Turnbull Canyon
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Today’s bike ride was down to Whittier and over Turnbull Canyon. This is a nice little piece of wilderness in the middle of the city. It was a bit chilly in the morning, so I left a few minutes early to warm up a bit and make sure I was dressed properly. I rode up to Lake and Woodbury and back. Along the way, I found a pair of abandoned couches for the Abandoned Couches Blog. And I also saw an Edison substation that I’d never noticed before. It was in a building that was made to resemble the houses around it. The only real clue was the little sign saying “Edison Substation” and the very thick bundle of wires going into it.
I rode down to Victory Park to meet the group. We rode east from the park, into Arcadia, and then south, passing through El Monte and Industry to get to Whittier. Then we went left on Beverly and rode up to Turnbull Canyon.
The climb up from the west side is perhaps a bit steeper than on the east side, and we’ve done it both ways in the past. Today, we all just rode up to the top. The group broke up on the way up, but we regrouped at the top. Then we headed down the other side. As always, I got the ‘steel rollercoaster’ feeling on the down side. It was kind of fun.
At the bottom, we turned left and started for home. That was when I heard a phone ringing, and I was relieved that it wasn’t mine. Instead, it was another guy who had the pleasure of trying to ride and talk on the phone at the same time.
A bit farther along, we realized that we were missing a person. They had been with us when we started down Turnbull Canyon, but they were gone when we got to the bottom. So Gene and Philippe went back to find her. It turned out that one of her cleats had come loose, so they had to stop and try to tighten it before they could come back to rejoin the group.
Coming up Peck Rd, we went through Arcadia and into Monrovia, where we stopped for a snack social at Planet Cookies. And that was also where I saw Stan’s Vac and Sew. I always stop for a photo when I see places that have my name on them.
After the stop, we rode home through Arcadia and back to the park. The ride was a tiny bit longer than the usual Sunday rides, and with the little warmup I did beforehand, I had my Magic 50.
53 miles.
