 
Sunday, September 30, 2001 - Leaving Los Angeles
We left the train station just before noon, but not
before a moment of panic when I discovered that I had two 4 mm. Allen wrenches
but no 5 mm. wrench which was necessary to attach the rear derailleur of
each bicycle. Joan went off and found a maintenance man, bless 'em all,
and we were soon on our way. Today was the kind of gritty, all day urban
ride that only a seasoned cyclo-tourist could enjoy. We rode down Alameda
Ave. through an endless stream of Mexican auto repair shops of every type
imaginable, warehouses, and railroad yards, with one freight ready to go with
NINE engines to pull it, plus the occasional oil rig in the most incongruous
of locations. In addition there was road construction to deal with, which
caused Joan to take a spill but with minor damage fortunately. We were
also able to make our way thru a detour that only a bicycle could have done.
Having to deal with light Sunday traffic helped a lot. We then cruised
past Long Beach and are spending the night in Huntington Beach at the Sun 'n
Sands motel. It is much cooler near the ocean than just five miles inland
where SoCal is experiencing record heat. Total distance today was about
40-45 miles. Tomorrow we will do at least 70 miles to place ourselves just
north of San Diego and in good position to add it to our list of major American
cities that we have pedaled through.
We also found out that the Wolverines handled the
Illini, MSU lost in amazing fashion, and the Fighting Irish seem to have
very little fight in them this year.
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