Overhead Group Selfies with Corresponding Hand Gestures

Trip upon trip upon trip. That's pretty much the name of the game these days. Last week's trip to southern California entirely hinged on the Velocio popup shop taking place at Pedaler's Fork which is my idea of fun. It doesn't hurt that Pedaler's is my favorite coffee shop/bike shop/restaurant/bar all under one roof. Coincidentally, it's likely the only one of its kind on planet earth, so it takes little effort to be my favorite.There were sweet events throughout the weekend, and now a brief photo essay will commence which summarizes the weekend.Velocio showing off its new wares.That elegant showroom display segued into Thursday night's #RideAndPint. A weekly tradition that involves people shredding on mountain bikes, all just a few miles from Pedaler's, lights required for the final few miles, and then beers and food to welcome you home. The early dusk roll out...Dusking.It's stunning. I'll probably use that word a lot, because the landscape there is... stunning.Peace!Throw your hands in the air, Robbie, and wave'em like you just don't care.The herd getting close to the barn.Lights: switching on.Friday afternoon was the #Froad* ride, lead by yours truly, was day two of the Velocio weekend of excellence. Actually I should say Tydeman lead it because that kid is stompingly fast right now. He was two for two winning high school races as a freshman in the NICA league -- National Interscholastic Cycling Association. Basically the high school MTB league. I told him to take it easy in preparation for the weekend, but he was crazy fast and it's hard to reel in the energy of a 15 year old. Plus he went on to win on Sunday's NICA race. Congrats (Tyde)man!The mighty peloton rolling out. Tydeman clearly rocking out.Getting my skid on, as captured by -- you guessed it -- Tydeman.Nope, not gravely in these parts. More like ancient mud that's now like concrete.This landscape is spectacularly stunning. Oddly enough, though, this is pretty much everywhere you look there in Calabasas.What's left of the group: stoked.Saturday is the traditional group ride day. Whether you're in New Hampshire or Ohio, North Dakota or California. Mixing it up amid the Saturday morning farmers market outside of Pedaler's, some 70'odd ambitious cyclists showed up and we had a monster ride. First we went up, then up more, then down, the up, then up again, then down, then up, then down, then hamburgers.An entertainingly off-center photo capturing a ride-by photo bomber.Man, it's stunning here...This is the third of the up pieces.That evening we reconvened at Pedaler's and had an evening reception -- beers, wines, crudités, and pizza. I didn't know what crudités were before this evening. I would have guessed something that involves rendering and a ramekin, but I learned that it's a very fancy word meaning raw vegetables.And lastly, Sunday was a rest day. Of sorts. Instead of riding 100 miles or something nuts to wrap up the four day session, I met up with my super pro photographer buddy Embry Rucker at 6am and took photos for the next twelve hours. It was a far cry from pro bike racey days when we would try to cram a photo shoot of 28 riders speaking a half dozen languages into a one forty-five minute shoot. And making an entire day of it was awesome. Peace bros. *Froad = "off road". Because we didn't actually ride any gravel, so it wasn't groad BRO.