Stan’s Obligatory Blog

I got a rare Tuesday afternoon ride in today. Lucinda went to the beach with her friend, and they weren’t going to be back until later, so I go out my bike and went for a ride.

I did my usual afternoon route. South through San Marino and South Pasadena, and up the hill to the water tower. Then back up the arroyo to the Rose Bowl. I noodled around the Bowl a few times before turning off to head home through Altadena.

It was a pleasant ride.

27 miles.
cycling

Today’s ride was an old route with a new variation. It was the old “Toluca Lake” route, but we modified the route to take in the new extension of the L.A. River bike path.

We rode out by way of San Marino and South Pasadena, and then down Figueroa St through Highland Park to the river. Along the way, we passed Chicken Boy. Then, when we got to the river, we got on the newly-extended bike path.

At Fletcher, the gate was closed, and we had to walk around it to continue on the bike path. We saw a lot of snowy egrets and blue herons in the river, along with some people on horseback. At the north end of the bike path, we got off and rode through Griffith Park to get to Priscilla’s, where we had a nice snack in the shade.

The route back was the usual across Glendale and then up Hospital Hill in Montrose. From there it was pretty much all downhill back to the park. Which was good, since it had gotten to be pretty hot by then.

In Altadena, we passed a street that was posted for filming on Monday. More gratuitous use of quotes. Is “Anytime” different from Anytime?

It was a nice ride.

44 miles
cycling

Today’s ride is the one that I refer to as ‘The Relatively Flat Ride’. It’s a route I made up a few years ago that avoids as many hills as possible. Since I was sore all week from last Monday’s stair practice, I thought it best to do an easier route on Sunday.

On the way out, we passed some topiary hearts in Monrovia that Carla had told me about recently. They are now part of the Topiary Tour East route.

On the way back through Covina, we passed Lark Ellen St. I told everyone how I’d recently been researching a possible new grave tour ride, and in the process, I’d found out who Lark Ellen was.

A short time later, I ran over some metal debris in the road. It turned out that it contained a razor blade. And of course, I got a flat. We had to use two tire boots to get it to hold together enough to get back on the road. So we decided to take the most direct route home, cutting off a few extra miles. But I made it home, and the thumping of the bulge in the tire was only mildly annoying.

Aside from the flat, it was a pretty nice ride.

41 miles.
cycling

Today’s ride was over to Griffith Park for a stop at The Trails in Fern Dell. It was cool and overcast, and pretty much a perfect day for riding. We had a big group again this week.

When we stopped at The Trails, Carla gave Don a “Team Estrogen” post-it pad for his desk.

Near the top of the pass over Mt Hollywood, I got a picture at a nice overlook. I also got some action shots on the descent, since there are some good curves there.

We rode home by was of Figueroa St and South Pasadena. That’s the flattest way home from there.

45 miles.
cycling

Lucinda was over at a friend’s house when I got home from work today. So I had a couple of hours to go for a ride. I did my usual loop over the hill by the South Pasadena water tower, and then home by way of the Rose Bowl and up through Altadena. It was a very pleasant evening for a ride.

23 miles.
cycling

Today’s bike ride was the ‘Random Ride to Whittier’, which is a nice flat route that doesn’t really go anywhere in particular. After last week’s big hills, it seemed like the thing to do.

We had a big group today. On the way down, we stopped for a photo-op at Dork St. in Pico Rivera. Then on to Whittier and back by way of the San Gabriel River bike path. Just below Whittier Narrows dam, I saw a pile of sticks just below the floodgates and I thought, “That’s one ambitious beaver…”

Our snack stop was at Merengue in Monrovia. The window said, “Food That’ll Make You Dance” We’re not sure if this is a good thing or not. I had a little pastry called a “Refugee”. I was sort of expecting it to be shaped like an inner tube or something. But it was good.

It was a nice ride.

45 miles.
cycling

A couple weeks ago, the L.A. Times had an article about a house in La Crescenta. The owner had had it painted bright green, and the neighbors were all upset. Of course, I thought that this would make for a good sightseeing trip for the bike club. So today was the day.

It was a perfect day for riding. The route was a variation on the “No Tuna” route through Sun Valley and Shadow Hills. We started out across Eagle Rock and Glendale, and took Kenneth most of the way to Burbank. We had an early snack stop at Paradise Bakery in Glendale. Then we continued on, taking a short side trip to see the backyard pirate ship in Burbank. Then it was back to business, north on Glenoaks into Sun Valley.

That was where Keira got a flat. But that didn’t stop us for long, and soon we were riding past the dump in Sun Valley. The wind was just right to bring us the stench of rotting garbage. Yum. I love L.A.

In Shadow Hills, we saw people riding horses. But sadly, Lorenzo the Llama is not there any more.

In Tujunga, we started up the hill. We had to climb almost all the way up the hill to get to the Green House. But when we got to the top, there it was. Resplendent in its green-ness. I started thinking about having mint ice cream when I got home. I heard someone else talking about having lime sherbet.

I think it’s funny that they neighbors are upset about this house. Along the way, a car passed us with a bumper sticker that said, “Freedom is Not Free”. But it seems that the essence of freedom is that in order for you to have freedom to do as you wish, others have to have it, too. Including being able to paint their house bright green.

After seeing the house, we got treated to a very long downhill. Then we rode home by way of Altadena. It was a nice ride.

47 miles.
cycling

For the first time this summer, I had a free evening to go bike riding. This was a nice treat, so I went and did my usual loop down to the South Pasadena water tower, and then up to the Rose Bowl to noodle around a few times before riding home by way of Altadena. Not much to say about it, aside from it was a very pleasant ride.

33 miles.
cycling

Today’s bike ride was one of those nowhere-in-particular rides. The only sightseeing opportunity was the Donut Hole in La Puente. Giant donuts are always amusing.

On the way back, we saw a big coyote in Arcadia. They’re not usually seen out after sunrise, so that was kind of unusual.

It was cool and cloudy and perfect for riding.

44 miles.
cycling

Today is a government holiday, and I didn’t have anything else pressing that I needed to do, so I went for a bike ride with Don. We didn’t go anywhere in particular. Just down the Rio Hondo bike path and then up the San Gabriel River to Santa Fe Dam. Here are some random photos from along the way.

There was a high temporary wall around a lot in Temple City. So we peeked inside to see what they were building. It was bare, except for a large oak tree and a fake-tree cell phone tower.

Along the San Gabriel River, there were a lot of people riding horses. There was also a bit of WTF-style graffiti.

There was a fair amount of water coming out of Santa Fe Dam. At least it seemed like a lot for being this far into the dry season.

In the Santa Fe Dam nature area, we saw a family of California Quail crossing the road. I wasn’t quick enough with the camera to catch the line of little baby quail.

We stopped at Encanto Park. I noticed the sign that said that the playground was built by the Miracle Recreation Equipment Company. I guess if nobody gets hurt, it’s a Miracle.

On the way home through Monrovia, we found a rare large-mouth bass mailbox. And I got my picture taken with the big plastic cow.

It was a fun ride.

44 miles.
cycling