Some person in the bike industry once said, ‘Light, strong, cheap, pick two.’ and I’ve found it be accurate most of the time. Does it have application outside of bike parts? I think so. As I plan my five weeks in Europe, 7 years after I first went, I am finding myself trying to force convenience without comprising time and expense. While this time I probably will not be sleeping under skateboard ramps or in the scaffoldings of buildings, I still do not want to drop a grip of money I don’t have for comfort. Where is that balance? Is comfort the fourth variable? Do I get to pick three then or still only two? Last summer’s trip, which was 4 weeks on the Great Divide cost Steevo and I fraction of what most people probably spend (our total costs for lodging was $14. Combined.).
Double centuries after sleeping under a park bench, cool. But a full-iron triathlon? Probably not a good idea. What would the 17-year old me do?
Author: Matt Ruscigno
Holy Jim Trail from Trabuco Creek Rd
(stolen photo from wikipedia)This is me not riding to San Diego. The original plan was to leave at 230am on Saturday morning, and ride 80 miles down the coast to meet up with the Organic Athlete San Diego chapter for a run. Good training for night riding and Norseman. But at 1130 the night before- far from having my shit ready- I decided against it. Slept in instead. Then finally got around to looking up info about that peak that sticks out of the Saddleback mountains that is visible from all over south county. 
Around 330pm I was out of the house for the 6.5-mile run down a dirt road to the Holy Jim Trailhead. I had some aspirations of summiting, but that would of put my total mileage over 30. I fast hiked up to the fire road, probably only 500 feet or so below the top (and 2.5 hiking miles) and turned around. I read that on a clear day you can see into five counties from the top (hope to run the whole thing and summit soon).
I took my time descending and then ran the 6.5 miles back, most of it in the dark, which gave me the opportunity to use my new headlamp.
Tree tunnel!
Looking west out of the canyon on Holy Jim Canyon Road before it hits Trabuco Creek Rd.Eat! Sleep? Bikes! Los Angeles showing
Last weekend the documentary Sasha made about our fixed gear relay team at the Furnace Creek 508 made its LA debut as part of the Bicycle Film Festival. There was a great turnout despite the crappy 3pm time slot. I have memories of being at a wedding near Philadelphia eating cupcakes with pink icing that day, but according to these pictures I was actually in Los Angeles.
All hail google
Some of the google search terms that have directed savy and not so savy web users to my blog in the last week:
catch fish pond malibu las virgines
“tall bike” orange county july 2007
sweet cherubum
south philly soft pretzels 430am
Steevo Cummings blog
funny “new zealand signs”
“pure luck” heliotrope
fatalities of the Pacific Crest Triathlon
whipping passing bicyclists england
Death valley super marathon
dumpstering anchorage
vmaas frames
justin cummings push
Swarm! jerseys
Finally. Sweatshop-free custom jerseys from Voler.
bottom row (left to right): Stacy, Luzmiddle row: Janie, Megan, Signe, Molly, Nicolas, Brian, Sasha, Max
back row: Stephen, Michael, Paul, Alec, Mark, Jack, Matt, Budge
floating head: Alex
This was our private party at the new vegan restaurant (and sponsor) Pure Luck. Not everyone could make it over to Heliotrope Village, but this is the closest thing we’ve got to a club picture. Thanks to everyone who made it happen!
Couch surfing: An extreme sport GRE question
I slept in five different places in six nights. It’s mostly pretty fun. Wake up in El Segundo, drink a kale/cocoa shake with raw Alec before running on the beach. Go to sleep in South Central, after being called a pig twice in one day. Slept six deep in the Heliotrope Village warehouse where the bike to room ratio is 20:1. I was going to head to the East Coast in mid-June, but got a temporary position I could not pass up. Am here till mid-July with no permanent home. Many of us have done it at some point in our lives, but this time it is complicated by not having a car and training for that pesky triathlon.
