I was going to do a ride from Whitter Narrows to the bay today, but the weather got in the way. So I went up to van Nuys and had Dana, Andres , and Kate install a Underseat Rack on my Giro. I then went by InCycle in San Dimas and got some new shoes:
the rest of the day was my typical day off : sign lease for apartment, Have lunch at Red lobster (Happy Birthday!), have oil changed in the car, stop by Rei (Folding bikes on sale! must resist) Stop and another new bike (not open yet) Have Albert cut hair, and stoc up at Fresh and Easy I need another day off!
I attempted to ride my bike to the train station today. They had opened up some secure parking in Claremont so I rode over Crossing the county line: I did get to the station, only to discover that my key didn't work. It was one of those e-keys Here's the Old santa Fe Depot. the Storage room is on the left:
I took some time of my bike this weekend to attend the Southern California Linux Expo (SCALE) I thought it would be prefect weather rain and 50 degrees. Well, the weatherman was wrong, as seen from the Roof of the Parking garage at the Westin LAX:
We were going to work on on open source project, but decided the hall was too noisy. The restaurant was closed. so I went across the street in search of fine dining:
I decided to leave early, but I did hit the Taco bell again, at the same time one of my Friend Solomon Chang(yes, he is both Chinese and Jewish). I rode my bike to church as usual today. I thought rain was supposed to make things cleaner:
lent: oh yes, I 'm trying to give up soda. I'm actaully doing good today.another one of my "disciplines" is watching the daily mass on EWTN (don't worry: i turn it off when they get into "virgin Mary " stuff:
I hatched a plan a while back to Bike Journal Reunion at the Tour De Palm Springs. Thing did not go as planned. Only 4 people showed, and then this past Saturday, my friend, Bruce Taylor, passed away. Here is he during PBP 2007: His funeral Service was Friday Morning, so I had to postpone our get together. I finally got to Palm Springs about and checked in to the Motel 6. I had a handicapped room on the First floor, So I could park in front of my room(The manager told me to): I went over to our designated meeting place, The Palm Springs library: Next Door was the baseball stadium . Gene Autry Built it for the Angels to use during Spring Training. A minor league was playing a game there: Finally, I had some Company John(L) from Northern California, and Andre(R), from Quebec City, QE: We had perfect weather for the ride: My Choice of routes was lacking. I was the Tour's 10 mile route, but forgot that the City Of Palm Springs closes the roads. oops! We stopped at the Air Museum for some photos. Raymond from Orange County Joined us as well: John had to go have dinner with Brother (likely Excuse!) while Andre, Raymond ,and myself piled into my car went over to the casino for dinner after picking up our ride packets. Once again , I was bedeviled by Details. They were having "all you can eat Steak and lobster" - which is Cauhilla for "Order the real cheap cuts for Friday night" I think mine said "Uniroyal" on it. Andre wanted to sleep, and I wanted to roll early- so we split our differences and went our own ways. I promised to call him after the ride. Another of the most noticeable features of Palm Springs is the windmill farms outside of town. Here's another view from my you tube account
We were soon in the desert: and on to Dillon Road. we're on this road for about 30 miles. This is the interesting part: at 50 miles , there a rest stop at a Truck stop in Indio. One of the traditions of The Tour De palm Springs is that there is a band playing at each rest stop. This one was from Indio High School:
Our elevation at this time was a mighty -6 feet. We proceeded down towards the Salton sea, where we got to about -100 feet. There was another rest stop in La Quinta:
and a bit of climb followed by a downhill:
You'd never guess you were in the Desert: since I left my electrolyte tablets in the car, I could, as My Friend, Mr Cramp =, showed up and slowed my down a lot. I normally don't stop at the last rest on Dinah Shore, But I needed to this time. I did make it back and Called Mary lou Logsdon and confirmed lunch ("I'm the Dirt Parking lot. Which dirt parking lot? there's only 4") I tried to call Andre, but I had apparently gotten his number wrong. I order a steak sandwich, thinking it would be a normal Philadelphia style, with chopped beef. It was a single cut of Roast beef. Note to self: Next Time I go to Palm, Springs, avoid all steak products. I did make one more stop while i was there. I was in downtown palm Springs, where they have their own walk of fame: I had a unique Cochella Valley Concoction, a Date Shake, that's a milkshake made with Date. very good and not as bad as it sounds(but then , I'm drink a glass of V-8)
I had decided that if it was raining, I would take one of bikes out to Bent up in Van Nuys to have its chain replaced. I kept that one. Driving out there , for what ever reason, I made a wrong turn at the 101/134/170 Spilt on wound up on the 170. I got off on roscoe, so I wasn;t too badly lost.
We Started talking I mention that If I had a garage, I would probably have a Cannk forward Cargo bike and a a trike. Kate pointer out that they had a cargo trike, so I went on a test ride:
Coming back back Balboa, it was closed at the LA river due to flooding. It turns out that wrong turn on the 170 was right as I knew how to get there that way, but I wouldn't have know how to get around Balboa park. Even those small things sometime happens for a reason. I stopped at Fresh and Easy to pick up some lunch:
I had a plan, or more accurately, a gift card and a plan. One of my Friends, Bruce Taylor, had a very bad accident last Sunday. a little boy pulled in front of him on the bike path and Bruce fell, and hit his head on a bridge girder. The Manager, Mark Heber, help out with the first aid. At I thought it was Bruce. We talked and confirmed it was Bruce, who still in the the Icu. I did get some tubes. No riding, but lots of bicycling. Unti next week:
