Stan’s Obligatory Blog

We rode to Larchmont Village today. The route went down the arroyo and through Highland Park and Silver Lake. The stop was at Sam’s Bagels on Larchmont. On the way back, we rode over the Shakespeare Bridge and came back through Highland Park and South Pasadena. 41 miles total.

Did a short ride today. 24 miles loop to Duarte and back. Came back up Highland Oaks/Grandview through Sierra Madre.

The CPU fan has been making noise for a couple of weeks. Today the machine hung at about 15:00. When I tried to reboot it, it acted kind of flakey. The CPU heat sink was hot to the touch, and the fan was rattling. The BIOS reported the CPU was at 113F. So I went to Best Buy and got a new fan. Now it reports 105F and 5900RPM.

Went riding again today. 41 miles to San Dimas and back. Stopped for a snack at Coffee Klatch. The new bike did well.

Took the new bike for a shakedown ride this afternoon. 25 miles to Duarte and back. Got a flat on the way back. The rim tape was slightly off-center, so two spoke holes were uncovered. Patched the hole and recentered the rim tape. The new Zefal pump was good. Got a good 80psi out of it pretty easily.

After I got home, I put the clipless pedals on the bike. Now that I’ve ridden it a bit, I’m ready to try them out.

Lucinda got her first flat tire on her bike today. It’s actually pretty remarkable. She’s ridden the bike enough to actually show visible wear on the tire.

Went riding again today. 39 miles. During the ride, I heard a new creak in my bike. So I had a look at it this evening, and I found a fatigue crack in the down tube. So, after 27 years, it’s the end of the line for my old Cuevas frame.

Had a Bad Car Day today. We were going out to dinner at Cafe Bizou when the car just coughed and died at Walnut and Raymond in Old Town. It was stone dead. Called AAA and they sent out a tow truck. The driver brought out the portable jump-start thingy just to try. He poked the battery and noticed that the hot terminal was loose. Then the car lights came back on. I tried it, and it started right up. We came home and I tightened the terminal down.

Went riding again on the Foothill ‘moderate’ ride. We rode through South Pasadena and Highland Park to Griffith Park and a snack stop at Priscilla’s in Toluca Lake. On the way back, we stopped off to watch a race in Glendale. I made a point to go up the announcer and donate a $20 cash prime for the race we were watching. The route home went through La Canada. 43 miles.

Riders sprint for the $20 prime I donated.

Rode with the Foothill club today. We went south down through Arcadia and Temple City to the Rio Hondo bike path. We took south, coming back on San Gabriel and Del Mar through San Gabriel. We had a snack stop at Il Forniao in Old Town. For the last part, we went by the Rose Bowl and then up Arroyo to Altadena Drive. 40 miles.