Saturday night I was talking to my brother Tom, when he mentioned that he rode his bike to the beach. Really? I've been wanting to do that for years! He looked at me and said, "Oh, so you think you can do that, huh"? This from my little brother, that is one year younger than I, is taller than me by 1 foot, and out weights me by 200 + pounds! He said it's a 27 mile ride. .......OK, so what! So, Sunday's plans were set. My other brother Mike decided to jump in on the fun, and my nephew Tyler shortly after too. So at 7 am we were being dropped of, not at the spot Tom left from the day before, but all the way at the top of the trail, at the base of Azusa canyon.
We spotted reindeer rein doggies 
and got to see some beautiful fall colors by the riverbed. 
The ride from start to finish is now going to be 37 miles. The weather was a little chilly, 54 degrees and slightly cloudy. I do not have a bike, so I was riding a borrowed one. There started our first problem. It was a 21 speed and only one speed worked...and not at fast speeds! Once you got going fast, like when going downhill, the petal would just d free spin. I swear, I must have looked like a cartoon character running with no feet, just wheels of sort. Our next mishap was taking the wrong turn at a split. Tom insisted we go right all the while Mike is yelling and whistling for us to go left. Minor delay. Next seats needed to be tightened. 
Then the worst happened, mike got a flat tire. Oh wait, that wasn't the worst. I nearly literally ate the side of the river bank. I'm riding along
....do do doo dooo, do do doo doooo.....and a bee or some thing that buzzed landed in the cave of my ear, thankfully not the canal. All that buzzing in my ear freaked me out. I started shaking my head and flicking my hair. Whoa, I was very near to losing control. I was headed right for the embankment of the riverbed. I thought ...this is it! I'm gonna eat it and Tom is gonna love it! Luckily I recovered and my heart came down to a regular beat. I did tell Mike that if I did happen to eat it to make sure he got my camera and took a picture....makes for good blogging material. OK, back to the flat tire. Mike had a patch kit and we were back on the trail....it lasted about another 4 miles then it was hopeless without another tube.
We spotted and got to see some beautiful fall colors by the riverbed. The ride from start to finish is now going to be 37 miles. The weather was a little chilly, 54 degrees and slightly cloudy. I do not have a bike, so I was riding a borrowed one. There started our first problem. It was a 21 speed and only one speed worked...and not at fast speeds! Once you got going fast, like when going downhill, the petal would just d free spin. I swear, I must have looked like a cartoon character running with no feet, just wheels of sort. Our next mishap was taking the wrong turn at a split. Tom insisted we go right all the while Mike is yelling and whistling for us to go left. Minor delay. Next seats needed to be tightened. Then the worst happened, mike got a flat tire. Oh wait, that wasn't the worst. I nearly literally ate the side of the river bank. I'm riding along ....do do doo dooo, do do doo doooo.....and a bee or some thing that buzzed landed in the cave of my ear, thankfully not the canal. All that buzzing in my ear freaked me out. I started shaking my head and flicking my hair. Whoa, I was very near to losing control. I was headed right for the embankment of the riverbed. I thought ...this is it! I'm gonna eat it and Tom is gonna love it! Luckily I recovered and my heart came down to a regular beat. I did tell Mike that if I did happen to eat it to make sure he got my camera and took a picture....makes for good blogging material. OK, back to the flat tire. Mike had a patch kit and we were back on the trail....it lasted about another 4 miles then it was hopeless without another tube.
In the end we made it 12.5 miles. I WILL attempt this again, but not before I have my OWN bike, and a helmet!
1 comment:
How fun! I bet it was good times with your brothers too. I am not goign to lie...I would have laughed to see you eat the road! ha ha ha. can't wait for the next attempt.
Post a Comment