Stan’s Obligatory Blog

I went riding this evening after work, but there are no pictures. About five miles out, I realized that I’d left the camera on top of the filing cabinet by the back door. D’oh!

I rode down to the Rose Bowl to meet up with some other riders, but on the way there, I saw smoke from a brush fire over the hills behind the Bowl. So as it turned out, Verna was the only one who showed, since the others she had talked to had decided not to go after seeing the smoke. So we rode around a few times. The north end of the loop was kind of smoky, so it wasn’t good for riding hard. We tried going up Lida, but the smoke was thicker up there, so we bailed and headed back. Along the way, we passed another hot-rod mailbox in the neighborhood there. And I was very disappointed that I’d forgotten the camera. So we’ll have to go back to get a picture for my collection.

After a few laps, the smoke was getting thicker, so I bailed and headed home by way of South Pasadena and San Marino. There was no smoke there, and the ride home was fairly pleasant.

So it was an all right ride, but not especially good.

31 miles.
cycling

Today’s bike ride was an old favorite of mine. Down to Hollywood, then up the hill to Griffith Observatory, and then over Mt. Hollywood to Burbank and the Valley. This was the first time we’ve done this route since last year.

In Los Feliz, we saw a house with an unusual roofing pattern. Then we headed up the hill into the park. At the observatory, I saw solar-powered Botts Dots. I also got my picture taken with the great astronomers.

Heading over the hill into the Valley, we got to enjoy a nice winding downhill. I got some good action shots of Don and John coming down the hill. Then we went to Priscilla’s in Toluca Lake for bagels.

Coming home, we rode across Glendale and then up and over the stupidly steep little hill on Glenoaks before the long grind up Chevy Chase and Linda Vista. Then the nice sweeping downhill to the Rose Bowl, and then back to the park on Orange Grove.

It was a very nice ride.

45 miles.
cycling

On Saturday morning, I unexpectedly found myself with a couple of hours free. So I went for a bike ride. I went with John from the Sunday group, since he had been planning on doing a short ride, too. We met up near the Rose Bowl and rode down to South Pasadena. Then up and over the hill with the water tower. Then back up the arroyo to the Rose Bowl, and up Linda Vista to La Cañada. We took the bike path back across the dam there, which was new to me. That had a nice view of JPL and the arroyo. Then we headed home by way of Altadena.

It was a very pleasant little ride.

25 miles.
cycling

On Monday, I had a rare free evening, so I went riding. I did my usual route down to South Pasadena, up the hill to the water tower, and then down to the Rose Bowl. I rode around the Bowl a few times. Along the way, I saw an attractive young girl with some major tattoos running there. That’s a sight that always brightens up my day. I also met a guy who had more stickers on his bike than I do. After a few times around, I headed home by my usual route through Altadena. It was a very pleasant way to spend the evening.

30 miles.
cycling

Today’s bike club ride was an old favorite. The Mt Washington route that goes through La Cañada and down into northeast Los Angeles. Then home by way of South Pasadena. It was a typical summer day. Cool in the morning, but it got hot later on.

Tommy joined us today for the first time in a long while. So I got to chat with him and tell about all my adventures of the past year and a half, from the sublime to the ridiculous. It was fun to get caught up.

We rode up past the Self Realization Fellowship on Mt. Washington, and then down the other side and into South Pasadena. We stopped at Kaldi’s for a bagel and juice. Then we took the slightly roundabout route home in order to plump the ride up to the normal 40-mile distance. It was a very fun little ride.

40 miles.
cycling

I had another free evening today. And since I’m not going to be able to ride this coming weekend due to taking a trip out of town, I went for a ride now, since I had the chance. I rode down to South Pasadena and then up to the water tower on top of the big hill. Then up to the Rose Bowl. Noodled around the Bowl a few times before heading home by way of Altadena. It was a nice little evening ride.

36 miles.
cycling

Today’s bike club ride was the “Glendale Hills” route. This one goes up and over through La Cañada into Glendale, up into the Verdugo Hills, and then down into Burbank. The snack stop was at Paradise Bakery in Glendale, and the route home was back up and over Chevy Chase and Lida into Pasadena. It was a nice day, albeit a bit on the hot side.

