North Pasadena by Howard 8.16.09

Getting kinda tired of riding around the Rosebowl. So, I'm trying to find an alternative training route around Pasadena, away from the cars, and through a more scenic route. The City of Pasadena promotes cycling, so I thought, I should use the Pasadena public works map as a guide. The route I'm interested in runs west on Howard, then I figured I'll improvise a southern route to the Rosebowl and loop back to Hasting where I start. I figured that I could probably squeezed out about 16 to 20 miles maybe.

So when I actually started my ride, I forgot if I was supposed to go up Altadena or Allen. I head up Altadena, and couldn't figured out where my left turn was supposed to be. The map on my GPS tells me if I head up Altadena, it'll connect to Allen. Then take Allen south to Howard then head west. Altadena north, had just enough incline to keep my heart rate up high (doesn't take much). And not knowing when it ends, I couldn't pace myself properly, but in the end, it was a good workout. The rest of the ride was just about finding my way home. This is my second venture into northwest Pasadena. This northwest passage was sketchy. I came to realized that there is no good ride through northwest Pasadena. Public Works just want to screw with people. Oh well. I suck it up and made improvise way west, then down Orange Grove, and then east on Walnut/Foothill back to Hasting.

The whole route was 17 miles. Took me a damm hour and a half to finish the ride. The only thing I like was ride up Altadena. On the bright side, my heart rate monitor tells me I burned 1500 cal. But then I put it back and then some at Castaways buffet just an hour later. Damm, no weight loss today.