I just wish it wasn't Monday. Because yesterday at the Rose Bowl was really lovely, and I'd just like to do it over a few times before Monday showed up.
Carmen and I packed up the Pogliaghi tandem, and had an uneventful trip up to the Rose Bowl...avoiding downtown and the LA Marathon. We thought there might not be many riders at the vintage ride, since the Marathon holds a bike-ride before the race... but we arrived in warm sunshine to see a nice group gathering in the parking lot opposite the aquatic center.
I've discovered that I can get nearly any tandem without fenders entirely inside my Toyota sedan, but I have to disassemble the bike somewhat to do it. Many of us use roof and trunk racks to carry bikes..but I've seen or heard of too many horrible mishaps to be comfortable doing that...if I had a pickup maybe, but I have visions of turning whatever bike I'm carrying into a pretzel, or simple unrecognizable junk, on an outside rack. So, in they go.
The Taylor tandem has to hang outside the trunk a little because of the fenders, and I don't like it one bit, but I do it.
The Pogliaghi tandem is interesting. Probably built in 1968 or 1969, s/n in the 8000s. Plenty stiff enough, but with a rather short stoker section. Sante seems to have judged the flexibility of the design and tubing and the length of the stoker section exactly right. The head-angle could be steeper, and the fork-rake longer, the bike handles fine, but not too well with no hands...as for fitting the stoker, fortunately, Carmen has a short torso, so we fit the bike well. It's a nice sporty vintage tandem, with mojo to burn. I feel very lucky to have it.
Sunday was a very pretty day here. Clouds and sun, mostly sun, mild, about 72 degrees or so at noon back in Sierra Madre, up against the San Bernardino Mountains. The Rose Bowl vintage ride has what seems like the perfect route: we climb up out of the Rose Bowl area, and then have a nice-downhill under endless shade-trees, with beautiful old-money homes on the left, and the Arroyo Seco canyon on the right. It's very scenic. And very green right now, after all the rain..After a brisk down-hill, we start a pleasant ride through Pasadena, San Marino, and Arcadia, all in a very slight down-hill, so you feel a lot stronger than you actually are! The route winds through neighborhoods full of pretty houses... San Marino is kinda like Brentwood East, an old money enclave just east of Pasadena.. The pace is moderate and there's a lot of socializing.
Then, in Arcadia, starts a very slight uphill, for about 2 miles...then a genuine climb into Sierra Madre.. all very pretty with almost no traffic. The hill is just enough to get a work-out. We crawl up it in our tandem (we just don't climb too well yet), and the stop at the Coffee Bean is welcome...we sit and gossip for an hour or so over snacks and drinks. This is in the center of Sierra Madre. Just a block away is the area where the original *invasion of the body snatchers* was filmed... if there's some greater significance there, I couldn't tell you.. Sierra Madre is mostly a bedroom community for Los Angeles, a pleasant place, nestled at the base of the mountains.
The ride out of Sierra Madre involves one long down-hill with a light right smack in the middle of it..a light we hardly ever seem to make. Sometimes we do though, and that's always fun... then a brisk ride on the edge of the Pasadena historic district, filled with old bungalows...most of which now sell for well north of 500K. California real-estate being a subject for another time..
The last third of the ride has more traffic, mostly flat and easy enough. Then the final down-hill into the Rose Bowl. There's an intersection at the bottom of that hill and it's incredibly fun to take the left turn at full speed. Yes, there is a stop-sign, but if there are no cars..well..hard to resist the urge to ignore the sign. One time we were all chewed out by a couple of cops.. for doing just that, and we deserved it...on this day, we all slowed slightly, but were able to take the turn fairly fast, which is a lot of fun.
Then Carmen and I attempted to sprint into the parking area where we began..there is usually a little sprint there. We had a slight lead at the final turn, but I managed to get us into the wrong gear (too low), and we couldn't hold 'em off...
A good time is always had by all at these rides, and if you're a CR member in SoCal, you really should try to come. It's a great route, good people, lots of socializing, and fun bikes always show up.
Charles Andrews SoCal
oh..one warning. Someone came yesterday who insisted on going off the front, and he turned too soon, and lost us. This is a ride best enjoyed as a group..and the route changes in small ways from ride to ride, so I tend to like to keep Chuck in front of me...<g>
"What concerns me is not the way things are, but rather the way people think things are."
- Epictitus