Bicycle Fixation Weblog
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02/21/2010: "The River and the Rivendellers...."
Rode a cold sixty-mile loop today with some fine folk from the Southern California Rivendell Riders Group (note that there were only three actual Rivendells along, plus a Bridgestone, a Nishiki, my Bottecchia, and a couple of others...all lugged steel, though).We met at the Wilshire/Vermont Metro station and headed due south on Vermont, passing the storefront churches, auto body shops, and, on this brisk Sunday, several open-air barbecue enterprises--and also past USC and the former digs of Pepperdine College, which was down by Florence and Vermont when I attended it. Our goal was Imperial Highway, which wound through Watts, Compton, and Lynwood to the Los Angeles River several miles east.
Once on the river path we fought a nearly brutal headwind to Anaheim Street, then skirting the foothills of horsey Palos Verdes till we came to the coast. A quick lunch stop at hermosa Beach, and we charged back northwards (the wind had turned so it was still ahead) to the Ballona Creek bike path, where we finally were permitted a tailwind for the last few miles home.
Here are a few scenics of the river, the harbor area, and the beach...photos of the crew (and many more photos of the route; practically everyone had a camera) should show up on the group's Flickr page soon.
I should have brought more food, and put my wind shell on sooner, as the cold affected me a bit, but a great ride nevertheless.
