Cycling in the age of social distancing

Amber and I skipped last weekend's ride to be socially responsible, but we decided we had to ride this weekend for our sanity - plus I had a lot of mail for her.

We decided to ride our usual route from Anaheim to Seal Beach and back. We took enough food with us to complete the ride, but we were hoping that something would be open in Seal Beach.

Empty parking lot and no wind

It was a lovely 75F with no wind when we started in Anaheim. The bike path is open (we were worried it might not be) but there were only about half the normal number of riders and walkers. Almost everyone was practicing social distancing although we did encounter a couple of large groups of riders.

Drafting in the age of social distancing

As we headed to the beach it cooled down to about 60F and a brisk headwind developed out of the South which normally means there is a storm coming in. I would have liked to have drafted Amber but if she had sneezed at 20mph I would have got the full force of it.

Oddly there were a lot of Sheriff's cars roaming the trail in pairs. I have no idea what they were doing - checking for socially irresponsible riders? I don't know.

We were pleased to see that The Crema is serving take out food but you can order off the full menu so Amber got her fitness omelette and I got a grilled cheese with caramelized onions. We ate outside on the benches. Everyone was being very responsible. Their business is maybe a quarter of normal but that's better than nothing.

Six feet - good job

Polystyrene or plate - it's all good

I noticed they were offering a good deal on bread so I got a couple of loaves. Amber had her Topeak rack bag and panniers on so we tested its capacity. It passed with flying colors.

Two loaves of bread only half fills one side.

The two loaves of bread about half-filled one pannier. You could use this for a bakery delivery service. The two panniers and rack bag combined could carry a dozen loaves of bread. Or, as we've already proven, half a dozen bottles of wine and four loaves of bread. Seems like about the right ratio.