La Verne on a very chilly day
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Today’s bike club ride was out to La Verne. This is the same ride we did back in August. The main difference this time was that, instead of being insufferably hot, it was really quite chilly. We’d had a winter rain storm come through on Friday, and Saturday morning was cold and still slightly threatening.
We met at Library Park in Monrovia. On the way out there, I saw a house with a large Grinch on the front lawn. I like that.
Leaving the park, we headed straight east to Duarte, where we picked up the Santa Fe Dam bike path for a short distance. Then we got off and rode across Azusa to Glendora. We had to take a detour, because Sierra Madre Blvd in Glendora is closed for construction. It’s been closed for ages. And it’s all because they are building yet another much-needed subdivision. The sign proclaims “Opening Summer 2006“. Yeah, right.
Passing through Glendora, we got to San Dimas, where we turned and rode up San Dimas Canyon. Passing the park there reminded my of the time we went to the Hawaiian Festival there. Mmmm. Spam…
At the top of the hill, we regrouped and headed back down. The road passes by Live Oak Reservoir, which was where we used to do nighttime training sessions when I rode with the Claremont cycling team back in 1978. It still looks the same. And Rachele, one of our new riders who just graduated from Pomona College, tells me that they still train up there all these years later. So I had her take a souvenir picture for me in front of the gate.
Coming down the very steep hill, we rode into La Verne and stopped at the bakery at Bonita and D St. It was still chilly, so sitting around wasn’t all that nice.
The route back was pretty straightforward. We took Gladstone St most of the way. That’s the street that’s about 1% downhill. Not enough to see. But it’s enough that we always end of going really fast on it. At the end, we did the run around the back of the Irwindale brewery and into the Santa Fe Dam nature center.
Just as we got to the nature center, we heard a very loud POP! Rashied’s back tire had blown off the rim. So I grabbed my camera and took a picture for the Flat Tire Gallery. This is Rashied’s first appearance in the gallery.
While Rashied was fixing his tire, the rest of us went inside to get some water and look at the exhibits and such. We saw the stuffed Snow Goose I’d seen last time. But this time it was hanging from the ceiling in a reasonably realistic-looking flight pose. Which was better than the last time we saw it.
When it was all over, we’d had a nice ride, even though it never really did warm up.
55 miles.
