Art by Meme: Simply amazing and very appropriate.

Hmmmm, this makes me want to build a fixed gear bike. Lets see, go to craigslist.com, scan the LA area for a good vintage road bike with horizontal drop outs... :)

Back to Business - GMR

Today I decided to ride GMR after an almost two week hiatus. I wasn't expecting much and the ride turned our to be great (Not a hammerfest, just a nice steady ride up the mountain). I met up with Annette from Glendora Mountain Road. Together we rode up to the maintenance shed. It was an easy pace where communication was steady and not forced.

On the way up was absent of other riders, just your typical speeding motorcycles and cars. Since this was my first ride in two weeks, I left the bicycle computer home. I didn't want to know my speed, cadence, nothing. I just wanted to ride.

Francesca spinning a wheel

Young Bicycle Friends

Kids in motion. Saturday we celebrated my son's second birthday. It was a family affair and the cousins were out on their bikes. Katie shed her training wheels on this day!

Welcoming Natalie into the family.

Natalie was born 5-26-09 @ 6:52 pm. She weighs in at 6lbs 2 oz and is 20 inches tall.

A Quick Ride Around the Park

Today Meme, Bryan and I rode around Bonelli Park. I was surprised to see the Park & Ride was relatively empty considering it was a holiday weekend. Usually, its packed and one must park across the way.

Richard was there and I was really surprised to see him as he's a Marshal Canyon fixture. He said he wanted to try something different. Richard and I talked a short while, he told me about his Ellsworth breaking down and how its in the shop and the replacement part is being shipped in from France. He's on a HT Specialized Hard Rock right now and lets just say its not nearly as forgiving as the Ellsworth.

This was the first time I rode with Bryan. At 6' 7", he was appropriately riding a 29'er Specialized Stumpjumper. Byran's a nice guy who lives close to Meme and is in Orthopedic Sales. Like me, Byran went to Cal Poly Pomona.

Each trail and its parts have special names. This section photographed is called Airport Hill. Its a rocky rutty section next to Bracket Airport. Its a lot of fun but one wrong move and you'll be hurting.

Here is Meme and Bryan at the bottom of Airport Hill. They made it!


Here is Meme negotiating Airport Hill. The trick is to look well ahead of the trail, spotting "safe" passages through the rocks and deep ruts. You can see Meme's "in deep thought" expression as he makes his way down. Notice how Meme is on a single Speed. I think I have him hooked.

An Early Morning Marshal Canyon Ride with Friends

Today Mark, Meme, Grace, Sarah and I rode Marshal Canyon. We staged at Oak Mesa Elementary then rode up MC to Cobol Canyon. From there we met up with Antonio, and headed down Cobol. We finished with a nice ride up Burbank. It was a great ride.

This was my first time riding with Sarah and, just like her sister Grace, she's a trooper. It turns out Sarah and I both went to Cal Poly Pomona. She majored in Landscape Architecture and currently works for City of Pomona.


Meme the Conquistador made it all the way up Marshal Canyon on his Mongoose Single Speed. This is his victory stand!

... And this is his trusted Steed!

Burbank to Cobol Canyon X2

After work I rode the Claremont Wilderness Trail up Burbank down Cobol. I did this two times. I haven't felt 100% lately and the ride wore me out. It's weird, my lungs and heart seem fine but my legs just won't get in-sync. I'm not sure were to go with this and it seems a week and a half ago, I was riding and running really strong.

The first loop was hard with zero warm up before I started riding up Burbank. It was about 5:30 pm and the winds were coming in strong from the west pushing me down as I tried to make my way up to Johnston's Pasture.

I was surprised to see there were a lot of hikers and joggers today. They kept me company while I did my loops around the trails. I was happy to see so many of them as it gave me the chance to use my bell.

On the second lap, I met up with an older gentleman who helped me forget how tired I was. I didn't get his name but he lives in Upland, works in Fontana and goes to church in Pomona. He's in the steel industry and he said business is down 75%. He said rides like this help chisel away some of that stress. As for church, he attends the First Baptist Church in Pomona off Garey Ave. and Holt Ave.

Riding is peaceful and does help chisel away some stress. One of my favorite things is to look at the mountains in all their beauty and be thankful I live close enough to ride their trails once in awhile.

Cool Bike I saw at the Sea Otter Classic

Not sure how it rides though!

Fullerton Loop - Random Pics

Mark, Rachel, Grace, Gary, Allen and I rode around Fullerton via Mountain Bike Trails. It was a nice ride with lots of street crossings. I had the opportunity to see parts of Fullerton I didn't know existed.

Fullerton Ride - Man down, Man down... er I mean, WOman down.

Last weekend Rachel decided to ride with us. We chose the Fullerton Loop of 12 miles. 6 miles in, Rachel took a pretty good spill on some erosion bars. She earned her MTB Badge with a trip to the ER, Deep Bruises and three stitches.

