Season 3 Episode 18 (10/27) Another Stay in Four Days

Season 3 Episode 18 (10/27) Another Stay in Four Days – 

10/27 Santa Monica to Irvine, CA. 67 miles, 839’ climb.

We met up last night for a delicious dinner with Craig, our first planned guest rider for this morning. He lives in Santa Monica and we had met him on the same Australian bike tour in February in which we met Zach (guest in episode 11).

Craig rode from Santa Monica with us and gave us local commentary as we pedaled through Venice, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach. That’s where we picked up guest rider #2, Susan, another friend made from the same tour, who lives in Redondo Beach.

Craig and Susan guest riders. We joked about how we should ride on the opposite side of the street (like in Australia) to really reenact how we last rode.

We cycled through Torrance and Carson to get to Long Beach, with Heather snapping photos while on the move, and still managing to avoid moving cars!

When we reached the Los Angeles River in Long Beach, Craig and Susan headed back north after handing us off to our next guest rider Ken who lives there. We first met Ken when we were his Warm Showers host back at home in Larchmont while he was on his East Cost ride this past summer. We loved learning about his many lengthy tours, and he is a long time leading member of the WS community.

Ken captured our arrival.

By the way, I think calling it a river is misleading as it’s essentially a concrete catch basin, dry for most of the time. The section closer to the Pacific will fill shallowly from tidal waters. You’ve likely seen this concrete basin in films or TV shows. Ken educated us on the 3 local rivers and why they were built to prevent flooding in heavy rains.

We actually had two guest riders for this section. Damian is a current Warm Showers guest of Ken’s. He’s from Guadalajara, Mexico and is in the middle of his ride from Alaska to La Paz, Bolivia. He may have sold me on riding through the Yukon 😉

Ken led us around the Long Beach Marina. He is a wealth of information and so happy to share the beauty and history of his area with his visitors.

I found it interesting how they make an off shore oil platform look more pleasing by disguising the drilling rig as a building.

After Seal Beach, we said our farewells, and Heather and I continued south.

In addition to it being great seeing and reconnecting personally with our guest riders, it was wonderful for me to be a “passenger” along for rides that somebody else navigated. Normally I’m checking our route throughout the day by looking down at my phone or Garmin (bike navigation device) or at a paper map from the bike association. It’s a stress at times, especially in a bigger city area with more navigation required. 

We are so grateful for our guest riders. The last 20 miles that we rode by ourselves were so much harder than the first 40 miles which flew by as we chatted with them while riding.

At the Santa Ana River, before getting to Newport Beach, we pedaled east towards Irvine to a most special host, Lori and her husband Henry. I first met Lori in the summer of 1985 and we have worked together since 1988. She has been an integral part of my work family - sort of like a work sister. Like Heather and me, she’s also a native Montrealer, from the same area of the city, and our bond extends to working at the same camp. All this to say - we come from the same village and values so it was like staying with family.

I don’t even know where to begin describing this stay, I could write a whole blog on it alone.

In welcoming us to her beautiful home, she showed us to our room with welcome snacks and spa package awaiting us. Lori had keenly followed my blog, so knew Heather likes licorice and loves Crunchie bars. (The latter not available in the US.)

A week prior, she asked me if we had any cravings for meals or snacks that she could buy or prepare. I’d replied none. Then a few days ago, remembering we’d be here for a Friday night dinner, I said I do crave challah bread. She said not to worry. Well wow. Heather and I, who take our challah quite seriously, were treated to a next level experience. One pretzel challah and the other a sort of chocolate babka challah. Heated! It was dessert-like and heavenly.

We enjoyed a loving, warm traditional Friday night Sabbath dinner with Lori and Henry, their son Max (home for the night from LA), and their friends Michelle and Martin - Michelle also doubles as a long time colleague of Lori’s and mine and it was great to see her.  Friday night dinner is a meaningful part of our home life that we miss dearly when we travel.

I woke up in the morning literally thinking of Lori’s chocolate cake she made for dessert last night (I ate 2 pieces) and of the chocolate babka challah, wondering if there was any left for breakfast, but Lori had other plans.

Lori’s cinnamon French toast bake! How did she know we love this! It’s a traditional treat my older sister makes us in Boston. Yum, delish! Seconds and thirds. Any weight I’d lost over 6 weeks was put on in our 17-hour stay.

And of course she had a care package to send with us out the door. Avocado and banana (she read the blog) plus her homemade oat squares and her homemade version of Levain style super thick chocolate chip cookies.

Lori, Henry and Max. Thank you barely says it. We have two days left to ride to the Mexican border, and then we are tempted to turn right around and come back for another stay in four days!

Copyright Mark Segal 2023.