Bicycle Diaries II - Back-2-Back Bagel Rides

It was bagel weekend!

The 45-mile ride start from Griffith Park on Saturday was great, we climbed two big hills, the first one was La Tuna Canyon in Sunland all the way to Montrose; the second one was Lida in Pasadena.

After a brief lunch stop at Goldstein’s Bagel in Montrose, we headed to Pasadena area. Due to some confusion on the route slip, I was all by myself and lost in somewhere around Burbank/Glendale. Luckily memory from previous training rides helped bring me back to the route that we were supposed to be, and make it back to Griffith Park in one piece, except with a 4 extra miles that make my ride close to a half-century mark.

Sunday’s ride started at the aquatic center near the Rose Bowl. It was my first ride as a training ride leader (TRL), together with Virginia, Katie and Brian from the Different Spokes group. We had about 20 riders show up, some are newbie, which reminded me of myself a year ago.

I started training for ALC 5 in February 2006, learning all the very basic skills. A year later, not only that I’ve ridden more than 3400 miles, but I’m training for ALC 6 and has become a TRL. One of the reasons that I wanted to be part of the TRL team is to help other new riders like I was helped before, prepare them for the big event in June, and most importantly get to know more people.

This ride stopped at the Goldstein’s Bagel in Arcadia, so for the first time in my life, I had back-to-back bagel brunch! (Should I charge them for advertising fee?) Due to the fact that I had to be at the next appointment by 1pm, I had to rush back to the Rose Bowl and wasn’t able to spend more time with the newbie, or I should call them the new friends that I met. Hopefully in the near future we’ll meet again in other training rides and will share my experiences with everyone who is so excited about this wonderful ride.

New TRL on the road...

Veteran TRL leading the pack...









flying on the beautiful Huntington Drive...









Hurry up, I smell bagels...









Wait for me, don't eat all the bagels...













I have both hands for the bagels...









If you were driving, better watch out for those hungry riders...








Happy faces after bagel break...










She's the one who planned on this bagel ride. Go Virginia!






(Photos courtesy of Brian Frobisher who followed us, and make us feel like superstars that were chased by paparazzi…j/k)