The Beat Down at Bonelli Park

Today I rode around Bonelli Park on my road bike. On Wednesdays, a big group of riders will meet up and ride laps around the park. The pace is fast and there is no stopping.

I was feeling pretty tired and could barely hang on the back of the pack. It didn't take long for me to be dropped. I continued riding around the park and would meet up with other small groups of riders. I'd pick up my pace and try to hang on with them for as long as I could but in the end every group would drop me.

When I finished my ride, I was wiped out, dizzy, my legs were sore and I felt sick. In fact, I still feel sick and its 9:45 pm.

GT Tequesta

This old GT Tequesta was given to me last week. It looks to be circa 1994 and comes equipped with Shimano Exage 7 speed components. Everything looks to be in working order except the front Manitou Suspension.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this one. You see its too nice of a bike to break down and convert it to a single speed. This GT Tequesta in its splashed hues of blue and unique rear triangle represents a high in GT mountain bike history. When this bike was released GT was at its dominance in the MTB market and evey kid on the block wanted a GT.

Some things I will change:

Handle Bars - Those old school bull horns are ugly and too narrow. I'm thinking Easton EA70 or some other inexpensive riser bar.

Cantilever Brakes - These gotta go and will be replaced with V-Brakes

Front Shock - Hmmm this one is tricky because replacing the shock with anything means I may have to ditch the quill stem. The stem is painted to match the bike so I'll have to think about my options.

Cables - This one is obvious

????

Bonelli Park: Spun out, A Dog Down, Meme, Mark and El Merendero

Mark , Meme and I rode around Bonelli Park today. It was fun, not too hard and we did about 2/3 of the big loop. The morning was overcast when I headed to Bonelli Park and riding SS 34 X 19 on the road was not fun. It didn't take much to run out of gear and start spinning. This was almost 85% of the trip to our meeting place. It usually takes me about 20 - 30 minutes from my house to the park and ride off Via Verde on a "geared" bike. On a SS, its about 35 - 40 minutes.

Riding through the park, I came upon a frantic woman who asked for my help. You see her three dogs were playing in the park, running up and down the hills when one of the dogs crashed into a tree or brush or something of that sorts and gave itself a very big gash. Her husband was holding the dog down and applying pressure on the open wound. The lady asked me to ride to the guard tower and get help. I did and then rode back to see if there was anything else I could do. By that time a park maintenance crew was there with their pickup. They also signaled help. The dogs owners ended up riding with the maint. crew to a vet. I hope the dog is okay but it didn't look to good.

After that fiasco, Meme and I met up with Mark and we started on our ride. We took the usual route that takes us parallel to the 10 Fwy then past the horse stables and into "Vietnam". We rode parallel Puddingstone Drive and then over to the dam. At about the dam we turned around and headed to El Merendero for lunch.

Hot 6:00 O'Clock evening ride up Glendora Mountain Road Ride

After work rode up GMR. It was hot and I only had one water bottle. I managed to make it about 30 feet before Newman's Outlook or whatever its called. At that point I was out of water so I turned back and headed to car. Note to self, bring more water on hot days!

Otra Vez - Antonio is in the house!

Today, I headed to our usual Marshal Canyon meeting point and was greeted with Meme packing up his bike!. There was a little mis-communication between us and he ended up at Oak Mesa 1 hour early. Meme rode up Marshal Canyon solo and at the time I arrived at Oak Mesa, he was finishing his ride and loading up. We talked a short while about his single speed and bike projects.

At 8:15 - 8:20 am, I started up Marshal Canyon. Although there were many riders on the trail, like Meme, I too was riding solo. One mile above Marshal Canyon Equestrian Center, I spotted Antonio. Antonio is a MC regular. We talked a short while before agreeing to ride up to Yellow Gate together. He pretty much lead the whole way up with no breaks until the top of Cobol Canyon. From there we headed down Cobol Canyon and at the Burbank intersection, I yelled Otra Vez and we decided to do another loop.

Riding up Burbank on my Single Speed was challenging but with Antonio to talk to the time past by fairly quickly. Antonio, 47, is a father of four, three girls and one boy. He works in construction and started riding two years ago when he was temporarily laid off from work. Starting out, he did a lot of street riding until a co-worker showed him Cobol Canyon. The rest was history. He's a really nice guy and I told him we'll hook up again and do a road bike ride up Glendora Mountain Road. I think he'll like the climb.

Old Bike Jersey - Radar La Vie Claire

A co-worker who knows I'm a bike nut gave me this jersey. As it turns out, its a vintage Team Jersey that Greg Lemond and Bernard Hinault wore to TDF victories! The guys at RBR were nice enough to give me some back story regarding the jersey.

"La Vie Clair," or The Clear Life. Bernard Tapie started the "La Vie Clair," in the early 1980s and was the owner of Look when its was only making ski bindings. In around 1984 Look modified their first ski binding and thus created the first Look clipless pedal. Needing a team to introduce the clipless pedal into the market, Look created Radar La Vie Clair. Both LeMond and Hinault won the Tour De France wearing this jersey.

