Cycling this week - 09-02-2012

Labor day weekend means I can party after riding on Sunday because I don't have to get up and go to work the next day.  Jen, Rich, and Nabeel met at my house on Sunday and we rode down to the beach and back.  We stopped at Chronic Tacos in Long Beach for our usual grilled fish tacos, then headed over to Seal Beach for our usual iced mocha coffee drinks at Javatini's, then we rode home with our tummies full and our bodies caffeinated.  Once home, we commenced our party and BBQ activities.  We rode 72 miles.

Here is Rich, Jen, and Nabeel before we left my house in the morning.  They all have their "King of the mountains" jerseys on.

 

Here is Jen, rocking the pink sash that says: "It's a queen thing"

 

Here they are down at the lighthouse in Long Beach.

 

Here we all are in Long Beach.

 

Here they are in the evening, Simon joined us for dinner.

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

Cycling this week - 07-22-2012

This Saturday Irit and I rode up through Arcadia and Monrovia.  It was hot, so we kept the ride short and got back to the house before the mid-day sun caused us to melt.  We rode 13 miles.

On Sunday, Dave and Nabeel came over to my place and we did the usual ride down to Long Beach, Seal Beach, and back home via the L.A. and San Gabriel river trails.  We stopped for lunch at Chronic Tacos in Long Beach, and then stopped for some icy coffee goodness in Seal Beach before heading back.  We rode 74 miles in 4:45.

Here is a shot of the harbor down in Long Beach

Here is a shot of myself and Dave - we are victorious

Here is Nabeel, he's thinking, if you two guys are crazy enough to take such a ridiculous picture above, I might as well join in.

Cycling this week - 07-08-2012

The past two weeks I've been slacking as far as taking pictures goes, so, you'll just have to read about my adventures.  On June 30th, Irit and I rode all around the Pasadena area for a total of 13 miles.  After feeling her wrath about taking her on a 23 miler two weeks prior (and associated Facebook posts), I decided that we would actually do the amount that she wanted.

On July 4th six of us got together for a ride, BBQ and fireworks show courtesy of my neighbor.  Irit, Jennifer, Heidi, Nabeel, Rich and I all met at my place in the morning.  The girls took off for their own ride and the guys went down the LA river trail to South Street.  Then we cut over to the San Gabriel river trail and back home.  On the way back, the girls called and they were stuck on the Rio Hondo river trail with a flat, so we diverted and rode over to help them out.  I rode with Jen and Irit back home and Rich, Nabeel and Heidi rode up to the dam before heading back home.  I ended up with 57 miles, Rich and Nabeel ended up with 66 miles, Irit rocked her 23 mile ride, Jen had 33 miles, and Heidi had 40 miles.  Afterward, we all sat around the backyard BBQing.  At 9:00 the neighbor started the usual fireworks show, awesome.

On July 7th, Irit came over and the two of us went on a tour of the Rose Bowl.  We stopped at the casting pond down in the Arroyo for a break.  I've ridden by that place a hundred times but never been down there.  It's a nice little park and the head for several hiking trails that meander through the Arroyo.  We ended up with a total of 21 miles, and since Irit was wearing her new sunglasses, she rode much faster, you could even say she rocked.

On July 8th, Heidi, Rich and Nabeel came over to my place and we took off down the San Gabriel River trail.  Heidi rode all the way down to Wilderness park, where she took a break and then turned around for the trip back. She had a 37 mile ride.  Rich, Nabeel and I continued on to the beach.  We headed over to Chronic tacos in Long Beach for lunch.  On the way back we took the LA river trail. There was a pretty stiff headwind all the way back up the trail. We stopped at Starbucks off of Washington Blvd. in Pico Rivera for a break and some cool, icy, chocolaty, coffee drink goodness.  That gave us just the extra boost we needed to continue on our way back home.  After a quick dip in the pool, Rich took off for home and Nabeel and I watched the Tour of France while we chowed down on delivered Thai food, a great way to finish the day.  We ended up with 68 miles in total.

All added up, I had 159 miles in the past two weeks.