Stan’s Obligatory Blog

Today’s bike ride was the annual “Down for the Count” ride to Culver City to visit Bela Lugosi’s grave. We first did this in 2007, and we’ve done this every year since 2009. It’s one of only two rides we do on the same weekend every year.

We rode out by the usual route through downtown and along the Expo Line to Culver City. As always, when we got there, someone had been there to decorate Bela’s headstone for Halloween.

After we left the cemetery, we rode to La Dijonaise in the old Helms bakery complex. While we were there we saw some women walking some dogs. They said one of them was a Labradoodle, but I think it was really a Poobrador.

On the way back, we passed a couple of new cannabis shops on Venice Blvd. We got a good laugh from Hollyweed and The Pottery.

55 miles.

Route map and elevation profile

Today was the latest Ciclavia. The “Heart of L.A.” route from East L.A. and through downtown. We rode down by way of San Gabriel to pad the route a bit. Then we picked up the route at Mariachi Plaza in Boyle Heights. After going through downtown, we went off the route briefly to see the firehouse where the original “Ghostbusters” was filmed. Then we went back on the route to near MacArthur park, when we turned north to Echo Park. We went through Angelino Heights to see the house from the “Thriller” music video, and also the house from “Charmed“. The route home went up the Arroyo Seco, where we ran into a closed gate. We had to pass the bikes over the gate and crawl underneath it. Just like old times when I did spelunking in Texas. Our final bit of sightseeing was to see Michael Myers’ house from “Halloween“.

All around, it was an entertaining ride.

46 miles.

Route map and elevation profile