Turnbull Fire Report Follow Up

A couple of pictures of the fire affected area. I rode up today after it was really too hot to do so. There is debris in the road: rocks and sand. The burn area begins about one mile from the top on the Whittier side.



There were several large birds of prey circling on the up-hill-side.



This was the third day and the lowest mileage that Jeff and I rode together. Today was about 14 miles; Saturday was 40 miles round-trip up the San Gabriel River; Monday was 33 miles, we went south on SGRT. I know, 87 miles is nothing for some of the readers of this blog. But I had fun and feel like I put in some effort.

A quick Wednesday trip accross the border

On Wednesday, I took a quick trip to Tijuana's Colonia Las Palmas to visit some friends who were visiting from Boston: Jeff, Tara, Zack, and Ezra. This is their second year to visit this neighborhood and work for a week at this school. They take their kids and enjoy developing friendships with the people who live and work in the neighborhood. They have an organization that is seeking to serve people in a variety of places called Six Seeds.

Last Tuesday there was a fire

Even from our house there was no smoke or fire visible, anyone near Whittier could see the smoke billowing over the hill. Cindi noticed that the helicoptors were rotating through Leg Lake, so we decided to go take a look for ourselves.



There were 5 of them, taking turns dipping into the lake and filling up through their straw.



And flying back over to the fire that was actually in Hacienda Heights.

Here I am again at last

Uncle Glen was over this afternoon and worked on my computer and now I hope to be able
not only to make comments but to enter a blog. For me it isn't hard to get off base. I also
downloaded a bunch of stuff that Glen said I needed. We'll see how it helps.

Has anybody been to Wrightwood?

I've been there twice now. Did you know Mile High Pizza doesn't open until 4pm on weekdays? They'll get no business from me! The Mini-Mart has the best deal on soft drinks--a 44-oz Coke for only $1.29 + tax! (I think their bananas go for 29 cents.) Or did you know that the local bike rider could down 5 ClifBars and 2 tacos, and still be hungry for a McD's meal before dinner? Or that he could down an apple fritter, a cake donut, a pastry, and an oatmeal cookie on top of several ClifBars in a day besides breakfast and (very large) dinner? Now you do.

My first route to Wrightwood (July 31), where I used nearly all of the highway, is 91 miles one way. (Dad picked me up at La Cañada Flintridge on the way back.) The route I took the second time (Aug 13), which took me up hwy 39 (San Gabriel Canyon Rd) to Angeles Crest, was only about 65 mi each way.

A man posted about his own ride on hwy 2, from Glendale to Wrightwood.

Cycling Free Post

What? No posts about Russell Martin yet? Two home runs, how about that! And, he is such a nice fellow.

Anyone see Beckham bend it last night?

Desert Scrappin' Camp

[Caution: This post contains nothing related to cycling or doping.]

I am in the desert at someone's desert villa for a few days of scrapbooking with friends. We watch back-to-back DVDs, scrapbook, snack, and swim. Oh, and sleep. We get a lot done with our photos, catch up on friendship, and unwind. It was 110 degrees today. Tonight, we will float in the pool and watch the meteor shower, predicted to be quite the night sky event. A shooting star a minute at the main part of the event...sometime between 11:00 and dawn. I may miss that.

Cycling in Washington State

My favorite childhood memories are from Fairhaven. My grandfather's Drug Store, the town library, my grandparent's house, the local parks, and visiting my cousins. I use that town's web site as my default page for my browser. The town hosted part of a cycling event and here is the link to the picture and description.
http://www.fairhaven.com/

RIP

From a happier time.



There must be a brighter day coming:

"All the agony that threatened to destroy my life now seems like the fertile ground for greater trust, stronger hope, and deeper love."

--Henri J.M. Nouwen

Lance's team has disbanded amid doping concerns in cycling.

Softball Girl

If you ask her she is the number one player on her team. Thought you would enjoy.

Trek Bicycles and Guy Kawasaki

Guy Kawasaki has a cool story [blog post] about the Trek Bicycle plant in Wisconsin. I think it is worth reading if you are interested in the bicycle building business or bicycling. Mr. Kawasaki routinely blogs about business at How to Change the World: A Practical Blog for Impractical People.

Can someone explain how to use the Trackback URL feature that so many blogs, including our own, have? This is the trackback URL of Guy's post: http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/632555/20707644

Flatland the Film

Did anyone watch the Flatland film? Or are you too afraid of seeing past your limited dimensional world?

I think it is still at grandma Doris' house. Don't lose it.

It's kind of funny how the pitcher who gave up Barry Bond's record-tying 755th homerun tested positive for steroids in 2005.

Baseball's starting to look a lot like cycling.

Van on Bridge

Here is the link to the story about the van on the bridge. Turns out is was a man who was having his second brush with death.
<http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/08/03/bridge.collapse.paraplegic/index.html>

Kyle and Steve react

When Kyle and Steve were watching
the news this image made us both react.
That is a blue handicap van with it's
ramp down sitting on the collapsed bridge.
I can imagine how the individual in that
van felt and is dealing with that experience.

I'd Be a Dope to Not Take Drugs This Week

The physician's assistant prescribed some drugs for me to help me with my condition. I guess I may not qualify for next year's tour?

I was asked to house sit for two weeks -- on very short notice -- for some people I don't really know very well. Among other minor household chores, I am responsible for feeding/watering three animals.

Digger the gecko eats 4-5 meal worms every other day, but otherwise isn't that exciting to be around. He's kind of lethargic.



Squaker the... er... noisy bird of some sort doesn't sit still very long, and according to owner Mrs. Barneson has out-lived his/her own life expectancy in years by more than double. I'm supposed to dump out his/her food in which he/she sleeps and poops, every few days or so and replace it.



And of course, there's my new best friend in the whole world, Chelsea the Golden Retriever! She takes a drug cocktail twice a day that I give to her when she thinks she's eating a normal hot dog, but really she's eating pills hidden inside.



Chelsea was named for the daughter of former president Bill Clinton more than a decade ago, and thus, she is a bit long in the tooth.