I recently found out the founder the Bike Oven opened his own bicycle store down the street from the Oven. I dug around his website and found that he organizes a “Get Some Dim Sum” ride every Sunday morning. Last Sunday was the 9th iteration of such a ride.

Coincidentally, my schedule allowed me to take part on this ride last weekend. I woke up early on Sunday morning and pedaled my way to the South Pasadena Gold line station and rode the train one stop south to Highland Park station. Upon arriving I was accompanied by a few others who also wanted to be part of this morning’s adventure. There were 2 other bloggers who joined us. Shannon from Sha In LA and Pat from Eating L.A. (stunning picture of me on this post). Check out their blogs for additional point of views.

I was joined by a few familiar faces besides Josef. Veronica, DJ Chickenleather, and Martin showed up. We casually strolled through Northeast LA. The bikes looked really cool but seemed restrictive. I kept hearing that the brakes were as effective as any coaster brakes. Also they were more of a sit back and cruise bike. I wanted the option to cruise and the ability to kick it up a notch should I need to. Luckily I was on my fixie. During the ride, I finally realized the beauty of riding fixed. I didn’t have to use my brakes as much as some people while we traveled on a slight decent and was required to stop frequently.

Our pack made it to the San Antonio Winery and we immediately made our way to the kitchen. The food took awhile for some (they were cooking 20 meals just for our group) but when it came I polished off my Italian Omelette without any hesitation.

We were invited to tour the winery. Our tour guide guided us through the few rooms explaining the history and process of making wine in the middle of LA. You don’t have to drive to Napa or even Temecula to get your winery fix. We had the opportunity to try some wine (Pat’s blog should have details on what was given to us).

By the time we were done and ready to go, the sun came up and warmed everyone up. It was pleasant a pleasant ride back. I especially like that Chickenleather was documenting the whole experience. One of these days I’m going to see if I can get a copy from him. We passed by a group where someone yelled, “Are you guys Midnight Riddazz??” CL wittingly replied, “Of course we’re not! It’s daytime.” That made me chuckle. Riding in a group like that made me feel like a kid again. It’s similar to riding in a group of motorcycles but slow enough to carry on conversations. Hard to describe unless you’re there.

I bid farewell to the group when I stopped at the Oven to help out for the rest of the afternoon. I’m definitely going to do this again. Hopefully more peeps can join me.

I then cruised over to Sears across the street and bought a 15mm wrench. I finally used a gift card that had $0.94 of credit! One less card to carry. I made my way out of Sears and took the train to the Bike Oven. At the Oven, I had some time to work on my bike. I had to tighten up the chain ring bolts and rewrapped my handlebar. By time everything was over it was 5PM. Me and one of the volunteers decided to go get smoothies in Chinatown. We rode our bikes from Highland Park area and chilled out and chatted for about 30 minutes and went our separate ways.

I took the Gold Line and then transferred to the Red Line and got off Hollywood and Vine. From there I proceeded to the theatre that was having the 2008 Bicycle Film Festival. I was greeted by Mr. Rollers, a very well known photographer for the Midnight Ridazz. He offered to valet my bike and so I allowed.

First time getting my bicycle valeted and I don’t mind it at all, unlike car valets. I waited in line until 7:30 rolled around and we all finally got to see some movies about bicycles. It was inspiring. When we got out, the line for the next program was long! I wanted to stay back and catch this last showing but I was hungry and tired so I bolted out to the train station.

The train was crowded with families who spent their day at Universal Studios and were heading back home. I know because they were holding souvenirs. I got off at the Civic Center stop hoping to catch a bus and try using the bike racks in front of a bus for the first time. I waited almost an hour and no bus came so I got fed up and road home from Downtown LA to Alhambra. Fueled by popcorn, a smoothie, and a power bar from earlier in the day, my head was pounding as I made my 7 mile journey at 11PM. I quickly stopped by Yoshinoya and picked up a chicken bowl with a cup of water. A well deserved meal that eased the headache and my sore legs.

Not bad for a 19 mile day (according to my cyclometer).

Last year, I was playing poker on a weekly basis. Now we’re playing once every 3 months as it seems. I miss the face time to BS with the friends and catch up. I got to do that 2 weekends ago when all of our schedules allowed it.

I’m 10lbs lighter than I was a year ago. I’m more active and enjoy running and biking this year. Last year, my bike was sitting in the garage collecting dust. I was coming with all sorts of excuses not to go to the gym. It was not until the blood results that came in on my annual check-up to wake my lazy ass up. I’ve already run 2 5K back-to-back weekends. I will be participating in my first sprint triathlon relay this year and hopefully the LA marathon next year. I’ve added 2 more bicycles to encourage myself to ride them. And ride them, I do. This is one trend I don’t want to forget.

This year we’ve been actively searching for a new home for my family. Unfortunately nothing has turned up and I may have to look for property for myself. I can’t help it when my folks are so picky about all the places we’ve seen. My second offer to potentially the last house of our search has been submitted. It’ll take a miracle for the seller to accept the offer but I guess we’ll see.

I’m in this weird purging phase. My motorcycle is listed on Craigslist still. I’ve had people who were interested inquire about it but no formidable offers that I can entertain. Lots of people want to trade me for another bike and even a boat. That does nothing to someone who doesn’t know how to swim. I’m also playing with the idea of selling my trusty car and get a more fuel efficient Honda Fit. I love the fact that you can carry crap in such a compact vehicle. Maybe after I buy my first property.

I’ve lost interest in gaming from last year. Yes I still play my XBox but it’s still the same game, NBA 2K8. I love that game!

In the work front, things aren’t looking so good. I’ve inherited more applications to handle and it’s starting to stress me out. The overall company politics is making it harder and harder for me to do my job. It’s only a matter of time where grinning and bearing won’t work. Until that time, I can only keep my head up and work through this tough time.

The bus was a bit crowded but I eventually found a seat. The train was practically empty. My theory is that we have more people driving into work than taking the train, therefore trains are rarely crowded. Other places like NYC, the subway commuters outnumber automobile commuters.