Bicycle Diaries the 3rd - The Flats and The Stars

It was a weekend all about flat tires and Hollywood stars.

On this past Saturday, I leaded a ride with Pedro and Eric. It was the day before the conclusion of the Amgen 2008 Tour de California, a professional cycling competition, which ended at the Rose Bowl on Sunday.

About 10 riders showed up. The weather was nice and we finally got a break from the raining Oscar weekend. One of our riders, Leo, had 3 flats! We were not exactly sure what went wrong, it must be something to do with the wheel or spokes. He decided to take the bus after we stopped at Sierra Madre.

The route for the day was a revamp from previous rides. We took Huntington Drive instead of Longden Ave., to avoid most of the stop signs (according to ALC’s safety rules, and the California traffic laws, we have to stop at every stop signs, just like any other moving vehicles on the road). On the way back, instead of using the popular-steady incline Sierra Madre Blvd., we used the less traffic yet with nice rolling hills’ Grandview Ave. I received great feedback from the group, so most likely we’ll stay on this route for the future rides.

I added more hills for this ride by bringing the group going up New York Drive, Altadena Drive and Lake Ave., it was hard but doable, most of us enjoyed the hill climbing part.

The sky turned into dark before we were able to do the last part of the ride – a home tour to the nice Linda Vista neighborhood. We decided to go back to the Rose Bowl after finishing a 42 miles ride.

Then I noticed my rear left tire had a flat! I was worried for few seconds because I had no idea how to change a car tire. Luckily, our man of the day – Pedro volunteer to show his talent. In less than 15 minutes, he helped me put on the spare tire and I drove slowly to Costco to have my tire fixed.

I didn’t ride on Sunday. Not because of the Tour de California closing ceremony, but because of the Oscar! This year we were lucky enough to get the credentials to cover the actual event. My co-workers Nicole and Peter were at the red carpet while I was put at the press interview room where all the winners answered media questions while holding their golden statute.

This was my second time wearing a rented tuxedo, sitting at the press room with 200 other reporters from all over the world. The first time was 4 years ago when Lord of the Ring became the big winners. It was really interesting to see what’s behind the scene and meet all those A-list stars and directors and producers and writers up close and personal.

So that was my exciting weekend with flats and stars. Hope yours went well and have a great week ahead.

Bicycle Diaries the 3rd - Pros? Maybe Not

I may be good, but not THAT good.

Some of you saw the Amgen’s 2008 Tour de California and thought I was one of the cyclists. I wish I was! That in fact is a professional cycling competition, me however, is just an amateur bike rider.

Other than 4 spinning classes, I didn’t ride my bike this week because I was at a translation workshop on Saturday. I was supposed to ride from Arcadia to Claremont on Sunday but I overslept! Guess I will have to make it up the following week. On this coming Saturday, I will lead another ride from the Rose Bowl, a 45-mile mostly flat plus some rolling hills route. We’ll go up New York Drive and Altadena Drive, very good training. Hope you can join us.

Speaking of the Amgen’s Tour de California, it will end in Pasadena this Sunday. There will be festivity and ceremony at the Rose Bowl, for more information www.amgentourofcalifornia.com.

Bicycle Diaries the 3rd - Year of RAT-to-do-it Saddlebration

20 riders, 40 miles, 80 degrees. Our Year of RAT-to-do-it Saddlebration was a huge success!

After some raining weekends, the weather on this past Saturday was in fact, hot! With the help from co-trl Eric and Pedro, we leaded another training ride from the Rose Bowl to the San Gabriel Mission. This scenic tour brought us to some of the beautiful cities in the SGV, such as Pasadena, South Pasadena, San Marino, Arcadia, Monrovia, Duarte, Temple City, San Gabriel and Alhambra.

We had one of the biggest turn out, 20 riders in total. Some of them were on their first training ride, some of them traveled all the way from Hermosa Beach, some of them are returning riders. One of our riders, Miguel, had a few flats within 2 miles from the Rose Bowl, it was not his day. Regardless of each and everyone’s background, we all enjoyed the sunny southern California weather (and the bagels!).

Because it was the Chinese New Year weekend, I named the ride Year of RAT-to-do-it Saddlebration, and brought some New Year candies and almond cookies to share with all the riders. The food was not “too” attractive at the beginning, but by the end of the 40-mile ride, everything looks and tastes good, all of them were gone!

I did 3 spinning classes during the week and hope to get back to my yoga class soon.

The fundraising has been going slow-n-steady, I passed the $1K mark this week, thanks to all the donors. I’m still $7K away from reaching my goal, I need your help. Please share this email with all your friends and family. Together we can make a difference.

Bicycle Diaries The 3rd - Year of Mouse-Milestone

Dragon is 2 years old. We’ve ridden over 6000 miles!!! Yehhhhh~ So, how far is 6000 miles? That’s like from LA-New York City-back-2-LA plus LA-San Diego-back-2-LA and still have some extra miles left.

Although the weekend weather wasn’t perfect, I was able to do a 33-mile ride on Saturday with my buddies Suzann and Khoa. We met at the Marina in Long Beach and traveled along PCH all the way to Huntington Beach.

It was a mostly flat road but had very busy traffic, high speed cars and trucks, surfers and beach goers. Interestingly, both the Long Beach and Huntington Beach sides look familiar to me, I later found out, I have been to those areas. When we did the San Gabriel River bike trail, it ends at the border of Long Beach/Seal Beach; on another training ride, we did a Santa Ana River bike trail ride, and that ends in Huntington Beach.

Another fun part of this ride was at one of the traffic lights, a car stopped next to us. It has a huge dog in it that looks like the Hollywood star “Beethoven.” He was funny enough to pose for a picture!
















Didn’t ride on Sunday due to the rain. Instead I went to the temple (Dharma Seal Temple in Rosemead) and they’re just beginning their annual eight-day long New Year dharma function.



Speaking of Chinese New Year, the Year of Mouse/Rat is just around the corner. I will be leading a Year of RAT-to-do it Saddlebration Ride on this coming Saturday (Feb. 9th) from the Rose Bowl to Arcadia then to the San Gabriel Mission. 40 miles total, let me know if you’re interested in joining us.

If riding wasn’t your cup of tea but still want to enjoy some New Year fun, you can go to Chinatown or Monterey Park for their wonderful programs. In Chinatown, there will be Golden Dragon Parade on Saturday and Firecracker Run on Sunday, plus New Year Festival on both days. For more information, check out their websites www.lachinesechamber.org or www.chinatownla.com. On the other hand, there will be Floral Street Fair in Monterey Park on both the 9th and 10th. Their website is www.floralstreetfair.org