My first German essay (after 6 weeks of study) :)

Ich heiße Han. Meine Adresse ist 130 Michigan Straße. Ich bin 26 Jahre alt. Ich komme aus Australien. Meine Telefonnummer ist 626-818-xxxx. Ich studiere Chemieingenieurwesen als Hauptfach, Chemie als Nebenfach. Ich bin 1,68 Meter groß und Ich wiege 55 Kilo. Ich bin aufgescholossen, fröhlich und spontan. Ich fahre gern Rad und Auto. Auch, Ich interessiere mich für Natur und Musik.

Es gibt 7 Personen in meiner Familie. Ich habe eine Zwillingsschwester, eine jünger Schwester und 2 jünger Brüder. Mein Vater heißt Jian, er ist 57 Jahre alt. Meine Mutter heißt Yu, sie ist 50 Jahre alt. Meine Mutter ist zuverlässig, gut und konservativ. Sie ist interessiert mich für koch. Meine Vater ist konsequent und unorganisiert. Meine Zwillingsschwester ist Advokat. Sie ist hilfsbereit und reich, aber unsportlich. Meine jünger Schwester und Brüder sind humorvoll und laut.

A Chilly Ride

This morning I went up Angeles Crest with a couple of cyclists. They are quite experienced and have been in some races. As we were nearing the 2, I realized that it had become harder to push than before...I had a flat damn! I told the others to go ahead without me while I change the tube because I feel bad for them to wait on me, but they stayed to help. My tire is notoriously tight and they each tried but had a hard time removing it. I tried and I took it off the wheel quite fast - don't know why, must be because I've done it twice before and/or because of my strong hand muscles :)

Now that I have a speedometer and cadence meter I can keep track of how I am doing. During the initial climb, my cadence was around 70rpm, then after Clear Creek it had decreased to 60rpm. Apparently the optimum cadence is 80-100rpm. I will shift to lower gear next time and try to build up my cadence.

It was a cool day and going up I wasn't particularly tired but I was still quite slow compared to the other cyclists. At Red Box, we decided that we weren't go up Wilson cos it was too cold. I was ok either way, I'd like to finally do Wilson but I know that the descent would literally freeze my fingers. It would have been so true, because the descent from Red Box was already super chilly and my hands felt like cold water has been splashed on them and left there to freeze. Thankfully, it warmed up soon. We didn't descend as fast as I had liked, we were doing around 30mph (I did 32mph last time). Based on their experience I'd think that they would go faster, maybe they were going slower to accomodate me which was thoughtful of them.

Although I felt that I did badly in the climb, they said that I was very good at cycling for doing it for just 4 months. One guy said that I have good form and have great potential in cycling. All I have to do is adjust my seat and get professionally fitted. He also recommended me to later get a cycling coach! I'm surprised that experienced cyclists think that I am good at cycling, I've been told that I must be a natural at endurance sports, that I must be very fit to ride up GMR etc. Of course, being new at this I can't really tell how good or bad I am myself. I'm happy that I am good at cycling and I'm not sure where this comes from because I've always been terrible at sports growing up. I guess it was because they were mostly or actually exclusively sports involving balls. I never get the big deal about chasing around after a ball - it's all so futile and pretend to me. So I was never motivated to do the chasing game and I have been known to score for the other team. Along with cycling, I've also been told that I am natural at horse riding. So it seems that I'm good at what I like doing - which is always nice!

When I got home, I went for a hot shower and it felt so nice after the chilly descent that I didn't want to come out :)

Happiness

They say that happiness is 50% determined by genetics and the rest is how you perceive your situation. I have always viewed the glass as half full and I've generally been a happy and carefree person. I have learnt to appreciate what I have, the situation that I'm in and the simple things in life. And when things don't go my way or how I'd like them to turn out, I try to think in other peoples shoes and think positively. But there are of course things that make me sad. Some things that I know are out of my control and some things which I have done that I wish I could take back. Regret is the worst thing to have in life and it's being so true for me :(....Yet it's also true that when happiness comes after a period of sadness it would be that much stronger, so maybe it's ok to be sad and sadness is perhaps an integral and necessary part of life. I wonder if there would be happiness if there is no sadness?

