Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Thanksgiving Eve

I had plans. Big plans. Plans of doing something completely new, like riding up to Crystal Lake. Or plans of doing something slighlty different, like taking a left at the fork instead of a right and seeing GMR from a new point of view. Plans of having a full morning to ride a long good ride, but all of those ideas were widdled away as work intruded and encroached upon my vacation day.

Escaped. I left the house at 10:30 with the temperatures in the mid 60s. I had sun. Broad daylight sun. Warming to the mid 70s. Light winds. The evening rides and the dusk were mere shadows of the new autumn routine. But the chill still lingered in my mind. Leg warmers, head band, wind breaker and jacket were toted along and never used.

Plenty of folks on the road, cyclists, bikers and auto traffic. Enough to keep you alert but not overwhelming. I could ride til noon, turn around and make it back for the next work meeting. I stopped at Newman's point and met the nicest family out for a picnic on a beautiful day.

Danielle, Mike and James:



James as cute as a button relished his french fries. He and I both dodged a bee.

For Danielle, the islands in the San Gabriel Reservoir disappear with the rains. Keep hopping, jumping and running every day and make certain Dad brings you back in January or February to "see" the islands.



Mike and I cross paths regularly. He enjoys the adventure of Glendora Mountain Road at a faster pace:



Nice bike Mike!



We chatted about center line rules, near misses and the wipe outs. Thrilled to meet one of my readers, I raced downhill and made the meeting on time. Hope to see you again Mike, Danielle and James.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

very nice. thankyou. are you serious that spot is called newmans point. i had no idea. i read thru it and thought, hey thats nice of you to name that spot after us. then i couldn't remember telling you our last name. wierd. now i like that point even more.

GMR said...

Michael,

It is amazing the coincidence of meeting Newman at Newman Point! I have a printed copy of the USGS topo map on the fridge. Online topo map of Newman's Point on GMR location: 34.199N and 117.842W. Elevation is 3050 feet.

Hillbasher said...

Rode on Wednesday also. Up GMR, down to the East Fork, out to 39, and up to the Crystal Lake gate closing. Had intended to go up the West Fork, but signs all over the place said to stay out under penalty of death or worse. Was a fantastic day once again weather wise, and I am still having an impossible time trying to keep up with the "Mayor" on these rides. He is way too fast for me, but I keep trying.