Chilly Hilly 2008 Report!

As is traditional, Chilly Hilly 2008 was held on the last Sunday in February, rain or shine. This year, no rain, but the weather at the outset was definitely on the chilly side under grey skies. I caught the 7:55 a.m. ferry, along with about 1000 of my closest cycling friends!

We filled the ferry, and this year, the snack bar was open with hot coffee and Alki Bakery muffins!

Leaving the ferry dock in Winslow, you face a slight uphill, take a right, and you're off on the 31+ mile counter-clockwise course around the island. Two foods stops are on the route, one at Battle Point Park, and my favorite at the American Legion post on the island, where we are treated to hot cider and lots of homemade cookies from the local Girl Scouts, in exchange for a donation.

As we turned the corner and headed back to the ferry from the south part of Bainbridge, the sun came out and we headed into a dry, cold north wind. Nice, with great views of Seattle.

The bikes filled the ferry, and there's plenty of time to inspect other's equipment. I must have seen one Trek for every other type of bike.

More of my photos are here.

Cascade Bike Club is to be commended for another well-organized and monitored event. There are interesting comments to read on their message boards, including the pirate feud with the Point 83 crowd, plus links to many other photos on Flickr.

50+ miles, door to door. We'll put this one on the calendar again for next year!

Victorious!

Roosevelt Jazz won first prize at the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival at the University of Idaho last weekend!

Weekend in LA - Driving and Eating

We went to LA last weekend, first priority being to spend time with T and his family, while they are dealing with his health issues. It was great to be with them, to spend time in their backyard with cousins, brothers, family.  I'll leave it to my sister-in-law to write about the medical, as she is much more eloquent in that regard.

Instead, let's focus on the other parts of the journey, namely, driving and eating in LA.  We arrived on Thursday evening, picked up our rental car, and headed up the Santa Monica Fwy to downtown LA.  The daughter was meeting a friend at the Biltmore Hotel, and we took the opportunity to visit the Original Pantry, a favorite of Mickey's, Bob's, and everyone else who enjoys good, hearty diner food!  Open-faced roast beef sandwich with brown gravy, mashed potatoes, and canned peas for me, along with diner coffee.   Welcome home!

The next morning, we awoke in South Pasadena, under blue skies and a gentle Santa Ana wind.

After a beautiful, warm February morning, it was time for breakfast.  I had an inspiration, and we headed to Burger Continental, for the all-you-can eat Mediterranean Buffet.  Kebobs, hummus, salads, Armenian Pizza, pilaf, grilled vegetables, and of course, baklava.   Our waitress insisted that we could only fill ten plates.  If we took one more, she'd have to charge us extra! 

That was about all we could take, so we ambled over to Old Pasadena for walking, and some in our party even did some shopping.  I digested.

Family matters took over for the next interval, interspersed with a two-hour rush hour trip to pick up Son #1 at LAX, and then off to Santa Monica for a visit to the 3rd Street Promenade.  

After the get-togethers, we had another need for sustenance, and El Cholo on Western hit the spot.

One more meal on the last day with T, and we needed our LA deli fix.   Time to get the corned beef with cole slaw, russian dressing, with latkes on the side, and a bowl of matzo ball or kreplach soup to soothe the soul.   Junior's was the place, and it did not disappoint!

Time to get back to Seattle, many more minutes on the stationary bike, reps in the weight room, miles on the LeMond, and get fired up for Chilly Hilly this weekend. Hope that the unusually nice weather in February holds.