Cycling this week - 08-26-2012

On Saturday, Irit and I rode up to the Castle Green hotel in Pasadena to check out the grounds and see where my oldest daughter Lauren is planning on getting married.  Afterwards, we made our way back through Pasadena to San Marino where we stopped for a break at Lacey Park.  We rode 14 miles in all.

On Sunday, I rode down the Rio Hondo river trail to the San Gabriel river trail and up to the Santa Fe dam.  After last weeks double metric, I just didn't think I had taxed myself enough, so I then rode up Azuza canyon to the bridge that leads to East Fork.  I watched the off-roaders for awhile, then turned around and came home.  I rode 59 miles in 3:40.

Here is Irit on the way up to Pasadena, she's looking pretty cocky lately, oh, I mean confident.

 

She must not of had a very big breakfast, as she is catching flies again, or maybe she's just reacting to something I said.

 

 

Here I am traveling up the river trail toward the mountains. The ones you can barely see in the background are the ones that I rode up later.

 

 

On the way up Azusa canyon (Hwy 39).

 

 

The intersection where Hwy 39 and East Fork come together at the bridge.

 

 

Here is the bridge that crosses the river and leads to East Fork.  Off roaders drive aound the river bed below it.

 

 

On the way home I stopped by the ranger station to refill my water bottles.  Here is a metal statue out in front of the station

 

 

 

 

Cycling this week - 08-19-2012

This Saturday was the annual Cool Breeze Century up in Ventura.  This was the sixth time I have ridden it.  This year, Nabeel convinced me to ride the double metric, 200km, or about 127 miles.  We did it in 7 hours and 54 minutes.  I have to say I was reluctant at first, but the ride is so beautiful up through Ojai and the lake Casitas area, that I have to recommend it to anyone considering it.  We rode with a guy Nabeel had met previously, Stuart, from Great Britain.  The ride had about 8,100 feet of climbing, but we kept the pace down and had a very enjoyable day.  As usual, the rest stops were well stocked and we even stopped at the Coffee Bean to get some icy coffee goodness on the last 20 mile leg of the ride.  Irit met us at the end of the ride, and after a little recovery time, we got showered up and went out to dinner for my birthday.  Jen and Rich drove down to meet us and we also met up with Ed, who had ridden the single metric century.  A great day turned into a great evening.

Friday evening before the ride - the Ventura coast looking north.

Nabeel.

Stuart.

Nabeel and Stuart going up a hill by lake Casitas.

Here we are at the top of Casitas pass, the lake is behind us.

Me, enjoying the flatness, finally.

Nabeel at the Coffee Bean - notice his "King of the Mountains" kit.

Here we are at the finish - a double metric, whoo-hoo.

At the hotel after we have cleaned up - from left to right - Nabeel, Jen, Rich, Irit, myself, Ed.

Cycling this week - 08-12-2012

O.K., so last week I didn't ride my bike at all.  I hung out in San Diego instead, and I had fun.  This week I made up for it by riding both Saturday and Sunday.  On Saturday Irit and I rode up to the Huntington Library in the brutal mid-day sun.  What is that saying about mad dogs and Englishmen? Anyway, Irit got her chance to go up the hill on Oxford street, so she was happy.  We only rode 7 miles.

On Sunday, Nabeel and I rode down to Long Beach, then over to Seal beach, and then back home all via the river trails.  We stopped for lunch at Chronic tacos and got our usual fish tacos with baja sauce.  Then we headed over to Javatinis in Seal Beach to get our coffee fix.  We had to take in some of the local culture, so we ventured out on to the Seal Beach pier.  The heat was pretty oppressive on the way back inland.  I'm guessing it was just about 100 degrees or so, a big difference from the 75-80 degrees in Seal Beach.  We rode 74 miles.

Here is Nabeel down in Long Beach.

Here is Nabel and I out on the Seal Beach pier.

Here I am out on the Seal Beach pier, check out the local culture.

Zoom in and notice the difference in texture between the carbon fiber and the wood on the railing.

Typical So Cal Sunday at the beach.

Cycling this week - 07-30-2012

On Saturday, Irit and I rode up through Monrovia and Arcadia.  She got the opportunity to tackle some challenging hills just north of Foothill Blvd. for the first time.  She powered up those hills with determination, despite the fact that I was harassing her, (sorry babe, you did great).  On the way back we stopped at Arcadia park and watched the squirrels try and convince us to feed them.  We rode 18 miles.

On Sunday Rich, Nabeel and I rode up to Mt. Wilson and back from my house.  We got an early start (for us) 7:30, which turned out to be good, because it got pretty warm as the day went on.  We reached the top at about 11:40.  After some great sandwiches at the Cosmic Cafe, and some picture taking, we headed on down the mountain.  We were reaching speeds of just over 40 miles per hour, which is a far cry from our average speed of 10 miles per hour going up.  We rode 66 miles.

Here is Nabeel and Rich at the start of the climb near Foothill Blvd - 19 miles to Mt. Wilson.

Sign at the start of the climb - down by Foothill Blvd.

Random road sign.

View from the road about halfway up - Looking Northwest.

Nabeel at the ranger station where Angeles Forest road intersects with Angeles Crest Hwy. - about 10 miles up.

Me at the ranger station.

The sign at the entrance to Mt. Wilson, ahhh what a feeling, finally at the top.

A view from the top - looking Southeast.

Nabeel at the top just before lunch 

Rich and I in the lower parking lot, the view behind us is to the Southwest

Rich and Nabeel