Saturday, February 23, 2008

The Birthday from Hell..













Today is my birthday.
I had sold one of my bikes. to another Team Estrogen Lady, Duck On Wheels. She lives in Trondhiem, Norway, which happens to be near the town of Hell. she had sent me post card from Hell with her check.
The day started out early, as I rode to It's a Grind. One there I waited for everyone else to gather. We usually do tow rides and Laura Armstrong had asked me which ride I was going to do, had thought about doing the long ride up Mt Baldy, but I usually get dropped(left behind) on that one, and I wanted to be social today. It turns out Laura had the same idea, but we found out too late.so we did the short ride (22 miles)with Mike Basica and Fred Roth. Laura's husband, Greg was sick with a cold, so he decided to take photo of us fro the website we were doing OK until we got to the top of Benson, where Mike had a flat. Tow Straggler joined use there . I dropped my chain going across Euclid, so I got in some sprint practice. Mike had yet another flat where we turned off Sapphire. Laura and I stayed with him, and Greg lent a hand(and a pump). We made it back ok, although I half jokingly asked Mike if he wanted to cut it short. Mike almost took me outelooking at some low flying jets. He offered to but me a coffee when we got back. We got back , and I enjoyed my mocha and chatted with the "gang" before running the check to the bank. I decided to got up to Neely's corners. I had a flat in the Rancho Cucamonaga Adult Sports park(I always want to look and see if they are filming any porno movies there).alothoug I noted that it has been renamed the Epicenter park, which is the name of the stadium the minor league baseball team plays in. I stopped to take some pics at the corner of Rochester and Jack Benny(I decided that Anaheim and Azusa were too far). going up I rode for little bit on the Pacfic Electric trail (and took a pic of what I refer to a "lake Pacific Electric"). I was bieng buzzed by p-38 lighting and several other vintage planes. Apparently there was an air show going on, but there nearest one i found was in Yuma, AZ I met Tom and Sue Tisler going the other way on Banyan, and Warren Hawkins on Lytle Creek Road.
I got a metric of the day and got home just when it started to rain. who could ask for anything more>

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Meeting People on the internet












I had decide to do the Casa Grande 300K, but was feeling a little nervous about it. We had Santa Ana winds, and i felt like it was going to windy in Arizona, too.
I got the bike in the car and got on the road, It was windy through the San Gorognino pass and through the Cochella Valley. I was across a Sandstorm between Desert Center and Blythe. I had lunch in Blythe, and crossed the Colorado.
Once In Arizona, the Skies kept on getting darker. Finally, it started to rain. I had planned on driving in to Goodyear, but was debating on taking Arizona 85, which allows you to avoid Phoenix by going through Gila Bend. On the team Estrogen message board, RunningMommy had opened up a new bike shop.
I found Her shop, got some stuuf and introduced myself. We talk for a little while, and she gave me some luna moons to try. I had debated back tracking to 85, but pressed on through Phoenix. It rained even harder. I got to Casa Grande, and found where we were supposed to start. I then went to a restaurant next door and had supper. I was going to cross the street and get some snacks from a truck stop, but there was a long line of cars, so I skipped it.
I slept good, and woke Saturday morning, and drove into Downtown. I unpacked my car, and was talking to the RBA, Susan Plonksy. Someone came over and said "are you Fredwina?" . It was JulieB from another internet Hangout, bikejournal.com. At the appointed time, Susan used her truck as a pace vehicle to lead us through the street of Casa Grande. Before we knew it , we were in Coolidge. My brother had lived in the Florence/ Coolidge area for about 15 years, so I was familiar with where I was. We rode through some farm country , and eventually got on the Pinal Pioneer parkway (where the picture start). I was riding with Julieb and Lonnie Wolf from Utah
The first control was at the Tom Mix Monument. Susan had provided Breakfast. I had let Lonnie, Julie, and another rider go since I a =m a slow climber , and this was a 30 mile false flat to Oracle Junction. I caught up with Julie on the way into Tuscon, and rode with her through the city.
In the previous years, the rout had stopped at another "internauts" house, Bryan G from Bike journal. But, He has moved to Texas.
So, Instead, we did the rout of the famous Tour De Tuscon bicycle "race". Thankfully we skipped the section section where you walk your bike across the wash. I was hungry, so I asked Julie, if she would be willing to stop at a convenience store. I had a buirrito. We then climbed Rattlesnake pass, and roe down Silverbell road.
There were several large potholes on Silverbell (3feet wide by 3 feet across by 3 feet deep). hopefully these will be fix the time "el Tour" comes.
We then turned off the tour rout and started to climb up Gates Pass. Julie had told me to ride ahead, but she caught up to when I had stopped to remove some clothes. she waited for me at the summit in Tucson Mountain park. Susan was waiting for us again with supper. She also took a picture of me coming in to the rest stop
Julie and I had decided to ride at our own paces on the back to Casa Grande. I w=saw at a Circle k where I stooped to get some more water to make accelrade with.
I was doing fairly good despite the fact that it was dark. I was running about 17-18 mph (Yes, I actually get faster in the dark). The only problem, was that I develop Diarrhea. The route was on the service road of Interstate 10, and there was busy train track on the other side, which meant finding a "private place" was a challenge.
I made past the state Prison in Eloy without a problem. but had to make an additional stop at the final control to deal with my "runs". I managed to make it through Casa Grande without taking a break, but made a wrong turn ad found myself pedaling on the road to Yuma. I turned around and headed back into Town.
In the morning, I decide to drive through Yuma, and took a picture of the Glamis Sand Dunes before heading to the Spotlight 29 casino in Indio for an early birthday meal(My sister in law is from Twentynine Palms, so I have a soft spot for this casino.)
One thing that struck me doing this is if you mention Desert to most people, they would conjure up images like the ones from Glamis or on Pinal Pioneer. I was think about the driving out, I was noticing the Ocotillo plants on the side of the 10. if had driven 10 miles, they would have been replaced with Joshua Trees. In the US, The
Saguaro is only native to Arizona, It would take some one experienced to notice the variations. and like cacti, we come in all different shapes and purposes, be it people or cyclists

