Memorable from that period were some of bicycle treks — shown here are two photos of an early morning departure for a run from Venice to Laguna Beach (60 miles each way) with Dennis and Mike (aka Rojo) and a couple of scenes from the sojourn from Venice to Solvang (about 125 miles each way), where I experienced the most excruciating relentless uphill stretches ever in the mountains out of Santa Barbara. (Even bicycle racer/mechanic “iron man” Dennis suffered a blister or two.) And the best memory highlighting that summer was a visit of a few weeks by niece Gabrielle, all the way from New York City. (The white-haired gentleman, whose name I forget, was her maternal grandfather.)
