The Crema - second attempt

What a great weekend. On Saturday I rode with the Redlands Bike Club starting from Yorba Linda regional park. We rode to Long Beach and back for a total of 85 miles. Even though I enjoyed riding with the group, we were off the bikes for about 30 minutes just in the first 40 miles which is one of the drawbacks of riding with a big group.

Unfortunately I didn't realize there would be no foodstop. Everyone else brought Clif bars and stuff. So I had to go find somewhere to eat and hope I could rejoin the other rides. I ate at a small fish place on 2nd St. in Belmont Shores but never rejoined the group. Oh - well.

On the ride I met a lovely young lady called Lori who was pushing her personal best from 55 miles to 85. I do hope that went well for her. As well as being fun, the ride had another bonus for me. Instead of picking up the bike path to the Queen Mary at the very beginning, Don took us along 2nd St in Belmont Shores which turns out to be very bike friendly. I'm going to alter the route of my 600k brevet next year to take advantage of it because there's a lot of opportunities for controls.

Today I rode with Amber, starting at the Angel's Stadium and riding to The Crema and back again. We tried this a couple of weeks ago but it was so crowded we gave up and went elsewhere. This time we tried on a Sunday in the hopes it wouldn't be so crowded but it was just as bad. We put our names down and went for a stroll along Seal Beach pier. We got back, waited another 10 minutes and got our table. Total wait time was 45 minutes - this place is popular.

The menu is very full. I had a Caprese Omlette and Amber had a Fitness Omlette. Both came with roast potatoes. Both breakfasts were amazing. The roast potatoes in particular were perfectly seasoned and the omlettes were stuff with good things. Service was quick especially when you consider how busy they were. This is a five star cafe.

On the way back we had a young woman riding one of those track bikes that have become so popular around L.A. for some reason. She was riding in toe-clips and with no helmet. Damn, that woman was strong. She held our wheel even when we took it up to 24mph. Of course she probably hadn't just ridden 50 miles, but she still impressed me. Now if only she would wear a helmet :-)