CURRENT RIDE & EVENT SCHEDULE
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SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER, 2010
By Rod Doty, VP- Rides (Newcomers welcome- helmets required!)
NOTE: Be sure to download route slips before coming to the ride start.
SEPTEMBER SCHEDULE
Sunday, September 5 - 8:30 a.m. ORANGE COAST TOUR. (Long 63 - 1100 feet, Medium 46 - 800 feet, Short 31) As I write this (in mid-July), I just rode the Balboa Ferry this past weekend and I noticed the ride description for that ride said it was the 1st of two trips this summer to Balboa. Well, this is Labor Day Weekend –sort of the last weekend of summer and here is our second trip to the island. All routes head to the ferry. After Balboa, the long heads over to Old Town Irvine (btw – where is “New” Town Irvine?) for lunch before a return across Irvine to the start. The medium tours the Back Bay and then heads back more directly to the start. The short returns even more directly. These are fairly flat and easy rides so be sure to come on out. Last year, the group got hopelessly separated due to missed turns, going to lunch off the route etc. So let’s do better this year and bring a cell phone. START: LAKE PARK in Huntington Beach. From the San Diego Frwy (405), off and south on Beach Blvd. R on Main (Ellis is on left), L on 12th Street to Park.
Sunday, September 12 - 8:30 a.m. SAN PEDRO CRUISE (Long 54, Medium 30, Short 20) You could sort of consider this a ride of attrition. We all start out heading for San Pedro (as the title of the ride implies). We ride through the beach communities, but by the time we reach Redondo, some riders may have had enough and they turn back. We’ll call them short riders. The rest push on to Palos Verdes, but at Malaga Cove, some others want to call it a day – they turn back. We call them medium riders. The remainder push on and finally cruise into San Pedro. “We are long riders!” they chant. Then they too head back. These are relatively easy rides in familiar territory which we haven’t ridden in a while – in fact, I haven’t made maps for them yet. Despite going to Palos Verdes, they don’t climb to the top. Even though they were created by Steve Bowen, they don’t go to his shop (he didn’t have his shop when he created the routes.) So come on out for an easy day. START: DEL REY LAGOON in Playa Del Rey. From San Diego Frwy off and west on Culver Blvd (or off and west on Jefferson, which runs into Culver) to end (approx 4 mi). R - Pacific Ave to park.
Thursday, September 16, 7:30 p.m. GOOSENECK & BUSINESS MEETING. Meeting night help: (310) 375-8895
Sunday, September 19 - 7:30 a.m. 65th ANNIVERSARY CENTURY AND HALF CENTURY Start: the Beverly Hills Tennis Center at 325 S. La Cienega Blvd., Beverly Hills 90210. Click HERE for complete information and registration options.
OCTOBER SCHEDULE
Sunday, October 3 - 8:30 a.m. TURNBULL REVISITED (Long 71, Medium 52 & 1500 ft, Shorts 37 ft or 24 & 600) Before I had ever ridden Turnbull, I would hear other riders talk about it, so I looked it up on a map. On a map it looked like a winding road cutting through a largely uninhabited area surrounded by city. You can’t tell what the terrain is like from a map, but I knew there was a reason the road was so twisty and the area not built up. It was sure to be hilly. But when I finally got around to riding Turnbull, it turned out to not be all that bad. Yeah, it’s a longish climb, but never very steep and you do get a nice downhill. With that said, today is one of the club’s annual (at least) chances to ride Turnbull. All but the short short route do it, but it’s the only climb of the day for all but the long riders. The long and the medium are identical, in fact, as they climb over Turnbull and make their way over to the start of the San Gabriel River Trail in Azusa and then take the trail back to the start. The only difference is that the long makes an extra trip a few miles up San Gabriel Canyon and back before going down the river. The short routes simply go over or around Turnbull, but pretty much stay in the area. So, if you have never been over Turnbull, don’t let the map scare you off and if your have been there, it’s time to “revisit” this classic. START: PICO PARK in PICO RIVERA. From San Gabriel Frwy (605), off & west on Beverly Blvd to Park on left. (If coming from the North, the Beverly exit puts you on San Gabriel River Rd which you follow for 1.3 mi. to Beverly)
Sunday, October 10 - 8:30 a.m. LIFE BEGINS AT 8:30 (Long 78 - 3800 feet, Medium 57 - 3000 feet, Short 30.) The title of this ride has always puzzled me a little. It’s not just that during its history, we didn’t always start the ride at 8:30. Why does life begin with THIS ride and not all our other great rides? Does it imply that we are all dead until we do this ride? When I finish the ride will I say “Wow, my life will never be the same.” I’ve ridden both the long and medium and I don’t remember having any such earth shaking experience. Don’t get me wrong – they’re nice routes. We start in West LA and both the long and medium head out to Malibu and go over Malibu Cyn to Mulholland Hwy. The long heads west to Kanan and returns back to PCH for a coastal return. The medium heads east and returns through the valley and over Sepulveda. (I’m not sure the long is that much more difficult than the medium – you decide) The Short riders miss all the fun by staying in the Palisades area, so I don’t think life starts for them any more than for the long and medium riders. I generally keep the ride titles I’ve been given, so this remains “Life Begins at 8:30", but a more honest title might be “Life Continues at 8:30.” But hey – isn’t that all we want – for life to continue. Cycling is certainly one way to make that happen. START: Westwood Park at Sepulveda & Ohio. From San Diego Frwy (405), off and east on Santa Monica Blvd, Left on Sepulveda and L on Ohio and R into Park.
