Today’s ride was Gene’s ‘Old Town Monrovia’ ride. This was a mostly-flat jaunt out to Irwindale and Azusa, and then back to Monrovia for a snack at the Coffee Bean.
The first thing everyone noticed today was that Sandy and Rasheed were twins. They had the same jerseys, although we were still able to tell them apart. Also in the well-dressed category was Jason, who had his bright red ‘CCCP‘ jersey, complete with hammer and sickle.
We started out going east through Arcadia, Monrovia and Duarte. Then we got on the bike path above Santa Fe Dam and rode that all the way down over the dam and down the San Gabriel River.
We got off the bike path at Lower Azusa Road, which we took west for a bit to Peck. Then we turned north, passing Dandy Doors and the Taboo Gentleman’s Club. The funny thing about that place is that apparently the city of Arcadia made some rule prohibiting them from having a big sign out in front. So they got a truck billboard and just keep it parked in the parking lot in front of the building.
A bit farther north, we passed back into Monrovia, passing the now-derelict train station there. We also passed the Wizard of Bras, which may well count the Taboo dancers among their clients.
Then we got to Old Town Monrovia. We stopped at the Coffee Bean at Myrtle and Foothill and had a snack.
Leaving the Coffee Bean, we headed west on Foothill Blvd. We passed the Aztec Hotel, which is a rather distinctive building. Then we took Highland Oaks up the hill to Grand View in Sierra Madre. After that, we came back down the hill and we were back at the park.
At this point, we had only gone about 35 miles, so Jason, Matt and I decided to do a bit more. We headed west across Pasadena, crossing through Old Town (we have an ‘Old Town’ everywere here) and then down into the Arroyo. We went around the Rose Bowl, where we saw the ‘you are in a golf area’ warning signs. Sadly, the sign was just text, and didn’t have a graphic of a little stick-figure man being beaned by a golf ball. At the end of the golf course, we took a left and went up the hill to Linda Vista. Then we went north a bit to just below the dam. From there, we took Windsor Road up to Casitas, and then took Mendocino back across Pasadena.
50 miles.
cycling
