This is part of my morning routine. After finishing breakfast kindly retrieved by Angela from her exclusive Medical tent, I pack up the tent. It only takes about 10 minutes.
During the last few days my pant leg kept getting caught on my chain. Here it is rolled up at Rest Stop 1.We did it! No pictures tonight b/c I can't find the camera for some reason. I was much too excited to reach my friend's house and shower. But first we had to stop by Downtown LA for my favorite meal, a Steak Picado from Chanos. That stuff is great. It's the only meal I'd travel to LA for and then leave immediately.
Here's Joe, whom I met on the ride! I mentioned him earlier. He's a Positive Pedaler. He's been really nice to me during the ride and would tell me what good and bad things to watch out for on the ride. He's done the ALC ride 3x before all on the trike! This photo was taken at the lunch stop at a ball park.
This last day of ALC was fairly fun! I was on the road by 7am or so and traveled about 80 miles to get to LA! One tough part of the route required me to get off my trike, carry the 43 lbs down one long flights of stairs, bring it through an underground pedestrian tunnel and bring it back up two flights of stairs! I managed though and from there on out, it was just a matter of continuously dodging cars and other pedestrian traffic.
It's a miracle none of us got hit by car doors of careless drivers opening them from their parked car. No casualties to account for either.
We had a huge welcoming as we entered the destination spot in LA. Hundreds of people lined up being the gates and cheered us as we entered with their claps, bells and whistles. It was quite an experience!
Luckily, Closing Ceremonies didn't start until 4pm. I believed I arrived at around 1:45pm or so. Upon getting to the finish line, I met a few other trike riders who weren't in the ALC ride. They were fanatics who had ridden their recumbent casually and wanted to get a good look at a few that completed the 7 days. The tandem trike guys had already arrived drinking their beer as they handed me a can.
It was time to celebrate. 7 long 9-12 hour/day rides came to a close.
I arrived at Mc Collister's bike shipping and they were not able to take my flag so off and to the garbage it went (it doesn't fit in the luggage either)! Too bad I couldn't take it with me. It was a brand new flag I got just the day before the ride started a week ago!
My buddy Danny from USC School of Architecture was nice enough to pick me up from the closing ceremonies. He got pretty excited about the trike too and before riding it around took a shot at lifting it above his head - and he did it! That's pretty insane. It's an awkward shaped object of 43 lbs. A typical road bike is in the low 20's. One with a full carbon frame? 17lbs.
TOP 5 THINGS I'M NOW GRATEFUL FOR:
1. Toilet paper that isn't see-through.
2. Not having to line up for the restroom.
3. Not having to wake up at 4:45am every morning.
4. Feeling enough energy to eat.
5. Being able to eat something other than the snacks that have become mundane of the 7 days.
Do you know what happens when you've ridden 540.7 miles over 7 days without ever having looked into a mirror up close?
After I arrived at my friend's house, I looked at my reflection and saw in front of me a panda - a reverse panda. What's a reverse panda? Black skin and white eyes. That's exactly what I looked like plus blotches on my forehead from the opening in my helmet where the sun shown through. Pictures to be posted.
Here's Joe, whom I met on the ride! I mentioned him earlier. He's a Positive Pedaler. He's been really nice to me during the ride and would tell me what good and bad things to watch out for on the ride. He's done the ALC ride 3x before all on the trike! This photo was taken at the lunch stop at a ball park.This last day of ALC was fairly fun! I was on the road by 7am or so and traveled about 80 miles to get to LA! One tough part of the route required me to get off my trike, carry the 43 lbs down one long flights of stairs, bring it through an underground pedestrian tunnel and bring it back up two flights of stairs! I managed though and from there on out, it was just a matter of continuously dodging cars and other pedestrian traffic.
It's a miracle none of us got hit by car doors of careless drivers opening them from their parked car. No casualties to account for either.
We had a huge welcoming as we entered the destination spot in LA. Hundreds of people lined up being the gates and cheered us as we entered with their claps, bells and whistles. It was quite an experience!
Luckily, Closing Ceremonies didn't start until 4pm. I believed I arrived at around 1:45pm or so. Upon getting to the finish line, I met a few other trike riders who weren't in the ALC ride. They were fanatics who had ridden their recumbent casually and wanted to get a good look at a few that completed the 7 days. The tandem trike guys had already arrived drinking their beer as they handed me a can.
It was time to celebrate. 7 long 9-12 hour/day rides came to a close.
I arrived at Mc Collister's bike shipping and they were not able to take my flag so off and to the garbage it went (it doesn't fit in the luggage either)! Too bad I couldn't take it with me. It was a brand new flag I got just the day before the ride started a week ago!
My buddy Danny from USC School of Architecture was nice enough to pick me up from the closing ceremonies. He got pretty excited about the trike too and before riding it around took a shot at lifting it above his head - and he did it! That's pretty insane. It's an awkward shaped object of 43 lbs. A typical road bike is in the low 20's. One with a full carbon frame? 17lbs.TOP 5 THINGS I'M NOW GRATEFUL FOR:
1. Toilet paper that isn't see-through.
2. Not having to line up for the restroom.
3. Not having to wake up at 4:45am every morning.
4. Feeling enough energy to eat.
5. Being able to eat something other than the snacks that have become mundane of the 7 days.
Do you know what happens when you've ridden 540.7 miles over 7 days without ever having looked into a mirror up close?
After I arrived at my friend's house, I looked at my reflection and saw in front of me a panda - a reverse panda. What's a reverse panda? Black skin and white eyes. That's exactly what I looked like plus blotches on my forehead from the opening in my helmet where the sun shown through. Pictures to be posted.
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