Tag: ride

and now… the Absolute Beginning

Today I started doing something about something, and soon I was doing lots of somethings.

Four months ago I was in my best biking shape ever. I did the AIDS/LifeCycle ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles, and (except for the the first rainy and freezing day, when I stopped early) I had no problem riding all day for a week. Even the hills we were warned would be challenging weren’t a problem. I felt great!

…until the day after I got back and COVID kicked in. I’ve had no permanent issues from it (that I know of), but it meant I went from a week of focused exercise to ten days of nearly not moving while I isolated and recovered. Since then, the world has been full of a range of inconveniences (including but not limited to: waiting for bike parts, Katherine’s health, heat waves, visitors, and going back to school) that have kept me from getting back into a regular routine. It all culminated with yesterday, a day when I did nothing physical and ate way too much tasty stuff.

Cut to yesterday, when a certain weirdo billionaire took over a certain short-form social media company and I decided that was a sign I should quit Twitter.

Completely unedited.

Then I thought that it would be a good idea to also quit the other social media company run by a weirdo billionaire and decided to leave Facebook as well.

Look how sad he was when I left.

Then I thought it would be a good moment to do a full reset and consider today a new start. So, today is officially Reset: Day One. I went for a nice ride that was comfortably within my current ability and ate a tiny bit better. The plan: keep doing that. Not pushing to do double century rides and eating only superfoods; just riding and eating reasonably.

Let’s see how it goes!

The Mystery of Mooncrest Drive

My main biking goal right now is to get ready for AIDS/LifeCycle, but I’m trying whenever possible to work in my “ride every street in the San Fernando Valley” project. I’m not quite two-thirds of the way done.

64.54%. Not bad, right? Looks pretty full.
The “untraveled” map tells the real story.

I’ve done nearly all of the flat areas that are close to home, so now I’m starting to get deeper into the twisty little streets in the hills. Sometimes that means I find weird stuff usually hidden from the hoi polloi who crawl around the floor of the valley. Yesterday’s discovery was Mooncrest Drive, where the Fancy Lads are unhappy to have their lives interrupted for the entertainment of the masses.

“These signs will stop them!”

I can’t figure out exactly what triggered these people so much that they’d go to the trouble of getting signs made, but I did find a couple of clues. The first was this article from last year that isn’t specifically about Mooncrest Drive, but features a 2020 picture of the street with the “FILMING NOT WELCOME” signs visible in the background.

“See? The signs are almost working!”

The problem is that it doesn’t say what production was filming, so that wasn’t much help.

Then I found this page on a Twin Peaks blog. I thought that might have been the source of the complaint, but Twin Peaks filmed four years earlier and the signs look newer. And the scene was so short that it would have wrapped before the neighbors had a chance to organize. Also, it was used for a nondescript scene featuring a very minor character, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a one day second unit shoot.

Everyone still talks about the scene where the nurse leaves the secretary’s house.

The only other thing I found was that Norman Lear used to live on Mooncrest Drive, but I have no idea if it was even this section of the street.

Brian could figure this out.

A couple of unrelated pictures!

Disney loves to find off model versions of their characters on a beat up truck selling “soft serve ream.”

Now, Donate!

The Los Angeles LGBT Center and San Francisco AIDS Foundation do great work helping people live healthy, safe lives. Go to my AIDS/LifeCycle sponsor page and make a donation. Anything you can give helps! Thanks!

100!

100 days. A little over three months. It’s going to be bonkers. I’m going to have fun, but I’m also freaking out a bit. Well, maybe more than a bit. You help me freak out less by sponsoring my ride. And a ton of employers will match your donations, so you get to pay once but give twice- neat!

When I make these goofy little videos, I always spend way too much time looking for little bits of related audio & video. Sometimes I get lucky and find something like Mark Ronson’s “The Bike Song.” I fun and appropriate song I’ll actually listen to.

Sometimes I’ll find songs that I like but aren’t quite right for the video, like this Del Vikings song that’s about a flat tire, but not the right kind of flat tire.

Or this great 8 bit version of bicycle race that I couldn’t find a place for:

Sometimes I find clips of movies I can’t believe I once thought were funny.

Casual racism AND forced alcohol poisoning? HILARIOUS.

And sometimes I find… this.

Honestly, his videos have higher production quality than mine.

Now sponsor my ride and save some lives!

