Los Angeles Fun Ride. I went on this ride, but had to ditch the ride early to teach Sunday School. I went on the Advanced ride. It was fun, but I was tired from lack of sleep.

Sorry for not updating my posts in a long time. This may have been the longest ever since I've updated my blog. I've just been busy with everything and helping my wife at the pharmacy. I just haven't had time to update it.

It's been so long that I just can't write too much about my experiences anymore. Basically since I've forgotten and also since I'm too tired and lazy to write down all the details.

Emmanuel Han and his awesome titanium Litespeed mountain bike.

Mountain Biking in El Prieto, Brown Mountain, San Gabriel Mountains, Angeles National Forest near JPL La Canada, Pasadena. Posing next to a sheer drop off of about 50 feet.

Pasadena Marathon Bike Tour

The Pasadena Marathon was finally held in March after being postponed a few months because of the wildfires last year.

This year, it was raining pretty hard at certain times during the ride. It started at 6:00 a.m. and it was pretty dark. It was hard to go really fast. I was near the front of the race. I kept making wrong turns following the guys in front of me. It was really dark and raining so I couldn't see very well. I almost hit some cones too. I was freezing when the ride was over, because it started pouring rain and I was just standing around in the cold in my short shorts.

Sorry I didn't update my blog lately. I've been busy at work in a new law office.

Before I took my new job, I was doing some contract work in Costa Mesa. I rode my bike to work. That was over 35 miles one way. It took about 2 hours to ride there, but my other co-workers said it took them about 1.5 hours by car, because of the traffic. I'd rather be cycling for 2 hours then be stuck in traffic for 1.5 hours. It's more fun to ride and I got some good exercise. Right now, however, I haven't touched my bike in weeks due to the very long hours of work.

The first day I biked there, I had one of the worst commutes ever going back home. I bonked out because I used up too much energy accelerating stop light after stop light. Cars kept honking at me, because they're idiots. Also, there were no shoulders for me to ride on and let cars pass for about 15-20 miles.

I had to stop and eat 2 times before I got home. I was so hungry from using up so much energy biking as fast as I could, because the streets were so dangerous and I wanted to get out of that situation as fast as possible. One of my spokes broke on my way home too, because I was going really fast over some pretty rough roads and potholes. I had to get it trued before I got home. My 30 lb. backpack was killing my back too. I had to carry my food, clothes, and shoes in there along with my heavy duty bike lock and bike repair kit.

I got faster and faster each day I rode though. Now, I'm out of shape again. I only slept 3-4 hours per night during the project. I was only able to do it, because I was so excited from my bike rides.

Fargo Street Hill Climb

Check out the video clip from Time Warner cable about the annual Fargo Street Hill Climb.

http://www.lawheelmen.org/fargo09_timewarner.mov

You can see me mountain biking up the hill for a couple of seconds.

I just climbed up a couple of times, because I had to hurry back to church to teach Bible Study.

I climbed all of the hills on Fargo Street last year on my time trial bike to train for this. On my very high geared time trial/triathlon bike, it was very tough climbing up. I had to give it my all and fell several times. It's very tricky to switch back while riding up.

On my mountain bike, it was pretty easy. I put it on the lowest gear, but I think it was too low. I was spinning pretty fast and that caused my breathing to rocket sky high. I should put it on the second to lowest gear next time.

I hope to climb this hill several times next year.

Hill Climb

Marlboro Hot Laps Drifting Mustang

Marlboro Indy Car

Sunday School Musical

Sunday School

Contest Rehearsals

Gospel Song Contest Rehearsals

Marlboro Hot Laps

I went to the Marlboro Hot Laps event at the Irwindale Speedway on Monday morning. It was very cool riding shotgun with pro drifters at the track. We rode on two different courses around the track. I was honestly scared the first few seconds before the first corner. The driver I was with was going impossibly fast approaching the first corner and then he spun the steering wheel around applying opposite lock and the rear end of the Mustang swung around the corner. That was a lot of fun. It takes tremendous skill and precision to control the cars while they're drifting.

I want to try and do that with my cars, but I just don't want to spend the thousands of dollars it takes on buying new tires all the time.

Since the event was sponsored by Marlboro, there was a ton of smokers smoking all around me. I've never seen so many overweight and sickly looking people with brown teeth before. Yuck!

Although there was too much smoke, it was fun drifting. Plus, they provided really good food. I was totally stuffed on the buffet.

They also gave out great gifts including a Swiss Army watch valued at nearly $300!!! Sweet! Cigarette companies must still be rolling in the dough with all the nicotine addicts in the world, despite being sued nearly every day.

Pictures of the event to come soon.

The Joys and Sorrows of Cycling

I rode my bike for the first time in several weeks since opening the pharmacy. In the early part of my ride, this woman yells out "Damn, you have nice legs!" from the passenger seat of a car. That made me feel good since most of the time people are yelling obscenities at me or honking at me or just trying to run me over.

