The journey home - July 29th

Riding home today was just beautiful.   It must have been around 73 degrees, sky was turquoise blue and the birds twittered happily as I  joined them in the California sunshine. This is why I love California.

 Perfect way to end the day. Time for the hot tub, Good Night.
- Commuter Girl
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Kung Fu Panda

So all is well on my beautiful 14 mile commute to work; I have my new rear wheel, I am feeling good, the breeze is blowing my hair back, I have had a few friendly honks and smiles from various passers by, in other words . . . I am golden. In my golden glow, I near my destination at Balboa and Ventura blvd, thinking about all the poor schlubs in their cars that are eyeballing me with envy and respect when I come upon a familiar area in the sidewalk near a tree that looks a little like the aftermath of at least a 7.0 earthquake. The sidewalk slab facing me is approximately 3 inches higher than the the slab facing away and both slabs peak in the middle like a mini concrete Mt. Everest. I have ridden over this spot many times before and I always apply the brakes and gently bump over said obstacle when suddenly this time, I notice that the portion of broken concrete "law-suit-waiting-to-happen" that is closest to the tree, looks somewhat ramp-like and as I am feeling good about my new-found pro cycling ability, I stand up and stomp on the peddles in true mountain bike pro-esque fashion and smile as I expect to fly over the ramp and land gracefully on the other side of the busiest driveway leading into the underground garage of the high rise office building to my left. Of course, suddenly, I am careening out of control into said tree and somehow end up tumbling over on my bike Kung Fu Panda style with one shoe in the middle of aforementioned busy driveway and the other firmly planted on my foot which is now firmly planted on top of my brand-spankin new re-built rear wheel! Ughhhhh! Now who is the poor schlub? This is more than a little embarrassing but really, my new wheel? Come On! It turns out my wheel seems to be okay so I should be able to make the 14 mile ride home albeit with a tad more humility and a little less style.

Here is a link to a clip of the the real Kung Fu Panda doing a bizarrely similar version of the flight I took off my bike.  **(right after the part where he says, "I'm a blur, I'm a blur", yep - that's what I did.)
Enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHSSzdRpMqg&feature=related

-Commuter Girl