65 miles to Long Beach

Met J there, and had a burrito on the beach, took in the sun, and jumped the powerful waves.

My trip there was super fast -- 2 hours 3 minutes (a good portion of that over boardwalk planks). I don't know how much was due to:

• My new wheels
• Greater effort or performance
  
• Wind? (Didn't feel any)
• Less traffic going down 7th Avenue (I think this saved three minutes)
  

Coming back, however, I didn't have much energy. Guesses:

• Sunstroke from 4 hours in the sun
• Much more time between lunch and the return trip - less food energy
• Dehydration
• Some weird music on the iPod (shuffle). I seriously wondered whether someone had been messing with my iPod, because I've never heard those songs before.
  

Yesterday, a mind-altering revelation! When I was at the bike shop, he replaced my bell, as the spring on the old one had broke. This new bell has a nifty globe attached, with a ball inside that seems to be floating in water - it's a compass. Headed west and the compass registered northwest; headed south and it registered southwest.

Gradually it all came together: Manhattan's on a diagonal! "West" isn't really west! "South" isn't really south!