Things started getting worse when I started my route back home. Some fugly fat Hispanic grandma in an SUV kept honking at me for no reason. I was going down a 2 lane road. One lane for going south and one for going north. There was plenty of space for the angry granny to pass me. Instead she just kept honking her horn at me as if trying to say that I should get off the road. I actually went down 5 miles south before I saw her again. After that I just left her in the dust. I guess people are frustrated when they are stuck behind traffic and stop lights. It's still no reason to take it out on bikes. I always watch out for bikes and pedestrians when I drive without getting mad at them even though they aren't obeying the traffic laws. Some people are so rude.

Later on when I was biking back home, this guy sitting in the front passenger seat of a green taxi opens the door right in front of me trying to knock me down. Fortunately, my spidey sense was tingling and I had a precognitive moment where I thought that a car door might open up. The green taxi cab was stopped at a signal behind a few other cars. The taxi just passed by me earlier. As I approached the taxi, some stupid middle eastern guy just opens the door as fast as he could trying to time the door swing so that I would get hit. I slammed on my brakes and started skidding. I tried to steer my bike as close to the right as possible. Fortunately, there was some extra space on the right for me to pass without hitting the car door. If there was less space between the car door and the curb, I might have ended up in the hospital. He screams something at me and I yell back, "You frackin' @$$hole!" I should have stopped and taken some pictures of him and the taxi's license plates. I was kind of in shock and plus my adrenaline was pumping. I made excellent time on my way home so I guess I didn't want to stop or didn't think about stopping. I didn't want a jerkoff to ruin my day. Actually, he did since he committed assault by intentionally trying to make me crash into the car door. He might have been mad since I kept passing him on my bike at several intersections. Still, he had no right to try and kill me.

The taxi passed me again and I caught up to him at the light, but the light turned green before I could get the license plate. I got the taxi cab phone number, but decided not to call since I didn't have the license plate.

Despite the idiots and a-holes on the road, I wouldn't trade cycling for the world. If I make it back home in one piece and I had fun and exercise most of the time, then it's a good day.

Bowl-o-Rama

Last night, the Sunday School Teachers met at the Great Wall Chinese Restaurant and had some delicious food. We met at 8:00 p.m. since we had to close the pharmacy prescription section. I overstuffed myself as always.

Then, we went bowling. We only had time for one game since it was Saturday night and it was crowded. We had to wait about half an hour to get 2 lanes. There were 12 of us who played. We finished around midnight. I suck at bowling and seem to be getting worse every time I play. I only play about once every one or two years. Sarah did much better than me.

However, bowling is a very good social game. It really brings people closer together since we're all cheering for one another. Well, it brings feelings of closeness. It's back to normal the next day.

I had to wake up by 6:00 a.m. so I could get to church by 7:00 a.m. to set up the church sound equipment.

Sarah and I are really tired since we work 12-14 hours a day every single day at the pharmacy these days. I've only been sleeping 4-6 hours a night and I'm simply too exhausted to do anything else these days.

Those who attended bowling night was: Tony, James, Sarah, Yang, Whoony, Fenny, Jenny, Jung Mi, Ryan, Jimmy, Erich, and me.

Kate, Miju, Irene, and lil' Mikey were there for dinner.

I left my camera in my car, and we took Whoony's car so I couldn't take any pictures. :(

Chinatown 5K Race

I just got back from the Chinatown 5K Race this morning. I got there a little late, because a cop pulled me over. Fortunately, I was able to sweet talk my way out of getting a ticket.

I started at the back of the pack at 8:00 a.m. I only did the 5K instead of the 10K, because I had to finish as fast as possible so that I could fulfill my duties at church. I usually get to church when it opens at 7:00 a.m. to set up the sound equipment for the kids worship service. I wish it opened earlier on Sundays, because I have a lot of stuff to do. I have to prepare the kids' bible study, set up the sound equipment, eat some food, wash up, and change my clothes. I usually run or bike 13-15 miles depending on the route I take to church. If I run, I usually leave before 5:00 a.m. If I bike I leave before 6:30 a.m. I go to the 8:00 a.m. service and we have a teacher's meeting at 9:30 a.m. Maybe next year, I'll do the 10K. It starts at 8:30 a.m. though. Maybe, I'll do the 5K and then run the 10K right afterwards. The 5K and the 10K registration fees cost the same.

I was thinking of running to the race, but I thought I would be too tired to post a good time. I was thinking of biking to the race, but I didn't want anyone to steal my bike while I was running. Plus, I usually carry some stuff with me when I bike and I didn't have any place to put my stuff. So, I drove my car to the race. That's when I got pulled over.

There were several hundred people at the race. I couldn't believe how many people there were. I couldn't even run in the beginning because it was way too crowded. When I was finally able to run, I went at a really slow pace, because there were just way too many people blocking my way. The entire street and sidewalks were filled with people. Eventually, the crowds thinned out the further out we went.

