Emma Wood to Leo Carillo
Miah, a 2nd time SLBTer, recently returned to the tour after spending the days around Thanksgiving with his family. Miah’s had a rough first part of the ride, going down with a nasty cold which some riders have succumbed. He has not ridden since we passed through Cambria, but joined us today in Ventura. While under the weather instead of riding Miah took on the important role of “sagging.” Primarily this means that you drive the Support and Gear (SAG) vehicle, but it takes on many other behind the scene responsibilities. “Sagging was great. I got healthy and got clear insight of what needs to happen daily.” Captaining what became the “Sicksie Bus” for three days with the other infirmed; Ashley, Sean, & guest appearances from David, Miah etc took on many tasks daily.
Riders of the Bike Tour get all the glory, but their days are incredibly smooth due to the sags hard work. The first job of the day is to pack up the bus, not a small feat. Any special errands that need to be run are their responsibilities. For example; pick up pre-arranged food donations, buy additional lunch goods, find biodiesel gas stations, fill up propane, charge essential appliances, get campground reservations, meet up with chaperones at schools, help riders with directions... these could all happen before lunch. Lunch by the way is a production in and of itself. Set up the table, whip up some tuna, slice cheese, make hummus, cut bread, silverware, water, snacks… there’s a lot to be done… and then clean it up after the tornado of hungry riders tears through. The perks are that you get to go to the store and pick up your favorite juice you haven’t even see in two weeks, or get tacos whenever you want. “We were at Vons, and David had been pretty quiet just laying on the counter of the bus because of his bad back… then he just came to life saying ‘We need tacos’, and there was a taqueria right there…. We had carnitas” explained Miah. But he says the best part of sagging is other people’s reactions to the woody short bus. “You can see people stop and look at it, and you know they are thinking ‘What is that?’ Then they just have the biggest smiles on their faces.”
The crew enjoyed a leisurely day in Ventura. Friday was “Buy Nothing Day” a protest against the consumerism of the holiday season. Luckily we hit the Patagonia headquarters store on Saturday what we deemed “Buy Everything Day.” Out of respect for the wood panel floors we left our muddy cleats outside, regardless there’s no way 20 unshowered bikers couldn’t make a scene in the store. After two hours of shopping for responsibly made wares we finally departed, glowing from our screaming deals (thanks, Chris ;).
We were free to enjoy the morning, with the guideline to be sure to be leaving Ventura by 1pm. My group didn’t leave until two. Here’s why… 1) Courtney was really having a hard time deciding if he should buy a base layer that was made from recyclable capilene or the petroleum free merino wool . 2) We decided to buy tamales at the Farmers Market & got sucked into listening to a middle school aged punk band playing on the curb & 3) we stopped into the Channel Island Visitor Center. The Visitor Center gave us an insight into the subtle differences between Catalina and the other channel islands, and some major differences. The center has a fossil of a pigmy mammoth found on one of the islands. The docent told us that it probably floated or swam out to the island and then shrank in size, a perfect example of the breadbox theory. We didn’t get out of Ventura until after 2pm.
The next bit of riding was especially pretty. “It was like a movie, it was perfect” described Miah. He continued, “From Pt Mugu to Zuma Beach there were slightly rolling hills overlooking the beach. The sun was low in the sky, everything was a golden color, and the waves the way the waves were coming in… It was a moment that made me so glad that I didn’t stay at home.”
After celebrating Julie’s birthday for awhile with custard and French fries, we came into Leo Carillo. This was our last night together for the next three days and we had mac and cheese as well as cakes to celebrate Julie’s day. After dinner we fell into work, we needed to divide food, curriculum, and gear for the next day. Since we have so many schools in the LA area we actually need to break up into smaller groups to be able to hit all of them. We had 10 schools to visit and only 48 hours to do it in, every crew would be visiting two schools on Monday. These are the routes
INLAND: Day 1) Over Malibu Mountains to Burbank, Day 2) Studio City & Glendale then Altadena, Day 3) Altadena to Huntingon Beach.
COASTAL: Day 1) Leo Carillo to Venice Day 2) Lawndale and South Central LA to Manhatten Beach day 3) Meet with Inland at Huntington Beach
ORANGE COUNTY: Day 1) 80 miles Leo Carillo to Fullerton, Garden Grove and Orange, to Huntington Beach then Irvine.
Orange County crew left early in the morning so they’d roll into Miah’s parents’ house before dark. They almost got their by lunch
Inland left next to get ready to go over Malibu
Coastal Crew laughed for 4 hours after Courtney ripped his spandex shorts on the bus door and didn’t leave until noontime.
Next we’ll be hearing from the individual crews on their journeys.
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