Prepping for Ride #1

As a runner, I'm happiest when I can step out my front door and start my run.  [I solemnly swear that I won't discuss running in every blog post.*]

Put another way, my Energy of Activation for a workout is substantially higher when I have to drive somewhere to work out. [I also solemnly swear that I won't make nerdy science references in every blog post.*]

So I thought I'd try my first serious ride close to where we live - and Griffith Park was an obvious choice.  For you non-Angelinos:

Griffith Park is marked with the 'A', above.
"Downtown" is basically in the circle of orange freeways at the bottom, center.

Griffith Park is a large, hilly urban park that contains the LA Zoo, the Gene Autry Museum, Travel Town, several large picnic areas, and even a merry-go-round.  It is also home to the Griffith Observatory, which sits atop one of the many hills in the park.  The park is chock full of dirt running trails, some of which start a mere half mile from our apartment.  Unfortunately, the park is more runner-friendly than bike-friendly.

But when I cracked open my new handy route reference guide, I saw this:

My Ride #1
Their Ride #1
This book and I were made for each other!

The ride still started ~3 miles from our apartment, so I weighed my options:

 Pack bike, drive, unpack bike, ride

-VS-

Ride NOW (and navigate busy city streets)

Have I mentioned that I really don't like driving to workout?  Right.  So I opted for the latter.  

I put myself at the mercy of the Gmaps bike route function to map a course from our apartment to the start of the ride.  [If you're unfamiliar with it, this is simple: Just enter your location and destination in gmaps, then hit the cyclist icon above the directions at the top left.]  In LA at least, this function specially identifies bike lanes and bike paths. I will be using this function in the future, when I stray from the suggested routes in Where To Bike: LA.

I scribbled the directions in large letters on a big piece of paper and tucked it in the back pocket of my bike jersey.  I packed my under-seat pouch with credit card/cash/phone (spare tube & CO2 cartridge already live there), applied sunscreen, and filled my water bottles.  I bargained with my bike shoes to cooperate and not dump me unceremoniously to the ground at a stop sign somewhere.  I adjusted the front tire (quick release) on my bike so it was on straight.  I locked up the apartment, wrangled the bike into the elevator, and rode down to the ground floor.  I put on my bike shoes...and realized my Garmin was still upstairs.

Drat.

Dig keys out of seat pack, back upstairs, unlock door, find Garmin, bike back into elevator, downstairs, shoes, etc.

When I'm heading out for a morning run, my alarm-clock-to-start-time is about 6 minutes (true story).  All of these shenanigans took about 30 minutes.  I was cranky, and I hadn't even gone anywhere yet.  What a way to start this new adventure.  Cripes.

Hey, I told you I was gonna tell it like it is.  And this is how it was, on that first day.

Believe it or not, I did eventually make it out to ride.  But if you want to read about that, you'll have to come back tomorrow.  Right now, I'm exhausted just reliving the preparation on this first day...

 --------------------------------------------------------------------

*I should note that probabilities are multiplicative, and so the likelihood of you getting a running- and science-free blog post is low. What can I say?  I am who I am.