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End of an Era

Van 2.0 Has Landed

December 50 for 50 Ride

January Happy Hour at The Dudes' Brewing Co.

2020 Club Kit Order

Helen’s Night

Race Report

New Members

Pierre Parriaux, a founding member of VCLG, has passed. 😢

Pierre Parriaux was one of the four founding members of Velo Club La Grange. It all began when Raymond Fouquet and the three waiters at his La Grange Restaurant decided they were getting paunchy and needed to get out on their bicycles to get in shape.

Raymond and Robert Van Hove had raced bikes as young men in France. Pierre hadn’t, but soon found cycling was a new love in his life. They entered some races, although their training was minimal due to their work schedules, but their love for the culture grew. And so did the club. Customers and neighbors began to join them at 8:30 on am (the original start time) Sundays for the Nichols Ride.

Pierre had immigrated to the U.S. in 1963 after having grown up as a small boy in World War II occupied Champagne, France. He had worked as a waiter in Paris, as a very young man, and was highly skilled at his profession. I believe he met Raymond while working at Au Petit Jean Restaurant. When Raymond was ready to open La Grange Restaurant, he asked Pierre to join him.

While Pierre was never particularly fast going up Nichols Canyon, he was a dedicated club rider and faithful supporter. He continued the Nichols ride until he bought a tandem and convinced his lovely wife, Jacqueline, to ride with him. Then customarily we would see Pierre and Jacqueline ascending Sepulveda while the club descended it. Ultimately, they rode their tandem in the U.S., France, and Spain. One of my treasured memories was a ride I did with them from West L.A. to Santa Barbara and then back the next day. It was a shared event that we spoke of often.

Pierre and Jacqueline were a delightful couple. Both with movie star good looks and kind generous souls. Being invited to their home for dinner was an extraordinary event. They were both extremely talented in the kitchen. No one could produce a Grand Marnier or chocolate souffle like Jacqueline.

The character of men like Pierre and Raymond were infused into the DNA of Velo Club La Grange, and I believe that accounts for the club’s success.

Below are a few words I put together for Pierre’s funeral:

I enjoyed the blessings of Pierre’s friendship for 42 years. Working with him, riding bicycles with him, and enjoying great food and wine with him, especially great food and wine if he and Jacqueline prepared it! Whenever he traveled, I would receive a postcard written in his elegant script. If we hadn’t spoken for a couple of months, my phone would ring and he would be checking in to see how my family and I were doing.

He taught me a great deal when I first started to work with him at La Grange Restaurant. He also taught me a lot about cuisine and wine, but those lessons were just a small part of what he taught me.

Most of what he taught me were lessons he was unaware of. Pierre taught me about respect. Pierre was a most respectful person. Not respectful in a subservient way, but in an appreciative way. He respected the beauty of nature. He respected the beauty of the arts; in particular Jazz. He respected others for their achievements. He respected people just for their humanity. His appreciation was always given freely. To me, this made him a very respectable individual.

Another thing he taught me about was integrity. Pierre was endowed with an innate sense of justice and fair play. In a world that usually operates in a “What’s In It For Me” mode, Pierre always looked for fairness and equity, even if it was at his own expense. I witnessed this quality in him on many occasions and it had a profound effect on me. I remember him coming to me, as a young 27-year-old, with questions about raising his teenage daughters because he was concerned that the ideals he had brought from the old country might not be correct for them at the present time in America. I believe Pierre likely had more integrity in his little finger than our entire U.S. Congress put together. We would be lucky to have leaders like Pierre.

Then, of course, there were the stories. Pierre had lived quite an eventful life and he did love to speak. I learned a lot from listening to his stories of growing up in occupied France, his adventures in the French Foreign Legion and his immigration to the U.S. We had many political discussions over the years and he was well-read and clearly knowledgeable.

One evening, shortly after we began to work together, Pierre told me regarding our friend and boss Raymond Fouquet, “If you have Raymond as a friend, you can’t have a better friend.” I believe Pierre may have been wrong there, not about the value of Raymond’s friendship, but by not recognizing that, If you had Pierre Parriaux as a friend, you could not have a better friend. He was very modest about his own talents and accomplishments

Rest in peace, Mon Pote.

Dr. Bruce Shannahoff

Pierre donated his original La Grange jersey to the club shortly before his passing. Marco Fantone has it as part of his “banquet collection.”

Van 2.0 Has Arrived and Eli Has Departed

Van 2.0 made it maiden club voyage on Tuesday, December 17th to celebrate our good friend Elijah Szasz. A very merry La Grange holiday take over of Saddle Peak to celebrate our good friend Elijah moving to Utah. Enjoy this video created by Tina Grant.

December 50 for 50 Anniversary Ride

Jaycee Cary, the creator of the 50 for 50 Anniversary Rides, created a route through the neighborhoods of Palos Verdes. Many of us had not been through that area of the peninsula so it was a nice diversion from a usual ride. The Board has decided to continue the end of the month Saturday social rides into 2020 so keep your calendar open for these very popular rides!

