christmas bike ride

You've all heard about my new/old bike.  I have been riding her quite often.  I try and ride to and from school a few times a week, but the hill on Foster Road dominates me every time!  My friends thought I was exaggerating about how hard of a hill it is so I haven't talked about it with anyone for a long time.  A week ago, JB came over and he rode his bike.  He walked in the door and had a weary look on his face.  I asked him what was wrong (with a little smirk on my face).  He proceeded to tell me that my hill defeated him too and said, 'I don't know how you ever get excited about riding bikes!'  

So, since I'm such a hard core bike rider, a few friends and I decided that going on a Christmas bike ride would be so fun.  We thought it would be cool to put some hot chocolate in a thermos and ride to somewhere and look at the lights in a neighborhood.  When Amanda and I (whose idea it was originally) pitched it to the guys, they told us they knew where the perfect spot was.  Fullerton was all they said and that sounded fine to me.  

Thursday night was the night.  The proper bike maintenance checks were made and it looked like we were pretty well prepared.  A quick stop at the HOF for some lights (since we left around 9pm) and we were off.  Attendance: Shannon, Amanda, JB and I (click on their name to hear their version of the story!).  We headed out of their neighborhood to our first big signal--Alondra/Stage/Escalona.  Left turn.  Then down to LaMirada Blvd.  Right turn.  Cross Beach Blvd and it was smooth sailing from there.  The air was crisp and it felt so good on our cheeks as we rode.  

We kept riding and riding and eventually came to the place.  Just past Fullerton College on Chapman Ave (LaMirada Blvd changes names about three times over the length we rode).  We made a left turn and were amazed!  I've never seen anything like it.  The whole length of the block had these big balls of lights hanging from EVERY tree!  It was SO cool!  This picture can only give you a tiny glimpse of how magical the street was in all its twinkly glory.  

If you look to the left of the picture, you can see a house that's especially decorated.  That's Jeff's house.  About 20 years ago Jeff's dad gave him one of these blinky light balls for Christmas and he figured out how to make them.  I think they're made out of plastic cups and a string of lights.  Jeff started hanging them in his trees and then eventually got a few other people to do it and pretty soon the trend caught on.  Now everyone does it.  He said a couple guys who live there have a cherry picker because they own construction companies or something like that so they all put them up when Christmas approaches.  It's kind of a big deal.  Jeff told us that last year a news crew came out and interviewed a whole bunch of people.  He said we'd chosen a good night to come because it often gets really crowded with people driving up and down the street.  

Jeff took a picture of us in front of his house with our bikes.  Here it is!  

It was overall a successful ride.  15 miles in total, which none of us were expecting.  We didn't look up how long the ride was until AFTER we'd gone.  But it wasn't a difficult ride and we enjoyed each other and the magic of this beautiful street.  Next semester I'm taking a road cycling class. . . so I'm sure I'll have plenty more to report about my adventures with Viv and the gang.