Stan’s Obligatory Blog

This afternoon, Lucinda and I went down to Carson to see the last day’s races at the Elite National Championships at the ADT Center velodrome. We went this last year, and we liked it enough to go back this time, even though nobody we know was racing this time.

We got there just as they were starting. For some reason, we had to go through metal detectors at the door. I’m not sure what they were trying to prevent there.

The events we saw were the team sprint, keirin, team pursuit, and the Madison. They were all fun to watch, although the Madison is the best of the bunch. It has lots of action, and it lasts long enough that you won’t miss the whole thing if you go to the bathroom.

There were a few crashes in the Madison, including one that made a little gouge in the wood surface of the track. They ‘repaired’ this by putting some tape over it.

I also found it amusing that there were at least two riders competing there whose fathers were champions back in the ’70s when I raced.

The final event was an exhibition race. They have a track racing program for kids, and they had a short kids race at the end of the day. Lucinda wanted to try track racing, but when she tried getting on the bike they had there, it was just a bit too big for her. So she needs to grow about another inch or two before she can do it.

We got to see some good racing, and I got to tell a bunch of old ‘war stories’. Overall, it was a fun afternoon.

Today’s club ride was out to Glendale to stop at Paradise Bakery. They have the best chocolate eclairs I’ve ever had. The ride over was kind of a roundabout route, but that was nice, since it’s not really all that far away. We rode up into La CaÖada and then over the hill on Chevy Chase into Glendale. Then up and over another hill on Glenoaks before settling down for the straight stretch out to Paradise.

We had some nice pastries at the bakery. And then it was time for the ride back. This was the purgatory part. The route back went up and over Mountain Ave in Glendale. This is not a huge hill. It’s not the steepest hill. But it’s just steep enough and long enough that it’s really an experience to ride it. And it’s one of those hills that just keeps on giving. Just when it looks like the top, around the next bend there’s some more. I like it.

Overall, it was a fun ride, even though I had to cut it a bit short to get home by noon so Lucinda and I can go to see the bike races at the velodrome in Carson.

40 miles.
cycling