Self-timer. Sucked in the muffin top.
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Sunday, April 02, 2006
CA Day 10 Will it ever be sunny?
Friday 3/31 Woke up (at Jeff's) to another cloudy day and little light mist. Jeff went to work and said I could try his Giant Trance mtn bike if I wanted to. He lives right by Cheeseboro Canyon. I got stuck watching a dumb movie first and finally headed out about noon. I rode right from his place and within a mile the trail head starts. Did a couple short climbs and enjoyed the scenery. Pics coming soon of the rolling hills and beyond. Saw a rabbit and two coyotes. No black panthers this time.
I had been debating staying the night back at Marc's and then racing the crit in Thousand Oaks Saturday morning. But the weather report was calling for showers in the morning. My next destination would be San Diego and partly cloudy skies was the forecast. I decided to try for better weather further south. So I left about 1:30 going south through LA on a Friday. It took me 5 hours to get to Carlsbad!! The traffic was horrendous. 4 accidents plus rush hour. Without traffic that drive would take less than 2.5 hours.
So I finally made it to my friend, Christine Wheeler's, house in Carlsbad. We went to highschool together along with Kim Natale who lives in downtown SD. Chris and Kim have been great friends together for years and were living together in Carlsbad. I hadn't talked with them in a decade but chatted with them at our 20 year reunion and mentioned I was coming down in the spring. They said to look them up and that I could stay with them if I wanted. Anyone that knows me knows I will always take someone up on that offer. And I'm very appreciative of these opportunities!
Kim stopped by Chris's and the 3 of us went out to dinner in Encinitas at El Callejon for some good Mexican food. The Sonics were on the tube playing the Lakers and lost of course. Anyway, we had a great time visiting and catching up.
I had been debating staying the night back at Marc's and then racing the crit in Thousand Oaks Saturday morning. But the weather report was calling for showers in the morning. My next destination would be San Diego and partly cloudy skies was the forecast. I decided to try for better weather further south. So I left about 1:30 going south through LA on a Friday. It took me 5 hours to get to Carlsbad!! The traffic was horrendous. 4 accidents plus rush hour. Without traffic that drive would take less than 2.5 hours.
So I finally made it to my friend, Christine Wheeler's, house in Carlsbad. We went to highschool together along with Kim Natale who lives in downtown SD. Chris and Kim have been great friends together for years and were living together in Carlsbad. I hadn't talked with them in a decade but chatted with them at our 20 year reunion and mentioned I was coming down in the spring. They said to look them up and that I could stay with them if I wanted. Anyone that knows me knows I will always take someone up on that offer. And I'm very appreciative of these opportunities!
Kim stopped by Chris's and the 3 of us went out to dinner in Encinitas at El Callejon for some good Mexican food. The Sonics were on the tube playing the Lakers and lost of course. Anyway, we had a great time visiting and catching up.
Friday, March 31, 2006
Remodeled Kitchen at Doug and Weni's
It's too dark really. And now I can't remember the name of the dealios in the upper corners of the framed entrances.
CA Day 9 Fiddy Miler
Thur 3/30. Spent most of the morning on Doug and Weni's computer catching up on stuff. The time goes by entirely too quickly while on the 'puter. And I didn't even look at any porn sites.
Weni and Doug are gracious hosts as all of my friends have been. I appreciate the hospitality everyone!
I finally headed out for a ride from San Marino, through Pasadena, La Canada/Flintridge and up Angeles Crest Hwy 2 toward Mt. Wilson. I missed a turn at one point and ended up at the main guard gate of JPL (Jet Propolsion Lab) where Weni happens to work. When I reached into my jersey pocket to pull out my directions the guards apparently thought I was reaching for a weapon. The next thing I know they have their guns drawn and one of them has me face down on the ground with a knee in my back! Okay, that didn't really happened. Too many episodes of "24" or something.
So I made it out to Hwy 2 and started the long climb toward Mt. Wilson (18 miles). It was a good gradual climb steep enough to make it difficult, but not too steep that I couldn't stay seated in a 39-23. (That's chainring and cog size for those of you that don't know what I'm talking about).
At one point another cyclist passed me. I said "Hey", but he didn't say a word. He was wearing a college team kit from Colorado University (or U of C?). He looked back a couple times to see if he dropped me and that made me more determined not to get dropped. He became my rabbit. I kept him within 20-30 yards for a mile or so and then bridged the gap on a slight flat section. He looked back surprised as I came up on his wheel. I stayed with him for another half mile and then he just rode away from me. On the switchbacks up above I could see him getting a huge gap on me. Oh well, the kid was literally half my age.
