Rolling along the LA River

We’re very fortunate to have a number of great voices supporting cycling.

At about the same time I was launching LACBC Family, I discovered(maybe I was late to the show) Terence Heuston’s LA Bike Dad blog and it is by far the most entertaining piece of writing I’ve read in awhile.

The honesty coming out of his stream of consciousness speaks to my thought process not just as a father, but how you handle everyday circumstances as well.

Seeing how I needed fresh and stimulating content leading up to our LACBC Family Ride, doing a feature on Terence was a great excuse to connect with him.

Talking to him over the phone for the first time, it felt like we already knew each other, so we did what any two strangers from the internet would do: we planned a family play date.
While we were meeting at Marsh Park, I noticed a cycling couple approaching as I was riding there from another event.

I could tell from his loaded up Dutch bike that it was them.

Beforehand, I was nervous about meeting him because on paper, we seemed so much alike that I was afraid we’d be dopplegangers in that Flight of the Conchords Stana type of way.

We rode to the park where the rest of the CV clan was waiting with air conditioning inside our car and the LABikeDad team were gracious enough to help us set up.

 

Bike parking = bike business.

Once we were fully geared and set to go, you obviously can’t have a kids ride without potty issues(thanks CV Jr.).

The kids then mulled around the park giving us more of a chance to acquaint ourselves learning that our wives might even have more in common with each other than their male counterparts.

Besides being highly entertaining, Terence is really passionate about making LA more bikeable(like adding protected bike lanes on Sunset) and you can tell he’s the type of person who follows through by how much care he put into hid family’s bikes.

He tried getting me on his 75 lb. Dutch bike with CV Jr. to get me hooked on having her in front.

I might have maxxed out my bike purchases for the next couple of years, but the more I think about it, having that bike would be pretty cool.
We decided to head out along the LA River Bike Path to Atwater Village for lunch.

As we were about to get onto Fletcher, Mrs. CV noticed the overly inviting new restaurant called Salazar on the other side of Ripple St.

We audibled for Mexican food and pulled inside to park our bikes.

Who would have thought cleanly designed outdoor spaces would work in LA?

Yes, part of their land was dedicated to bike parking which is a wise investment considering the closeness of the bike path.

Even though we shared a large table, we were still able to hold down conversation while the kids kept to themselves in their own world.

We were there long enough that we got to the point of “should we order more drinks?”, when Terence’s boy started to breakdown.

As a parent, we’ve all taken this cue to pack up as fast as you can when your kid desperately needs a nap.

We said our quick goodbyes, but we were both on our ways.

This may not be a blog about an epically long bike ride winding around one landmark after another.

It was about company. Bikes help you do that…