We started out from the park and headed up Altadena Dr to the top, riding across Altadena and then past JPL into La Cañada. Then up the hill into Glendale, where we got a nice view of downtown Los Angeles that showed a low inversion layer trapping the smog at about the 1,500 foot level. Then we went down the somewhat terrifying Mountain St. Crossing Verdugo Blvd, we headed up the other side into the Verdugo Hills. That was where we saw the coyote trotting around on the suburban streets. We rode up and down along the south side of the hills before dropping down and riding into Burbank. We took a quick vote about taking a small detour to see the pirate ship in Burbank. The “Arrr”s won, and we took a short side trip up Angeleo St to see the backyard pirate ship. Then we continued on to Paradise Bakery, where we got eclairs and Gatorade.

The trip back was fairly direct, with just the Chevy Chase/Linda Vista/Lida hill in the way. Then we rode past the Rose Bowl and back to Orange Grove. Then we rode back to the park. Don’s fancy bike computer said that we’d done a total of 3,400 feet of climbing, which is not bad for a ride that didn’t go up into any real mountains.

It was a nice ride.

40 miles.
cycling

Today I had a rare free evening. No kid, no activities planned, no date, just free time. So I went for a bike ride. I rode down through San Marino and South Pasadena. I rode up the hill on Via Del Rey to pass the South Pasadena water tower. Then I headed up Arroyo to the Rose Bowl. I’d planned on just riding once around it and then heading up Lida St, but when I got there, the pack ride was just beginning. They were going slow, so I thought I’d just tag along while they did their warm-up. But like a frog in a pot of water, I didn’t even notice that the speed was ramping up. Until we were going 30mph. It was fun, and it brought back memories from 30 years ago when I was a Category 2 racer, and riding in huge racing packs was just a normal thing in my life.

I stayed with the pack for one full lap. Then I decided I’d had enough, and I didn’t want to push my luck. After all, the last time I did the pack ride, I got knocked down by a novice rider and ended up spending the night in the hospital with broken ribs and a collapsed lung. So one lap was enough. I dropped off the back and just rode at a leisurely pace. And then I found Michael, who used to do the regular Sunday club ride a few years ago. So we rode around several more laps while talking and generally catching up on things. Then I turned off and headed home by way of Altadena. By then, the shadows were getting long, and I was getting hungry. It was a very nice little evening ride.

36 miles.
cycling

You must remember this
A kiss is just a kiss, a sigh is just a sigh.
The fundamental things apply
As time goes by.

And when two lovers woo
They still say, “I love you.”
On that you can rely
No matter what the future brings
As time goes by.

Today’s bike ride was another cultural history grave tour. Today we went to pay respects to Dooley Wilson, who is remembered best as Sam the piano man in “Casablanca“. Since one of the themes of that story is that of great unrequited love, it’s something that I and almost everyone else can certainly relate to.

It was a perfect day for riding. It promised to get hot later in the day, but it never did get very hot. So it was very nice.

We rode directly to downtown Los Angeles and then all the way through to the south end of downtown before turning west on Washington Blvd to get to the Angelus Rosedale Cemetery. We found Dooley’s grave near the entrance. I brought a shot glass along so as to be able to down some shots of Gatorade while reflecting on Wilson’s role as a cultural touchstone for our generation.

After leaving the cemetery, we rode north to Larchmont, where we stopped at Noah’s Bagels. Then we continued on north through Hollywood to Franklin Ave, where we turned east. Then I got a flat. So Jon took the obligatory picture before we continued on. The rest of the route was the most direct way home, up Eagle Rock Blvd and then across on Yosemite and then up the Colorado St hill into Pasadena.

It was a very nice ride.

40 miles.
cycling

Today’s bike ride was a specially modified version of the Turnbull Canyon route with a small detour in Whittier to see an art project dedicated to Nadya Suleman, the so-called “Octomom”. It was on the wall of Gold Mine VW Parts on Pickering St in Whittier.

It promised to be a hot day today. The route down to Whittier was about as direct as I was able to devise. Gene came along for the first part of the ride, before turning off to ride down to Manhattan Beach to see the bike race there today.

There is a clinic in South San Gabriel that seems always to have anti-abortion protesters outside it. But today, there were more of them than I’d ever seen before.

In Pico Rivera, we took a one-block detour to see Dork St. Keira got her picture taken with the sign. Then it was on to Whittier and the Octomom Art Project.

After that, we rode up and over Turnbull Canyon and then headed home by way of La Puente. Our snack stop was in Monrovia at Merengue. They have a lot of odd Cuban things there, and the watermelon soda was one of them. The cartoon picture on the can didn’t look like it could pass muster in current PC America.

From Monrovia, we rode straight home by way of Sierra Madre. It was a nice ride, and we got to take in some weird local culture, too.

43 miles.
cycling