May 31 (Monday), my second day in Los Angeles, was Memorial Day, a public holiday. Under the “Happy Sunday” system, the holiday was moved from its original date of May 30 to the last Monday in May—a move that creates a long weekend—which is a very American way of thinking.
Sea Fishing at Redondo Beach
That afternoon, at Mr. A’s invitation, the three of us—Mr. A, one of his acquaintances, and I—went sea fishing. It’s only a 20-minute drive to the Pacific Ocean. We launched a boat at Redondo Beach, south of Santa Monica, and started fishing. I had brought my rod and reel with me from Japan. It wasn’t just about cycling; I thought, “Maybe I’ll try casting a line every once in a while.”
Although the rod was shorter than I am and the reel was small enough to fit in the palm of my hand, on my first cast I reeled in a barracuda about 60 cm long. Mr. A and his group caught three bonito. Since four fish were enough, we returned to our friend’s house, where a Japanese-American neighbor joined us, and we started a party with sashimi and grilled fish.
There were many second- and third-generation Japanese-Americans there, and the conversations—where Japanese words occasionally mixed in with English—had a somewhat strange, yet fascinating feel to them.
To Disneyland by Bicycle
ロスに着いて2日目の5月31日(月)はメモリアルデーで休日でした。本来の5月30日をハッピーサンデー制により5月の最終月曜日に、つまり連休にするという、いかにもアメリカらしい考え方です。
レドンドビーチで海釣り
この日は昼から、Aさんに誘われてAさんの知人と私の3人で海釣りに。車で20分も行けばもう太平洋です。サンタモニカの南、レドンドビーチにボートを浮かべて釣り始めました。私は、竿とリールを日本から持参していました。自転車だけではなく「たまには釣糸でも垂れてみるか」そんな気持ちからです。
身長にも満たない短い竿と手のひらに乗るぐらい小さいリールでしたが、最初のヒットで60㎝ほどのバラクーダ(かます)を釣り上げました。Aさんたちはボニート(かつお)を3匹。4匹で十分だということで、知人宅に戻り、ご近所の日系の方も加わり刺身と焼き魚でパーティーが始まりました。2世･3世の方が多く、英語の中にときどき日本語が混ざる会話は何か不思議な感じがしました。
自転車でディズニーランドへ
The next day, I headed to Disneyland. It was a round trip of about 100 km, but I treated it as a test ride. Actually, due to some issue with the “Handle with Care” bike bag, the right side of the handlebars had bent inward slightly. This ride was to see if I could cover the 100 km without any discomfort or stress. I figured I’d probably make it, and if not, I’d just swap it out along the way—that was my conclusion.
I was suddenly driving on the right side of the road, which I wasn’t used to, and I almost drifted into the left lane twice while turning corners, but by the time I headed back, I had gotten completely used to it. Disneyland in Los Angeles isn’t as big as I had imagined. What caught my eye were the large numbers of cleaning staff walking around, picking up trash as soon as it was thrown away. Because of this, the park was kept extremely clean.
Next → To San Francisco (1)
翌日はディズニーランドへ。往復100㎞ほどの行程ですが、テスト走行のつもりでした。実は<取扱注意>の輪行袋が何らかのトラブルで、ハンドルの右部分が内側に少し曲がっていました。100㎞の距離を違和感なく、ストレスなく走れるかの試走です。何とか行けるだろう、だめなら途中で取り替えよう、それが結論でした。
いきなりの慣れない右側通行、角を曲がるタイミングで2度ほど左車線へ出そうになりましたが、それでも帰るころにはすっかり慣れていました。ロスのディズニーランドは思っていたほど大きくありません。目についたのは、捨てられたそばからゴミを拾って歩く大勢の清掃スタッフです。そのため園内は非常に綺麗に保たれていました。
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