My Memorial Day: I often attribute 1975 as the year I became a cyclist but actually it was Memorial Day 1968 that kindled the fire in the furnace of my love for cycling.

I remember it clearly; we had the day off from school since the holiday fell on a Thursday and was actually celebrated on its official day [the 30th, before the paradigm of the "3-day weekend" became defacto].

I had recently bought my neighbor’s Schwinn Continental [$25.00 / 41 lbs / built like a steed] and set a goal to ride from my neighborhood near Echo Park [one of the barrios of Los Angeles near the Dodger Stadium] to Santa Monica right through the urban heart along the Wilshire Blvd corridor [~34 miles round trip].

I started early [7:00am] and the adventure still seemed full of possibilities when I rolled onto the pier in Santa Monica overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Fueled from the boundlessness of youthful enthusiasm and the excitement of  the accomplishment,  I couldn’t help myself, I had to continue north [even though my dad said Santa Monica was the limit].  It was like the Song of the Sirens; Pacific Coast Highway and the myth of Malibu, just up the road, were calling.  Along the way I met a couple of other kids headed to Leo Carrillo State Beach, at Ventura County Line, and I couldn’t resist the challenge.

Round trip: ~90 miles. By the time I got home [~8:30pm] it had been dark for long over an hour.  I bonked hard at Wilshire & San Vicente without a penny in my pocket.  Bonk fever turned me into an unrepentant beggar; a passerby showed pity and gave me a coin.  A dime bought a bag of potato chips;  it revived the spirit just enough to get me home.  As I rolled the bike through the door, my dad [on the couch, watching television] looked up and asked “How was the ride?”  “Oh, it was fun.” I said.  He gave me hell later, but what did I care [?] I had ridden my steel pony all the way to Ventura County Line and back.  There was a fire smoldering.

1968: 12 3/4 years old.
~90 miles: Echo Park to Ventura County Line on PCH.
Schwinn Continental: 41 lbs.

Photo courtesy of:  waterfordbikes.com