doing some version of the route we were on heading both north and south. I didn't see another rider using a trailer. Having never used panniers, I'm not sure if this makes me a maverick or simply uninformed. In any case, the trailer was functionally excellent. Here are a few pros and cons going with this method based on my experience.

The Good

Despite the overall weight of the trailer without a load (15lbs.), it pulls very well loaded or unloaded. I knew it was back there, but it was not cumbersome when in motion. The weight is most noticeable on climbs. Even over rough terrain, the bouncing trailer never felt dangerous. It was a very stable ride.

When standing on the pedals during a climb the bike rides almost as if there wasn't a trailer attached, at least towing the modest I was on this trip.

The weight of the load is off the bike. With the modest weight of my load, I did not experience any frame flex or shimmies. (When pulling a very heavy load, I felt the frame flexing almost continuously.)

Ample space storage space that it is easy to access. I found this particularly useful when, for example, we had a partially used gallon jug of water it was easy to transport until we were ready to use it. 

Visibility. I think the flag and the yellow bag made me easy to spot.

The Bad

While the trailer is functionally excellent when moving, it can be cumbersome when you stop.

The bike-trailer combo is, like any trailer, awkward to maneuver backward. I often found myself doing a long loop to go a different direction rather than trying to backup the trailer and do a 'three-point turn.'

You have two pieces to load. When getting the gear into a motel room or on a train, for example, you rarely can move your bike and the trailer as a unit. Thus, you have to disconnect the trailer and move it and the bike in two trips.

You have an additional tire and tube that could flat. I brought a patch kit rather than a space tube, but I realized on the road that the tube utilizes a Shrader valve stem. The wheels on my Willits use a Presta value, requiring a pump that supports both.

Our route took us briefly to the coast and then we headed inland. Just about this point we hit a route-finding snag and spent some time milling around until we found the right road. Just as we found it, and headed that way, I got my second flat of the trip. A couple thorns punctured my front Jack Brown. The tube change what smoothly, but it was another delay. After we were rolling again, I was so intent to settle into a rhythm that I missed a turn and we were off route again. More milling and then we got back on our original route with a few 'bonus' miles under our belt.

We rolled through the most industrial farmland we have seen on the trip, then into some more golden hills and finally into some interesting pine forests at the top of the Harris Road Climb just outside of Lompoc. The image above is the view looking westward and it was a nice spot. The image below is a storefront that seemed representative of what little we saw of Santa Maria.

I’ve been using the bicycle route feature within Google Maps for planning each day’s route. It’s an amazingly comprehensive capture of official routes for cycling which includes everything from streets designated as bicycle routes to full blown bicycle paths. One realization on this trip is that California is making good headway on a bicycle infrastructure. The problem, and this isn’t a new one, is that most of these routes are short and very local. When trying to use the existing infrastructure for something other than leisure, such as travelling decent distances, it becomes a complicated mish-mash that is very hard to navigate. Signage and street marking is the single biggest help, but cities need to think about the big picture in their area and create simple routes that cover big distances. The next challenge is integrating their system to those in the towns around them. Google is merely reflecting the situation. The feature Google needs to add to its mapping application? Elevation on the active route that recalculates as you modify the waypoints on the route. A wider and wider cycling audience now understands how to analyze this data to understand the difficulty of a ride.