Glendora Moutain Road

I rode GMR Thursday after work. Good ride and got to Maintenance Shed in 1 hour, 4 minutes. I started near Big Dalton and GMR.

At Maintenance Shed I met up with group from CCR in Diamond Bar.

Burbank and Cobol Canyon

Today I did something a little different. For starters, I actually drove to the trail head. Whenever I ride the local trails, I always ride there from my house. Today I wasn't feeling it, so I decided to drive to Burbank (A Trail), located at the end of Mills Road.

By 8:00 am the park and ride was packed, and I was forced to park on the side of the road. I waited a few minutes before heading off to see if anyone else would show up. No one showed up so I would have to ride the mountain alone today.

It was cloudy and cold this morning and since it was only me, I toyed with the idea of driving home, switching the mountain bike for the road bike and trying to meet up with Annette and Matt for a Glendora Mountain Road Ride. I decided to fore go the hassle of a bike swap and headed up the mountain.

I hammered up Burbank in good time and decided to drop down to Marshal Canyon. From that point, I headed back up Marshal Canyon to Yellow Gate and then down Cobol Canyon. Where Cobol Canyon and the road to Potato intersect, I thought for a second about heading up to Potato Peak. This was the original plan today, well kind of. I wanted to take my Bicycle Friends to Potato today. Since it was only me, I kept riding past the intersection and continued down Cobol Canyon.

I was feeling really good today, so when I came to the intersection of Burbank and Cobol, I decided to do another lap. This time, instead of heading down Marshal Canyon, I would stick on Johnston's Pasture and head down Cobol. The second time up Burbank, I met a guy named Robert from Sierra Madre. We talked about the trails we've been on and about his Trek 69er. The Trek 69er has a 26" wheel in the rear and a 29" wheel in the front. I gave him my website name, told him to send me an email and mentioned we should hook up for another ride.

It was a quick ride today. Ride time was about 1 hour 44 minutes. I'd like to try this ride again with my single speed.

I took these two pictures from the top of Jump Trail. To the west it was cloudy. To the east, it was clearing up and sunny. By the time I dropped down into Marshal Canyon, it was really cold. Heading up I was able to generate some heat.

Cannondale Delta V700

While working the SOC, I spotted a guy who had my first mountain bike, the Cannondale Delta V700. It was the exact size, color and model as the one I owned in 1992/1993. The V700 was my first real MT Bike and I rode it everywhere. I raced the V700 in XC and Downhill races. I rode the V700 up GMR to Mt Baldy, down the Kamikaze in Mammoth Mountain and around the many trails in Big Bear. I rode the V700 to the beach! Seeing it made me wish I still owned it.

Sea Otter - Part Five, "Calfee Bamboo Bikes"

Calfee was exhibiting at the SOC. Their draw from the crowds was their Bamboo bikes. According to Calfee, bamboo made bikes are simple, and use resources that are readily available. They had a few hand made bikes. The first one pictured was a work of art. The bamboo was fitted and bonded together perfectly and the finish was a nice deep brown. The others were crude and rough around the edges but still amazing. Calfee sells these bamboo bikes for around $2,000.00.

Sea Otter - Part Four, " A Custom Tri Bike"

This guy and girl came to our booth and I couldn't stop drooling over her bike. It was non-branded bike and it looked sharp. The component group was Dura Ace and those wheels were carbon Zipps. I asked about the bike and it turns out this guy built it. He was an Engineering Major at UC Davis and picked up bike building as a hobby. This bike weighed in at about 17 pounds. He was at the Sea Otter to support his girlfriend and to network with the various bike companies. Good luck!

My Glendora Mountain Road - A hurried ride to beat the sunset

Today when I got to work I proclaimed, I am leaving at 4:30 pm. You see, if I leave at 4:30 pm, then I can make it to GMR, given little traffic, in about 40 minutes. This puts me on GMR at 5:15 pm and suited and riding at about 5:20 pm. At 5:20 pm I have more than enough time to make it to the maintenance shed.

For the record, I never leave work at our official closing time of 4:30 pm. Today, I would be in charge of closing up shop so I wanted to make sure everyone was done with their days work, so I could leave right at closing.

Today was extremely busy! The harder I worked, the more work was thrown my way today. I thought I'd never get done but I had a purpose and a major hankering to ride. Well at about 4:15 pm, I went into our work yard to pull in some pallets and park the forklift. Well the forklift wouldn't start and I had four heavy pallets to move! Long story short, I didn't leave the office until 5:00 pm. I raced to GMR and was riding at about 5:45 pm.

The ride was just what I needed and I was hoping to run into either Annette or Matt, GMR regulars. It was a quiet ride today with very little traffic (Except for a speeding Evo Lancer that scared the Sh$T out of me as it skidded and revved down the mountain).

I pushed a little harder than usual today and made it to the first saddle before resting. It was a nice ride, and at the saddle I was torn. Do I head to the maintenance shed or turn around? It was getting a little cold so I snapped this picture and headed back down.