Passed 2000' of elevation, passed 3000', on the way to 4 and the road leveled out and descended near the Palmdale road and then climbed again. The college kid was just coasting down the hill and I caught up to him. This time he chatted with me and I found out he races Cat 3 back in CO. So I don't feel so bad a 20 year old, Cat 3, from high elevation Boulder kicked my butt up the climb. :-)
He continued on, but I turned around. The temp had dropped quite a bit and it was looking like rain. Plus, I needed to get back so I could head north to Agoura Hills again. Man, the way back down was freezing! I'm glad it didn't start raining too. There were a lot of sharp corners to navitgate at speed.
Dodged traffic through the resiential/city streets and got back to Doug and Weni's with a 50 mile ride in. Showered up and luckily the worst traffic on the freeways were heading south and I made it to Jeff's in Agoura in under an hour.
Before I left San Marino, Weni, an up and coming rock and roll star, sang a couple songs for me. Her normal conversational voice is a bit quiet and high pitched a little, but when she sings this whole new voice comes out and it's amazing! She's in a band that do a lot of classic rock covers and well as modern alt. rock stuff. She also has written some of her own songs. I will definitely have to see her perform next time.
Jeff and I met two of his friends, Ted and An, from Giant for dinner at BJ's. Great time. On the way home Jeff took me for a ride in his A4 through some of the canyon roads at high speed around sharp corners. It was a lot of fun and we only almost went off the road and down a cliff a couple of times. JK of course.
Back at Jeff's I inundated him with all my cycling related technical questions. He's a good sport putting up with all my anal questions. He knows a ton of stuff about the industry and the technology and I love talking about it and learning it.
Weni and Doug are gracious hosts as all of my friends have been. I appreciate the hospitality everyone!
I finally headed out for a ride from San Marino, through Pasadena, La Canada/Flintridge and up Angeles Crest Hwy 2 toward Mt. Wilson. I missed a turn at one point and ended up at the main guard gate of JPL (Jet Propolsion Lab) where Weni happens to work. When I reached into my jersey pocket to pull out my directions the guards apparently thought I was reaching for a weapon. The next thing I know they have their guns drawn and one of them has me face down on the ground with a knee in my back! Okay, that didn't really happened. Too many episodes of "24" or something.
So I made it out to Hwy 2 and started the long climb toward Mt. Wilson (18 miles). It was a good gradual climb steep enough to make it difficult, but not too steep that I couldn't stay seated in a 39-23. (That's chainring and cog size for those of you that don't know what I'm talking about).
At one point another cyclist passed me. I said "Hey", but he didn't say a word. He was wearing a college team kit from Colorado University (or U of C?). He looked back a couple times to see if he dropped me and that made me more determined not to get dropped. He became my rabbit. I kept him within 20-30 yards for a mile or so and then bridged the gap on a slight flat section. He looked back surprised as I came up on his wheel. I stayed with him for another half mile and then he just rode away from me. On the switchbacks up above I could see him getting a huge gap on me. Oh well, the kid was literally half my age.
Passed 2000' of elevation, passed 3000', on the way to 4 and the road leveled out and descended near the Palmdale road and then climbed again. The college kid was just coasting down the hill and I caught up to him. This time he chatted with me and I found out he races Cat 3 back in CO. So I don't feel so bad a 20 year old, Cat 3, from high elevation Boulder kicked my butt up the climb. :-)
He continued on, but I turned around. The temp had dropped quite a bit and it was looking like rain. Plus, I needed to get back so I could head north to Agoura Hills again. Man, the way back down was freezing! I'm glad it didn't start raining too. There were a lot of sharp corners to navitgate at speed.
Dodged traffic through the resiential/city streets and got back to Doug and Weni's with a 50 mile ride in. Showered up and luckily the worst traffic on the freeways were heading south and I made it to Jeff's in Agoura in under an hour.
Before I left San Marino, Weni, an up and coming rock and roll star, sang a couple songs for me. Her normal conversational voice is a bit quiet and high pitched a little, but when she sings this whole new voice comes out and it's amazing! She's in a band that do a lot of classic rock covers and well as modern alt. rock stuff. She also has written some of her own songs. I will definitely have to see her perform next time.
Jeff and I met two of his friends, Ted and An, from Giant for dinner at BJ's. Great time. On the way home Jeff took me for a ride in his A4 through some of the canyon roads at high speed around sharp corners. It was a lot of fun and we only almost went off the road and down a cliff a couple of times. JK of course.
Back at Jeff's I inundated him with all my cycling related technical questions. He's a good sport putting up with all my anal questions. He knows a ton of stuff about the industry and the technology and I love talking about it and learning it.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
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