Tandoids
Distance
Cycled: 15,935 km
Headwinds: 2
days in a row
Weather:
Cold enough for jackets at night
Bike status:
Chains had it, tyres almost worn out
Distance to Mexico
Border: About 16 km
L.A. By Tandem
Who would
have thought that cycling through L.A. could be such a blast? It may be one of
the most car centric cities in the world, but it can also work for cyclists.
Mike, Eric, Judy and Greg take a break from cycling. |
The canals of Venice Beach. Most have been filled in now and turned into roads. |
At Santa
Monica, we escaped from the traffic onto a beach trail – shared by
cyclists, walkers and joggers, skateboarders and a few rollerbladers who seemed
to be the last of a dying breed.
Greg, Eric and Mike the Captain at Venice Beach. |
Eric was as
cool as – a laid-back surfer with an apartment a block back from the water. We
had a great night exchanging stories – he has one of the wildest cycle plans we
have heard of yet. Next January he sets out on his own for S.E. Asia with a tandem and
trailer, a surfboard and room for a passenger on the back seat of his bike. His
aim is to enjoy the best surfing spots the region has to offer and to share his
adventure with people he meets along the way. His blog is at: www.tandemten.com
The next
morning Eric and another house guest, Greg, an actor just returned to L.A.
after living in Tokyo for nine years, escorted us south for a few miles from
Venice Beach.
Mike and Judy, Hermosa Beach |
“Marry me or
I’m out,” recounted a woman to a friend as we cycled past.
“Great
soundbite,” said Eric and we all laughed.
He and Greg
were looking at the waves – the surf was ok and they were feeling tempted. They
stuck with us as far as Manhattan Beach where we stopped for coffee and to
allow Greg time to practice his Japanese pickup lines on a gaggle of passing
Japanese women tourists.
The pier at Redondo Beach and memories of that great Patti Smith song of the same name - what exactly was it really about. |
We met Edward Power on the road - he was on his way by bike to South America as part of a world trip. http://powerroundtheplanet.webs.com/ |
We had been
encouraged to take a scenic route from there, over the Palos Verdes instead of
cutting inland. It was pretty, and pretty long, as we wound our way past
multi-million dollar homes, the (Donald) Trump National Golf Course and even the
Trump National Highway.
On the far
side we descended into Long Beach and became caught up in back streets,
industry and wharves before reaching our
destination – the Queen Mary.
Since her retirement in 1967, the grand old ocean liner has been owned by the city of Long Beach and used as a floating hotel. We had planned for some time to treat ourselves to at least one night on board and it was a relief to push the tandem through the crowds into reception, down the stairs and a long hall to our cabin.
On the Queen Mary - Long Beach in the background. |
Cabin porthole - Long Beach in the distance. |
Wheeling the Beast of Bridgwater along the corridors of the Queen Mary to our cabin. |
Emerging from the lift with room to spare. |
Since making her maiden voyage in 1936, the Queen Mary carried kings and queens, film stars, presidents and athletes across theAtlantic until she was retired in 1967. |
Leaving the Queen Mary and about to head south again towards San Diego. |
The Queen Mary dwarfs a cold war submarine. |
Since her retirement in 1967, the grand old ocean liner has been owned by the city of Long Beach and used as a floating hotel. We had planned for some time to treat ourselves to at least one night on board and it was a relief to push the tandem through the crowds into reception, down the stairs and a long hall to our cabin.
Maybe it was
all the excitement – the sensations, the wind, the laughter and the
conversation of the day – but we both felt as though the ship was moving and we
were bouncing off the shower walls as we washed off the day’s sweat.
The Duke and Duchess of Windsor were regular guests across the Atlantic and stored their Rolls Royce in the cargo hold.On at least one occasion they brought 155 pieces of luggage with them. |
Doing our washing in the bathtub aboard the Queen Mary. |
Neither our budget nor our dirty cycling clothes would have worked in the ship’s “signature restaurant” – Sir Winstons – but we were happy to tuck into giant burgers, fries, beer and wine in the Promenade CafĂ© and collapse into a bed with crisp, white sheets.
It had been
a special ride and we had made it safely – L.A. you were much, much better than
we dared hope.
With a few
hills still left on our ride to the Mexican border we decided to give "out of phase" a trial and so far, so good. It’s early days, but we sense that on the
flat and on gentle uphills we are pedalling at the same speed but doing it in a
higher gear – which means covering the ground faster.
Out of Sync
It’s taken
us the best part of 18 months to get around to trying something we should
perhaps have looked at long ago.
It’s to do with what’s called “crank phasing”
on the tandem and arises from the question – which of two options is
best? Should the pedals be synchronised so that for example, the two left
pedals are at the top of their stroke at the same moment. Or is it better to
have them "out of sync" – so that when one pedal is at the top of its stroke the
other is half way down?
The idea to
have the pedals “out of sync” has been suggested to us by a couple of cyclists
we’ve met along the way. One said that friends with a tandem found that "out of sync" seemed to even out the
pedal power and provide a smoothing effect when riding uphill.
Aesthetics and Simplicity
We
investigated on the internet but were unable to find any serious research. One
article suggested that pedals are usually in phase for aesthetics and
simplicity, but that "out of phase" should reduce wear and tear on the drive
train.
Out-of-sync - the back pedals are in a vertical plane, the front ones are horizontal. |
On steeper uphills, we
seem to be dropping down through the gears just the way we always have, but
even then we suspect the pedaling is just a little easier. Perhaps we should
have tried this a year ago.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Express a view here.