It’s early February, and I’m still riding my bike every day and waiting for El Niño’s biblical deluge. I’m ready. I’ve got fenders on my Nishiki, a rain jacket, and new waterproof pants. Rain or not, we live in Southern California so endless summer is right around the corner.
While I write my first Pedal On column of 2016, I’m listening to Janis Joplin singing "Ball and Chain." The Monterey Pops Festival was the start of 1967’s Summer of Love. Heroin and Southern Comfort made Janis’s live performances unpredictable. They soared or they crashed. At Monterey, for almost six minutes Janis sings about the pain of abandonment and lost love as she pulls her anguished bloody heart out of her chest. Raw, real, and painful to watch and listen to, but we’ve all been there. From the audience, a mesmerized Mama Cass puts an exclamatory “Wow” to the end of the song.
Almost 50 years later, in Santa Barbara, 2016 will be the Summer of the Bicycle. Here’s a look at some of the upcoming cycling events to put on your calendar now.