Day 26: The “City of Angels” in one day
(Leo Carillo SP to Doheny SP at Dana Point)
date: Friday August 30, 2002
daily miles: 110 miles (177 km)
total miles: 2,047 miles (3,294 km)
I got a decent early start this morning for once. I was rolling along pretty good just warming up and the German family from camp last night (father and his three teenage sons who are riding the coast as well) caught me. We ended up in a small pack for about an hour -- the miles just flew along and dealing with traffic was so much easier along PCH through Malibu. They were looking for a state park fairly close as they had a few days to burn before getting to San Diego -- thus they wanted to do about 35 miles max. Last I saw of them was when I detoured off the highway onto the bike path at Santa Monica -- much more fun to ride the paved path through the sandy beach. =-)
I truly thought about stopping in Santa Monica and fixing or replacing the rear wheel at SuperGo. Even though the cracks are spreading and it doesn't look great, I'm able to play with the spoke tension and keep it somewhat in true still. It just needs to make it one more day. Again, this isn't the recommended way to travel. I think I am tempting fate here.
A boat in your backyard -- nobody playing though -- must be at working trying to pay for it all!
I can honestly admit that I never fully realized how much beach access is available in L.A. -- and I can now only truly understand the impact of the beach and its lifestyle on the people around it. I saw today more people bicycling, blading, playing volleyball, playing soccer, surfing, walking, etc than I have ever seen in one day -- and it's not the weekend yet either. It almost made me want to stop at a couple of places along the way and get an apartment and stay for a while.... hmmmm, not a bad idea is it???
The bummer part of the day was going across the Long Beach industrial area and through Torrance. Lots of blight, poverty, ghetto neighborhoods, pimps, prostitution -- and not many smiling people as I've seen the last couple of days. I would definitely detour next time further south to avoid this -- it wasn't pretty and I'm sure there is a lot better way to get across here now.
As for the riding itself?? The bike paths and beaches were gorgeous -- and easy miles. Long Beach and Torrance were old roads and lots of sidewalk diving. Costa Mesa south here to Dana Point was bike paths with some jungle traffic methods when I did have to ride on the road -- not many bike shoulders.
I got to the campsite here at Doheny State Park and they required a driver’s license number to get a campsite!! Seems they have problems with transients here. After getting to the hiker/biker campsite itself and seeing where they put me, I'd pay the transients to stay here -- it sucks to put it mildly!!!! Located twenty feet behind the community bathroom/showers, forty feet from the railroad, main road just ten feet away through the campground -- I can see the nightmares I will have tonight. Poorly maintained restrooms themselves and then the white trash neighbor with the old generator on his old motorhome that is constantly backfiring while running -- can I paint a bleaker picture of this place???
But things have gotten a bit better while writing this. The German family from last night and this morning has rolled into camp. Their hope of finding a campsite in L.A. just didn't happen so they ended up riding across L.A. also. What is amazing is they are here for a few minutes and everything I see that is bad about this campsite, they are complaining even worse about!! They had wanted to stay two days as the beach and town are close -- but they are moving to the next campsite down the road the first thing tomorrow morning. I can't blame them...
And the best for last -- someone with some tools somehow "fixed" the showers thanks to a big screwdriver and cutting and doing a bit of rewiring. I don’t know who would do something like that. Free hot showers in the handicapped showers from now on. =-)
Tomorrow the Great Pacific Coast Escape ends. Any ideas for an encore?? North Rim of the Grand Canyon?? Maybe New Zealand?? Maybe Finland? Maybe somewhere??
Time to get the earplugs out -- something very important you need to carry when you stay at state parks like this one. You will sometimes think they are the most important things that you carry in your travel bag.
Mark