I was passing everyone and it felt great. After awhile though my heart started beating really fast. During a race, I push myself at a faster pace than when I usually run during training. The uphill section was tough. After when I reached the turnaround point, it started going downhill. That's when my heart felt like it was about to burst. I had to slow down because I had not felt my heart beat like that before. I guess my conditioning was not as good as I thought. I usually don't run at that pace. When I run a half marathon to church in the mornings, I usually go at slow and steady pace. During today's race, I pushed myself to pass as many people as I could. I need to do some more interval training to get my heart to take that kind of high pace strain.

Eventually, my heart settled down a bit and then I pushed myself again. When I came near the finish line, I sprinted. I finished in about 23 minutes. I think I could have gone 5 minutes faster had it not been for the slowpokes blocking me in the beginning of the run. I'll have to train a lot harder though if I want to keep up a faster race pace. I don't want to die of a heart attack.

The great thing about racing is that it is fun running with so many people. I can totally understand the pain and heavy breathing from the people around me. We share in the suffering and we revel in our mutual agony. I didn't even wear my new running shoes, because it was raining in the morning and didn't want to get them dirty so soon. So, I ran with my old running shoes.

I used to be faster in high school. I was the fastest kid in junior high. Then, the kids all started getting the growth spurts in high school, and they started running really fast. I was still fast, but not as good as the track stars.

I've been pretty tired lately since I've been helping Sarah's pharmacy as much as possible. We have to work really hard to make our business grow so that we can survive this recession. I don't want to live out on the streets.

Justice Brothers Racing Museum

Click on the picture for more images.

The Justice Brother Racing Museum has a bunch of vintage race cars, classics, and antiques. They also have this strange moon mobile with an astronaut standing by it.

I got my Canon camera back so I can take more pictures again. Yaay!

Rose Parade Pictures

Photobucket Album

Rose Parade 1/1/09

Photobucket Album

Happy New Year (Or At Least Try to Have One)

Happy New Year everyone! I know it's tough for many of you, including me, because of the financial crisis we're having. Hopefully, we'll survive this year so that we can enjoy the good times to come after this recession. Let's hope the analysts are wrong and the recession does not last a long time.

Well, this past xmas and New Year's, we had dinner at Sarah's parent's house and at my parents house. I had to bike to burn off all those holiday dinner calories. I've been riding almost every Saturday morning with YN Cycling. We've bike around the San Fernando Valley starting in Encino, Rose Bowl to Tujunga, and Whittier Narrows to Azusa.

Oh yeah, the reason I haven't been posting up pictures is that my camera broke. I have a Canon Powershot S400 and I've been having memory card error messages. I sent it to Canon to get it repaired. Hopefully, I can get my camera back soon. I hope all the pictures I've taken haven't been erased either.

I took a bunch of pictures when I biked to the Rose Parade. I was waiting for the parade to come through the streets of Colorado Boulevard, but they were moving so slowly that I biked on the parade route. There were other people walking on the streets too. I tried to find a good spot to see the parade. With a bike, I don't have to worry about finding a parking spot and I could easily move around to get a good spot. Biking on Colorado Boulevard was fun. It was like I was part of the parade, because everyone was lined up already and it was a festive atmosphere.

Sarah and I hiked Sturtevant Falls in Arcadia too. Last time, we went with my sister, Sae Woon, Grace, Sae Jin, Ben, and their dog, Destiny. Unfortunately, we took a different path and didn't get to see the falls.

I also was invited to test drive a Mercedes SL63 AMG. However, the dealer gave me the 2008 SL55 AMG instead. But, it was an awesome car. It was the most powerful and most expensive car I've driven so far. It costs nearly $140,000 and has 508 hp. Sweet. They usually don't let any chump off the street drive an AMG. Fortunately, I had the invitation when I signed up for an AMG event. The salesman wanted to sell me the car. I offered him less than $100,000. Needless to say, there was no deal to be made. I still wished I drove the even more powerful SL63. What would be totally awesome would be to drive the SL63 Black series.

I also drove the Lexus IS-F. That car is a serious competitor to the BMW M3. I love the blue light instrument panel too.

We've been having a very warm and dry January here in L.A. so far. It's been in the upper 80's lately.

Also, there was another earthquake last week. It was only a 4.5, but it's scary, because I was home alone. This was only a couple of months or less after the last 5.0 earthquake. I'm very scared about the "Big One" happening.

We went to the New Year's Eve service at church. Not exactly the way I wanted to celebrate.

This past Sunday, the Sunday School teachers went to Tahoe Galbi and had All-You-Can-Eat BBQ. That was really good. I didn't eat that well since New Year's Day when I had All-You-Can-Eat BBQ at my parents' house. I've been burning thousands of calories, but I've been thousands of calories more so I haven't really been losing any weight.

Sorry, for this messy post. I've just been trying to remember what I've done these past few weeks. It's easier to write a more coherent post if I write down what happened immediately after it happens, but I've gotten lazy. Plus, my camera is dead. Hopefully, it will rise from the dead soon and I can start taking more pictures like crazy again. I should buy a new camera, but the economy has wiped out my savings, mutual funds, and stocks. Grrr!