Monday, Sep. 10.2007
Finally on the Road!
Hollywood→Coastal Highway 1
Distance: 107.42
km , Duration: 7:51:28 hours, Total
Distance: 181.63 km
"Golden
Beaches, urbane sidewalks and sandy terrain, gourmet kitchen first class
restaurants and boutiques make Santa Monica on the West coast the place to
visit, to live and to work" from the previous homepage of the city
explains the city as the best.
Still feeling
the vibes of the American way of life suddenly a terrible noise from my rear
wheel woke me up as I prepared to stop at the traffic light in front of the
Santa Monica statue. Immediately I hit the brakes and tried to checked the
reason. A screw from the holder (or brace) of the rear carrier fixing it on the
frame has gone and with it the holder itself. The carrier became unstable and
smashed the bag with a big bang onto the rear wheel. Scary but not very
serious! I've tried to find the missing parts but the most important part, the
brace, was gone...
 |
| Statue of Santa Monica |
I cycled to the
Santa Monica beach and tried to talk to some of the bike rentals to get spare
parts. I've explained the problem to the first rental company but the boss, an
African American, told me seriously that I should come back on Saturday because
his mechanic is only working on weekends. As I informed him that we have Monday
he answered only very sharp:" That's the way it is!" and left me
standing there. The 2nd and 3rd bike rental answered me more or less the same
but showed at least a much better attitude. The 3rd one fortunately gave me the
direction to a real bike.
'Wheel World' in
Culver City (wheelworld.com) is a great bicycle store not far away from the
Santa Monica Beach. Beside a mail order business they are a 'real'
brick-and-mortar' shop to sell and do repairs on bikes. I went inside and
explained a young shop assistant my problem. He sent me to a young skilled
female mechanic who mounted a new but different designed holder on my rear carrier.
While she was
working I told her from my plan to cycle from Los Angeles to San Francisco on
the Highway 1. She answered that, because of the wind, never heard that someone
tried it in this direction. Of course I saw it differently... As she left for
lunch she told me that I should pay US$5.00 for parts and labor on the counter. I looked around
and found a bike shirt on sale in a neon yellow for $19.99 + California Tax
$1.57).
Finally I went on my bike and rode the same
way direction Venice Beach. On the way I've discovered a 99 Cent only Shop in
which I bought some cheap food and drinks. The design in the shop is very
simple and decoration non-existent but otherwise these low prices are not
possible.
On Venice Beach already some stalls had
already opened. An African-American drove his van like a madman and stopped his
van with screaming tires in front of another Afro-American, jumped out and
shouted like a madman "this is my place!" Beside his stall I saw an
elderly white American with a tousled beard sitting, sorting, weighting and
packing his 'grass' in small plastic bags.
 |
Santa Monica Beach
|
I was happy to
that I could finally ride my bike in a pleasant ocean breeze beside the beach,
unlike yesterday from south to north.
To be more specific I thought that I could finally leave greater Los Angeles...As I cycled past the
former mentioned statue of Santa Monica directly under her eyes I suddenly
pedaled without any resistance at all. I stayed cool and noticed that my bike chain
was broken! After a short investigation I found out that the chain broke only four links from
the lock (or power link). I've shorted the chain with the chain tool on my
multi tool trouble-free. Except for some greasy fingers there was nothing seriously
to note. I was not comfortable with a broken chain so I planned to buy a new one as soon as possible. Two problems on
the first day of my bike tour - it could only get better!
“Life
is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” Albert Einstein
(to be continued...)
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