in n out
(via cuteoverload.com)
heading to seattle today to bike into the sunset with kris. we're hitting mt st helen's sat & sun, and then some local trails on monday. hooray for long weekends! the elbow's nearly all healed over, so hopefully i will not be adding more bumps, bruises, (breaks!) to my collection of injuries. see you tuesday!
don't let the monday keep you down
(via the new yorker)
+"sozzled" is my new favorite word, gleaned from a review of "superbad" in the new yorker
Sozzle
\Soz"zle\, n. 1. One who spills water or other liquids carelessly; specifically, a sluttish woman. [Local, U.S.]
2. A mass, or heap, confusedly mingled. [Prov. Eng.]
+ATTACK OF THE FASHION GREMLINS! --> like, omg, did you like, know that ashley is like, two inches taller than like, mary kate???????????????????????
grasslands / crags / upper bulldog
shiny bikes, sweaty bikers, and some rusty set pieces from the tv show m.a.s.h.
(via north ranch mtn biking club)
3146 feet climbed, 20.64 miles ridden, 4 hours of biking in 90+ degree weather.
on saturday i did a brutal/amazing joint sbmbc/north ranch ride up in agoura hills with ken, mike, jim, another jim, huck, graham, and jen. it was originally supposed to be an easy breezy 15-mile ride, more slow-cruising than soul-crushing. the group that gathered at the trailhead was pretty big, so it split into two, and jen and i chose to go with the faster half.
we set off at a good clip, flowing across rolling meadows for a mile or two, and down a few steep hills that would come back to haunt us at the very end of our 4-hour trek. somewhere in the first quarter mile i got stuck in a rut and took a silly spill at a high speed...resulting in the below hurtiness (plus a few other scrapes & bruises on my right side...nothing like the sting of iodine in the morning):
we took a left at the first fork in the trail and rode alongside a shaded rocky creek, fairly technical, a section that required careful pedal placement and no distractions. we emerged from the forest to take a break at the set of the tv show m.a.s.h., complete with rusty old cars.
from there, we rode a bit further on the fire road, passed some hikers, and then took a left to start a strenuous exposed breeze-free 4-mile uphill climb. it took us an hour. maybe two. and it only got steeper the higher we went. after several pit-stops and stalls in the middle of fairly loose technical sections, we managed to avoid heat exhaustion and reached the top of the mountain, where bulldog hooks up with some other trails.
at that intersection, you could see mountains, trails, and tiny cities for miles around, as well as the ocean, which, from our elevation (about a mile above sea level), looked just like more mountains and clouds. simply breath-taking.
we headed onward (and downward, thankfully) along a mile or two of the roller-coaster mountain ridge fire road and then hopped on a short singletrack section. this spit us back out onto the fire road and not long after that we came upon the little moab trailhead. huck & mike boldly tackled this slickrock section that ends in a intimidating steep chute made completely of boulders, while the rest of us took the paved option to a place where we, with fingers crossed and teeth clenched, could watch them descend...
someone mentioned that on a previous ride, a couple had done that chute on a tandem bike! it had to have been done on a "witness". tandem mountain bikes. simply insane.
nobody needed an emergency helicopter ride off the trail, so we continued on for some more up and down ridge riding, another short singletrack section, and then rode an extremely fast dusty fire road all the way downhill to the surface streets, taking a right to head into a campground. at this point, i had no idea where we were, so i will not be able to give you any names. sorry!
we stopped in the campground for refills on water and got on an exposed singletrack that started from a metal bridge in the middle of the campground, and it soon turned into a dusty uphill (more UP! it never ended!). finishing that section dropped us off at a parking lot (not the one we started from unfortunately), that had bathrooms. the trail then took us down a set of steps and right past malibu creek. i nearly ditched my bike and dived into the creek when i saw tourists wandering around wearing just towels and swim trunks. but no, there were still miles to go before i could crash.
by now we had circled back to the original first few miles of the trail, so we had to do the few miles of swoopy meadowland trails backwards. i'll just say that they were much faster and much more fun the first time around. the steep downhills that originally shot us forward at 40 mph had transformed into daunting long bumpy uphills that extracted every ounce of energy in your body, even with your chain on the small ring, in the wimpiest granny gear. there was never enough room between hills to gain any momentum and i was soon running on fumes. the only thing that got me back to the parking lot was the joyous thought of finally getting off my bike, popping off the shoes, and splaying out in the cool grass.
