State of the Shelanman

So... I'm in the middle of a light-industrial area in costa mesa or santa ana or something... It's about 10:00 at night. I'm utterly drenched (I went sliding along on the flooded ground) -- it's raining quite hard. So, I picked myself up... took a look at my hands and my knee... I decided that I was still in good working order, (actually, I think I said "I seem to still work" out loud...) and I was miles from anywhere I knew well... (actually, only a mile or so if I just turned around... but the thought never occurred to me) so... I got back on the bike, and headed on.

I attempted the ride today because... after hearing about other really hard stuff that other people (including some guys more than twice my age that I met at a networking event), that went way, way beyond what I'm capable of... I was feeling weak. I decided to prove that I was stronger than I thought. I wasn't about to let a little crash and minor injuries stop me!

About a mile later I decided I must not be terribly hurt... because I was still going. About 2 miles after that, I decided that I had better find a starbucks or something to stop and rest because my fingers were starting to go numb, and I was still really far from home. And some warm liquid would be very helpful.

I eventually wandered into the Carrow's Restaurant at Bristol and MacArthur, which turns out, amusingly, to be an almost perfect halfway-point between home and Shin-Sen-Gumi. I walk in, feeling like a drowned rat. I look at the manager, who welcomes me... at first I'm just shocked he let me sit down as drenched as I was. He brought me a mug of hot tea, asked if I was OK, and left me to recuperate. As I sat, absorbing as much warmth as I could suck out of that mug of tea (and the 3 or 4 more they brought me), I decided I'd better not try riding the rest of the way home in the pouring rain. Stronger-than-I-thought or not, I wasn't going to press it any further. I was absolutely frigid. Apart from that, the road was flooded a bit, and I knew that up ahead was a 2-mile stretch with no sidewalk... I'd be stuck riding in the middle of the road at night... a sure recipe for making the morning news as the latest grotesque roadkill...

Lupe, the manager at this Carrow's restaurant, called me a cab. I paid for my tea, left a large tip, thanked Lupe, and ran out to the cab. Less than 10 minutes later, I'm home... I reach in to my pocket, FUCK I LEFT MY WALLET AT THE RESTAURANT!!

Well... the cab driver didn't want to leave without collecting his fare... all I had in my pockets was 2 bucks, a few coins, and some crappy earbud headphones... and my iPod...

So... the driver took me back to the restaurant to get my stuff. I'm somewhat annoyed, but since I was honestly just grateful to be in a warm car, I decided that I'd go ahead and let him drive me there and back again... even though it'd cost a bit. In the end, the extra $30, while way too much for a cab ride home, seemed a small matter... I was still in that mode where only really big things matter... and at that moment $30 wasted was not a very big thing. Let the driver have a little extra bonus for coming and getting me at 11:30 and driving me all over...

I got back to Carrow's... they were closed, but Lupe let me in, gave me my wallet (and my cellphone, which I left there as well...). He then insisted (quite vehemently... I really tried to leave it for them) that I take the tip I left back... he wouldn't accept one penny more than the $1.89 for my hot tea. I left, got back in the cab, and came home, where I turned the heater up to about 80 for a bit to try and warm up.

Then I decided to write this on my blog, because I just had to tell someone my story to get it out of my head... I feel much better now with it all on (virtual) paper... I think I'll be able to sleep now...

All in all, a very expensive dinner at Shin-Sen-Gumi... expensive cab ride, new bike helmet, and a few scuffs and scratches...

But I'm home. And I broke my distance record, even with the stop halfway home. I thought it was 9 miles each way. Turned out to be about 10.5 out, and about 5.25 back to the Carrow's. That's just shy of 16 miles. While other people may not think that terribly far, it's a good 3 miles past my previous record. And I did 5 of it in a downpour. So I feel good about myself... even though I feel stupid at the same time for not thinking to just go back to shin sen gumi and wait for either the rain to stop or a cab there... riding in that kind of weather, especially on streets, is suicidal! But, I made it. And if it hadn't been raining, I totally would have made the other 5.25 miles home. I'm going to cool it for a day or two... but then I'm going to buy that new helmet and start riding again. More carefully.

As far as proving myself... well... it didn't go nearly as planned... and I had to rely on the kindness of other people to make it. But I did ok. Not awesome. Not great. Maybe not even that good. But: I made it farther than I would have expected. (The whole ride out, I kept expecting to stop and turn around at any moment... it wasn't until I could see my destination that I knew I'd really go the full distance). I didn't totally lose my head when it got tough. I came close... but I didn't... and I did get back up and keep going... for almost 4 miles... that counts for something in my book.

Oh... and... my iPod got a bit wet, like everything on me (well... everything in general... I was soaked!). I'm going to leave it alone for the evening... we'll see if it still works in the morning. It looks like it will, but who knows... I really hope so, because it's brand new, and that's a really expensive dinner if I need a new one.

And if, tomorrow, you find a piece of a bicycle helmet laying on a sidewalk along Talbert up around Euclid... it might have been part of my story this evening.