Stan’s Obligatory Blog

Today’s bike ride was the ‘Random Ride to Whittier’, which is a nice flat route that doesn’t really go anywhere in particular. After last week’s big hills, it seemed like the thing to do.

We had a big group today. On the way down, we stopped for a photo-op at Dork St. in Pico Rivera. Then on to Whittier and back by way of the San Gabriel River bike path. Just below Whittier Narrows dam, I saw a pile of sticks just below the floodgates and I thought, “That’s one ambitious beaver…”

Our snack stop was at Merengue in Monrovia. The window said, “Food That’ll Make You Dance” We’re not sure if this is a good thing or not. I had a little pastry called a “Refugee”. I was sort of expecting it to be shaped like an inner tube or something. But it was good.

It was a nice ride.

45 miles.
cycling

A couple weeks ago, the L.A. Times had an article about a house in La Crescenta. The owner had had it painted bright green, and the neighbors were all upset. Of course, I thought that this would make for a good sightseeing trip for the bike club. So today was the day.

It was a perfect day for riding. The route was a variation on the “No Tuna” route through Sun Valley and Shadow Hills. We started out across Eagle Rock and Glendale, and took Kenneth most of the way to Burbank. We had an early snack stop at Paradise Bakery in Glendale. Then we continued on, taking a short side trip to see the backyard pirate ship in Burbank. Then it was back to business, north on Glenoaks into Sun Valley.

That was where Keira got a flat. But that didn’t stop us for long, and soon we were riding past the dump in Sun Valley. The wind was just right to bring us the stench of rotting garbage. Yum. I love L.A.

In Shadow Hills, we saw people riding horses. But sadly, Lorenzo the Llama is not there any more.

In Tujunga, we started up the hill. We had to climb almost all the way up the hill to get to the Green House. But when we got to the top, there it was. Resplendent in its green-ness. I started thinking about having mint ice cream when I got home. I heard someone else talking about having lime sherbet.

I think it’s funny that they neighbors are upset about this house. Along the way, a car passed us with a bumper sticker that said, “Freedom is Not Free”. But it seems that the essence of freedom is that in order for you to have freedom to do as you wish, others have to have it, too. Including being able to paint their house bright green.

After seeing the house, we got treated to a very long downhill. Then we rode home by way of Altadena. It was a nice ride.

47 miles.
cycling

For the first time this summer, I had a free evening to go bike riding. This was a nice treat, so I went and did my usual loop down to the South Pasadena water tower, and then up to the Rose Bowl to noodle around a few times before riding home by way of Altadena. Not much to say about it, aside from it was a very pleasant ride.

33 miles.
cycling

Today’s bike ride was one of those nowhere-in-particular rides. The only sightseeing opportunity was the Donut Hole in La Puente. Giant donuts are always amusing.

On the way back, we saw a big coyote in Arcadia. They’re not usually seen out after sunrise, so that was kind of unusual.

It was cool and cloudy and perfect for riding.

44 miles.
cycling

Today is a government holiday, and I didn’t have anything else pressing that I needed to do, so I went for a bike ride with Don. We didn’t go anywhere in particular. Just down the Rio Hondo bike path and then up the San Gabriel River to Santa Fe Dam. Here are some random photos from along the way.

There was a high temporary wall around a lot in Temple City. So we peeked inside to see what they were building. It was bare, except for a large oak tree and a fake-tree cell phone tower.

Along the San Gabriel River, there were a lot of people riding horses. There was also a bit of WTF-style graffiti.

There was a fair amount of water coming out of Santa Fe Dam. At least it seemed like a lot for being this far into the dry season.

In the Santa Fe Dam nature area, we saw a family of California Quail crossing the road. I wasn’t quick enough with the camera to catch the line of little baby quail.

We stopped at Encanto Park. I noticed the sign that said that the playground was built by the Miracle Recreation Equipment Company. I guess if nobody gets hurt, it’s a Miracle.

On the way home through Monrovia, we found a rare large-mouth bass mailbox. And I got my picture taken with the big plastic cow.

It was a fun ride.

44 miles.
cycling

Today’s bike ride was on out to San Dimas. This is an old route, and it doesn’t go by any celebrity graves, topiary, or hot-rod mailboxes. But it’s a nice ride anyway, and it was time to do something without a lot of hills. It was cool and overcast, so it was pretty much perfect for riding.

We headed out, east into Azusa, where I got a flat. This was the same tire that went flat last week, so I think that’s a sign that it’s time for a new tire.

Next, we saw an abandoned couch. Well, actually it was a chair. But it was good enough for a picture.

We rode down through the little canyon to get to Via Verde, which was just about the only hill to speak of on the whole route. Then we came back through West Covina to our snack stop at Panera. By then, the sun was starting to break through the clouds, and it was turning into a really nice day.

On the way back, Pat got a flat
Pat got a flat.

Overall, it was a nice ride,

45 miles.
cycling

Today’s bike ride was one that John White had suggested. A meandering route to see five different houses designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. One was in Pasadena, and the rest were in the Hollywood and Los Feliz areas. It was a perfect day for riding.

We started out from Victory Park and headed west. Near the Rose Bowl, we took our first detour to see La Miniatura.

Continuing on, we went south through Eagle Rock, across the L.A. River and into Silver Lake. Our second stop was the Ennis House, high up the hill just below Griffith Park.