Saturday, February 09, 2008

Plan b from the Inland Empire











I was going to The Tour de Palm Springs, but I noticed that the tires on my car were dangerously bald.
So I went for a metric century instead!
I started out going down Baseline road, but decided I hadn't been up Shinn Road. So I went that way Took a pic at Campus and 21st and another at the LA county line (Angeles National Forest) before getting to Shinn and Mt. Baldy road roads. I then went down and started looking for more miles. Which lead me to the Baldwin park Metrolink station . I like this station, ad it has some unique Architecture. I then a park in Covina before stooping at the Covina Metrolink station with its British Phone Booth. I then went buy InCycle in San Dimas to pick up some Hammer Gel went by the University of La Verne Super Tent.
I stopped at the Pomona Station. They had some neat statuary here, but its' been removed due to vandalism. I stopped by the old Santa Fe station in Claremont, before heading home and to the emporium of Manny, Joe, and Jack with 55 miles
Notice that I didn't even get a metric? Well life be's that way sometimes and I'm drinking a soda now too. Reminds of song lyric: "if you want o hear God laugh, tel him your plans" and in the end, it's how we handle the detours that matter

Friday, February 01, 2008

getting ready....









Well I was going to post some neat-o keen photos of Downtown La from my Mountain Bike ride at Claremont Wilderness park.
And then my co-worker Carlos, passed away. I tried to do at least one long distance ride a week, and his memorial is Saturday, and it's supposed to rain on Sunday..
So I did my long distance ride today. I hadn't been up the Cajon pass in a while, so I went there.
I stopped about mile away from home, and took a photo of Cucamonga peak. I then took the Pacific Electric trail across Rancho, and did the detour around what I call "Lake Pacific Electric". I ran in to my friend Bruce Taylor, and we talked about our randoneurring adventures.
I then climbed up through Devore ,and took anther pic. I made up to the end of old 66, and turned. I had to fix a flat. I made down the pass , and stopped by the Metrolink Station and bought my February Pass.
I then pedaled by an old winery. Here's a link to some of our area's wine history.
When I went by Bear Gulch park, I heard a loud POW! you guessed it - another flat. I was debating fixing it - I was only a half mile from home, and even less if I cut through the park and school. But school was in session, and I didn't want to have a meeting with San Bernardino's County finest(Rancho is what is known in California as a contract city - our Police officers are actually all Deputy Sheriffs(even though the car say "Rancho Cucamonga Police".
So what does all this have to do with getting ready? As you may know Ash Wednesday is next week, which means Lent is starting.
Traditionally, we Anglicans emphasize Discipline rather than outright fasting. Long time readers may recall that last year, I did a blog post a day. It turned out to be an adventure.
So what am I going to do? I'm going to try and give up soda. even though I drink diet, I still drink too much. and I'm also going to try and ride my bike every day(yes, this is California, but it s rainy season.) I usually trying to get my lent resolutions to improvement in myself.
So what does this have to do with San Carlito, partoƱ of Pan Dulce?
well, we all know life has a habit of getting in the way, So yeah, I 'll probably miss a few days, and drink a few Dr Peppers. but what matters is not that our plans have to change, but how to handle life... even today, I went to get a new tire and tubes from Don's bikes, and forgot that I needed patches
Have some Pan Dulce(Mexican Sweet bread that Carlos would always tempt me with..) for Carlos Talancon. and live each like it was your last