Stan’s Obligatory Blog

Yesterday, I got a phone call from my old friend Sara. We’ve known each other on line for 10 years, but only met in Real Life (TM) for the first time last summer. Turns out she got some sort of special deal from Southwest and decided to come visit her friend in L.A. So while they were sightseeing, she called me.

We decided to all meet for dinner tonight. We chose Roscoe’s House of Chicken ‘n’ Waffles because it’s something peculiar to L.A.

So Sara got to meet Cathy and Lucinda, and we all got to meet Sara’s friend Greg. It was a fun evening.

Route map

Today’s bike ride was the classic “Toluca Lake” route. This takes us out to Toluca Lake, just past Burbank so we can go to Priscilla’s. And today, we also got to sightsee the burned edges of Griffith Park on the way back.

We headed west, straight across Eagle Rock and Glendale, and then south to the edge of Griffith Park. We passed the Bette Davis Picnic area and the Los Angeles Equestrian Center. Then we took our first sightseeing detour. We went up to Alameda and Buena Vista to see the Seven Dwarfs on one of the big Disney buildings.

Continuing west on Alameda, we got back on the route at Hollywood Way. Then we rode just a few more blocks to get to Priscilla’s. We stopped there for snacks and drinks.

After the stop, we headed back to the park along Forest Lawn Drive. This passed the area on the north side of Mt Lee that burned last month. Then, when we got to Griffith Park, the road leading into the park was blocked with police tape. We turned left and rode along the edge of the park to get to the L.A. River bike path.

Riding along the bike path, we got some good views of the east and south sides of the park where the fire was last week. In particular, in the second picture, you can see how close the fire came to the houses on the hillside in Los Feliz.

We got off the bike path at Fletcher and rode back up to Eagle Rock Blvd. That was where we saw the first abandoned couch. It was leather and had been tagged with gang graffiti.

Going north, we took a right at El Paso and headed over the small hill to Ave 50. That was where we found the second abandoned couch. This couch was so beat up that I didn’t even recognize it as a couch at first. But when realized what it was, I circled back to get a picture.

Continuing on Ave 50, we found the third abandoned couch. I stopped for a picture. Then we got stopped at the Gold Line crossing, so I got a picture of the train there.

We took Ave 60 across to Monterey Road, and then headed back into South Pasadena. That was where Gene got a flat. It was a very loud and emphatic flat. So I immediately got out my camera for the obligatory picture for the Flat Tire Gallery. The gash in his tire was quite impressive, so I got a closeup of that, too. He managed to put a boot on the cut and get the tire inflated, so we were soon under way again.

We rode across South Pasadena and San Marino, and then back north to Pasadena. Overall, it was a fun ride.

44 miles.
cycling

Today was a day of projects. I built a new railing for our front porch. The old one was falling apart. So here it is.

And I’m tired now. Fortunately, painting is Cathy’s part of the job. All I have left to do is the little railing on the left side of the porch. But that’s next weekend.

Today’s ride was Gene’s “Corner Bakery” ride. This was the first time of the season that we moved to the 8:00 summer start time. It was a perfect day for riding.

We headed east on Paloma to Sierra Madre Villa, and then south to Madre St to Huntington Drive. Then we went right and rode into San Marino to Monterey Road.

Monterey took us across South Pasadena, and then we went north on Ave 66, which brought us to Easy St. This brought us to Fortune Way. Gene commented that Fortune Way really ought to be the way to get to Easy St. So maybe we’ll have to do the ride in the other direction some day.

We headed up into the San Rafael hills in Pasadena, coming out at Ave 64 and Colorado. Then we went left a short distance to get to Patrician Way, which we took up and over the hill to Glenoaks. At the top, I even got a picture of me riding, thanks to Scott, who had his camera along.

A left on Linda Vista took us to Lida St, where we went left and rode up the hill into Glendale. Then we went down the other side and took Buckingham to Chevy Chase, where we went right and headed back up the hill.

At the top, we took a right on Inverness and rode that down the north side of the hill, passing by the spot where the road washed out two winters ago. Now the road is rebuilt and very nice for riding. Then down the hill with the sweeping hairpin turns and back to Linda Vista.

A left on Lida again brought us down to the Rose Bowl, where we rode a couple of laps around to add some miles. Then we went up Rosemont to Orange Grove, and then left on Walnut back into Pasadena. When we got to the Corner Bakery on Lake, I noticed that I’d done the entire ride up to that point without ever having to put my foot down. Saves wear on the cleats, you know.

At the Corner Bakery, I had a bagel and orange juice. Then we rode across Caltech and then right on Hill to get to Lombardy, which took us back across San Marino. At California and Madre, the route went north to go back to the park, but I followed Newton on his way back to Covina to add some more miles. We rode on Huntington out to Arcadia. Then went north on 5th St to Santa Clara and out to Monrovia. Then I turned west again on Colorado for the ride home.

I saw a pair of abandoned couches on Colorado, so I got a picture for the Abandoned Couches Blog. Then I went up Highland Oaks to get to Sierra Madre Blvd and headed for home.

When I got back to my house, I had 49.7 miles, so I rode around the block just to get to my Magic 50.

50 miles.
cycling