Stan’s Obligatory Blog

Since I posted my 2008 Car Report, here’s the comparable report for my bike. In 2008, I rode 6,013 miles total. Despite all the upheaval in my personal life this past year, I was still able to ride my bike to work nearly every day. Commuting accounted for about 2,000 miles. The remainder was my weekend rides for fun.

This is comfortably more than the 5,703 miles I put on my car, so the balance of the universe is still correct.

Today’s bike ride was to Mt. Washington in Los Angeles. We started out from Victory Park and headed up into Altadena. From there, we rode over into La Cañada and then down Verdugo Blvd all the way to Glassell Park. Then we headed up Mt. Washington. They repaved the road last year, and it’s really pretty nice now. It’s a pleasant climb with some nice switchbacks.

Coming down the other side into Highland Park, we headed north, back to South Pasadena. When we crossed the Gold Line railroad tracks, I got a flat. Fortunately, it was a slow leak, so I was able to make it to the snack stop at Kaldi’s before I had to fix it.

Finally, we rode across San Marino and back up Sierra Madre Blvd to the park. It was a nice ride.

37 miles.
cycling

Tonight Susan and I hosted our first dinner party for some friends. It was fun to cook a fancy meal and break out the nice dishes and all that. We made a marinated beef rib roast, snow white potatoes au gratin, brussels sprouts, and I made some homemade rosemary dinner rolls.

It was a fun time.

This year was not a normal year by any stretch. Due to the whole life-upheaval thing, I ended up using my car a whole lot more than normal. I drove 5,703 miles in 2008, which is more than I drove in the previous four years combined. I didn’t even track which days I used the car, since it was rare that even a week went by without using it at least once.

Still, compared to most people in southern California, I’m on a low-car diet. And I’m glad for that.

This afternoon, Susan and I walked over to see the Rose Parade floats. It’s usually amusing to see them close-up, and it was a very nice day.

As a matter of hometown pride, Susan wanted her picture with the City of Alhambra float. I got mine with the train on the Roseville float.

There were a lot of seagulls perched on top of the high school. We don’t usually get seagulls this far inland, but I think they were just waiting for everyone to leave so they could swoop down and gorge on all the spilled popcorn, half-eaten churros, and other edible detritus left by the crowd.

And finally, the Rose Bowl game was starting while we were there, so we got to see the B-2 bomber fly over us on its way to the stadium.

Along with the bike ride this morning, and the martinis and steaks last night, this was easily the best start to a new year that I’ve ever had. It was a most excellent time.

I’ve long been of the opinion that going riding on January 1st is a good way to start the year. So today, Susan and I joined some of the other people from the bike club for a ride to start out the year. The route was one that Gene made up, and it didn’t really go anywhere in particular, but it was fun anyway. It was a bit chilly at first, but then it warmed up nicely.

In honor of our adventure last night, Susan wore her martini socks.

Getting out was a bit of a challenge, since we had to cross the Rose Parade route. And when we got back, the parade had just ended, and the whole area around my house was a zoo. That was where we saw some of the horses walking up the street by my house. We stopped and visited with some of the neighbors before heading inside to get cleaned up and have lunch before going to see the Rose Parade floats.

43 miles.
cycling