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After the last trail work day on the Gabrielino Trail, I received texts, emails, messages and carrier pigeon notes asking when and how various people can learn about these work days. Well, here ya go. This Sunday, in Los Angeles, Mission Workshop and MWBA are kickin’ more ass on the Gabrielino Trail. Check out details at MWBA’s FB. We’ll see you there!
On March 10th and the 11th, Argonaut Cycles will be holding their test launch event in Los Angeles. The exact location of the event will be announced via email to those who register.
So what is a Test Flight?
“A Test Flight is where you can test out an Argonaut and find out first hand what ride quality really means. Each bike is equipped with Dura-Ace Di2 Hydro components and ENVE 3.4 / Chris King disc wheels. Take a spin, then schedule a fitting and get your bike in our build queue. When you register for a test flight we’ll have a bike waiting for you with the fit adjusted to your measurements. Take a 45 – 60 minute ride around a predetermined route, then take some time to talk one on one about the ride, and how we can make one tailored for you.
Registration will close at 12pm on February 26th. To ensure everyone is able to ride the size and configuration they need, fill out the form online and we’ll email you with the time of your test ride. Test Flights will be on Saturday March 10th, with a group ride and fittings on Sunday March 11th.”
Best of all, this is FREE! Register at Argonaut Cycles.
Sending sunny love from Southern California to all y’all. Next week, we’re heading to colder weather in the Northeast for some pre-NAHBS fun.
See more below…
… what a way to end the day.
Trails need work. All the time and across the globe, there are numerous organizations that rally the troops when work needs to be done on their local singletrack. In LA, one of our organizations is the Mount Wilson Bicycling Association. Year after year, MWBA has been working alongside the Forest Service, IMBA and CORBA to re-open various trails that were closed after the Station Fire ravaged the San Gabriel Mountains in 2009. One such project is extending the Gabrielino Trail from Ken Burton to Switzer’s. If you’re an LA local, these names might sound familiar to you.
The Gabrielino follows a canyon down below Highway 2 and out to the Arroyo. This trail hugs the hillsides of the canyon walls, crosses waterfalls and snakes its way through the sandy, rocky and loose wash. Today, 30+ volunteers spent their Sunday morning workin’ dirt with MWBA. With such big crowds, it’s easy to cover a lot of ground in a single afternoon.
The Angeles National Forest is home to many exceptional trails. Once MWBA, and their volunteers, have worked to open these remaining trails back up, we’ll have even more options for big back-country loops, almost entirely made from singletrack. If you’d like to help out, follow MWBA on Instagram and Facebook!
Thank you to everyone who came to help out today!
… Get out and get up!
Themes are very prevalent in a photographer’s work, whether intentional or not. My personal approach could be summed up in a number of ways, although I try to go into each situation with perspective. Whether or not that perspective is something I’m either re-visiting or looking to hone depends on a number of parameters. The moments in which I’m most comfortable experimenting are the ones that are most familiar to me and where the experimentation occurs usually falls into any number of challenging parameters.
… and plenty of filler time in between. Great vibes in this one.
I never go on a bike ride without a camera. Call it what you will, but documenting the rides in the greater Los Angeles area is something I love to do. Add to the list, taking out of towners on rides they’ve never done before. Our good friend Erica is in town for a bit, on a riding holiday/work trip from Nevada City, California and expressed an interest in riding up Mount Lowe in Altadena. Now, for those of you who haven’t done this ride, it’s the hardest road ride in the LA area, ATMO, but you can choose to bite off as much as you wish, establishing the general ride vibes early on, or as the hours go by.
Last weekend, we opted for the full experience and it left me a bit vanquished for a few days, so Erica and I took the party train up to Inspiration Point for some reflection on what it means to be a cyclist in a city with so much car culture. Spoiler alert: bikes will always win… and yes, I got sunburnt. In winter.
Check out a few more below and see our route from the Cub House at my Strava.
We’re all packing up and heading to the high desert tonight for an escape from the Los Angeles heat. I never thought I’d be saying that, but that’s the world we live in now. Does anyone have some favorite desert rides we should check out in the Southern California area?
