73traveler
a little background first...I am 19,live in isla vista and got into biking about a month and a half ago. i am riding what i havve been tolf is a 1973 schwinn traveler, the first schwinn to be made in japan. when i got the bike it was a wreck, flats, no effective brakes, the chain was rusted etc. i put a little over $150 into it and just started riding around isla vista and santa barbara.
so about two weeks ago i decided to ride from isla vista to huntington beach. at this time i had bee riding for about a month but just thought i could do it. i made some plans but i didnt have a map or that good of an idea how to get there, i figured just follow pch. along the way i would ask bikers on the path for directions and they were very helpfull. if anyone is reading this that helped me thanks!!! so i left at 6 am and went pretty hard but i feel i paced myself well. around ventura i was thinking that i had made a drastic mistake. i was wearing some old soccer shorts that left my rear but a thin layer of nylon for cushion. I didnt have a helmet and i was wearing tenis shoes with basic pedals, no clips rat traps what have you. Some of the hills on the 101 gave me some trouble but i kept a good pace and made it through Oxnard and to Point Magu around 11 am. I felt relatively good , drank some water and ate some nutri-grain bars and carried on. Once i reached the Santa Monica pier at 2:30-3 i felt like i could ride for days, i made it through torrance and willmington to belmont shores in long beach around 5:00-5:30, the home stretch was probably the easiest part of the ride considering it was relativelt flat compared to PCH through malibu. i came under the pier in huntington beach at 6:30 making the ride about 12:30 hrs with around an hour of breaks. i see a lot of threads about century rides on here and people sounding affraid...all i say is that i rode on a steel bike more than thirty years old with 10 speeds and made the ride after only riding for a month or so. come on people!!!
so about two weeks ago i decided to ride from isla vista to huntington beach. at this time i had bee riding for about a month but just thought i could do it. i made some plans but i didnt have a map or that good of an idea how to get there, i figured just follow pch. along the way i would ask bikers on the path for directions and they were very helpfull. if anyone is reading this that helped me thanks!!! so i left at 6 am and went pretty hard but i feel i paced myself well. around ventura i was thinking that i had made a drastic mistake. i was wearing some old soccer shorts that left my rear but a thin layer of nylon for cushion. I didnt have a helmet and i was wearing tenis shoes with basic pedals, no clips rat traps what have you. Some of the hills on the 101 gave me some trouble but i kept a good pace and made it through Oxnard and to Point Magu around 11 am. I felt relatively good , drank some water and ate some nutri-grain bars and carried on. Once i reached the Santa Monica pier at 2:30-3 i felt like i could ride for days, i made it through torrance and willmington to belmont shores in long beach around 5:00-5:30, the home stretch was probably the easiest part of the ride considering it was relativelt flat compared to PCH through malibu. i came under the pier in huntington beach at 6:30 making the ride about 12:30 hrs with around an hour of breaks. i see a lot of threads about century rides on here and people sounding affraid...all i say is that i rode on a steel bike more than thirty years old with 10 speeds and made the ride after only riding for a month or so. come on people!!!