Saturday, April 26, 2008

Gentle breezes, my foot!






I decide today I would do my brevet of the month.
It started out fine.
I went down Etiwanda, and across mission. I stopped to take some pics of the Mission Inn. I then had the experience of getting halfway across some railroad tracks when the gates went down . Hence the The train pic.
Did the climb up to Alessandro blvd with no problem. The only issue was a construction project On Alessandro from the 215 to Mission Grove I zoomed down to Victoria and took a couple of pics of the street and a citrus grove .
I then Tired a new route to avoid a bottleneck and the 91 and McKinley. Which worked out great!
The problem start when I turned on Hamner to go North to Rancho. The weather forecast was gentle breezes. What we had was a full fledged Santa Ana! 20 mph sustained winds! To top it it off, Hamner/ Millken is actually a false flat - you gain about 600 feet in 15 miles. Instead of my usual 14 on that stretch, i was down around 8-10.
By The time I got to Rancho, I was pretty pooped! I decided to see if went west (which the route did), I would have better luck. But I thought about the fact the route climaxes(quite literally!) with climb up Lytle Creek Road - prime Santa Ana territory.
so I packed it in. I'm really glad I did, even if it means giving up on some things/
PS. Dale Wright went to meet the Lord on Monday. He was declared brain dead

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Listening.....




I imagine some of you are waiting for my 400K ride report. Well, I didn't do it!
I did something to my back on Saturday, plus I've busy with Java stuff. So I decided to do Permanent instead.
Only I didn't do that, either. Friday was an insanely crazy day at work. I ready to collapse when I got home at 8 after a walmart and Albertson's run.
so I talked over, and listened for that still small voice (remember 1 Kings 19?) and id the club ride.
Things were going swimmingly well. I talked briefly with a gentleman visiting from Redding before the climb up Mt baldy started. I actually made to the regroup at Shinn Road(a quarter of the way up Mt Baldy) before everyone left. (which for me is a minor miracle). I lost the group coming down Shinn, Mountain, and Euclid.
When I got to split in Euclid(near the San Antonio Heights fire station), a fireman was waving for me to stop. For those reading who aren't familiar with the area, Euclid at this point is 12-15% descent for about a half mile. you can do 50-60mph without too much of any effort. My friend from Redding apparently had a speed wobble, and reacted by locking his front brake. He was laying out cold in the middle of the street.
Thankfully, not only was the fire station next door, but several search and rescue teams were practicing in an old supermarket across the street. I don't deal well with blood, so I decided that the best thing was to ride back and tell everyone else, so we could make sure everything was in order.
We found from the liability waiver that his name is Dale Wright. He was airlifted to Loma Linda University Medical center.
Needless to say this put a damper on the day. I was some problems with the saddles on the new Roubiax, I had one that hurt in the front, and one that hurt in the rear. The one that hurt in the rear is a Specialized Avatar, which come in Multiple widths. I was going to ride to InCycle in San Dimas, since they are the pretty much the biggest bike store in the area and a Specialized dealer. But since i was going to bring in the bike for the 30 day tuneup, I decided to see if Don's had one in stock. which it turns out that they did!
So listening? I think that is what we are called to do. and like the passage says, God often speaks in a small voice, and it hard to hear in the world.
I was think about that in light of my pics for today. The first is a view of the San Antonio dam. The bus is the second - the URL is repobustours.com I guess what brought it to mind was that we got lost in materialism(louder voice). you must have the best.(I must be loser for riding a 105 equipped bike, right?)
I'll leave you with an image to ponder. when I lived in Dallas in the 80's , I read the Dallas Times Herald. One Sunday, the had an article about the car of the rich famous. Among them was at the time the Richest person in the United states - H Ross Perot - His car? a Chevy Impala.

Friday, April 11, 2008

Tenbrooks made me do it


















One guy at Bikejournal has kept on asking me how it is like to ride CA 39 - The San Gabriel canyon - on a weekday. Today I took him up on his challenge.
one of the reason why I've been putting it off was that fact going out to Azusa on a weekday would involve mega traffic, and since gas is close to $4.00 a gallon here, I was doubly challenge.
Then I realized that I have a Metrolink pass. So decided to use Metrolink to get to Covina or Baldwin Park and then ride up.
I woke up early and got to the Station in Upland just as the 7:00. I had just bought a detours hightailer bag. ,so I brought along the Daily Bulletin to read.
Before I knew I as in Covina I was not sure about which station to get off at. I finally decided to go ahead and get off in Covina. I was started pedaling my way north on Citrus and west on Arrow.
I soon came to the Santa Fe Dam and a beautiful vista(second pic)
For the next 10 miles or so I was on the San Gabriel Bikeway. I went under the 210 Freeway, and Foothill blvd. I stopped to to some pics of a Rock Conveyor of the San Gabriel for a Quarry.
I soon started to climb. I went by the Morris Reservoir and took a pic of the old Navy base. I'm still trying to figure out that ramp was used for. I also took a pic of the lake. If you look at the top right, you can just barely make out Glendora Mountain Road. I then went by the San Gabriel Reservoir(sorry no neat pics or fun articles. I went by the Off road area. Did I mention the road was nice and quiet?
I passed the West Fork bridge. here the road steepens a lot - like 10% sustained. I did about two miles before I felt I should give up - probably should ate more for breakfast , or brought some thing other than Hammer Gel and Accelrade along with me.
Plus, I wanted to do the bike path/ access road that winds along the west fork to Cogswell Dam. while I didn't make it to the really steep section, I enjoyed it.
I stopped to take photo of Mt baldy on the way home. One thing to remember is that you have to climb from the turn off for the East Fork back to the San Gabriel Dam. I stopped to take another pic in the park above Santa Fe Dam. I rode along the top of the dam before starting back.
I also forgot to bring along a train schedule. But I knew that a train left El Monte heading east at 12:40, so I knew I should be able to meet it at the Baldwin Park station just in time. I had a little time. so I took some pics.I was going to buy a copy of the LA times, but it was all sold out. The only problem was that both slots for bike were taken in the car I boarded. I settled down, only tho have the conductor come by. he said there room on another car , but I would have to take my chances on moving my bike at the stops. I had decided to get off in Claremont any way since i need some extra mileage to do a metric century.
I tried to take a photo of the train leaving, but it wound up a video
So a great day. 62 miles, less cars than on weekend, and hassle free commutes!