marizel & ken, our ride leaders, organized an amazing post-ride picnic and i got to meet a few more riders. super friendly & funny bunch. my legs were jelly, my brain was fried, my skin was sunburnt, and i was covered in dirt (and a bit of blood). a perfect saturday.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++directions:
405N --> 101N (west) --> exit at the Lost Hill Road, Exit 33
--> turn left from the off-ramp
--> go south about 1 mile to Juan Bautista de Anza Park, which is on the right
--> free parking lot, ample street parking, sprinklers in the playground!
about 60-mins from the South Bay
about 1/2 hour from Santa Monica
google maps
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
today's the day!
if you've ever been a teenager of either sex, you need to see this movie. hilarious cast, brilliant producer, and a hysterical script littered with raw nuggets of dialogue gold, crafted by two humble & talented writers that will have you doubled over and out-of-breath from laughing so hard.
superbad is 114 minutes of dirty juvenile comic genius. see it in theaters. with a packed house. several times. see you there!
p.s. here's a treat to kick off the weekend: How To Break Up A Cat Fight
nope, i really don't have anything better to do
meet me @ home depot on friday night
in my endless net/blog surfing, i came upon this advice column by margo howard (ann landers' daughter) that just made my day.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Can You Tell Me Where All the Hammers Are?
DEAR READERS (though being a fan of Stephen Colbert's, I want to say, "Nation"): Not long ago, I ran a letter giving a young, single woman advice I'd heard from a male friend: Go to a hardware store on a Friday night. I got tons of mail wanting an elaboration of why. I asked my pal to explain why that was a premium place to scope out single men. Here's his answer:
DEAR MARGO: There I was in the hardware store one Friday night picking up supplies for my weekend project, and I looked round wondering why I was surrounded by single guys. Then I realized: A guy is in a hardware store on a Friday night because . . .
-- he is not out on a date.
-- he likely has a house project, which implies he is stable enough to have a place.
-- he has time over the weekend to do the project because there is no woman in his life.
-- he is good with his hands because he didn't hire a repair person to do the job.
This man is a specific kind of guy who . . .
-- cares about the things in his life.
-- is good with his hands/handy.
-- is single.
The kind of guy who fits into the above categories is also the kind who wears his wedding ring. Plus, simply by looking at what the guy is holding, or which aisle he is in, the woman can figure out what his project is and make conversation accordingly.
It is important to note these guys might not clue in that this conversation is a social opportunity, so even after 15 minutes of talking, the woman may need to ask if he'd like to continue the conversation over a cup of coffee.
This expedition has the added benefit that the women don't have to dress to the nines; they can just throw on their favorite old jeans and a sweater.
--- JUST A GUY
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
it probably also means that he's not going to be out late drinking, is an early riser, and he's picking up degreaser to clean his chain with before his ride on early saturday morning. hmmmm...now i just need something to fixer-up.
chumash / rocky peak / hummingbird
(via epodunk.com)
this entire ride is in the exposed desert hills above simi valley. very little flora, very little shade. lots of rocks, sandstone, and lizards. it doesn’t sound gorgeous, but it is.
chumash trail starts at the end of flanagan drive in simi valley. start with a half hour of fairly steep steady climbing. it gets rocky in places, the higher you go, the bumpier the trail gets. we spent maybe 25% of the trail doing hike-a-bike. a little narrow and dusty, but nothing too scary.
when you get to the top/end of the 3-4 miles of chumash, turn right onto the rocky peak fire road. the fire road swoops up and down like a roller coaster, and since it’s mostly paved with grippy sandstone, you can get going pretty fast – just keep an eye out for hikers and shirtless sweaty hardcore trail runners. we even came across a biker that was scoping out the trail for his elementary school cross country team, with some kids as young as 8 or 9. west coast athletes start so young!
after a mile or so on the fire road, you’ll come across a ridge with a panoramic view of simi valley and moorpark. slow down and see if you can pick out the antibiotic (keeps out the bugs!) house built into the mountains (2 tiny white squarish blocks on the left), the rocketdyne 1959 nuclear meltdown site, and maybe a wildfire or two. if you look directly below you, down the mountain, you can see a bright green oval patch surrounded by white picket fence. some hikers informed us that this is the hummingbird ranch, where they film the reality tv show “the biggest loser”. used to be a polo field too.
