Huge leaves...
The two ficus need trimming... (I started on the bottoms...)
So does the "strawberry" tree...
Monday, December 21, 2020
Thursday, December 17, 2020 -- Bike Path at the end of the Waterfront Powerplant & Manhattan Beach Pier
You can see Manhattan Beach Pier in the distance.
This is the bike path as it just passes the powerplant and reaches the end of the houses along the strand.
Panorama picture.
The surf looked excellent today.
The picture doesn't show it but you can just make out the right end tip of Catalina Island...
Atmospheric clouds...
"Wheels" rental electric scooter (no pedals)...
Someone "dumped" this rental scooter in our neighborhood.
It you take a close look, it's very beat up.
I wouldn't ride something this beat up...
Twist throttle...
Right brake lever says "front brake" on it.
On bicycles in the US, the RH lever usually works the rear brake.
On motorcycles, the RH lever usually works the front brake.
Put my bike next to it for a size comparison.
14" X 2.125" tires.
Interesting. Helmet required. License required, obey traffic laws, 18+...
But, no license plate, brake lights, etc.
Friday, December 18, 2020
Wednesday, December 16, 2020 -- Manhattan Beach Pier -- Crashed... again...
A beautiful day. High of 72 F and light winds...
Catalina in the distance.
Never get tired of looking at and being near the ocean...
A lot of people on bikes today (a little more than usual for a Wednesday).
Malibu in the distance...
My usual bench is taken today.
Sat on a bench on the opposite side...
I crashed again.
I was transitioning from the service road to the bike path at this point (to avoid lots of sand on the service road, coming up...)
I was going very slow (5 MPH?) to make this sharp left turn.
I apparently turned left a little too soon.
Did not see the edge of the concrete section (covered by sand).
As I turned, I caught the edge of the concrete section and fell over...
The "gouged" area of sand in the "boxed" area is my front wheel/tire sliding across the edge of the concrete, instead of going over it.
During the fall, I banged my right shin against something (don't know if it was the concrete or something on the bike) and got a nice bump/cut.
Also got a 5 mm road rash patch on my right hand.
Overall, not much damage.
The bike got some sand on it but maybe because of landing on the sand, I didn't see any obvious damage.
Several people must have seen me crash, because I was asked if I'm OK by some people riding by and by some people walking on the bike path. Nice of them to ask (some positive energy for a change).
Rode home with no further issues...
Still averaged 19.3 MPH.
I can't count how many times I've crashed on/off the bike...
In terms of falls, this was about as minor as it gets (short of having nothing happen to me or the bike).
The spare wheels are running on Continental Gartorskin on the front and Continental Grand Prix on the rear...
Bike Riding Glasses - Ear area falling apart...
The RH ear area of the glasses are falling apart.
These are old prescription glasses that I use just for bike riding (don't want to damage my everyday glasses from all the sweat).
Need to "bodge" this.
Don't know what to use.
2-part epoxy might be too hard a material.
Maybe an RTV sealer type of material that will stay somewhat flexible?
Thursday, December 17, 2020
Tuesday, December 15, 2020 -- Manhattan Beach Pier
Can still see Catalina...
The surf looked good today...
There is wind, but at the pier it was pretty calm (see the limp flags...).
This is the way I prefer the wind.
I'd rather fight the wind on the first half of the ride and then have it behind me on the way home...
Wednesday, December 16, 2020
Monday, December 14, 2020 -- Manhattan Beach Pier -- Wind! -- Ride Data...
It's clear today, because of the wind!
It's super windy today!
As the flags show, it's blowing hard and is coming from the N-NW...
I think the winds are about 15 to 25 MPH.
The wind was behind me going to the pier.
Got up to over 30 MPH just before I got to the pier...
Using the spare set of wheels.
They're carbon and pretty light weight.
They have the deeper rims that are more aerodynamic (faster).
But today, with the winds, the bike gets blown around.
It was manageable.
Today's aero wheels tend to be a little deeper than these older wheels.
Can see the Santa Monica mountains clearly...
The bench on the right is where I usually rest before riding back home...
Can see Catalina Island...
Just got back home.
The ride back was brutal...!
The head-wind was pretty crazy.
Speed over the 20 miles.
In the cross-wind, it's not too bad.
But the difference between the tail-wind & head-wind is dramatic!
Averaged 17.49 MPH for the 20 miles.
My average is 18.73 MPH.
The other day, I averaged 19.8 MPH.
The wind makes a tremendous difference...
The fastest average speed for a mile was 26.5 MPH.
The slowest was 11.75 MPH.
That's about a 15 MPH difference!
Tuesday, December 15, 2020
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