First Race

Today was the official start of the racing season, and so I raced for the first time ever. The event was the Dominguez Hills Criterium, a mostly flat mile-long circuit in an industrial park outside of Long Beach. It rained a lot last night, so I was really worried that the course would be wet, but this morning dawned sunny and dry, so it was all good.

The race itself lasted 30 minutes, and to be honest, I've been in much tougher group rides, but it was definitely more dangerous than any group ride I've been on, even the famous Mike's Ride back in lauderdale. 50 riders, mostly racing for the first time, all in a big pack going 25 miles per hour or so. At any given time I had about 15-20 riders around me, and it didn't seem to matter whether I was on the inside or outside. On the straights, everyone was moving either forward or back through the pack, and in the corners, even if you took the absolute inner line, someone was always cutting inside of you. So mostly I stuck to the outside, where I could move up freely, and be safer in the corners. The race was about 8 or 9 laps, and I was able to move my way up into the top fifteen or so in the last two laps. Easier said than done, because there were no organized pacelines, so if the pack slowed down, all of sudden you would have twenty riders at the front. The pack was at least 5 wide the entire time.

There was a one crash, right behind me, with about two laps to go. Apparently two guys locked handlebars (one was coming back, and one was going forward - the first riders left drop came back into the second riders right hood). It was weird - it sounded like a series of crashes, and it was very loud. Nobody got hurt, althouth the one guy broke his $4000 Madone 5.5 frame... an expensive mistake.

On the last lap, I sprinted from about twentieth to about tenth, although the final results will be more telling than my perception. I may be way off. All in all it was a good first race, nothing too crazy, and I stayed safe.

Next week I'm doing a road race, which will be a 45 mile race in the mountains. A little less crazy, I think, but much more physically demanding. I'm still kind of waiting to see how this all goes. If I'm really competitive, and I have chance at doing well, then I think this will be worth it. I'm still sorting out my place in the world of competitive bicycle racing.

We'll see...


The staging area


The course


The pack crossing the start-finish line mid race

The LA Homeless Count

Tonight was an evening that I won't soon forget. I had volunteered to take part in a county-wide census of the homeless population here in LA, and tonight was the first part of that census.

I was paired up with a gentleman by the name of Joey, and we canvassed the central downtown part of Santa Monica, crisscrossing streets by car. In three hours, we counted over a hundred homeless people. As tough as it was to see them, it was nice knowing that even though they didn’t know we were there, we were doing something to help them.

The really amazing part of this evening was the time I got to spend with Joey. He seemed to be in his fifties, though it was a little hard to tell. Very intelligent guy, and super nice. He had been formerly homeless, formerly incarcerated, but one one of those special people that was able to pull himself out. He spent time in a shelter, and was able to move to temporary housing, and then just recently into a small apartment, all in the Skid Row area. I think he said he pays $52 a month, which was a lot for him. He is set up with a job as a street cleaner, and he has been substance-free for about eight months now.

At the end of the night, I asked him how he was getting home, and he said he had a bike which he used in conjunction with the buses. I offered him a ride home, telling him my car was made to transport people and bicycles. On the way home, we had a chance to talk a little about God. He seemed very spiritual, making small comments throughout the evening, so told him that I wanted to pray for him. This began a conversation that we started with Jesus and took us through Christianity and Islam (he had converted to Islam many years ago from Christianity) and ended up with a very simple parting message: You can read as much as you want, study as much as you want, talk to the scholars, the priests, whatever you want, but in the end it comes down to a matter of faith. If God wanted us to have all of the answers, they would be written across the sky for everyone to read and understand. Instead they are written across our hearts, and it is up to us to accept or reject.

This seemed to have a profound affect on him. I got his number and told him maybe we could meet for coffee next week and keep talking. He was very excited about that, and told me "I knew something special would happen tonight". A couple of hugs and handshakes later, I was on my way.

I've never seen someone so excited about just a couple of simple revelations. We'll see where it leads. Either way, he's a good man and I was very honored to meet him, and be a part of a greater cause to help people in need. Stay tuned for more on Joey and on the homeless.

Brrrr....

So what does it take to ride in the upper 30's low 40's? Here's what it takes:

-A cold-weather cap, none of this baclava/bank robber stuff.
-helmet (of course)
-eyewear, otherwise you can't open your eyes
-base layer
-wind-blocking base layer
-arm warmers
-leg warmers
-a long sleeve jersey
-another long sleeve something
-a wind vest
-wool socks
-toe covers
-shoe covers
-insulating gloves
-full finger gloves
last, but not least...
-a good snot shooting technique, and proper etiquette so that none of hits the guy behind you.

Wheels

My new car, better fit for cycling-related activities, and off-road driving, a.k.a the streets of LA. But also pretty much better in every single way possible. I thought I was making a practical decision getting a Honda and getting a 4WD. But the thing is a spaceship, and seriously nice inside. And fast. And the heated seats keep my butt warm. Which is nice considering the temperatures in LA the last week have been in the thirties in the AM. Yikes!

Holy Mountain!

First weekend in January I went on a retreat with my church group. The mountain was about 65 miles east of los angeles, out at the edge of nowhere... It was about as desolate as the pictures show, and also cold and very windy. But as spiritual places go, it was right up there. Most of us were fasting, drinking water mixed with some lemon juice and maple syrup. No, I'm not making this up, and no, I'm not crazy either. The idea was to get rid of as much of the physical world as possible, thereby getting closer to God. Our revalation of the weekend was the more you have cell reception, the less you have spiritual reception.

I won't say a lot about the weekend, other than it was mostly spent in quiet prayer. The only thing I will say is just how alien it was coming back into the city. It wasn't like coming back from a vacation. It was like getting inserted back into the Matrix. Wild.