Putting together a parts bin bike doesn’t usually include an NJS frame. When his roommate parted out a complete NJS Samson track bike, Lucas acquired the frameset for $50. Aside from a few small dents in the top tube, the frame was in great condition, so he assembled it with all of his spare parts. Since then, it’s been his go-to around town and lock-up-bike. I couldn’t help myself when he rolled up to Golden Saddle Cyclery on it yesterday, just hours before hopping on a plane back to Portland…
Nomenclature is often an intuitive byproduct of one’s, most notably the one who does the naming’s, experiences. A local example, here in Los Angeles, is Sunset Ridge trail. Yes, it’s a ridge trail and yes, it really, really comes alive at sunset, especially in that low, soft winter light.
Last night, the Wednesday Slacker’s ride, aka Wednesday Warriors, aka freelancers union shredders, aka whoever wants to ride on Wednesday, took 11 souls up into the San Gabriel mountains for a New Years party ride. We brought food including but not limited to: fried chicken, sandwiches, chocolate almonds, gummy bears, beer and trail mix. Our troop sat atop the old Echo Mountain ruins and watched the sun fall behind cloud cover before moving on through the myriad of trails before descending Sunset Ridge.
It was one of those evenings where the mountains really began to sing. Not with sounds however, but with light. Stopping to soak it in was a requisite before shredding the dusty and rutted trails, so parched for water that our fee for usage were dusty eyes and dried chains. We rode just about 12 miles and climbed 3,000′. If you’ve yet to do this loop, I highly recomend it!
Check out more photos below and Happy New Year!
People often refer to steel road bikes as “lifetime” bicycles. A few years back, Reilly was looking for just that, a lifetime road bike. He scoured the internet, looking at all the offerings before settling on Portland’s Breadwinner Cycles and their Lolo road bike. These frames are made in-house, at Breadwinner in Portland and can be configured with various options directly from their website. Reilly’s build is beautiful, without being flashy, relying on Shimano Ultegra’s longevity to keep the wheels and gears turning.
Little details really make the build, like his Yanco handlebar bag, Manual for Speed bar tape and Vittoria Corsa tires on Pacenti rims. Bikes like this are just so right…
Dustin from Cadence was in Los Angeles on a “Permanent Marking Tour,” doing tattoos at the shop. After a night of partying, the boys woke up and went on one of our staple loops in the Hollywood hills…
Thanksgiving is a time to bring community together and help out any way possible. This year, we wanted to do something for one our local Southern California Native American tribes, the Haramokngna. Along with the Mount Wilson Bicycling Association, we made an homage water bottle to the popular “Red Box” area on Mount Wilson. Red Box is one of the few places in the San Gabriels that offers shade and most importantly, a place to fill up your bottles at a spigot. This area is marked by a beautiful red box, painted with Haramokngna petroglyphs and designs, from which it gets its name.
On the weekends, the Haramokngna American Indian Cultural Center is open, serving cold sodas and snacks. Just about every cyclist in the Los Angeles area has been through this oasis, either on their road or mountain bike and has benefitted in some way from the Haramokngna American Indian Cultural Center’s services.
We’re selling these bottles, exclusively at Golden Saddle Cyclery, alongside MWBA with all proceeds donated to the Haramokngna American Indian Cultural Center. Stop by and pick one up and know your money is going to a solid cause.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Lookin for something to do tomorrow afternoon that goes to a good cause? The Cyclist’s Menu Ride Bikes Eat Food tour is stopping by the Cub House. For $25, you get a gourmet meal cooked for you, ready upon your return from a night ride. All proceeds go to Mount Wilson Bicycling Association. Sign up at the event’s Facebook page.
A favorite ride is always amplified by winter light and cycling tourists. Tonight, Kyle and I took Kelly out on a Dirt Mulholland sunset ride, which turned into a Topanga Creek Outpost banana bread run, turned mad-dash through Melrose gridlock at rush hour. The thrills are never short on this ‘cross-town jaunt. If you’ve never done this route, be sure to check it out on Strava and click-through to check out more photos…
Over the past week, nature flipped a switch. Suddenly, like migrating birds, the 100º weather had flown to the southern hemisphere, leaving behind clouds, cooler temperatures and even traces of precipitation. Basically, the perfect ingredients for successful dirt bike rides. All summer, I’d stuck to shorter, partially shaded rides, or banked on getting in my mileage before the heat of the day and now I felt comfortable taking off up my favorite dirt climbs.
