This past Thursday I had to get a cable box from Comcast so we can watch Chinese programs when Cindy’s parents come in a couple of weeks. The closest Comcast office is located in North Natomas near the Walmart on Truxel Road. Travel time by car is about 40 minutes. Travel time by bike is about 2 hours. I gave up my car on 8/11/09 so that means bike, walk or crawl. Fortunately the bike trail goes all the way to Truxel . I had originally thought about going up Northgate but Northgate is bumpy and the road is narrow. Truxel is wider and more pleasant to ride on. I slung on my backpack to carry the cable box and gatorade in the bike bottle holder and off I went. Departure time was 10:07 AM, and not too hot. By the time I made it to Cal Expo, I was pretty thirsty and the gatorade was almost gone. Decided to make a pitstop at the 99 cent store on Northgate and El Camino. A couple that looked kind of trashy was arguing in front of the entrance. Now this area is traditionally quite Hispanic. There is a Pupusa place right next to the 99 cent store where I had a torta de pollo a few months back and that was about as greasy as it gets. I practically emptied an entire napkin holder eating it while a 2 year old boy watched me with interest. But that was then and I wasn’t in the mood for greasy. There was something different about the area but I hadn’t put my finger on it yet. I loaded up on some iced tea and an energy drink just in case and went back to my bike where I had tied my backpack up. I usually try and avoid taking my backpack into the store. I had left my sun block in the main pocket and when opened it up, the tube had apparently opened up somehow on the trip over and half a tube of sun block was plastered all over the inside. What a mess! I didn’t have any napkins this time so I figured I would clean it up after picking up the cable box. I looked around as I was unlocking the bike and noticed something there was something different about South Natomas that I hadn’t noticed before. Yes, it is an area that is kind of rough around the edges but there was definitely something going on. I glanced around and saw an Indian family parking their car right in front of me. I also heard some Indian music playing from a stereo not far away. This area that was once solidly Hispanic was becoming East Indian. My hunch was confirmed when I passed by a restaurant that was formerly a Taqueria and had now become a small Fijian market. Well, that’s interesting.
See, this is the type of info that you might miss driving in a car. But I hadn't missed anything. Just goes to show you that neighborhoods, like people are dynamic, living entities that are constantly changing. Okay, enough of the philosophy. Time to get a move on. I was now heading west down El Camino and then right on Truxel. Going over any freeway on a bike can be risky and the Truxel/I-80 interchange is no exception. The safe way is to ride opposite traffic on the sidewalk and then all the cars can see you when they turn. After making it over the freeway I passed Walmart and then continued a short distance on the other side. Destination address was 3890 Truxel Road. I passed by the address without realizing it and just as I was about to cross another small intersection, a woman driving a small Nissan Sentra cut me off as she turned in front of me. No signaling, no slowing down nothing. She missed me by about 1 foot. Fortunately, I saw her quickly enough to take evasive measures. This is why I avoid riding at all on the street. I really don’t care if it is illegal. I stopped off at a McDonalds to take a piss and hopped on my bike to backtrack a short distance. The Comcast store is tucked away in a small shopping mall.
Finally, after about 2 hours of riding, I had arrived at my destination. I went inside and a woman standing next to a terminal asked me if I was adding service or picking up equipment. I answered yes to both questions and she offered to assist. Okay, fine. She started entering some info and asked what I was ordering. I mentioned the Chinese CCTV-4 and Zhong-Tian package and that must have really thrown her for a loop. She went into the back and came out and then motioned me over to another employee on the other side of the store. Okay, fine. I basically went through the entire process from the beginning and once again, when we got to the point where she asked what service I wanted and she started to type something on her workstation and then finally, got up and headed into the back. After a few moments, she came out with someone who I guessed was a supervisor. This woman was the only one who knew what to do and after a few minutes, she said she was going to get my cable box and would return in a minute. I looked over at someone who was in the process of returning a mammoth sized cable box and I asked if my box was going to be that big. She said not to worry and came out with a small sized box, just the right size to fit inside my backpack. My visit to Comcast was over but I was hungry and it was a long, hot ride back to Gold River. I was pleasantly surprised to see a small Indian fast food place. II ordered a 3 item special with nan bread. Mmmm, that was good. The nan bread was fresh and the food had just the right amount of spice to make the experience really enjoyable.
After lunch, it was time to go home. What a ride. Going back is always more unpleasant because my butt was already sore from sitting so long on the way over. In addition, it was about 1:30 PM and the heat was on. I decided to take it slow and steady and made it all the way to Ancil Hoffman park for my first pitstop. It is approximately mile 13.5 from the intersection of Northgate and the bike trail. I was sweating but the wait was worth it. There is a really powerful drinking fountain that spurts water almost 4 feet high. I soaked my whole head in it for a few minutes. Ahh, that was refreshing. After about 3 minutes it was time to continue. I merged onto the bike trail to go over the Ancil Hoffman bridge right behind the arm rider. Who is the arm rider? He is someone who I draw inspiration from every time I see him which is not that frequently. He has a specially made bicycle that allows him to pedal with his arms with his legs in front. That’s right. Just his arms. He is obviously disabled because his legs look thin. But he can power up hills as fast as most of the riders I see on the trail and maintain a steady pace for miles.After another 45 minutes, I finally made it home. I was pretty tired and took a little siesta.
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