this was one of my first planned out solo rides. i don’t know when the exact date was but i know i had the day off and it was a tuesday. i’ve been in los angeles for a few years and from looking at maps i knew that chevy chase drive existed but i’d never been on it in a car or on a bike so…who doesn’t love chevy chase? 

getting up to foothill blvd wasn’t awful even thought it was longer than i wanted to pedal up hill. then i bombed it down to chevy and started what appeared on the gmap to be a nice quick little jaunt up to the peak of mr. chase’s road.

on the contrary. maybe my legs were tired from the first 17 miles or so but…there is a stretch right before the peak that can’t be more than a few hundred feet long that felt like it was straight up and i didn’t see it coming cuz it was behind a curve and thus i didn’t plan or have momentum or drop down a gear or two and it promptly handed me my wheezing ass thank you very much. i swear i almost had to get off and walk it up.

i managed to make it and stopped at the top for a quick breather. and then took the leap. all i can say is wow. i’ve gone faster than 39.7 mph but the curves are sharp and there’s a solid descent for 6 miles or more before it begins to level out. very little traffic on chevy chase itself for a mid-afternoon ride during the week which made it even better cuz i just used the entirety of my side of the road. 

the rest of the ride is mildly entertaining. downtown is always an adventure and it really is remarkable to look at if you’ve got the time.

chirp,

hillary