Holly-WOOD!


I found myself sitting at home alone on a Friday night. The sunset quickly approaching, and I didn't want to cycle around my hood. I quickly gathered my things and headed to the hills. My things consisted of, a backpack, and a DSLR camera and headed to the hills.
I parked my car at the bottom of Beachwood Drive in Hollywood, and I started the climb. Silly me, my warm up was immediate climbing. While I was racing the sun to the top of Mt. Lee, I was amazed at how many people were still making the trek up to the Hollywood sign, knowing it would be dark on the way back down. Or maybe not knowing.
I found myself beside the Hollywood sign, and then above it. As the sun set in the West, I setup my mini tripod and hoped for the best.
After I got some decent pics, I loaded back up and headed back down. I was eager to try some quick light painting, and one take with settings I had remembered seemed to do the trick.
Once back on level ground, I cycled down Hollywood Blvd, which by the way is packed on a warm Friday evening, and then back down Sunset.
I realized I hadn't eaten yet, so I made a pit stop at my favorite Canadian comfort food stop for some Poutine.
After pedaling around Hollywood for a bit, I decided to head back home as I was making the 72 mile journey to Long Beach the following day.


Fraizer Park, CA

It was a normal day like any other in February. The air was crisp, with a warm breeze. Today's journey had me feeling adventurous. As I did not want to stick to the monotony of the Santa Clarita bike paths. Don't get me wrong, 40 miles of paved paths are great..... If you have a beach cruiser and are retired.

So I loaded Sadie up on my Ford (Sadie is my 2013 Giant TCR Advanced) and we headed North. Not knowing what to expect, I hit the I-5 freeway and started rocking out to some KROQ alternative music.
I found myself in a small town called "Lake of the Woods", that is dauntingly recognizable to that of any horror movie. As I laced up my Giro's and waited for my Garmin to lock in on it's GPS, I looked around at the small run down town, with very little activity and started to pedal West. I was fighting one of that nastiest headwinds known to man as I gradually started to climb. It was one of those rides that since I didn't know where I was going, and the wind was so brutal, I almost called it quits. Then I saw what seemed to be deserted mountain road climb, sheltered with the help of lush green Christmas trees, which gave me the strength to pedal on. The climbing grade bounced around quite a bit, and the 9% grades seemed to feel pretty flat. I was hooked.

I was cycling through Fraizer Park, just North of Los Angeles into Mount Pinos, and it was absolutely breathtaking. It was a fairly mild day, with remnants of the winters snow. I was surprised that there was still this much snow just an hour North of LAX. Being from Canada, it was welcoming reminder of the Motherland. The climb was a beautiful reminder that California isn't always the Hustle and Bustle we've come to expect. During the descent, I had even topped out at my max speed.
The ride was great. It was only 22.5 miles, but I climbed over 2,700 feet. That's not bad when you consider half the ride is back down.