Meeting other riders and the magic of clockwise

Why is the Rose Bowl ride better clockwise? What’s it like to talk to strangers? FIND OUT NOW!

Circling the Bowl

I said that riding clockwise around the Rose Bowl was “prettier” than going counter-clockwise (or anticlockwise if that’s your style), but that’s not exactly right. The real reason it’s better: there’s a consistent dedicated bike path if you go clockwise. If you go the other way you sometimes have to either go against the traffic flow or ride in the street.

Greek, Observatory, Lather, Rinse, Repeat

A great thing about living in the southeast corner of the San Fernando Valley is having a lovely and challenging ride through Griffith Park. A bad thing about it is that it’s really tempting to repeat that ride instead of exploring. Goal: find new places to go!

Group(ish) ride!

Some good things I learned on yesterdays ride:

  • I can keep up with most riders
  • It’s much easier to keep a steady pace when you ride with a group
  • talking to strangers probably won’t kill me

I’m almost always a solo rider, so I was really surprised to discover how much I enjoyed being part of a group. I guess I need to start tagging along on group rides.

Darkness is coming

I’m a teacher. My workday often ends early enough that I can get in a long ride after work and still have sunlight. Thanks to shorter days and the coming end of Daylight Saving Time, that’s not going to last.

Options:

  1. Ride in the dark after work
  2. Ride in the dark before work
  3. Shorter rides
  4. Riding more on weekends
  5. Go pro, quit my job, and ride full time

It’s going to be a mix of the first four (though riding before work is going to be very rare). I move at turtle speed so number five is right out, unless some team wants me to make all their other riders look phenomenal by in comparison.

“Yeah, just lapped Gattuso. AGAIN.”

Sponsor me!

You should donate to sponsor my ride!

Your donation goes to The Los Angeles LGBT Center and The San Francisco AIDS Project, two organizations that do great work supporting people living with HIV/AIDS. Any donation helps! My current goal is $3000, and I’d be thrilled if I could cross the $100 mark in November.

And please share the donation link with friends: http://tofighthiv.org/goto/gattuso

Thank you for being awesome!