My stuff is in six different places. If it’s Tuesday morning and I am going to work I need to have my goggles and swim cap if I have a swim planned for Wednesday night. So far only once I’ve had to borrow bike shorts for a road ride or buy a dress shirt on the way to work. You start to look at space/time differently when you have to think 36-48 hours in advance and know where what will be when. My bag is always full. I’ve left my commute bike in my office to take a train to my road bike (I was leaving my road bike some where else and needed the commute bike to be there the next work day).
Without your help I could not attain Maslow’s D-Needs. Thanks fam.
Morgan leaves for the Pacific Crest trail
And I thought I was busy. Morgan, long time housemate and friend, had quite a couple weeks. He defended his PhD dissertation, prepared for the 4-month 2600-mile PCT, sued the woman who hit him last year in small claims court (no lawyer), moved out and started hanging out with a girl he’s had a crush on for awhile (should I be making that public?). Adventure in many forms. Hi hike will require over 20 mail drops of food; he painstakingly measured out his food needs, packed, dated and addressed all the boxes and delivered them to his closest friends for mailing. He’s got a close friend from England with him who has a blog here. They started hiking June 3rd.
6th/Valencia dinner. Where else?
Why Orange County is Scary
Recently I’ve been staying in Orange County, ‘South County’ specifically, and overall it has been much better than I thought it would be. Out the door of where I am staying I can run in the park, ride through canyon roads in the mountains, walk to multiple restaurants, Trader Joe’s and other grocers or chill at a lake with a 5,000 foot mountain as the back drop. One evening there we counted four or five different languages being spoken. This neighborhood is one of the most diverse places I’ve stayed; LA is diverse as a whole, but most neighborhoods are pretty homogeneous.
Despite these new realizations, OC still has its generalizations that all too often end up being true. One of which I present as photographic evidence.
Final brevet: the 600k
Je t’aime ! Oh ! dites-le avec des pavés !
Let’s go to Paris! Paris-Brest-Paris dates back to 1891; that’s older than Fidel Castro. By someone’s logic I am now prepared to ride 1200 kilometers after finishing 600 in the alloted time. Okay, sign me up. They do require doctor’s note though. Imagine that conversation: ‘Hello, doctor, can I have a note saying that I am healthy enough to ride 750 miles in 90 hours? No, this is not a joke. No, I am not insane.’ I think I’ll just ask a friend.So here are some pictures. Fa(s)t Dan and I had a blast. 110 miles up the coast through Big Sur then the first control 30 miles inland from there. Headwinds north through Salinas Valley (broccoli land) then control two at 212 miles at an Inn. We were one of the first people there (out of the huge field of 14) and the last to leave cause we slept for 4 hours. So it was like two rides: 212 miles one day, 163 the next. California is so damn big, we really should secede.
It’s not a purse, it’s a Randonneur’s bag
The big, rolling hills of California
This is why the following picture exists
The guy on the motorcycle is the RBA (means something in French) for this brevet series. He once rode 3 1200k brevets in one year. He was super helpful and made what he calls ‘the hardest 600k out there’ a pleasant ride.
It’s not a purse, it’s a Randonneur’s bag
The big, rolling hills of California
This is why the following picture exists
The guy on the motorcycle is the RBA (means something in French) for this brevet series. He once rode 3 1200k brevets in one year. He was super helpful and made what he calls ‘the hardest 600k out there’ a pleasant ride.Lisez moins, vivez plus
So this past week we moved out of the A-partment. And I have a billion things due for school. While being homeless. Also time to start training for that full iron in August. So, Paul, my apologies for not having completed my Great Divide posts. I swear I’ll have pictures and stories up before it has been one year since.
For now, check out that Race Across America starts this Sunday. The race is now put on by the Ultra Marathon Cycling Association and they promise to have better media. Will Chew’s views stay? Once someone asked me, ‘When will it be enough? What distance?’ To answer: I have no intention of ever doing RAAM. To paraphrase Bob Knoll about things everyone should do in their life, ‘You should ride across america, you should not race across america.’ Though this week I got the confirmation that I am racing a RAAM qualifier this year, which would be the 508 in October. Whoa!
Some updates on recent events with pictures, etc soon. Still have some time to waste? Read Foucault’s wiki page and send me a 500 word summary. Thanks.