Tag: bike

take me back to little harbor (reflection)

lizlovelaughLeave a comment

Yesterday morning was my first day back from a fantastic camping trip in Catalina. As I was sitting in class, for the first time I felt really sad I wasn’t biking in the mountains or snorkeling with garibaldi. What’s funny is I did the exact same trip last year but by the end of it I couldn’t wait to get back home and take a shower- this time I wanted just one more day out on the sea.

We hiked from twin harbor to little harbor which is a really pretty bay on the island right next to the beach with long green grass and thick, low, palm trees everywhere. It is the perfect place to camp- there’s wonderful views and at night you can hear the ocean. Because of the recent rain, there was a river between the campsite and the ocean- but luckily there was a big log nearby so we used it as a bridge to walk on which was really cool.

All the hikes, mountain biking, swimming/boogie boarding in shark harbor, and especially paddle-boarding with my friends was magical. There was a lof of little fun stuff too like boat races and campfire singing and night beach games/talks- all of it made this trip really special.

Above all the fabulous night skies and activities, the bikeride back to twin harbor was the best. There was a long, grueling 2 hour uphill at first- but it was more than worth it. Dropping from that peak was unforgettable, I soared down steep, winding orange roads, on one side of me the pacific and the other lush green mountains. It was like I was on Pandora- I was on a different planet.

I so needed this break. The days leading up to the trip were stressful and too busy. I’m so glad I had the opportunity to go to Little Harbor a second time, my only issue was that it was all too short.

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pc; me

bicycle

unicornownerLeave a comment

Riding on a bicycle should be a very simple thing, but it is extremely difficult for me. When I was a child, I could ride the four-wheel and three-wheel bicycle very well, and I liked to ride around in my neighborhood. I felt myself was as cool as the police riding on his motorcycle. 

pc: rei.com

However, I cannot ride the bicycle anymore that I rode when I grew up. I started to learn how to ride the two-wheel bicycle, and it is much more difficult than I expected. This kind of bicycle is totally different from what I used to ride, it has no balance at all. Someone told me that you can get balance when you’re riding. So I was trying to pedal and let the bicycle move forward, and it was quite smooth at first, I even could felt the breeze touch my face gently. But, this condition did not last longer than one minute, I felt that I was just like a clown performing acrobatics when the bicycle started to shake left and right. I was too scared to continue pedaling, then the bicycle started to tilt to one side until it touched the ground. Then I was sitting on the cement floor with a scrape on my knee. 

The end of this story is I will never ride any bicycles again, even if it is more than two-wheels. 

Picture Perfect

Daphne PsaledakisLeave a comment

I recently wrote a story about the bike ride our school took. They left on Superbowl Sunday, and rode about 25 miles from the campus to the beach.

I was very proud of my story. I had fun with it, and in my opinion at least, the writing was pretty good. But then came the art…

Every story needs a picture to go with it, some sort of visual. And in our Journalism class we don’t stage or photoshop photos. This would be awesome if it didn’t complicate things so much.

I started out on my mission to get a picture of the group that went on the bike ride by asking the teacher who led the trip to make an announcement at morning meeting. He did, asking all the students who went to meet up with him and I quickly after the meeting.

Since I don’t have my own camera, and have absolutely no idea how to shoot good photos, my classmate helped me out. We had the group stand in a couple different places in the courtyard, then behind the Spanish room as well.

Unfortunately, in all the photos we took the lighting was absolutely terrible. Somehow the background behind the students ended up completely white.

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My first triathlon

thehungryrunnergirlLeave a comment

At 6:45 AM on Sunday, 4 of the members of Tri Ojai and I were at the poolside area of the Ojai Valley School getting ready for a practice triathlon. It was very cold outside; everyone was wearing warm jackets and pants. I couldn’t believe that I had to swim in the outside pool… The athletic director was laughing at me shivering with cold and being afraid of swimming in the pool. MEANIE.

Brief course description: 500 yard swim (outdoor OVS pool), 11 mile bike (into the town of Ojai and back up to campus), and 3 mile run (on Pi, which is our home cross country course, BACKWARDS).

The practice race started at 7 AM. I jumped into the pool. My body was freezing and when I started swimming I couldn’t breathe and was just desperately trying to get some air. But after I swam 50 yards, my body got used to the temperature of the water, and I felt warm again.

I got out of the pool and rushed to the transition area to start biking. My body was shivering and wobbling. I got on the bike and it was all down hill for the first 3 or 4 miles. It was a bumpy road; my hands were hurting the whole time, because I had to squeeze the break in order not to crash. The hill on the way back up was a killer, but I liked it anyways. My 11-mile bike ride was quite a journey, but I had a lot of fun.

I set my bike on the rack and started to run. I couldn’t feel my feet at all, my legs felt all weird. I ran down the hill and the worst part started when I hit the bear gate. I ran uphill for 2 miles until I hit the boy’s dorm. But it wasn’t as bad as I’d expected and I liked the feeling of running down hill afterward.


I completed triathlon in 1 hour 19 minutes and 50 seconds. I loved it so much. I think I will get myself into triathlon! I asked my dad if I could get a road bike for Christmas! I would love to bike all winter just to take a break from running and not to burn myself out.

Anyways, I had fun and it was the best way to start my Sunday!

I would like to thank my triathlon coach for letting me have this opportunity.