Well, the original plan had been to head to the border today (Sat) but with the weather forecasters painting increasingly dire pictures of this storm moving south along the Pacific coast, we finally decided to postpone our departure until Monday. It's not so much a question of riding in the rain being a drag--it's actually rather fun--but the potential for gale-force winds, coastal flooding, and mudslides along all the areas that have been recently hit by fire makes caution win out. We'll see if there really are any road closures...and if they get cleared by Monday!

We did ride around town running errands most of Friday, and what started at noon as a gentle but steady drizzle gradually built momentum. By 6pm or so, when we left the bike shop with a new saddle for K's loaner-bike, the 8 mile ride uphill towards home was accompanied by solid, beefy raindrops and a notable headwind. It was somewhat slower going than normal, and by the time we got home we were soaked to the skin. Today we break out the waterproofing spray in an attempt to make those raincoats useful again.

Replacing K's saddle was a decision that stemmed from a test ride on Thursday, heading from Sierra Madre to Long Beach. It was a chance to test how the loaner bike operated with a load over distance. We did just shy of 40 miles, K with two full cargo buckets on the back. (There's no front rack on the loaner, and since this last stretch will be just 4 days through very populated areas, we're going to try packing much lighter for this stretch!) Since C's bike is unchanged, he carried just one bucket, lightly loaded with snacks. It was very fun riding downhill from the foothills to the ocean on the Rio Hondo and LA River bike trails--no traffic at all, except where construction detours forced us back on the roads in a few places. Though the rivers are almost entirely concrete-encased, there are still plenty of wading birds in the channel. As it turns out, this stretch has a surprising amount of horse stables along the river front: strange contrast to see the horses being exercised in a narrow dirt trail framed by a huge concrete flood control structure on one side, and grafitti-coated factory walls trimmed with barbed wire on the other. But it was reassuring, too, to find traces of the rural life we've been enjoying all down the Pacific Coast still present even in the starkest urban areas.

As we rolled down the river trail, we did at one point meet an oncoming truck from the LA County Public Works dept. They told us they were locking up all the access gates to the river, to decrease the chance of kids being washed away when the storms hit. We asked if we'd be able to just stay on the path all the way to Long Beach, and they figured we could follow the trail all the way to the ocean with no problem, despite all the side gates being closed. "But if you see the water start to rise, jump over the fence, OK?"

The weather stayed lovely--overcast but no rain--and our Thurs ride to Long Beach almost went of without a hitch. It was just getting dark as well reached Long Beach, and right where the river path bends around to rejoin the city streets--you guessed it--they had locked the gate. Trapped! Luckily, our cargo buckets are not only waterproof and raccoon-proof ways to carry our gear, but they also make great stepping-stools, and we found climbing over the chain-link barrier was much easier with them to give us a boost. Once our gear and our selves were over the fence, we simply caught the light rail trains back home. Gotta love the Blue Line!

We'll upload a few photos from this urban adventure, between bouts of waterproofing. Since we have some family coming in to visit from out of town, postponing departure till Mon will make this a bit of a focused activity--really gotta get the ride done in the 4 days we estimate it will take us. Fingers crossed!