Christmas Ride Report

Our Christmas Century was most epic!  We started out with our new Panniers in Glendale and ended up in Newport Beach.  Through the city, we enjoyed riding the bike lanes on Verdugo, Colorado, Eagle Rock, and York Blvd.

1) water stop at Jack-in-the-Box on York Blvd. (7 miles)

Through South Pasadena (Monterey Rd), Alhambra (Chapel Ave), and Rosemead (Hellman Ave) we rode along broad residential streets. We climbed an overpass to cross the I-10 on Jackson Ave and followed fellow cyclists along Garvey Ave to enter the Rio Hondo Bike Path.

2) water stop at 7-11 on Hellman and San Gabriel Blvd (15 miles)

We went under the 60 freeway and crossed the 19 (Rosemead Blvd) where a guy was selling flowers and candied apples. Rio Hondo was super-scenic and colorful with leaves and a variety of plants at this time of year.  From there it was easy to follow the signs for the San Gabriel River Trail.  There were plenty of parks to stop and use the facilities and refill our water bottles.

3) water stop at Santa Fe Springs Park (27 miles) **restrooms closed until after New Year's Day!

We met a fellow cyclist who was a total inspiration.  He had lost possibly more than 100 pounds after being bit by a mosquito and experiencing a year of paralysis.  He told himself that if he ever became mobile again he would change his lifestyle.  And we saw him that day riding from Pico Rivera to Seal Beach and back in one day.  Way to go!

4) lunch at Liberty Park (33 miles)

When we got to the terminus of the San Gabriel River trail at Seal Beach we took a few minutes to eat and take photos.

5) water stop at Alamitos Bay (42 miles)

One of my favorite parts of the route was crossing through the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve.  We were definitely saddle sore at this point and all the biodiversity really cheered us onward.  There were also plenty of restrooms and water fountains along this part of the route.

6) water stop at PCH and Goldenwest (50 miles)

I loved the Huntington Beach portion of the ride, especially the dog-beach.  It was super fun to see all the dogs frolicking in the waves while we were suffering through the last decade of miles.  I definitely got to use all kinds of layers.  I was rocking the UCR cycling kit (Champion System), which I call the Cadillac of chamois and dear husband was sporting the Sugoi.  We both had bib-style shorts and tight-fitting jerseys.  I also had Pearl Izumi long-sleeved outerwear which came in mighty handy as the ocean breeze picked up and the sun began to set.

7) arrival in Newport Beach (54 miles)

I was feeling really beat-down just before I saw the sign welcoming us to Newport Beach.  Luckily I was traveling with a native (dear husband) and he knew a shortcut to get to our hotel (North Bayside Drive and Back Bay Drive).  It was really fun seeing all the fishermen and riding over a bridge to avoid the big climb at the intersection of the PCH and Jamboree.  We checked into the Hyatt Regency and got a room with a sliding glass door so we could roll our bikes up and into our room.  We stayed two nights and had a great walk around Balboa Island on Christmas day for some cross-training.  We made it a priority to book a hotel with a jacuzzi which we used at the turnaround point for our trip, soaking with massaging jets for 20 minutes.  I also did a cold-treatment by standing in the pool for 15 minutes, followed by a return to the hot tub without jets on for 10 minutes.

We packed plenty of nutrition for our trip.  Sliced apples, oranges and pears were our fresh fruit for hydration, sugars and electrolytes.  We used Quaker oatmeal bars (chocolate chip) and Gu shots.  Clif shot bloks and PowerBar performance energy bars, Hammer gels, and Jelly Belly Sport Beans.  Pretty much anything and everything to get us through the ride.  On the way there we also had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, which we didn't have on the way back...

8) water stop at Huntington Surf & Sport / Mobil gas station (72 miles)

We rode along PCH rather than close to the water to get home faster.  It was weird that there were very few pedestrian crosswalks, but it was pretty to see the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve from the inland side rather than the ocean side.  I bought a Huntington Beach sticker at the Surf & Sport.

9) snack stop at Out*Spoke*N (74 miles)

We stopped at a bike shop to get some Gu.  It was a good place to have a chat with other cyclists but we were on the move and didn't stay long.  I'm sure if we had timed it better we could have spent more time here and less time at the gas station.  It was kind of hilarous though to stop at a gas station and not fill up our gas tanks, just breeze on through fueled by carbohydrates and water!

10) water stop at Liberty Park (84 miles)

Some of the ride I was sans-jersey and styling my sports bra and bibs.  It was cool and refreshing.  There was a bit of wind on the ride home, a hot dry wind that left us encrusted with salt.  Interestingly, we didn't have any electrolyte beverage, but I think that's why the sports chews and bars were so important.  We tried to eat every 45 minutes.  Also tried to drink every 15 minutes, but it was probably more like 20.  I wish my Garmin watch would beep when it was time to eat or drink.  At least it keeps track of pace and time (and date).  I only wore sunscreen on my face and I ended up with a gnarly cyclist's shorts tan and a farmer tan on my upper arms.

