Stan’s Obligatory Blog

I’ve long been of the opinion that going riding on January 1st is a good way to start the year. So today, Susan and I joined some of the other people from the bike club for a ride to start out the year. The route was one that Gene made up, and it didn’t really go anywhere in particular, but it was fun anyway. It was a bit chilly at first, but then it warmed up nicely.

In honor of our adventure last night, Susan wore her martini socks.

Getting out was a bit of a challenge, since we had to cross the Rose Parade route. And when we got back, the parade had just ended, and the whole area around my house was a zoo. That was where we saw some of the horses walking up the street by my house. We stopped and visited with some of the neighbors before heading inside to get cleaned up and have lunch before going to see the Rose Parade floats.

43 miles.
cycling

Today’s ride was the “Turnbull Canyon plus Temple” route. My camera is still traveling with Susan, so I have no pictures from today. If you want pictures, have a look at the last time we did this ride.

When we got to the temple, we skipped stopping. Gene wanted to experiment with a different route back to Whitter, so we headed up Hacienda Blvd to the top of the hill, where we turned off and rode on a bunch of little winding roads through the hills there to get back to Colima Rd in Whittier. It was quite a bit longer than the regular route, but it was fun. So we told the others that we’d ‘taken the longcut’ to get there.

In Whittier, we stopped for snacks before heading home. It was a very pleasant ride.

56 miles.
cycling

Today I went for a bike ride with Gene from the Sunday morning group. We did the “Mary’s Market” route that he made up recently. This is a meandering route that goes all over, but nowhere in particular until the end. Because we had no time pressure today, we added a few miles by making a loop through Santa Fe Dam and Azusa. This added about 10 miles to the ride. Then we headed up the canyons above Sierra Madre to visit Mary’s Market. I’d never been there before, and it was kind of a remarkable place. We were just a little bit above the suburbs of Los Angeles, yet it felt like we were far up in the mountains. The climb up there was steep at times, but I managed to make it without having to use my lowest gear. It was a fun ride. But there are no pictures, since my small camera that I usually take on rides is off in the wilds of upstate New York with Susan. I gave it to her so she could take pictures when she went there to visit her mom. So no pictures for the bike rides this weekend.

50 miles
cycling

Today’s club ride was Gene’s “San Dimas South” route. The last time we did this one was on a gloomy day in April. Today wasn’t gloomy, but it was cold by SoCal standards.

We took a picture at the start, since Gene and I both had decorated our bikes for the holidays.

Along the way, we saw some amusing decorations on houses, including the big tree decorated with big ornaments. And at then end, we saw a small harem of peahens in Arcadia.

I skipped the snack stop, since I had to get home a bit early to pick up Lucinda, so it was a relatively quick ride. But it was nice.

48 miles.
cycling

More news from today’s L.A. Times. As one might guess, this is a topic that’s near and dear to me:

Christopher Thompson to be tried in confrontations with cyclists

Sunday’s bike ride was another ‘ride to nowhere in particular’. It was chilly and never really warmed up. The only things of note along the way were one abandoned couch in Irwindale, and that we stopped at a new Cuban bakery in Monrovia. It was pretty good.

40 miles.
cycling

Today’s ride was the “Mulholland Meander“. We did this ride last year, and I like it just about any time.

At the start, they were putting up the grandstands for the Rose Parade. But I saw one pile of boards that was labeled, “GRANDSTANS”. Heh.

The ride from Pasadena to Griffith Park was pretty straightforward. And then when we assembled the rest of the group, we set out from there. Somehow, I managed to convince most of them to do my detour up Lake Hollywood Drive. This is to avoid riding on the stretch of Cahuenga next to the freeway. I hate that bit of road, and I think it’s worth riding up and over a pretty big hill to avoid. No word on whether or not the others agreed with me when we were done.

On the way up Mulholland, I saw a half-buried warning sign. All I could see was, “Please Don’t”.

We rode out to nearly where the pavement ends on Mulholland, and then dropped down into the Valley. We then rode straight back across the Valley to Toluca Lake. Along the way, I saw the car with a license plate that said “USA 0002″. I thought this was a bit odd. You never hear people chanting, “We’re Number 2!”

After a stop for a snack at Priscilla’s, we left the planned route and headed down the L.A. River bike path and then home by way of Eagle Rock and Highland Park. I saw a nice abandoned couch in Highland Park. Then we rode across South Pasadena and then back up Sierra Madre Blvd to home.

It was a nice ride.

65 miles.
cycling

Sunday’s ride was the “Glendale Vistas” route. We haven’t done this one in a while. This is the ride where I broke my cassette last winter.

It was great fun, even if I wasn’t the first one to the top of every hill today.

40 miles.
cycling

Today’s club ride was the Fall Foliage route. This winds around Alhambra and Monterey Park to look a the leaves, and then goes up and down some ridiculous hills just for fun.

We left from Arcadia Park at 8:30 and headed west. Winding around, we saw some leaves that were changing colors. Then we got to the hills and the fun began. Given that I have some excess angst these days, I was looking forward to the hills as an outlet. I managed to do all of them in my Stupid Gear. Riding up Cadiz St and its 14% grade in my 39×17 certainly had a way of clearing my mind. And this was a Good Thing.

The snack stop was supposed to be at the golf course in Alhambra, but we all agreed that we didn’t like that restaurant, so we headed back to Pasadena to the Corner Bakery on South Lake. While we were there, Ben was telling us about an estate sale he knows of that includes a very nice Calfee bike. Gene was interested in it, so we rode out to Arcadia to have a look at it.

It turned out to be a very nice day for riding.

50 miles.
cycling

Today’s Sunday ride was the “Bagelry” route, modified to avoid the construction on Live Oak Avenue in Irwindale. Newton came to ride with us for the first time in nearly a year.

We set out from Victory Park, and almost immediately, we ran into a thick fog. It got cold and damp, and generally not very pleasant. While we were riding through the fog, Andre got a flat. Today was his first time riding with us, and so it’s his first appearance in the Flat Tire Gallery.

We got to The Bagelry in San Dimas and stopped for bagels and such. It was still pretty cold, and we all got chilled sitting there. Then we headed back. At first it was very cold, but then the sun finally broke through the fog it started to warm up.

Overall, it was a pleasant ride.

46 miles.
cycling