ojai to L.A.

larry gave me and the bicycle a ride down to the ventura train station on his way in to santa barbara in the morning. i thook the train from there to L.A. the pacific surfliner trains offer bike hooks for free and easy transport of bicycles! i happened to get on the same train that i had taken in to santa barbara and was greeted by the same friendly conductor.

on the train i met a guy who was on his way back to L.A. after doing a bicycle trip from there to santa barbara on some trails back in the hills and mountains... dirt he said. not sure how to find info about this route, but it sounds interesting. this young man said he was interested in working in law enforcement some day. he thought the friendship bracelet, which i finished while sitting next to him, was pretty cool.

it was a hot day in L.A. and when i got out of the shaded downtown streets the sun felt a little oppressive. i decided to linger in the cool and quiet of the USC campus for a couple hours, since i was in no hurry to show up at my aunt's. there are often such nice trees on college campuses! i like being in their presence. i can usually find places to pee outdoors too, which i prefer to peeing in a toilet. while there i did some eating, reading, wood carving, mbira playing, drawing, and wrote a post card.

there are lots of fixie riders in L.A. i counted at least 18 between the university and downtown. by the bike trail i took part of the way i found a wool blanket in a huge free pile! i'd been thinking recently it would be useful to have over my sleeping bag if i sleep out on colder nights or where there is dew. i often find the things i need along the way. in santa barbara i found a wool, button up shirt on top of a municipal garbage can.
the guy who had put it in there was sitting nearby in the bus stop and said to me, 'that shirt's no good you know, the collar's all messed up," which was the case, as well as that it was missing all its buttons, but i assured him that i could mend it and thanked him for passing it on to me. he was having a bad day... had lost his radio, then found a gold ring, which he thought he could pawn and buy a new radio, then he lost the gold ring! i told him i was sure his luck would come through for him again.
the cold wheather riding gloves i now have were given to me by tom, of the walnut farm. they came along just in time! well maybe just a little late... the week before that i had a frightening experience in which my hands froze numb on a morning ride and i experienced fifteen minutes of strange shock while recovering at my destination.

i arrived at my aunt's around dark. it was cool to get a better idea through this bike ride of how L.A. is shaped and what lies in the places between.