Waking Up for Topanga Creek Cycles’ Saturday Morning Ride
Photos and words by Sean Talkington
Its official. I have now packed my bags (and bikes…and cats) and made my way to South Pasadena. 3 years is a pretty good run for most anything. 3 years is longer then I lasted in college! It was one hell of a party in Topanga but the time has come.
I’m writing this now in my new living space w/ boxes piled high and internet freshly installed. It feels good to start fresh in another town, and there is still killer bike riding in every direction out on the east side of LA, but I will always have a soft spot for “Topanga Life” & the people I was lucky enough to meet there…
On my last official day in the canyon I woke from a dead sleep at 7:30 on Saturday morning. Saturday mornings are when my neighbors at Topanga Creek Bicycles host their weekly ride from 8-10:30AM. Originally, I had not really planned on attending but when the hamster wheel started slowly turning upon waking, I then realized this would be the last chance for a TCB Saturday in a long while. If I was riding, then that would also mean NOT being home packing moving boxes w/ my lady. Luckily, she was still asleep!
Its amazing how fast you can get yourself together when your back is against the wall, because 25 minutes later I was showered, fed & at the shop ready to ride. I asked Chris if I could snap a few shots and pick his brain about the history of the Saturday ride. He seemed happy to partake and the ride went on like most every other TCB Saturday ride. It was awesome.
If you like Strava racing invisible people on the internet & talking about how fast you are, then this isn’t the ride for you. There is nothing wrong w/ going fast or wanting to be fast, but there are plenty of other rides with “performance agendas”. The highlights of this ride are usually learning new trails, funny photos and “sharing the stoke” of mountain biking with new people.
A good portion of the riders are first timer and beginner riders so the ride often splits up for more technical single track and comes back together. Not to say they don’t have fast guys in attendance too. Plenty of shredders come out when they’re looking for a fun day and some banana bread. Oh, Chris makes lots of fresh banana bread EVERY SATURDAY! He also knows more trails in the Topanga area then just about anyone.
Also, I should warn you…If you attend this ride, then you will make new friends! Probably lots of friends. I warn you because I set a goal back in the begging of 2012 to only make new friends that owned swimming pools. Not communal apartment pools, but actual swimming pools in their own personal backyards. I already had plenty of friends without pools so this seemed like a great goal.
Everything was going perfectly until I started hanging out on Topanga Creek Saturdays. Now I have loads of new awesome Topanga friends and all without pools. My life is pretty tough, but that being said if anyone lives near South Pasadena and owns a swimming pool I would love to be your friend. Possible sexual favors could be inclusive with new friendship & are solely based on the overall radness of your pool. I’m obviously just joking but if you own a pool in my area feel free to email me because I’m not joking…
Next time you pass through Topanga (with or without your own Mountain bike) and want to have some fun, stop by and say hello. You will most likely make a few new (non pool owning) friends and ride some great trails.
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