11) lunch at Wilderness Park (90 miles)

This stop was idyllic with crane, swans, pelicans, ducks and a cute puppy frolicking among the families enjoying the outdoors there.  The restrooms and drinking fountains were welcoming features of the park.  I never knew much about Downey, CA but now I can say that I've been there.  We also never knew there were so many horses along the way.  It was interesting to be riding along in a turn-of-the century mobile (a bicycle) flanked by 1800's style transportation (men on horseback) and modern day machines (cars stuck in traffic on the 605 freeway).

12) water stop at 7-11 on Hellman and San Gabriel Blvd (103 miles)

By the time we hit the 7-11 again, all the fight had been knocked out of us.  We could bearly make complete sentences, let alone argue about whether or not a video should be recorded.  At Huntington Dr and N Atlantic Blvd we had a brief stop to put on our lights since the sun was setting and we had to hustle the remainder of the journey in the growing darkness.  Each half of the trip burned 6000 calories and took us about 7 hours.  Shoutouts to Dan Slater and the Riverside Bicycle Club for giving us the knowledge and confidence to undertake this epic Christmas ride.

When we got home, we ate the last of our carb loading meal.  It was great to have a home-cooked Christmas.  We also got a free dessert at the restaraunt Shor consisting of a pumpkin crème brûlée and two sugar cookies.  Guilt free!

blurred lines

When I go crazy, it's because I've lost perspective.  Things are going great, my dear husband and I are running in parallel lines.  We've been exercising together (not in series, or on a tandem) but parallel.  Also we've been riding the train and I just love the image of two rails extending indefinitely parallel.

Just because my husband is an electrical journeyman, I'll throw in the idea of resistance.  When two resistors (people who procrastinate) are in series, their resistance sums together.  When instead two resistors are in parallel, the resistance is a product divided by the sum.  For two resistors of R = 5, the series resistance is 10 while parallel decreases by a factor of 4 to R =2.5.  Surely this is why we are getting our house in order.

I've been thinking about divine shapes lately.  What is DNA other than two parallel phosphate backbones?  Amazing to recall my college humanities class and I remember talking a lot about the divine (perfect) circle.  Also been thinking about the triangle, without which I could not have won a set of Blocks & Marbles (thanks Grandpa).  It's trinity, symmetry and stability fascinate me!

I had a particularly great time recently constructing the unit cells and teaching students coordination number, packing efficiency, and radius ratio.  Without Pythagorean's theorem and the equation for the volume of a sphere, we wouldn't have been able to calculate our way out of a cube!


Before the semester started, I drew a Zinnia using the Fibonacci sequence and it made me happy.  Some idea that flowers cause a dopamine release was stuck in my head but it turns out that study was funded by the floral industry.  I miss my garden.  It's pretty grim looking at the moment, but these winter rains are starting to bring out the early spring greenery.  The wildflower box is already perking back up.  I haven't tended it since school started.

So, yeah, we've been taking the train this semester.  It's been a good change of pace.  I downloaded a bunch of 20 minute guided meditations for my mp3 player and listen to them on the way to school or on the way home.  It's a good way to avoid the rush-rush feeling that goes with commuting by automobile and taking advantage of the ability to close my eyes and focus on breathing.  Deeply.

Also had a great time frosting winter cookies.  Baked the Moravian Spice Cookies on Thanksgiving and frosted them with Royal Icing with the members of the Chem Club.  It was hexagon-tastic!

Thanksgiving Ride Report

This Thanksgiving was like none other!  We rode over the river and through the woods with dinner on our bike rack.  We prepared fruits and veggies from the garden using a Swiss Army Knife and a Microwave.  Regardless of the warnings about free radicals generated when heating plastic, we steamed the vegetables in Ziploc bags and added the butter after.  We had Eggplant steaks, Parslied potatoes & carrots with sliced garlic, Swiss chard with mushrooms, Spiced baked squash, Sweet onion and whole garlic cloves, and Snitzbrot.  We used only the finest paper plates and plastic cutlery.  We drank tap water with gusto.

It was really amazing because we stayed at the Doubletree on the 10th floor and from our hotel we could look at downtown LA and just barely see Griffith park.  It was daunting to consider the ride home because the day after Thanksgiving we got rained on nearly the entire ride home.  It was super fun riding by the Beverly Center and through Beverly Hills.  Also Fountain Ave bike route was extremely enjoyable.  Loved the Ballona Creek Bicycle Path and the bike lane along Venice Blvd.  It was thanks to CicLAvia that we felt comfortable riding through various parts of LA and for the first time I started to feel like "this is my city."