A Fool's Progress: Goin back to Cali

Note: I am actually home now. My Palm device decided to vaporize the
email settings so I wasnt able to post to the blog until I got home.

I woke up in Saint George Utah after having been tossed about by the
winds getting there. This was where I learned that the winds had been
steady at ~40mph and gusting to 50. But the day was bright and calm when
I got up. Good thing too since the highway sent me down a canyon to the
floor of Nevada almost immediately...with those winds that canyon would
have been treacherous or maybe even deadly on the bike. And I dont
recall seeing anyplace to turn around...so I might have had to hunker by
the side of the road. Most uncomfortable.

One on the floor it was a straight shot to Las Vegas. Nothing to see
here. Just flat, open rocky Mojave. Vegas was a quick pass through and
gas stop. As I exited I was glad I want going east into vegas. The road
was backed up 10 miles by my count.

After Vegas I just had to stop at Zyzzx. What an odd name. Nothing there
on the side I went to but a dead end and open desert. And by desert I
mean...zilch. Just dirt. Those big hills are nothing but rock and dirt.
But it has a desolate beauty too. That kind of nothingness appeals to me.

Soon after it was Barstow and then dropping down into LA. I didnt go
deep into LA as I was headed to my brother's pad near Pasadena. That was
a welcome overnight stop. Grilling steak. Drinking beer. Late breakfast
and back onthe road. I would have like to stay longer but I was smelling
home.Just getting the first whiffs of home.

Now I bitched about Houston drivers. And to most the LA drivers would
seem the same...but there are rules to the driving in LA and they are
easily picked up if you just look for them.

1) everyone is on two teams - those that weld the needle to the speed
limit and stay there and those who do 80mph. Pick a team and be on it.
flop around in the middle and it screws up the flow.

2) Watch your 6. Fast movers come up fast. If youspot one...hold your
position. Dont try to get away, out of the way or anything else...they
will navigate around.

3) signal after you have committed to the lane change. It's a nod to
legality...but if you signal.look. move like you are supposed to,
drivers will take advantage. But unlike Houston it didnt come across as
being prickish...just using the advantage available.

4) lane splitting rules. if traffic halts, cars will (usually)move over
to let a bike through. I encountered a big backup due to a multi car
wreck (probably because of the one bad habit I saw...tailgating) and I
split the lanes for a good set of miles. Now people ask me about it and
why other states dont do it. Simple...in cali it is part of the culture
and rules. No one gets upset about it. and the lanes are wider than say
Washington state.If it were changed and allowed in washington, it would
be mayhem. Too many people making up thier own rules and getting hacked
off when someone else can go through traffic faster not to mention car
driver just being ignorant of the bikes moving through and killing
riders through stupid mistakes. I used my horn once in LA.

On the bad side, as I mentioned..tailgating. fierce tailgating. Bad
idea. With no place to go in any direction except up the other guys
tailpipe, it is just bad bad bad. And left lane campers. In all of the
mileage I did in all of the states the *only* slower left lane campers I
saw had cali plates.