Stan’s Obligatory Blog

Today’s bike club ride was the “Glendale Hills” route. This one goes up and over through La Cañada into Glendale, up into the Verdugo Hills, and then down into Burbank. The snack stop was at Paradise Bakery in Glendale, and the route home was back up and over Chevy Chase and Lida into Pasadena. It was a nice day, albeit a bit on the hot side.

We started out from the park and headed up Altadena Dr to the top, riding across Altadena and then past JPL into La Cañada. Then up the hill into Glendale, where we got a nice view of downtown Los Angeles that showed a low inversion layer trapping the smog at about the 1,500 foot level. Then we went down the somewhat terrifying Mountain St. Crossing Verdugo Blvd, we headed up the other side into the Verdugo Hills. That was where we saw the coyote trotting around on the suburban streets. We rode up and down along the south side of the hills before dropping down and riding into Burbank. We took a quick vote about taking a small detour to see the pirate ship in Burbank. The “Arrr”s won, and we took a short side trip up Angeleo St to see the backyard pirate ship. Then we continued on to Paradise Bakery, where we got eclairs and Gatorade.

The trip back was fairly direct, with just the Chevy Chase/Linda Vista/Lida hill in the way. Then we rode past the Rose Bowl and back to Orange Grove. Then we rode back to the park. Don’s fancy bike computer said that we’d done a total of 3,400 feet of climbing, which is not bad for a ride that didn’t go up into any real mountains.

It was a nice ride.

40 miles.
cycling

Today I had a rare free evening. No kid, no activities planned, no date, just free time. So I went for a bike ride. I rode down through San Marino and South Pasadena. I rode up the hill on Via Del Rey to pass the South Pasadena water tower. Then I headed up Arroyo to the Rose Bowl. I’d planned on just riding once around it and then heading up Lida St, but when I got there, the pack ride was just beginning. They were going slow, so I thought I’d just tag along while they did their warm-up. But like a frog in a pot of water, I didn’t even notice that the speed was ramping up. Until we were going 30mph. It was fun, and it brought back memories from 30 years ago when I was a Category 2 racer, and riding in huge racing packs was just a normal thing in my life.

I stayed with the pack for one full lap. Then I decided I’d had enough, and I didn’t want to push my luck. After all, the last time I did the pack ride, I got knocked down by a novice rider and ended up spending the night in the hospital with broken ribs and a collapsed lung. So one lap was enough. I dropped off the back and just rode at a leisurely pace. And then I found Michael, who used to do the regular Sunday club ride a few years ago. So we rode around several more laps while talking and generally catching up on things. Then I turned off and headed home by way of Altadena. By then, the shadows were getting long, and I was getting hungry. It was a very nice little evening ride.

36 miles.
cycling

I’m going on a trip next week. Back to visit Texas and see all my friends there. This will be the first time I’m flying anywhere since last year’s trip to Texas. And I fully expect that there will be nothing like this. It’s going to be Great Fun.

I can’t remember how life was even possible before Google. On Saturday night when we went to the fireworks show, Lucinda’s friend noticed that the left-side back door of my car would not open from the inside. So this evening, I went searching on the Net and found this:

http://www.impalaforums.com/chevy-impala-7th-gen-discussion/232967-2005-impala-rear-door-child-safety-locks.html

And that was it. It was about five minutes total time for searching and then going outside to look at the door and turning the little lock thingy. So easy, but without the Net, I might never have found it. I am again in awe.

You must remember this
A kiss is just a kiss, a sigh is just a sigh.
The fundamental things apply
As time goes by.

And when two lovers woo
They still say, “I love you.”
On that you can rely
No matter what the future brings
As time goes by.

Today’s bike ride was another cultural history grave tour. Today we went to pay respects to Dooley Wilson, who is remembered best as Sam the piano man in “Casablanca“. Since one of the themes of that story is that of great unrequited love, it’s something that I and almost everyone else can certainly relate to.

It was a perfect day for riding. It promised to get hot later in the day, but it never did get very hot. So it was very nice.

We rode directly to downtown Los Angeles and then all the way through to the south end of downtown before turning west on Washington Blvd to get to the Angelus Rosedale Cemetery. We found Dooley’s grave near the entrance. I brought a shot glass along so as to be able to down some shots of Gatorade while reflecting on Wilson’s role as a cultural touchstone for our generation.

After leaving the cemetery, we rode north to Larchmont, where we stopped at Noah’s Bagels. Then we continued on north through Hollywood to Franklin Ave, where we turned east. Then I got a flat. So Jon took the obligatory picture before we continued on. The rest of the route was the most direct way home, up Eagle Rock Blvd and then across on Yosemite and then up the Colorado St hill into Pasadena.

It was a very nice ride.

40 miles.
cycling

On Saturday night, I took Lucinda and her friend Alisha to see a fireworks show for the 4th of July. As with last year, we went to South Pasadena, since they have a nice show. We found a spot on the football field right underneath where the fireworks were going to be going off. And it was a fun time.

I had Friday off work, so I had a chance to spend the day in Marina Del Rey and to just generally enjoy the beach breeze. This is a rare treat, living in Pasadena.

I headed over there on Friday morning. I’d brought my commuting bike so we could go riding along the beach. We went and took a little tour of the canals in Venice, and then we rode up to Santa Monica, passing through the craziness of Venice. It was quite entertaining, as always. I love a good freak show.

Saturday morning, we rode the other way down the beach. The 4th of July holiday was getting underway, and we saw a barbecue that was a 55-gallon drum, but decorated like a bull. Complete with nuts. Check them out in the picture. We also saw hang gliding instruction and a guy riding a streamlined recumbent bike. And of course, I got a new sign for my animal crossings gallery. We stopped for lunch in Manhattan Beach before heading back.

It was a nice little 28-hour getaway.

Tonight, Leslie and I went to see “Food, Inc“. This is the new documentary about the American food system, how it works, what’s in it, who controls it, and all those unsavory details. Think, “Super Size Me” meets “The Corporation“. Yick. Fortunately, I’d made us a nice home-cooked dinner before we went, since this film has a way of killing one’s appetite. Still, it was a good film, and definitely worth seeing.

I saw today that the Ketchum YMCA in downtown Los Angeles has the registration page up for their annual stair climb up the U.S. Bank tower. This is the tallest building in Los Angeles, tallest west of the Mississippi, and the 9th tallest in the U.S. 1,018 feet tall, 75 stories, 1,500 steps to the top. So you know that I have to try it. After all, I did the AON Tower stair climb back in April, and that was a good time. And I finished 24th out of 327 runners, which I think is pretty good for a first-timer.

I know that this will entail tremendous pain, and it should also be great fun. As they say on the event page, “Elevators are for Wimps”.

Sounds like a great time.

I checked this morning, and the subscriber list for the USGS Earthquake Notification Service passed 150,000 at about 07:34 GMT on Monday morning. This is a momentous occasion. I never imagined that something I invented could be so popular, useful, or entertaining. It’s come a long way from its beginnings as my Pet Project.