2-3 miles of fast fire road later, you’ll see some green benches and signs for the hummingbird singletrack trail. if you continue on the rocky peak fire road instead of turning right onto hummingbird, you’ll end up an extra mile or so east of where you parked, so you’ll need to turn right onto the santa susana pass road. and add that road riding distance to your trek. santa susana turns into kuehner drive, then left onto los angeles ave, right onto yosemite, right back onto flanagan & your car.
if you choose the hummingbird trail option, make sure you bring your top notch handling skills. and your bravado. hummingbird starts off with easy fast singletrack, a little up and down, and then it’s all downhill. there are several spots where the trail seems to disappear into a giant steep slab of sandstone. yep, you’re meant to go down it. just follow the black tire skids. after the sandstone fields, there’s a series of moderately tight switchback turns. watch out, some of them are sandy and a little more difficult to maneuver. at the bottom, the trail will lead you to a big tree and beyond that, up a short steep incline, is a dirt field. follow the tire treads, going nearly straight across it to the fence, and there’s an opening just big enough for bikes and hikers to enter/exit through. the street you’re going downhill on is kuehner. ride ½ a mile and turn right onto los angeles ave. then right on yosemite, over the 118, up a hill, and then right onto flanagan.
i believe you can do this trail backwards too, parking on kuehner, and starting by the fence/dirt lot, and doing the hummingbird singletrack first. of course, that entails riding/hiking up sandstone. if that's your thang, more power to ya!
total 12-13 miles. about 3 hours of riding. this is one of my favorite rides yet. lots of speed, a bit of technical, a great workout.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
directions:
405 north --> 118 west --> yosemite ave exit
--> right @ yosemite ave
--> right @ flanagan drive
--> street parking on flanagan
about 45 minutes from south bay
google maps
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
san fernando mtns
6.5 hours, 5000 feet, 22 miles.
also the ruins of the echo mountain hotel & railroad, a squirrel, a rattlesnake, a deer, a bundle of descending deflated helium balloons, and one flat tire with 1/4 mile left in the ride.
---------------------------
louisa's description of the ride:
This weekend, Gary Fleming is leading the Lower Merrill to Inspiration Point then down the Middle Merrill (gnarly) and down the Sunset Trail to El Prieto. Lots of technical single track on this ride. The initial climb is three miles on fairly smooth single track. It is a work out but nothing you can't do. There are lots of hikers on the Lower Merrill on the weekends which means you have to stop and let them go by. That's not a bad thing because then you have a chance to catch your breath!
I think you can do it but I think where you will have difficulty is with the serious technical sections and exposure on the Middle Merrill. I walk some of it. What you could do is ride up the Lower Merrill to Echo Mountain and either wait there for them to climb up to Inspiration Point and come back down the Middle Merrill to Echo Mtn (it's an upper loop) or ride up with them to Inspiration on the Mt. Lowe Rd (fire road) don't go down the Mid. Merrill but back track down the fire road and wait for them to come back around to the Lowe Rd. From there you could go down the Sunset Trail. It also has some gnarly technical but not as much as the Merrill. When you get down to the bottom you are in Millard Campground. From there you climb a short while but not much to El Prieto (the dark one) which is cool 2 mile single track thru the canyon. It also has some gnarly bits, little climbs, descents, splashing thru creeks, hairpin turns and technical rocky sections just not the scale and fear factor that the Merrill has. You have to use your judgement when to get off and when to ride.
(note: it was much more technical than louisa lets on and riding this MOUNTAIN entailed more uphill than i've ever done. i'm exhausted and my knees will not forgive me for a few days. but it was awesome.):
---------------------------
Directions: From the South Bay: Take 405N to 105E to 110N to 5N to 2N to 210E. and exit at Windsor Ave/Arroyo Blvd., turn left at the off ramp onto Windsor and continue for about a mile. Park in the paved parking area on the left near the entrance to JPL (NASA jet propulsion laboratories) just before the street curves to the right becoming Ventura St.
...more details from SBMBC (scroll down to "Sat. August 4: Lower Merrill/Inspiration Point to Sunset and El Prieto Trail.")...
inspiration point
echo mountain house ruins/foundation
gary the downhill master & the endless uphill climb
more pics on flickr!
live every week like it's shark week
my favorite multi-platform game design agency got a nice write-up on creativity-online.com!
area/code is a tiny nyc group of insanely hard-working creatives that have gotten buzz in the advertising and marketing world for ConQuest (giant inflatable animals + a mob of nyu students = awesomenossity) and a sweet interactive game for a&e's syndication of the sopranos. their latest work is called "sharkrunners", part of discovery channel's annual shark week.
it's picked up quite a few players and piqued the interest of potential future marine biologists. if you're looking for a unique & engaging way to promote or launch your product/service/automated-plant-watering-system, area/code will kick that RFP's ass.
click HERE to read "Feed Frenzy".
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