Bicycle Fixation Weblog
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06/07/2009: "Sunday Cruisin'"
Rode Chuck Schmidt's Velo-Retro Ride today, including riding to and from the Rose bowl meetup area with no help from Metro trains, so a nice 65 miles or so, on a day that varied between cool dense gray clouds and limpid blue sky as I crisscrossed LA.
Waiting at the Rose Bowl when I arrived was this 1956 Columbian cruiser, all original except for crankset, seatpost, and headlamp (all of which are fortunately not visible in this Crappy Cellphone Picture).The owner didn't go on the ride, perhaps having misunderstood that when Chuck's announcement calls for "vintage lugged steel" bikes, he mean vintage lugged steel racing bikes--though anyone can ride anything they like if they can keep up with our generally modest pace for twenty-five miles. There were modern race bikes along today, as well as an aluminum hybrid, and all went well. The fellow should have ridden along for a while; he would have had fun.
Rode most of the way home with John Vu, taking a detour that got us lost in a part of San Marino that makes Beverly Hills look like East St. Louis. Big, manorial houses, some complete with vine-covered stone walls; imposing gates; and big bright green lawns that make one cringe in this year of continuing drought. Pretty in a superficial way, though. England in California, courtesy of a network of aqueducts arrogating other people's water...a well-known story. Nobody thinks of it in relation to their own lawn, of course.
Now home, and ready for some of Gina's Mighty Fine Cooking. A good day on the bike, totally gratuitous, with not a chore to be done en route!