Another Record Breaker

Yes again! Today up Chantry I decreased my time down to 29min!! :D Setting records all the time now....I know, I know, I get proud of myself very easily :) I went up Chantry with a very good cyclist. We approached Chantry very fast and I was already tired before going on Santa Anita. I rested a bit for the ascent up Chantry while he went up first. I did 14min at the 2miles point and I never really understand this, but if I have done 2miles and have 1.7miles left, then my total time should be below 28min. But I guess the second half always takes longer because I'm already tired. I was looking at my watch and realized that I might set a record today. Then my cyclist friend came down and encouraged me to go faster. He stated that I wasn't breathing hard enough (when I thought that I was already breathless) and that I needed to push harder (when I thought that I was pushing my hardest). This encouragement in the form of criticism really helped - I'm surprised that I could go from my heart feeling like it's nearly going to burst to seconds later feeling all normal again. I cannot deny that it was very hard but it's well worth it cos my time is now 29min. Still far from my goal of 24min by the end of the year - not sure how realistic that goal is now :P I can't believe I'm saying this, but I am in love...with cycling! It gives me so much pleasure and makes me so happy :) Sure, it can be dangerous - but one cannot live inside a bubble!

GMR-39 Loop

Last Sunday I did the GMR-39 loop. I parked my car at the bottom of 39 and began the ride from Sierra Madre, onto GMR then E Folk and finishing on 39. This was a 34miles ride, so not very long. From the start of the ride, I already wanted to use the bathroom :( I thought I would go behind the building at the top of GMR. So I tried to not drink too much water as well I was hoping that the water can be reabsorbed. Which was rather stupid cos I became quite dehydrated. Anyway, going up GMR, I was huffing and panting since the beginning, but I was able to keep a sustained pace without feeling that my heart would burst. I stopped a couple of times to have some water - I really need to learn to ride with one hand on the bar! Before long I arrived at the top of GMR. I rested there for a bit and chatted with a cyclist who told me some crazy cycling stories and shared with me some bike maintenance tips.

I then continued on my way onto E Folk, I like this part with the descents and the gusty wind. Once I wasn't careful and nearly went into the unpaved side road - that would have been bad! I was then caught up by a cyclist who asked if we could ride together. He was training for an Ironman challenge and had already ridden 65miles. We soon came to the reservoir at the junction of E Folk and 39. It was completely dry! Might be the rumored man-induced global warming effect or perhaps they were just rebuilding it. The ride on E Folk and 39 was easy with some nice descents. In total I did about 3hours on the bike and I wasn't too tired. Ok, I was tired but not exhausted :)

I have to say that sometimes I like to ride by myself. This gives me an opportunity to focus on cycling. As well, when I ride by myself - I get to meet and chat with random cyclists. It's a lot of fun hearing about their cycling experiences and telling them about my own humble beginnings in cycling and I always learn SO much from talking to others.

Secret Garden - Sleepsong

May you sail fair to the far fields of fortune...May you find kindness in all that you meet...May there always be angels to watch over you...May you bring love and may you bring happiness, be loved in return to the end of your days... :)

Chantry Ride and Ankle Sprain

Yes! I did 29.5 minutes up Chantry today, the fastest since my horse fall. I discovered that before I was slow because I was on heavier gears and they were often too heavy that my cadence was low. Now I have my gears on easy and I can maintain a high cadence. I'm pretty happy because my time had remained stagnant at 30.5min for quite some time. At the gates of Chantry as I was starting the ascent, I was going uphill and was taking too long to clip in and no surprise I fell off my bike. I landed on my back (or on my ankle) and sprained my ankle. My back didn't hurt - I think it was protected by the bunch of accessories that I keep in my cycling jersey back pockets. I got up and began the Chantry ride with no pain anywhere. However, when I got to work, I felt something wrong with my ankle, so I tried to move it around. And after that, the pain became progressively worse :(

Being the ever health conscious person that I am, I went to the health center. The nurse said that it's a sprain. She put on ointments to relieve the pain, wrapped me in compression dressing, gave me an ice pack along with plenty of caring advice. The nurses there always take great care of me and they certainly go beyond their job in doing so - but I like to be taken care of :) It amazes me how there are people in the world who are so caring and considerate yet others who are the exact opposite.....I hope my ankle will be ok for the ride this Thursday!!