Sunday, January 18, 2009

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Ojai on 2 Wheels

Killer ride today!

Jane, Jerry, Dan and I drove out to Santa Paula to ride up Highway 150 into Ojai Valley. The route is one of our favorites as it is scenic and presents so many options once arriving in Ojai.

For todays ride, we decided to head up Highway 33 through Wheeler Springs to Rose Valley Summit. The picture to the right was shot from the summit overlook featuring the winding road up to the top.

In the end, the ride consisted of 65 miles with roughly 6,000' of climbing. It was a good day on the bike!

Triple Decker

This post is not about a sandwich, but about my horrific bicycle crash in the Santa Monica Mountains. I was 20 miles into the 126 mile Grand Tour ride hosted by the Los Angeles Wheelmen on September 28, 2007.

After a strong climb up the infamous Latigo Canyon Road, the ride continued west on Mulholland Drive to Highway 23 also known as Decker Canyon Road. The descent is fast and treacherous and not for the faint of heart. Into the descent towards Westlake Village, I lost control of the bike's rear end and went down hard on my left side.

To make a long story short, I ended up breaking my left shoulder and sustaining a huge hemotoma topped with road rash on my left ass cheek. It was by the grace of God that I did not break my hip. The shoulder fracture was the first broken bone injury I had ever sustained at the age of 40. Not the age to be breaking bones.

The following week, my cycling club included the report in our monthly newsletter with the storyline "Decker Gets Decked On Decker".

My First Blog Post

Welcome to my blog! This is a new venture for me and I've always wanted to maintain a journal of sorts. My blog site will be collection of posts on the important aspects of my life- my family, friends, professional practice and my biggest passion, cycling. Thanks for visiting and stay tuned for some interesting perspectives on my experiences. Peace out!