Out to CSUN

Bring me all the streets

While I’m training for AIDS/LifeCycle, I’m also still working on my “ride every street in the San Fernando Valley” project. Just like national COVID vaccinations, I’m currently around 60% done. Also just like national COVID vaccinations, the rate of completion has plateaued.

Guess which corner of the Valley I live it.

I’ve pretty well saturated all the available roads near where I live, so I end up riding ten miles in one direction just to get to where I’m picking up new streets. “But Luke,” you say, “why don’t you just drive your bike to the other side of the Valley so you don’t have to ride 20 miles to pick up another five?”

Good point.

I just feel a little silly going through all the hassle of loading my bike on the car so I can tool around random neighborhoods. I mean, I’ve done it, but it feels like it defeats the purpose of riding a bike.

I don’t know what I like, but I know art

My quest to cover all of the roads sometimes leads me to odd places. Yesterday’s ride to the North end of Tampa included a surprise visit to the CSUN Art department. No one was there, but there’s some outdoor artwork.

Also, a rubber chicken.

Life and Taxes

Now it’s time for you to save lives. Don’t worry, it’s easy. Donate to sponsor my AIDS/LifeCycle ride and give people with HIV/AIDS the health services they need to survive. You also get a tax deduction for helping. BONUS: your employer might match your donation. When you donate you’ll get information about how that works.

Thank you for being awesome and donating. You rock like a hurricane.

Not Particularly Little

HAM! FIRE! AND MORE on a fun ride through Little Tujunga.

Sponsor Me!

Your donation goes to the Los Angeles LGBT Center and the San Francisco AIDS Foundations, two groups that help people living with HIV/AIDS. Do good! Donate!

Secret Road!

Okay, it’s not exactly a secret, but Little Tujunga is a rare thing in Los Angeles: A long scenic road through Angeles National Forest with very little traffic, but not so isolated that you’d never get help if you had an accident. I spent 99 percent of the time on the road with no one around, and I could hear cars coming from a mile away. That’s not just a cliché; it was so quiet that a distant engine was totally audible. Well worth the ride!

Dancing Hams

I like stupid puns and wordplay. A few years ago I realized “Hansen Dam” sounds a lot like “Dancin’ Ham,” and I decided that there should be a store that sells them. And when I was looking for a spokesperson, Danson/Dancin’ was the obvious choice. The fact that people who overact are called hams didn’t even occur to me until I was in the middle of making the ad.

A man, a ham, a dam: Panama

Forest, Fire

Angeles National Forest is the first National Forest in California. It’s about 700,000 acres. It’s so famous for burning that its Wikipedia page has wildfires listed ahead of the local flora and fauna. The Station Fire in 2009 burned for over a month!

A typical day in the forest.

Wildlife, gone away station

If you look behind me when I talk about laughing like Seth Rogen you’ll see some containers and a dumpster across the street. That’s the back of what’s left of the Wildlife Waystation. It used to be a home for wild and exotic animals.

Sort of like a less murdery Tiger King

They ran out of money a couple of years ago and the animals were transferred to other locations.

Happy Trails

I wasn’t actually thinking of John Denver and Miss Piggy when I sang “Happy Trails,” but I knew the Van Halen version would get me a copyright strike.

Bom ba dee da, bom ba dee da, bom ba dee da dee da dee da

Roy Rogers, the guy best known for the song, used to live in Chatsworth in the San Fernando Valley.

This is the version of the song I usually think of.

Then he moved to Apple Valley in San Bernardino.

I’m sure he never sang this song.

Sponsor Me!

I’m just over $500 in donations. I’d like that to crack $1000 in the next two weeks. You can make that happen! Donate today!

Luke has an ignored web site!

Hey! Let’s wake this thing up!

In the nearly two years since I last posted:

  • I have gained 20 pounds and
  • I have ridden my bike a lot less.

But I rode today! 20-some miles on my fairly standard, easily expanded or contracted route:

ride map

Also: this blog no longer has an accurate title. I now have a nearly ready second bike: a 2004 Surly Long Haul Trucker that clearly had been loved, then stolen, then abused and abandoned. After a fruitless search for the owner, I decided to break it down, repaint it, and rebuild it.

The frame in progress:

I couldn’t decide if I wanted it to be yellow or orange, so I split the difference.

This weekend I’m (hoping) I’ll get it put together.