Bicycle Fixation Weblog
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07/19/2009: "Hot & Hilly"
Since I was a bit short on time today--I'd promised to fix my ex-wife's Indian-made motor scooter, though really she should just start riding the very fine little commute bike I built for her years ago. But, at least it has a four-stroke engine with CDI and catalytic converter, so slightly better than a car.Nevertheless, that didn't leave time for my preferred trip to the beach, so I headed for the hills instead, with the Bottecchia's tires pumped up nice and fresh and my grungiest grease-monkey shorts on. A nice little spin around Griffith Park would give me some significant hillclimbs to compensate for the lack of distance, and some pretty scenery to make up for the lack of a Pacific Ocean near at hand--and put me right back in Hollywood at the end of the ride, near my former homestead.
I beat the heat up Cahuenga Pass, did the floppy-legged fixie coasting procedure down Barham, and found a slight, warm headwind when I turned onto Forest Lawn Drive. The sky was mostly clear, with a few wispy clouds, and the hills not yet browned by summer (which arrived a bit late again this year), so, aside from too many joggers to dodge in the bike lanes, it was a pretty sweet spin.
I made up for the joggers going through the golf course, where I left the paved road and rolled along the bridle path next to it...figured it would be fun and wouldn't have any fewer joggers to dodge than the roadway!
One more climb--up Los Feliz from Riverside to Vermont, with a lot of rather smelly accompanying car traffic, and I found myself by near my last place of steady employment in East Hollywood, with time for a stop at Sabor y Cultura, my old favorite coffeehouse form the ball-and-chain days. (NB: Their old website was better.) A cup of máte fortified me for scooter fixing, which did not take long, and I headed on home through the leafy environs of Hancock Park.
So, despite having a chore on a Sunday, the bike made it a fine day. And now I'm home waiting for some of Gina's fine cooking to hit the table!
