#9 - bike week

august will be the last month of the sky is big in pasadena.  

i have accepted a position at salford mennonite church in harleysville, pennsylvania.  we will be moving in september, so august will be my farewell month to the city of pasadena.  when we moved here from virginia i posted a list of the ten things i would miss most about harrisonburg.  i figured that would be a good way to end our time here, so each day i will be doing one final rundown of life in this great city.  i have prepared two lists - ten things i won't be sad to leave behind, and twenty of my absolute favorite things about pasadena.  we have arrived at the top ten things about life in pasadena.


#9 - bike week

for the most part, pasadena is a bike friendly city.  one of the best aspects is bike week - an annual event celebrating the city's bicycle community.  today's photo is a collage i created after this year's event (sorry, i'm reusing it) which was one of the best.

#13 - biking routes

august will be the last month of the sky is big in pasadena.  

i have accepted a position at salford mennonite church in harleysville, pennsylvania.  we will be moving in september, so august will be my farewell month to the city of pasadena.  when we moved here from virginia i posted a list of the ten things i would miss most about harrisonburg.  i figured that would be a good way to end our time here, so each day i will be doing one final rundown of life in this great city.  i have prepared two lists - ten things i won't be sad to leave behind, and twenty of my absolute favorite things about pasadena.  i am going to start with ten positives and ten negatives, alternating back and forth each day.  concluding with my top ten things about life in pasadena.

#13 - biking routes

los angeles county gets a really bad rap for its cycling culture.  let's face it - this town is owned by the automobile.  but, the san gabriel valley is filled with winding roads, mountain vistas, quiet neighborhoods, and quaint towns.  sometimes they are a bit hard to find, but that is what makes biking in this area so much fun.  ironically, when we left virginia i was sad that we'd be leaving the rolling country hills behind (you can see my lament in the list posted above).  i assumed it would be flat and boring out here, but it was anything but that.

guest photographer #3: skywatching by bicycle

i was happy to get a few photos from my good friend (and fellow bearded bicycler) andrew.  i hope you like them as much as i do!  first up is a photo of the lovely pasadena sky with the newly bloomed jacaranda tree above.

really cool image.  i'll have a few more of his photos over the next few weeks.  and as usual, if you would like to be a guest photographer on the sky is big, send me your pasadena photos!

more skywatching photos from around the world can be found right here.

more from the tour of california

 on sunday i mentioned that we had traveled to claremont to watch a stage of this year's amgen tour of california bicycle race.  i wanted to share a few more photos from that day.  above you see a front on picture of the peloton as they circled the city of claremont.  you can see just how many people were out lining the streets, and how many professional riders started the race (although not many of them made it all the way up to the summit of mt. baldy.

below you can see how hard it is to photograph moving cyclists.  i almost deleted this image before even getting home but i'm glad i didn't because as it turns out - one cyclist happens to be crystal clear!  it is almost as if i photo-shopped it, or planned it that way!

pasadena bike week 2011

oh what a week it was.

another pasadena bike week has come and gone.  i wasn't able to get to everything i wanted to, but i did make it to several events including (clockwise from upper left) the bike to work celebration at city hall, bicycle valet in downtown los angeles at angel city brewing, bicycle riders during art night, and saturday's party to end bike week at one colorado.

tour of california 2011

i can't believe this is the fourth year i've been able to check out the amgen tour of california race in person (year 1, year 2, year 3).  this year the race included a stage which traveled from claremont to the top of mt. baldy, so i joined some friends and made the trip out there.  since so much else happened this weekend, i thought i'd give you another photo collage of our day.

clockwise starting in the upper left: race day starting line, meeting some of the pro's, photographing the race (more photos to come soon), and braving the crowds in claremont.

the race concludes tomorrow in thousand oaks with chris horner (pictured above in the gold jersey) of team radio shack hoping to hang on to his overall lead for the win.

doo dah dude

i hope you aren't tired of my doo dah photos, but it was just such a treasure trove of images (plus i've been so busy this week i haven't had time to take other pictures around town.  i love this guy's balloons.

oh the doo dah day

saturday was the annual doo dah parade - pasadena's chance to showcase its wild and ridiculous side.