Peet’s Coffee at the start. Photo by Caleb Yang.

La Grange Happy Hour Hosted by Mallorca Luxury Cycling

It's Happy Hour time! Join your La Grange friends at The Dudes’ Brewing Company for our first happy hour of the new decade, which is being hosted by Mallorca Luxury Cycling. Come join us on Tuesday, January 14, 2019, from 6 PM – 8 PM. The first bit of the tab is sponsored by Mallorca Luxury Cycling so come early! Mallorca Luxury Cycling was recently launched by club member Joel Bertet. Come hear all about the incredible biking and delicious Spanish cuisine to fuel your rides in beautiful Mallorca. The Dudes’ Brewing Company is located at 395 Santa Monica Place, #304, Santa Monica, CA 90401, which is on the top floor of the Santa Monica Place Mall.

Visit https://www.mallorcaluxurycycling.com/ to learn more.

2020 Club Kit Orders Close on January 5, 2020

The Castelli store will be open until midnight on Sunday, January 5, 2020. Once the store is closed, it is closed. So…order now! And remember, if you placed items in your cart but have not paid for them, then you will not be receiving them. A huge thanks to Jaycee Cary and Marco Fabrizio for designing the kit. The link for the store is http://teamorder.serviziocorse.com/index.aspx?pc=90C434EE-E8F8-4FCF-AF6E-22FB9B12F0CC

Helen’s Night is February 10, 2020

Monday night, February 10th at 7 pm is the date for the annual Helen’s Night. Mark the date on your calendar. Much more details to be announced closer to the date.

Race Report - Track Style

“Just to warn you, these neutral laps are never neutral.” And with that, the opening race of the Agnew Brusavich Holiday Carnival men’s endurance omnium, the elimination race was off, with a neutral lap that can only be described as, “about 30 mph.”

But let’s step back. What is the Holiday Carnival? Many tracks in the US host a multi-day marquee event every year. In Portland, they have the Alpenrose Challenge; in Minneapolis, they have the Fixed Gear Classic; and in Seattle, they have the Marymoor Grand Prix. Los Angeles has been without a marquee event for a while, and rolling into 2020, the board of the Los Angeles Velodrome Racing Association (LAVRA) decided that LA needed something, and why not the holidays (at the time, the weather in the rest of the country was decidedly nippier than “SoCal winter”). The result was the Agnew Brusavich Holiday Carnival (a nod to the Tasmanian Carnivals that happen around the same time), a two-day event on December 19-20, an event that came together quickly in late fall, and was made possible only through the quick and enthusiastic support of the events two sponsors: Gerry Agnew of Agnew Brusavich Personal Injury Lawyers and the Board of Directors of Velo Club La Grange.

The event was structured as a two-day elite event with omniums for sprinters, endurance riders, and Madison riders (What is the Madison? Watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qW3dOWItii0), with one day of amateur racing and one day of junior racing. The prize? The best ugly sweater jersey you’ve ever seen, with the words “Champion of Christmas” emblazoned on the back. In all, twelve Champions of Christmas were crowned at the Holiday Carnival this year. I raced in the elite men’s endurance omnium, and there were a couple other La Granger’s who dusted off their fitness to race as well. Phil Klinkon raced the amateur Madison, securing a podium spot in Saturday’s event, and new La Granger Lee O’Reilly claimed second overall in the amateur women’s omnium, having launched attack after attack in every race she entered. A small contingent of La Grangers (and a host of inflatable sharks) even came to cheer on the final evening session.

Moreover, for a first-year race, the Holiday Carnival managed to pull in a phenomenal field, with pro racers from Portland, Colorado, Pennsylvania, and our own backyard using the event as preparation for January racing at the Six Days in Europe and the Tasmanian Carnivals in Australia. As a racer, we had some of the best fields LA has seen in years outside of the National Championships. For 2020, look forward to a return of the Holiday Carnival on December 19-20 next year. For the racers, a four-race season will lead into this finale, and for the racing fans, mark the date, and bring a cooler to the track to watch some exciting and novel racing.

Phil Klinkon (second from right) on the podium for Saturday night's amateur Madison.

A little holiday cheer greeted racers looking for the mercy of the one-lap-to-go bell.

The new LG Sprinter Van made an appearance and stole the show out from of the Velo Sports Center.

The amateur men's scratch race, like many this weekend, was lined out single file as racers kept the speeds high.

New Members

Welcome to the following 11 new members who joined in December 2019.

Annie Whalen, Craig Grossmueller, Dan Mitnick, Frederick Lacey, Jeni Bakula, Lee O’Reilly, Mark Peterson, Mitchell Levy, Phillip Campbell, Roger Hunt, Welner Trujillo.