Jittery Java Explorations

Our informal cycling group did not have any official rides posted on our website, CycleDotsLA, since people were either doing the Conejo Century, or sleeping in, or attending weddings across the country, so I let it be known to those that had 4 hours to kill on a Saturday morning, that they could join me for one of my exploratory rides.  I actually like these kinds of rides because they are a challenge to your fitness, your road skills, and your patience.  Not every road in the Los Angeles area is designed for cyclists (duh!), so it is nice to find the good roads for yourself.  What makes a good road?  A wide shoulder, so you can share the right lane with a parked car and rolling traffic; low traffic on early Saturday mornings; navigable traffic signals, 4-way stop signs preferred so you can roll right through them; and predictable geography, i.e., no sudden 20 percent grades thrown in for kicks.

I had some takers: Sebastian, who always wants to do any ride I throw at him, and Cathy, my friend from Team in Training's Solvang Century season.  Our mission reconnaissance: three cafes in Eagle Rock, Burbank, and Montrose, and good roads to connect them all.  I had warned them both that there might be some backtracking and some hill climbing where we won't know how far to go.  This is exploration, where a planned 30 miles could easily turn into 40 miles.

Our first stop was Coffee Table Bistro in Eagle Rock.  From Pasadena, we made our way across the Colorado Street Bridge, which is always fun, to Colorado and Shearin.  Getting to this place was a little tricky travelling west on Colorado, because of all the lanes of traffic we had to cross for that left turn, but the cafe would be great on a flat route heading east from the westside.

Our next stop was a little place in Kenneth Village in Burbank.  Kenneth Village is this cute little historic spot at the intersection of Kenneth and Grandview.  I've always passed this place on the way to the bottom of La Tuna Canyon Road, but I've never stopped, so it was finally time to see what was there.  I use Kenneth to get to La Tuna Canyon instead of Glenoaks because of the cycle-friendly road criteria: low traffic, 4-way stops, wide shoulders.  So, here's the little place in question:

 

They sell coffee by the pound too, with a pretty good selection.

 

One of the kitschy little items they sold here were little tiny coffee cups with your name on it.  I say your name on it, because they were sold out of my name.  Sure, they had Joseph, but only immediate family and ex-girlfriends call me that (I'm still trying to figure out why the exes do that *shrug*).  They didn't even have Cathy's name or any of her family names either, and they're all pretty common: Caroline, Richard, Rachel.  The least common name among us, they had: Sebastian.  So, of course, he had to buy it.  I also bought a single espresso, to go with the small coffee I had at Coffee Table Bistro.  Hey, I don't call this the Jittery Java Tour for nothing, you know.

Next stop, Montrose, and the Black Cow Cafe.  The route from Burbank to the little old town area on Honolulu was going to be the haziest part of the ride because I had never ridden any of the roads through there.  I literally had no idea how steep any of the roads were going to be.  I was very happy with how this certain street Mountain turned out.  Not too steep, very pretty houses, hardly any cars, and it ran right into Verdugo with a traffic light, like I hoped it would.  Now, Verdugo to Canada to La Crescenta was a little tricky because we had to keep bearing left, which meant crossing two wide lanes of traffic to get to the left forks.  Again, not too steep, so I was happy with finding this easy way up to La Canada Flintridge without having to pound the billygoat legs on Chevy Chase.

We found the Black Cow Cafe without much trouble, but found that it was an actual restaurant, where they have to seat you and give you a menu.  This place gets filed away with the after ride pigout sessions, so does not quite qualify for the Jittery Java experience.  Anyway, I took a picture, but the clouds had burned off, so you can't see the effective logo very well:

 

As the days get brighter and hotter, I'm going to have to find better angles.

 

Well, we didn't stop here for coffee, because of the sit down, take your order situation, but Sebastian had found a place around the corner on Verdugo that might fit the bill.  It was called Berolina's Bakery and it was very popular.  I had to take a number.  They gave me espresso in a tiny little cup like tradition dictates.  But, there was all the waiting.  So, while we waited for my number, I took a picture of the nice sun that had broken out:

 

Cathy and Sebastian, catching some rays.

 

And then it was time to head back to Pasadena.  Unfortunately, the quickest way back had to go through hospital hill: Verdugo has this pretty steep part that goes under the 2 freeway and past the Verdugo Hills Medical Center.  Cathy was dead set against it, but I had to convince her that we would have to go downhill a long way to climb up Chevy Chase and take Linda Vista, which is even steeper than Chevy Chase to get back over those La Canada hills.  Maybe I'll take her on that road next time we ride, so that even if she doesn't believe me, her legs will.  All in all, 32 miles with only a little backtracking to get to Berolina's.  Not bad.  I will definitely have to roll through that Mountain Street area again.  There were some really nice looking houses with some great landscaping.  Hey, you gotta smell the roses, don't stop, but at least slow down.