Friday Night - Three Musketeers at the Theatricum Botanicum
Saturday - Surfing in the morning, then some cheese festival in the afternoon
Sunday - Mountain biking on Fullerton Loop
In reality this is what transpired:
Friday
Kiefer and I headed to Costco to pick up 2 extra elite surf boards (the $99 special you know!), and then threw on our gear to ride up to Topenga Canyon on the GSXR. Boy was that a nerve wracking ride! For Kiefer it was because we took every turn up Topenga Canyon Road nice and wide due to my added weight on the back. For me it was the fact that 75% of the road on the way up has what seems to be a trench for some kind of plumbing most likely, that has been filled in with asphalt that has been "smoothed out" with several men with shovels. It was very bumpy, and very scary through a turn in the dark.... We eventually made it to the play (20 min late), but it was fantastic. I happen to love the story behind the Three Musketeers, so I really got into it very quickly. The actors were very good =). Our ride home was MUCH MUCH better, as the downhill side was totally smooth, so we enjoyed a brisk drive through the canyon, and then a nice zippy ride down the fwy (pronounced FWEEEEE) home. We hit the hay right away, as surfing was booked for 8am sharp!
Saturday
So I wake up at the crack of dawn (as always), it's like I don't even need an alarm clock anymore or anything! I prep a tasty breakfast of Cream of Wheat and scrambled eggs + egg whites with salsa (yum!), and we get ready for the salt water. Now, admittedly I was not really looking forward to getting into the water yesterday. It was the first day of shark week, and cold water just sounded really uncomfortable. Plus we didn't have wetsuits...you know? So first we headed to a local surf shop to check out wetsuits. Those fit us okay, but were not really in our price range. Well let me rephrase: Crab didn't like the color (orange), Kiefer was meh (color and fit), and I was not amused by the price ($230). So we convened and decided instead of actually surfing we'd go shop for suits.
We dropped the boards back at our house, and headed out. Sharky Ryzzie was getting grumpy due to lack of food, so when Kiefer suggested going to Sports Authority I was very whiny about them probably not having any, or not having any in the guy's sizes. (Crab needed a LS, Kiefer an MT, I just needed a men's L, so easy there). They had plenty of $100 or less suits, but none of them fit right. I tried some ladies ones on and ended up totally shredding my fingers in the process. I guess the way my fingers were rubbing on the material was just rubbing them raw =( I have those on both hands too. We gave up on SA, and headed out.
Earlier I had mentioned Spyder Surf, but they had been closed. Well it was like 10:30 so they were definitely open now! Crab navigated us there, and we were pleased to see they said "500 wetsuits in stock now!" and something to the effect of "BIG SALE." So the boys piled right in, and I followed along moping because I had booboos. I walked right up to the desk with a sad face and asked if they had bandaids. They guy felt SO sorry for me, and went into the back and got out the first aid kit and got me a couple. After that, he proceeded to help us out big time!
Chris and I ended up getting AWESOME deals on these suits:
Both DEEPLY discounted, and both perfect fits. The guys at Spyder Surf on PCH were SO helpful, and SUPER SUPER nice, so I would recommend going there to ANYONE. They even brought us water while we were trying on our suits, and it was tasty water too. I'm not one to post stickers or promote shamelessly, but they were so helpful, and so nice, and friendly that I KNOW I will do all my surf shopping there from now on. Oh and Crab even got a suit for about $100 which was nice too (also rip curl, but I don't know what brand).
So we headed home for our next event. Well it turns out our buddy, who had selected this event had totally forgotten about it. We were NOT offended at all, considering it's been 100+F all weekend inland, so Kiefer and I decided to stay home. we tried this great pizza place in South Redondo Beach, and it was indeed fancy pants gourmet pizza. The crust even had a tasty flavor and everything! Yum! We also did a fun motorcycle/bike ride (I rode the GSXR, and Kiefer rode his road bike) over to the local Motorsports store, and BevMo! to check out moto-X gear for the season, and pick up some beer to go with the pizza we'd be ordering later. Yum!
We finished up the evening with the end of Seven Samurai. Phew! Long day!
Sunday
My friend from work came over by 8am as planned, so we headed for Fullerton. We pulled up to the Ralphs at 8:58 am, in plenty of time. Everyone showed up on time, and we slathered up with sunscreen, and finished up our last minute adjustments before heading out. Everyone had a great time, even though Crab fell down several times (new clipless + shoes, he just needs more practice). I even took a dive trying to get up a curb. I went up a couple smaller ones before that, but hadn't attempted anything so large before, but I figured I'd give it a go. Well I misjudged and/or was going to slow, so I pulled up (WAAAAAAYYY) too early, and smashed right into the curb instead. Fun times! Didn't fall on my but, but my hands touched the ground nice and solid for sure. I count that as down.
Sean had fun flying down a few hills by skidding sideways, and Crab even took a nice steep hill we were all certain he was going to die on, and did fine (I have videographical proof!). We were hot, Crab tried to pass out from carb crash, and a little over doing it, and I tried to get too hot, but stuck my head in a sink at a bathroom we passed, so we were having fun (despite my complaints, hey someone had to do it!).
Well I was having a BLAST with my new bike. It was great that it has disc brakes, non-twist shifters, front suspension, actually fit me, everything about it was great.
OLD:
NEW:
Anyhoo!! We're riding along, having a great time, and at about mile 9 I go to shift (on some nice, flat ground) and all of a sudden I hear this sickening CRUNCH as my pedals seize up. Now I figure something's gotten stuck, or the chain's popped off. This kind of thing happens. NONONO. I look down to see that my rear derailleur has completely snapped off.
They were completely dumbfounded by this break. The guy that sold me my bike was not happy to see me unhappy, and the mechanics were just like WTH how does that happen!?!?! They are going to keep her for the week, and get SRAM to replace it on warranty. They are hoping SRAM will send an upgrade for my troubles. I'm glad to get a free upgrade, but I would have rather finished my ride you know? Le Sigh, oh well, she'll be back soon and I can have more adventures.
I just wanted to ride my damned bike!
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