the banner art...

The painted work at the top of the page was done in 1997 by my mother-in-law, and Venice, California artist, Adrianne Prober. Aware that my wife and myself were passionate bicyclists, Adrianne began playing with painting bicyclists on a long piece of illustration paper. This was in preparation for making a baby shower announcement held for us upon the birth of our son. Later, we acquired this "practice piece" which I like more and more with each passing year. It is a brilliant mix of chaotic organization, what I imagine a morning on the streets of Amsterdam might look like. The painting, measuring approximately 6" high x 24" long is now framed and hangs prominently in our home.

Daily commute photo...

This is one of my favorite local views; I don't know how many versions I have taken over the years. You approach these giant double doors and pass through into a quadrangle with the large fountain at it's center. It is visually very effective, as you are drawn into and through the doorway by the dancing water of the fountain and the green trees beyond.

Weekend recap...

Well, it was a spectacular weekend around here, hope it was where you are too. Alas, I was not able to get out on two wheels as much as I would have liked, but that happens occasionally, and I did have other things to fill the time. While riding around at the Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area, I did spy with my little eyes, Port Deptford taking shape (in fact it looked like it was nearly ready). That means Renaissance Faire season is almost heare. And then some of us from work took a little field trip to the North Etiwanda Preserve (one of our projects). Everything is completed now, overlooks, interpretive panels, trail signs, etc, and even though there has been some vandalism, it looks pretty good.

A view from the trail.

Another trail view.

Blooming ceanothus.

Day Canyon and Day Creek.

Rushing around...

By now you may have noticed through these brief jottings that I despise cars, or to be more specific, what they have done, and continue to do, to human society and our communities. Among the more elevated of the detrimental effects I attribute to car culture is the rush mentality that has taken possession of the motor-bound masses. It is the automobile that has pushed the rushability envelope by making superhuman speeds accessible, increasing our impatience at the slightest inconvenience causing us to slooowwww dddoooowwwwnnn. True, my beloved bicycle predates the auto as a mode of travel designed to assist human mobility. But, the bicycle's speed is a purely human-scale speed; it's speed being relative to the strength and efficiency of the person pushing (and pulling) on the pedals. On a bicycle, the journey is the reason to go from point A to point B, and being able to experience everything that comes between. In a car, spending the least possible time getting from point A to point B is the modus operandi; nothing that happens in the journey between matters but that it makes the time pass that much quicker.

Thus it has long been standard procedure for traffic engineers and urban designers to design our transportation networks to maximize this type of mobility; the faster, the better, could be the motto. We continue to increase speeds on our streets, even where they traverse residential areas. The speed limit on one street near where I work was, just this past year, increased to 55 mph. This is a street on which large scale housing complexes front, where students walk and bike to the nearby elementary school. How pleasant it must be to live there and listen to the rushing of traffic on the street's four to eight lanes all day. We seem to live in a society where the people who complain about speeders in their own neighborhood are the very same people who don't give a second thought to speeding through someone else's. Thankfully, we may have finally reached a breaking point, the idea of livable streets and livable communities have taken root across the country and continue to spread.

Slowing cars down is good for everyone, residents, businesses, bicyclists, pedestrians. With any luck the latest three streets in Los Angeles to see their speeds increased will be the last (reaslistically though, I doubt it), and like London we can begin to see speeds decrease, and the attendant benefits of that decrease, multiply.

Sights and sounds from the bike route...

or what you don't see from the car. I have noticed this hawk on numerous occasions over the past few months, always in the same place, perched on that little ledge of concrete between the fence and drop down into the channel. I have always thought it an odd place for a hawk to perch, and at first thought it was maybe ill. On second thought, though, I suppose it probably flies into the channel for the water and then with a couple quick flaps of its wings is up on the ledge. It always has an eye out for me but otherwise seems unconcerned.

San Dimas Stage Race 2010...

Winner of the Cat 3 race

45+ g.c. jersey winners

45+ crit champions

Amgen elite masters team train charging to the line in the 35+ race; and yes that is exactly the reason those two have extra stripes on their jersey sleeves. Chris DeMarchi with the national champion stars and stripes, and Thurlow Rogers with the World's Champion rainbow stripes.

It was a great weekend for a race, and we three rode over to San Dimas to take in the third and final stage, a crit in the downtown area. We made it there to watch the 45+, 35+, and Cat. 3 races, and then the small kids race, followed by a bit of the Cat 2. It was pretty cool just to hang out again and immerse myself in all the action. I figure it has been ten years now since I last raced and have missed the camaraderie and competition.

Bicycle Culture: "The Rider"...

is a fictional account of one racer's experiences over the course of a 137 kilometer race, the Tour de Mont Aigoual. The author, noted as a cycling enthusiast (and who plays the part of the lead character) clearly knows his way around a race, and conveys the varied emotions experienced as fortunes shift and collide over the course of a long race. Mixed in with the fictional account are many historical references to some of the sports greatest riders of the past, such as De Vlaeminck, Gaul, Coppi, and Bartali.

"...the smell of balsam from other legs spatters off their spokes and into my nostrils. I slide in among the wheels, back and forth, in the continuously shifting braid of the peleton."

"I saw a rider meticulously peeling a banana with both hands on a downhill stretch at 65 kilometers an hour...riders can do anything on their bikes. Thirsty racers sometimes even discover that their bidon (waterbottle) has been stolen from the holder."

"Climbing is a rythmn, a trance; you have to rock your organs' protests back to sleep."

"...where does a winning rider get the right to revel in applause if the crowd isn't obliged to hiss at him when he fails."

"it hailed, it rained, it snowed...Anyone taking a piss was immediately bolted to the ground by a yellow parabola."

"Suffering is an art. Like the downhills, its a non-athletic art in which the great champions nevertheless outsrip all amateurs."

"Suddenly it dawns on me: this is my chance to take the final, most distinguished step in the hierarchy of road racing; from winning to letting win."

This book is a quick read, under 150 pages and with enough twists and turns to keep you attentive. This is the English version, translated from Dutch.

1978 (translated 2002) The Rider Tim Krabbe, translated by Sam Garrett

Oh, and a tip of the cycling cap to Richard over at Cycling Art Blog for the book and brew combo idea.

What a jerk...

"... with the little water bottle in the back and the stupid hats and their shiny shorts. They are the same disgusting poseurs that in the middle of a snowstorm come out with cross-country skiing on your block. RUN 'EM DOWN."

These are the words straight from the mouth of ESPN radio host Tony Kornheiser. I don't know if this was a lame attempt to promote his show, or if he was serious; he is either a self-serving jerk or a complete tool who should be immediately canned from his job. This is the same idiot recently suspended for comments made about a fellow (female) employee, and now he is inciting violence against an entire group of people. A perfect example, if there ever was one, of someone who should have his driving privileges revoked and be force to ride the streets to gain a little perspective, and maybe gain a little sense of humanity on the way. How Disney, the parent company of ESPN can continue to employ this guy is beyond me. Good to see cycling's most famous ambassador taking this one on.