Sunday, October 17 - 8:30 a.m. REVEL THE ROLLIES III (Long 64, Medium 49 - 2600 feet, Short 34) The starting location of this ride used to be referred to as the “Cat House.” Sounds racy, but it really referred to the fact that there was a Caterpillar Tractor dealership on the location. They eventually asked the club to no longer park in their lot (not sure why), but we have the last laugh – they are gone and we are still here. So come on down to the former Cat House for a nice ride on the quiet streets of Orange County. Today’s rides (long and medium) take us to Capistrano. These rides were designed to take advantage of some of the relatively newer roads in Orange County. In this case long and medium riders take the somewhat new extension of Antonio Parkway which now goes all the way to Ortega Hwy, just a hop, skip and a jump from Capistrano where we stop for lunch. Then it’s north along the coast. The medium heads inland on Laguna Canyon while the long goes north to Newport Coast Drive (a good climb) before heading back. The short riders do their own thing, heading to the back bay. These are some nice routes using roads we seldom ride and worth the drive down. START: OLD TOWN IRVINE. From San Diego Fry (I-5), off at west on Sand Canyon in Irvine. L - Burt St (1st left) to end and park in Lot 3.
Thursday, October 21 – 7:30 p.m. GOOSENECK & BUSINESS MEETING. Meeting night directions: (310) 836-7186
Saturday, October 23 - 8:00 a.m. FIVE COUNTY CENTURY (101 miles - 8000 feet or an 88 mile option with 7000 feet) The club will once again be offering this classic century this year. Clem Bartolai, will be chairing the event for his third year. Final details are not available yet, but will be in next month’s Gooseneck (or perhaps earlier on the club web site). However, most things will remain the same. The event will once again start at the Church of Latter Day Saints parking lot in Lake of the Woods, just north of Gorman. There will be the usual support (two rest stops plus lunch and limited sag support). The event will be limited to 75 riders and the cost will be $25 (which is an amazingly low price for a century these days). Registration procedure has yet to be worked out, but should open some time in September. So mark your calendar now. You don’t want to miss this classic event.
Sunday, October 24, 8:30 a.m. BROOKSIDE PARK (Long 46 - 2200 ft., Medium 43, Short 38 - 600 ft.) I may change these routes some. Here’s the problem. The plan used to be that these routes would take us to Brookside Park (near the Rose Bowl) where we would have a picnic lunch (or in some years, watermelon). But the last time we ran these, we all ate lunch on Fair Oaks in Pasadena and then skipped the trip over to the Park and back. I think that’s what we will want to this time too, so I might as well take the side trip to the park out of the route. But then we won’t be going to Brookside Park at all and people might wonder why the ride has it’s name. Well, I’ll work something out. The basic rides will remain the same. The three routes start at the zoo and head up to Pasadena and all return together. The long heads up Chevy Chase and throws in some hills (including famed Christmas Tree Lane in Altadena). The short and medium take slightly easier and shorter routes up. The common return is through Eagle Rock. START: Los Angeles Zoo parking lot at the NORTH end (construction in the lot prevents us from parking across from the Autry museum as we often do) From Ventura (134) Frwy or Golden State Frwy (5), exit near Griffith Park at any exit marked by signs to the Zoo or to the Autry Museum. Follow signs into the park and to the Zoo lot. Don't confuse us with other groups which sometimes start here.
Sunday, October 31 - 9:00 a.m. HALLOWEEN RIDE (medium 27, short 15) Halloween falls on Sunday this year, so we have to run one of our special Halloween themed rides. We have two, both designed by Sarah Lifton. In recent years we have run the “Dead Ends” ride which passes the locations of famous murders and celebrity deaths. For a change of pace, I thought we would ride the other one this year. This one loops through parts of Beverly Hills, Culver City and West Los Angeles to ride past a number of weird or unusual houses (such as the witch’s house in Beverly Hills) to fit in with a Halloween theme. The routes are not very long and there is a pleasant lunch stop at Farmer's Market. You wouldn’t want a long ride if you happen to show up in costume. One year when we got back to the start we had Halloween goodies awaiting us. Maybe the club can arrange for something similar this year, but no promises. Don’t pull any tricks on us just because we don’t have any treats. START: THE "CORNER", Olympic Blvd, 1 block west of La Cienega in Beverly Hills. From the Santa Monica Frwy (10), off & north La Cienega 1½ miles, L - Olympic 1 block to R- Le Doux.
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