Next, we turned around and headed back down the steep hill we’d just climbed, and all the way down to Hollywood Blvd and Barnsdall Park. This is the site of the Hollyhock House.

From there, we went west into Hollywood, and turned north up the hill behind the Chinese Theater. After another steep climb, we came to the Freeman House. This one is very near the house we went to see in 2006 on another architecture tour.

There was only one more house to see, and it was on Hollywood Blvd, but on the far western end, where it winds its way up into the hills above the Sunset Strip. We rode just a short distance on Sunset Blvd before turning and heading up the steep hill to get to the Storer House.

At this point, we’d seen all five houses, and it was time to climb up and over the hills to get to our snack stop at the little gelato place on Tujunga Ave in Studio City. We rode Hollywood Blvd all the way to its end near the top of Sunset Plaza. Along the way, we saw an abandoned couch. Couches don’t usually end up out in the street in neighborhoods like that, but there it was. At the top, I got my picture taken with an ostrich statue in front of a house that had a whole collection of animal sculptures. We continued on, down into Laurel Canyon and up to Mulholland Drive. We stopped for water at the Fryman Canyon overlook and then headed down the other side into the Valley.

We had gelato in Studio City, and then headed for home. We stopped briefly at Velo Studio in Burbank to see some of Keira’s artwork on display there. Then we headed home through Glendale, where I got a flat.

It was a fun little ride.

51 miles.
cycling

About a year ago, I had the idea of putting together a theme ride to see examples of topiary, since I’d seen a number of them here in Pasadena and as far east as Glendora. We did this tour back in March. Then we discovered a new piece in Glendale, and I started to think about making a second Topiary Tour. And after some pointers from friends, one tip from Google, and an accidental discovery, I had enough examples to put together a second Tour. So today was the day.

We headed out across Eagle Rock and Glendale and into Burbank. Then we turned west and headed to the south entrance to Burbank Airport, where there is a topiary airplane. It was a pretty good example of topiary.

Leaving the airport, we headed south to our next stop. But along the way, I spotted a sort of cartoon lizard in a car peeking over a fence. So we stopped for a look and found a boneyard of carnival rides. That was very deeply weird, and really pretty entertaining.

Continuing south, we got to our second stop. A Shell gas station in Burbank with a topiary sea serpent and two winged horses. They looked a bit like My Little Pony with wings. The serpent was a bit sparse, but the others were pretty good.

Our next stop was a topiary Bugs Bunny in Toluca Lake. Then we stopped for snack at Priscilla’s. That left only one more topiary stop, which was the dolphins that we’d found in March. I had to get a souvenir picture riding the dolphin.

After that, we headed home, but on the way back through La Cañada, Don spotted one more in front of a house on Berkshire Drive. That made for a nice end to our Topiary Tour.

46 miles.
cycling

Last December, when we rode to see the Never Open Store, we stopped to see the House of Davids. I recently read about another house near there that had some similar over-the-top lawn ornamentation. So a theme was born.

Today’s ride was to Hollywood and Hancock Park in Los Angeles to see these two houses, as well as Snow White’s wishing well on Larchmont Blvd.

The route out was pretty straightforward. We saw the L.A. River Ride crossing over Fletcher Dr when we crossed the river. Then we rode into Silver Lake. The first house was on the east end of Hollywood on Virgil Ave. And yes, the decorations were pretty over-the-top. Then we continued on south to go to Hancock Park and the House of Davids. Then it was just a short distance back to Larchmont. It appears that Adrianna Caselotti’s house has changed hands, and the new owners took down the picture of Snow White on the wishing well.

We stopped for bagels at Noah’s in Larchmont. Then we headed north through Hollywood and then back home by way of Eagle Rock.

It was a nice ride.

40 miles.
cycling

Today’s bike ride was a trip out to Encino to Los Encinos State Historic Park. Some years ago, I was contacted by one of the volcanologists at the USGS Volcano Hazards Program for help setting up a web site. Her research involved the chemistry of water in natural hot springs as a clue to what is going on below the ground. She sent me a list of all the known hot springs in California, and I noticed that one of them was in L.A. I looked up the coordinates and found that it was at Los Encinos Park in Encino. Of course, my first thought was that this would make for a good sightseeing bike ride. The spring itself is not very hot. The water temperature is about 79 degrees Fahrenheit and the water flows down into a small lake where there were ducks and geese. The water is all fenced off, so we weren’t able to feel it.

It was a perfect day for riding. We headed straight west, across Glendale and into the San Fernando Valley. We took Moorpark St most of the way, although we had to do a short stretch on Ventura Blvd. When we got to the park, Kathleen was there. She lives nearby so she came over to meet up with us. That was a nice treat. We looked around the park a bit before heading out for the trip home.

We rode up into the Sepulveda Dam recreation area and took the bike path there up to the Metro Orange Line. When they built the busway, they built a bike path parallel to it, so we took that all the way to the end of the line in North Hollywood. We had a snack stop at Panera Bread there, and then we continued on. They built a bike path down Chandler Blvd all the way into Burbank, so we took that. Then we turned south to get to the L.A. River. That was where we saw “Chuck Norris Rules” and the awesomely ridiculous limousine.

We rode the L.A. River bike path down to Fletcher, and then took Eagle Rock Blvd north. That was where Sage got a flat. One of the guys helped change the tube, but when he pumped the tire up, it blew out. Turned out there was big cut in the tire. So we had to put a tire boot in it before changing the tube again. But then we made it home just fine.

58 miles.
cycling