because of the city daily photo theme day, you had to wait until now to see the first of my photos.  don't worry, i've got more coming in the next few days! 

revisited #3

in my continuing series of re-photographing some of my earlier subjects, i returned to this outdoor artwork in old town.  the last time i took a picture of this (way back in 2008), it was at dusk, or maybe dark.  this one is in full daylight.

i hope you enjoy!

bike trip, 2011

i've taken a few great bike trips over the years, so when my friend andrew suggested that we spend our spring break riding our bikes, i was all ears.  you may remember andrew from my california league ballpark bicycle tour from a few years ago.  andrew suggested riding some california coast, and when we figured out how much time we had, we decided to head south, hit up some regional breweries, and ride the amtrak train back home.

we left on monday, and as you can see from the photo above, we ran in to some rainy weather.  i will post a few more photos from our journey over the next few days.

on the edge of the world

on a recent hike we bumped in to some mountain bikers taking a break from their morning ride.  from this vantage point, it looks like they are perched on the edge of the world.  don't you think?

more skywatch friday photos can be found right here.

heritage wine company

and a cyclist whizzing on by.

meet my friend matt

during the past two summers i've taken bike trips on the east coast with some friends from college. my friend matt has always been at the center of these trips. his love of cycling is certainly a big reason that i have grown to love riding my bike as much as i have. his photography is certainly part of the reason that started this blog.

well it turns out that matt just found out he has leukemia. needless to say, he and his family were stunned.

matt, our thoughts and prayers are with you. may you have a speedy recovery! if you'd like to follow matt's journey to recovery, you can check out the website that his family set up, right here.

one more from the tour of california

the tour of california concluded yesterday with michael rogers (who was pictured in yesterday's post) hanging on for the victory. this shot is of a racer tearing around the corner in front of the beautiful disney concert hall.

amgen tour of california

the streets of los angeles were packed with cycling fans yesterday as stage 7 of the tour of california rolled through town. people came out in droves, lining the route of the individual time trial. although he wasn't the fastest in today's stage, michael rogers (pictured below) finished in second place and held on to the golden jersey as the leader of the race.

the tour of california rolls in

coincidentally, bike week pasadena is happening during the amgen tour of california cycling race. pasadena has been a host city in the past few years, but unfortunately construction on highway 2 changed this year's route, bumping our fine city from being included.

have no fear cycling fans, because we are still within a short distance of catching some of the tour. downtown los angeles is the host for this year's individual time trial portion of the race. while it isn't quite as convenient as pasadena's rose bowl, it will still be really fun to watch each rider barreling around the los angeles course.

it is taking place today at 1pm, and i'll be there with the camera at the ready. look for reigning champion, california's levi leipheimer (above photo from last year's time trial), to challenge for the lead after today's stage is finished. levi currently sits in fourth place.

the zataar factory

the other day while out on a bike ride through burbank, we discovered the zataar factory - a fantastic little bakery that specializes in lebanese flat bread and savory middle-eastern treats. the above picture is of "the zataar special" - zataar spice, cheese, egg, olives, tomatoes, and fresh mint. oh my!

can't wait for baseball to begin!

on a recent bike ride we ventured up to dodger stadium hoping for a glimpse of the historic field. major league baseball season is just around the corner, and i can't wait! today i am participating in the tradition of drafting a fantasy baseball team in a rotisserie league that i have been a part of for ten plus years.

don't worry if you don't understand most of what i just said. this just has to do with the baseball nerd in me coming to the surface.

head on out for a bike ride with friends

if only it would stop raining on the weekend.

enjoy your super bowl sunday! i'll be making these for the big game.

bicycling in the rain

it has been unseasonably wet in southern california this week. we don't usually get much rain, so when it rains for more than a few hours in one day people take notice. it has been raining almost non-stop so far this week, and as you can tell by the edge of the street in the bottom of this photo, it is raining more than the streets and gutters can hold.

this cyclist is hardcore. i'm sure this is a common sight in places like portland or seattle, but not in los angeles county. i consider myself to be an avid rider, but even i'm not really willing to go out in this mess. congrats - whoever you are!