First Time Up Angeles Crest

Last Sunday I went up Red Box on Angeles Crest for my very first time. It was a 46miles ride - the longest I've done and by myself. I thought since this would be a day of firsts, I should seize the moment and use my clipless for the first time too. I put on my leg warmers to protect myself from the chilly morning, but more importantly from the many expected inevitable falls.

Going to Angeles Crest from my place requires lots of turns and with a memory such as mine I was quite proud that I remembered the route. Soon I reached the base of Angeles Crest highway. To Red Box it was going to be a 13miles climb. Thankfully, unlike Chantry this was not steep and in fact had some sections that were quite flat. During the ascent, I passed an old lady cyclist who was slow but going methodically and steadily which was very admirable (she was also the only lady cyclist I'd see the whole day).

In total, from my place to Red Box I stopped 3 times to have some energy bars and water. During the last time, I lost balance with one foot in the clips and fell - it hurt a little but my leg warmers protected me quite well. However, when I started pedaling I realized that the saddle was now off centered by about 30 degrees. I brought everything with me, spare tube, lever etc but did not bring the bike tool. So I had to borrow. Unfortunately, there were no other cyclists going up. Fortunately, I only have about 2miles left to go to Red Box where I'm sure lots of cyclists would be taking a break. Yet the 2miles seemed like eons long when I had to sit and pedal in a very awkward position.

Finally I arrived at Red Box where I fixed my saddle, refilled my water bottles and used the bathroom (or rather hole in the ground). Then I started the much anticipated descent. When I was going up, I saw that cyclists going down were pedaling to increase speed so I thought I'd give that a try. I descended on the heaviest gear and pedaled hard. Soon I passed a section which was foggy and misty - that was awesome! I felt like I was in an untouched land exploring it to my hearts content :). Before long I reached the base of the 2. I thought I did it in 15min, that's 52mph! hm probably not right. I was thinking about this and was supposed to make a left, but I saw the turn rather late and a car was behind me going slowly unsure of what I wanted to do. Of course, I could not signal cos I still cannot ride with one hand on the wheel (I most likely can, but what can I say, I'm a chicken) so I decided to double back at the next intersection. However, I cornered too tightly and didn't have time to clip out and hence, the second inevitable fall happened. After I released myself from the tangled mess I saw that my bike chain had fallen off. Oops...I had absolutely no clue how to put the chain back on. It was just way too tight. There were no other cyclists going down so I couldn't ask them for help, nor do I want to call for help unless it's absolutely necessary - it's simply silly to not know how to put on a bike chain. So I laid the bike on it's side and inspected everything, suddenly something moved which released the tension (the derailleur). Phew, I got the chain back on and tested the shifting before beginning my ride home.

I was exhausted when I got home. I showered, relaxed on my bed and unknowingly fell asleep. But I'm so happy to have done many firsts in one day, to have accomplished what I had planned to do and to have learnt by myself how to put a chain back on. :)

I really enjoy cycling, not just for the outdoor fun, the exercise, or the speed but also the culture where cyclists can naturally struck up conversations and are willing to help each other. I'm always happy and humbled when I meet people who are considerate and open even if they don't know me. I'd like to live in a place with more of such people where I'd feel that I am a part of the community. To think if more people are considerate of others, then wouldn't the world be a better place to live in!?

Everclear - Wonderful

'...close my eyes and I count to ten...make everything be wonderful again'

Yellowstone

Over the labor day weekend I went on a 5 day camping trip in Yellowstone NP. We left Pasadena early in the morning to fly to Salt Lake City. On the way to the Long Beach airport, I unwittingly avoided a car accident. We were on the freeway when I overtook a red beetle, moments later the cars in front of me suddenly stopped. I stepped on the brakes hard (to it's limit) and narrowly missed the car in front of me. Then I heard a bump at the back. Did I just get hit?! Thankfully not, the beetle stopped in time but the car behind him did not. If I had not overtaken the beetle than I would have been rear ended - phew!

After we landed at SLC, we went to get our rental car. The compact car that we have booked wasn't available, so the sales person said that we could rent a mini van instead at the same rate. Driving a mini van?! That's high fuel consumption and bulkiness without the power, do I look that stupid?! I told him that we cannot take that one, what are the other options. Then he decided to show us the Mitsubishi Endeavor which we gladly agreed to take at $20/day. It only has 5000miles on it - practically new! In terms of handling it's quite smooth but for sure less powerful than my Saab.

The drive from SLC to Yellowstone took around 6hours and we crossed the state borders from Utah to Idaho and then to Wyoming. We camped at Grant Village Lodge campground. Each campsite was huge with it's own car park, picnic bench and fire place. They have showers there too which was an absolute necessity given that I cannot seem to go a day without showering. At an average elevation of 8000 feet, it was freezing at night and in the early mornings (below 0oC), my +20oF sleeping bag has helped me a lot.

We hiked around 8miles each day. During these hikes and car drives, we saw countless geysers of different shades of green and blue and tinges of yellow and orange. After seeing so many I got quite bored of them - ok, I wasn't super excited on seeing them in the first place. But such cannot be said about animals. We were lucky enough to see 7 different kinds of wildlife. We saw bison, elk, moose, marmot, canadian geese, a huge snake and wolves. The one that I liked the most was the bison. Bisons are so cute with their huge unblinking beady eyes. As well, the fact that they wander slowly on the road without giving a damn about traffic just make them appear so ignorant and hence more adorable (I can't exactly explain the correlation here). We saw a huge snake in the middle of a trail during a hike, I was really excited to see one - it was the largest I've seen in the wild! On the last day, while hiking in Teton NP, we saw some movement off the trail. On closer examination, it was a moose with her calf! They were very close to us at perhaps 5m away. Their huge ears were pointed in our direction and they remained alert yet motionless. My friend stepped closer to take a photo, to the point where the calf ran away. Apparently mother moose with calves are aggressive and can attack humans - oops...

West Thumb Geyser - Yellowstone

Bison wandering on the road

Moose with calf

I really wanted to see a bear. There are two species of bears in Yellowstone, Grizzly and Black bear. Completely different techniques should be employed when one encounters each species. If a Grizzly becomes 'interested' in you, you should back away slowly while speaking calmly to it, if it attacks, then you should use your bear pepper spray, if it continues to attack, then you should get down into a fetal postion and play dead. However, if you get challenged by a Black bear, you should make yourself seem bigger and shout at it. Yet it's hard to distinguish between them because unlike it's name, Black bears are not always black and in fact come in all colors. The determining factor is the presence or absence of shoulder humps (Grizzlies have them, Black bears do not). I suggested that we get bear pepper sprays since our lives may well depend on it. The plan was to carry one each in case the person carrying the spray looses their mind upon seeing a bear and runs away leaving the rest of us defenseless. So we went to the general store to hunt some down - it costs $50 each! At this price I'd rather take my chances against the bear! In any case, we didn't get to see a bear which was rather unfortunate or perhaps fortunate depending on the outcome.

A couple of mornings I got up early and drove to see the sunrise against the Yellowstone lake, the view was majestic and the colors were nothing short of amazing.

Sunrise over Yellowstone lake

Admittedly during the time there, I missed the comfort of home especially when it came to using the communal showers and the freezing nights and mornings. But I knew that all would be worth it in the end since it's the experience and the fond memories that we keep. And looking back - I was right :)