One has to be a lowbrow, a bit of a murderer, to be a politician, ready
and willing to see people sacrificed, slaughtered, for the sake of an
idea, whether a good one or a bad one. -Henry Miller, writer (26 Dec
1891-1980)
Fabulous, fabulous ride today so thank you for your more than amiable
company! I look forward to many more rides with you, in the not too, too
distant future.
Ayn, our eldest daughter, lives on Woodman Avenue.
You will need to call her number to gain access to the
building. Her apartment is on the 2nd floor so take the elevator and
then walk around the courtyard balcony, on the
left side after leaving elevator, right to the end. Her apartment is in
the corner, past the stairs. There is a wreath on her door. As I
mentioned, we will be having dinner anytime after 6:00 pm onward so
please drop by whenever it is convenient, given
your schedule.
Below, I have included the links for three rides. The first is the day
we met, the second is yesterday's ride to Simi Valley and the least is
our ride today. By clicking on the link or pasting it into a browser you
can follow the route. I find this feature
particularly interesting when riding in places new to me. Have also
included the description I make for my daily diary, although I haven't
had time, [Too busy riding and socializing!], to compose the record of
the last two rides! Looking forward to seeing
you later. Cheers, Patrizzio! Ride 1, Saturday, December 24th!:
Up at 6:30 am,
having slept straight through the night. We left the curtains to our
cell-like alcove open so that the minuscule space Ms Tinsel has us
wedged into, forced to inhabit by imperious decree, remained
a perfect temperature for sleep! I digitated away until The Sisterhood was
up and about and after Ayn treated us to another of her simply divine scrambled
egg/fried sausage and pepper topped taco breakfasts, Chloë and I took off for Big Lots
for the final bit of stocking stuffer
shopping. Found exactly what we were looking for so
after the very successful outing we headed back home. Once there, I immediately suited up and was on the road by 12:30 pm.
What a glorious
day! Sun was shining brightly so I really needed
my shades! Wind was fairly strong, (21 kph out of the north), but I was in no real hurry as I simply
wanted a "stretch" ride for tomorrow's assault on Santa Susannah Pass Road. This being the
case I wheeled along, enjoying the day and the quiet bikeway. Few pedestrians, more
cyclists, in fact. At any rate, just after crossing Mason Ave I was passed by a chap and noticed, in
the same instant, some flashing lights, about a block ahead,
on Victory, the blvd which the bikepath parallels, at this point. Became quite clear, as I
rode closer, that there
had been an accident and a number of people, police officers and
civilians were gathered around a car that jumped the curb and wide bikepath,
crashing into
the green metal fence which runs along the dedicated busyway, flattening three or four of the linked panels.
The
side of the car was a mess, crunched
completely, so I wondered
what might have happened to the driver and any passenger on that side. I
did notice a woman with a bandage over the bridge of her nose as
I inched by. I wasn't sure if I would be allowed to proceed past the damaged vehicle but nobody stopped me so I proceeded.
However, chap who had passed me earlier had elected to ride on Victory to avoid scene and then stopped
after he was past to lift
his bike over the shrubbery on the blvd to regain the bikepath. This
allowed me to catch up with him and as we rode, side by each, I mentioned that I had always
thought one was safe on the bikeway. He laughed and said he was always a tad nervous on this particular stretch as he had seen
a number of accidents here, mainly as a
result of excessive speed. I noted that I had witnessed many such examples of drivers, weaving in and out of traffic, at breakneck speeds, on the few errand runs
I'd made since arriving.
Anyway,
we continued to chat, and exchanged names. Wole, (I thought he said "Wally" when we introduced ourselves!), Williams is from Nigeria and a
behavioural therapist. Lovely, lovely man. When
I told him I'd be leaving
this coming Tuesday he said he'd be interested in riding together on
Monday, if that might work, so using a dental toothpick he found in his
wallet he "wrote" his telephone
number on an old business card from an auto dealership.
We had stopped on the corner of Canoga, by
the major bus
interchange there, and none of the people waiting there that we asked had a pen! We had a good laugh at our efforts to exchange numbers!
After
I said I'd phone him, once home. (I had simply
forgotten that I was carrying Lady
Dar's cell! Obviously,
I could have punched his number into it and we wouldn't have had to worry about our otherwise laughable efforts.),
we
said goodbye, he making for Costco for a hot
dog, and I to ride to Devonshire. Bit of a slight slog there as it is a slight uphill grade and head wind was breezy. Nevertheless, most enjoyable as the day was so glorious and chance meeting with Wole absolutely
delightful.
Soon
found myself on the last section, Brown's Creek, and no long after,
where it intersects with Devonshire. Turned around quickly and started back, more than enjoying whistling along now, the grade and
the wind on my side. Even received a few early Christmas presents as I made many of the lights, either invoked by other riders or pedestrians, or in a couple of cases by the buses
on the busway. Had to
do a kilometre or two once back on Erwin, not for distance but rather to try to push my AVG to 15 kph. Managed to do
so on the straightaway there and when I pulled
up at the front door Ayn was
just back from walking Winston so she let me in.
Map and Stats
for ride:
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1494732042#.WF_tIeiU3k8.email
Ride 2,
Sunday, December 25th!
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1495910691#.WGEzvHcQFYg.email
Ride 3,
Map and Stats for ride:
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1497074653#.WGGUqg3eNpE.email
Map and Stats for ride:
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1497074653#.WGGUqg3eNpE.emai
Good friend Patricio, am in receipt of your email. Will chat later WAD Many thanks patrizio- we had a chaotic day but great fun all the same .
Sara and Heather arrive on 29th - big party on 30th for 100. Wish you
could be there! Love to all xx
Hello Simi Valley Folk! Just a very quick thank you from all of us to all of you for the phenomenal Christmas Day Bash! The shower, the food, the hootch, the scintillating company, the hot tub, the foot massages, all were beyond compare! Just waiting for Alejandro to join us after he is finished his shift to have dinner. Will send along a more complete album once back home but for now just thought I'd include a few shots of the wonderful evening, a teaser trailer of what is to come. Fondestos and Cheers, Patrizzio!
Hello Old Farts, Please excuse my lateness..I have been decked with the worst cold in a long time…I hope to be ok for Thursday. Back in the good old days, Al would set aside a day between Christmas and New Years when old students returning to P’ton for the holidays could join together for a snowshoe. That’s why we call this our Homecoming Snowshoe. It will take place on Thursday, December 29th.
We will meet at 0900 at Home Hardware north parking lot (0840 at IGA for Summerland folks). We will carpool and head for the snowflake area between Apex and Nickel Plate. And we will snowshoe, hopefully to the Three Bears. Afterward, we will decide on a place for coffee and debriefing. I was hoping to change things a bit this year and try something around Mount Eneas, via Garnet Valley, but I am not sure there is enough snow. We will save that for another week. So, if you know folks who are in town for a visit, invite them along. We’d love to meet new people. Just remind them to dress warmly! Please email me if you are planning to join us so I have an idea of numbers. Cheers Jim
Merry Xmas to you too Terry and Mary
Up at 6:30 am,
having slept straight through the night. We left the curtains to our
cell-like alcove open so that the minuscule space Ms Tinsel has us
wedged into, forced to inhabit by imperious decree, remained
a perfect temperature for sleep! I digitated away until The Sisterhood was
up and about and after Ayn treated us to another of her simply divine scrambled
egg/fried sausage and pepper topped taco breakfasts, Chloë and I took off for Big Lots
for the final bit of stocking stuffer
shopping. Found exactly what we were looking for so
after the very successful outing we headed back home. Once there, I immediately suited up and was on the road by 12:30 pm. 
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