Day Eight - Los Angeles - Westwood

Posted on June 10th, 2008 by Alvin and Jen.
Categories: General Updates.

Wow - was today needed!!!!

Alvin and I woke up around 7am in our fabulous suite at the W in Westwood - and what a fabulous suite it was.  Even better - we were just a few blocks from a Peets Coffee - which we had been without every morning since the weekend before - so you know that we were jonesing for a cup of coffee!  So we thew on some clothes and head out to the valet parking dudes to get walking directions to Peets.  It was actually quite funny - and very clear that people in LA do not walk anywhere!  When Alvin and I asked how to walk to Peets the valet dudes looked at us as if we were crazy.  They literally answered - “that is like a 10 minute walk”  lol as if that is like SOOOO long!  lol  So we found out where the Peets was and made our way down the block.

Dudes - It was like a 5 minute walk!!!  And a really nice FLAT walk too.  And worth every step - even on our  tired legs.  I swear - walking into Peets that morning was like fantastic - it was like I could hear music playing as they made my Americano!  lol….and man did it taste good!!  It actually was almost a perfect way to start the morning.   We had such a nice walk to Peets and a fanastic walk back.  Then we hung out in our room until we were meeting the rest of the gang, Tym, Becca, Kyle and Dan in the lobby for breakfast. 

We finally made out way out around 10:15 and WALKED (to the shagrin of everyone around) to a local breakfast place in Westwood - Jerry’s Deli.  It was really good and just what we needed.  We should have known what the day was going to be like when all of the adults enjoyed adult drinks with their breakfast orders…..most of us partook in a Bloody Mary and Tym decided on a Mimosa.  This is how the day started - so any of you who know us well can only imagine how the day continued…..

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Day 8 - Our fun in Los Angeles

Posted on June 9th, 2008 by Alvin and Jen.
Categories: Biking, General Updates.

Will update when we return to SF - and believe me - you will want to stay tuned in!!!!

:)

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Day Seven - The final Day - Ventura to Los Angeles - 61 miles

Posted on June 9th, 2008 by Alvin and Jen.
Categories: Biking.

Today was bittersweet.  We woke up all knowing that it was our last day of camping and living out of our dirty gear bags - but we also knew that it was our last day of the journey - the last day we would all be enjoying breakfast together and the last day, at least this year, we would all be riding together in AIDS Lifecycle 7.

We did our morning routine of porta potty stop, breakfast and camp breakdown.  We turned in our gear and said our goodbyes to our Gear Roadies - who had taken such great care of us all week.  We then made our way to pick up our bikes and hit the road for our trek to the VA Center in Los Angeles.  Dan and Alvin were going to ride together and I wanted to ride with David on the last day.   I said my later on’s to Alvin and Dan and went to go meet David so we could ride out together.

We made our way through Ventura - made a quick stop at a do-nut shop and then were on our way towards the Pacific Coast Highway - otherwise known as the PCH.   The PCH is quite beautiful - you are literally riding right next to the beach as you make your way South torwards Los Angeles.   It really was a great ride - the weather was beautiful and the winds were working with us as the headwinds were not that bad.  We were making good time as we passed through the different  communities along the PCH - including Malibu.

How big is Malibu!  I could not get over how long we were riding through Malibu - Malibu is actually like 27 miles of the PCH - which was crazy to me - but it is what it is.  The homes in Malibu are crazy - including Cher’s home which was perched on top of this huge cliff and surrounded by Palm Trees and a guard post..lol.

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Day Six - Lompoc to Ventura - 87 miles

Posted on June 8th, 2008 by Alvin and Jen.
Categories: Biking.

We awoke bright and early for our ride into Ventura - so did everyone else in camp.  It was a busy morning at camp at the crack of smack.  I actually was awoken at 4:30 am with all of the zip zip of people zipping out of their sleeping bags and tents.  It actually is am amazing thing - that early in the morning all you hear is shuffling and zipping..lol.  So Alvin and I woke up, got dressed into our biking gear, covered up with our sweats and sweatshirts and made our way to the porta potty lines and then to breakfast.

When we finally got all of our stuff ready we hit the road.  It was actually funny - because the route map for the day showed a 15 mile climb on the way out of camp - and everyone was really stressed about it - which is probably why everyone was up so early.  Not only that but as we were camping in Ventura - those who live in the Southern California area actually had friends and family visiting them at the camp that evening.

So - Dan and I made our way out of camp along with everyone else.  We actually were doing quite well trying to get past the massive crowds climbing this first 15 miles - and it indeed was a climb - a gradual climb - but still a fricken climb.  We made a quick stop at the first rest stop and then made our way to the top of the hill to the descent.  Ok - I know I have talked about some scary downhills on this ride but none of them and I mean NONE of them compare to this one.  OMG - this was probably the scariest fricken hill I have ever gone down before.  The descent is soooo steep and long and you are on a highway and so cars are flying by you - and since I go down as a granny I also had bikers flying by me.  I think I had about 300 bikers pass me screaming ON YOUR LEFT as they went flying by me.  Poor Dan - I know he was probably waiting at hte bottom of that hill for me forEVER.

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Day Five Continued - Lompoc

Posted on June 8th, 2008 by Alvin and Jen.
Categories: Biking.

Ok - so I must share this really funny story which happened on Thursday night when we were in Lompoc - because it was really quite funny - at least to us - and it could be because we are exhausted - but hopefully you will enjoy it.

The rest of Thursday was quite lovely.  Dan, Alvin and I all kind of did our own thing around camp until meeting up for dinner that evening.   After dinner all three of us actually did it - we went over to the registration tent and all of us signed up to do the ride again next year!   After signing up for the ride we partially listened to the evening announcements and then decided to go to bed early.  There was actually a talent show which would be taking place that evening - but we were all so tired that we just wanted to go to bed.

So - Alvin and I get back to our tent and start to get settled for our evening of rest.  As soon as we got to our tent we realized that our tent was near the fricken snorer once again - GREAT - if you recall I had barely slept the night before becaue of the snoring man.  The fact that he was near us again did not please me - but what the heck was I gonna do about it??  Nothing.    Snoring dude was actually in the tent right behind the tent right next to us.

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