I Soliti Sospetti started the idea of Spring Training with a trip to Arizona in 2020, thinking this might be an annual thing. COVID pushed the plans out a bit, but it would seem we have momentum now. For those living in year round warmth it doesn't make sense, but living in the mossy PNW, Boston, even some parts of Virginia got us desiring to kick off our season with multiple days of riding somewhere where it wasn't snowing or raining. All of us are married men of a certain age with accomodating wives, financially established, and get along well. Selecting an Airbnb Palazzo was solving the puzzle of location, being nice enough for @
rccardr, cheap enough for @
SquireBlack, and meeting @
Spaghetti Legs desire for a hot tub. We were able to meet all the requirements. We discovered at the last Spring Training in Tucson that a big pickup that seats 6 will also carry 6 bikes in the bed, if not just barely. That made daily excursions fairly simple, and we became quite proficient at loading and unloading them without a scratch. With 3 flying into LAX from Portland, Oregon, 2 from Virginia, and 1 from Boston, it was a miracle that we all landed within 2 hours of each other and were able to gather up in the BAT quickly in the vastness that is LAX.
@
Classtime treated us to an incredible home made Mexican dinner at his Redondo Beach casa just a few hours after we landed. @
Andy_K did a fine job as our beer sommelier, while @
rccardr did his usual great job of picking out the wines to stock the Palazzi. We bookended the trip with the monthly vintage rides out of Pasadena and San Diego, meeting many BFer's that we'd only known online.
Pasadena Velo Retro riders
San Diego Brian Baylis Memorial birthday ride
Our designated sprinter, @
Spaghetti Legs took both of the traditional sprints on both rides, so
Team Soliti was well represented. @
Manny66 and others escorted us from Pasadena to Seal Beach on the San Gabriel River Trail. At our halfway stop we saw and met the local Major Taylor cycling group. They looked scary fast, and had the bodies, bikes and gearing of criterium racers, a common theme, it would appear, for most of the SoCal riders were saw.
just off the San Gabriel river trail
In the PNW it's pretty common to see most cyclists riding gearing that started in the low 30 inches, from what I could tell a granny gear in SoCal is around 50. Fenders don't sell well in LA and San Diego, they just don't ride on the 50 or so annual days it rains. We were made to feel extremely welcome on the bookend rides.
It was snowing in Oregon when we left, and raining hard when we returned. It rained on us for the first 15 minutes or so of the ride in Pasadena, otherwise it was dry and warm, just what the doctor ordered to get out of the winter blues and concrete skies where I live.
the Daily Soak
We checked all the boxes. The first few mornings it was hard to get going, but after several days my body stopped complaining so much. The afternoon hot tub soak in lieu of a team masseuse did wonders. We ate well. Most evenings ended with a Coen Brothers movie after we figured out how to use the palazzo tv.
And, of course, the @
nlerner Weather Transmogrifier™ was put to use with the usual stellar results, even if Neal forgot to turn it on for that first 15 minutes of the Pasadena ride. We shared costs, which came out to be just under $200/day, not including airfare. We shared our BKM's for travelling with a bike, each of us with a dedicated bike case, some of us with bikes that break down (Neal's S&S coupled Black Diamond, Hugh and I's Ritchey Breakaways.) They ranged from C&V to C&V-ish, at least they were all steel framed.
All in all, a completely successful trip. We're already talking about Spring Break 2025. For those interested in joining, PM me.
