I took the opportunity to upload my videos to my YouTube channel. It’s just random videos from the trail, but you may find some interesting. These were too big to send to the blog, normally, but in the morning at Surf City, most people were off the internet, so there was plenty of bandwidth.

I stood in the kitchen to eat, as that was where most of the conversation was going on. I mentioned that I had to delay my trip to deal with a health insurance registration issue, and a girl from Canada as well as the German couple confirmed that their insurance works a lot better. I also spoke with “Sherry,” a woman about my age, whose brother owns an Avocado Ranch near San Diego. She was on her way down to help him harvest.

Urban riding is hard. There are so many convoluted turns and special instructions. Sometimes the trail will backtrack on itself, or the bike path will go through a parking garage. I had a collision with a car at Post and Craven in Torrance. Fortunately, except for a couple scrapes on my part, neither of us was injured. The front wheel was still true, but needed to be realigned with the handlebars. My right shoe sole had torn off, a bad thing for a cyclist with Look pedals. We exchanged information, and went on. Urban riding can be harrowing, but I have to say, even in LA, virtually all of the drivers were courteous, even the one who darted out in front of me. It was an oversight, not malice. To others doing the Pacific Coast Route, I’d say it might be worth getting a taxi, Uber, or Lyft from Hermosa Beach to Huntington Beach, as traffic is heavy. Just a suggestion.

Without wi-fi, I have no directory, so I asked locals where I might find a drugstore, for some contact cement to fix my shoe. They pointed me to Fox’s around the corner. I tried the contact cement, but it wasn’t looking too good. I would need a better solution. The cashier at Fox’s helped me look up bike shops in the area, and fortunately, Bikecology was just a mile or two away.

I asked the bike shop person if there was a post office nearby, and fortunately, there was one just a mile away. I mailed home my broken shoes and the old pedals that I had removed from my bike.

Once I was able to get out of the city streets, things became more scenic.

I actually didn’t eat lunch this day, just snacked on bananas and pan dolce. I didn’t need any more than my 3 water bottles all day.

I got to Robert’s house at about 7 pm. He had given his mother her bath, and was feeding her dinner. We walked out later to Carl’s Jr for dinner, a 2-mile loop. My house slippers are not that good for walking. I’ll need to get real shoes, preferably name brand from a Thrift store, but otherwise, any athletic shoes.

Miles: 43.4