Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Day 20 (of 22) riding ...

Reseda, CA to Huntington Beach, CA
Staying at St. Wilfrid's of York Episcopal Church
75.7 miles today, average pace 13.5 mph
Total ascent 1,519 feet (grades 4%-6%)

Accident ... Only one climb today, but unfortunately on the fun way down Jason caught some gravel and went down hard. We got quick response from the 911 call, and very soon Jason was on his way to the hospital. The preliminary report was stitches for his head and also his knee. Fortunately, no concussion! We were all praying that he would be ok, and were encouraged when he kept asking for pictures to be taken, but still bummed out that he had gotten hurt. Of course Jason’s accident put a big damper on the day, but we stayed in touch with him all day as he called with updates. Tonight Allen is on his way to get Jason from the hospital.

Other than that, it was a good strong day of riding, again with my buddy Sarah. Also Ryan joined the adventure late last night, and I rode some with him, Ray, Sarah R, Tim, and Chris. A nice easy ride with good weather all day. Pleasant in the morning, and not too hot this afternoon. The ride today took us along the coast, some routes on bike paths along the beach. 

We had had some flats, using my tubes the last couple of rides, so I decided to make a run to a bike store. Nobody else needed to go, so I pulled out my smart phone, and all by myself, I found the closest shop, mapped the route, and took off. After a couple of turns trying to figure out which way was which on the phone, I rode right to the shop. I got my tubes and a couple of CO2 cartridges, and then asked them where an ice cream store was. They didn’t know, so again I looked up a Baskin Robbins on my phone, mapped it, and rode right to it easily. It was even in the direction of the church. 

***I rated my last Baskin Robbins malt a 9.5, but this one gets only a 6.5. The server used the old metal mixer to make this malt, and they used a blender to make the malt the last time. So, that may be the reason for the lower rating, or else this guy was just not as good.

Finished my malt and pulled out my trusty iPhone, and quickly mapped my way back to the church, with no trouble at all. I AM SO PROUD of my new ability with finding things with my iPhone (finally)! I even gave Turbo a lesson the other day, and he’s up and running with it also.

Another great church! They had snacks, watermelon, and drinks ready for us when we got here. They are also providing dinner AND breakfast. They have a beautiful, large campus facility, and have received us most graciously. 

There’s been talk about our wearing costumes for our ride tomorrow, and now some action is taking place. The suspense is overwhelming as some have headed out to the Goodwill store close by.

Peace ...

No comments:

Post a Comment