I waited until the day cooled off - about 5:30 p.m. - to ride my bike. I headed north again, up into the Santa Monica mountains. My destination was Loma Vista, which has to be one of the longest, steepest paved streets this side of the San Fernando Valley. It seemed to take forever to make the climb, in part because I traveled up the equally steep, but not nearly as long, Hillhurst, first, which runs parallel to Loma Vista. There aren't any grand views, but there are some grand homes along the tree-lined route. I rode back down Carla Ridge, not nearly as steep a road, but with a lot of fast, fun turns to negotiate at speed, before I ended up below Graystone Mansion, at the bottom of the hill.

I returned via a clogged Sunset Blvd, taking care at times not to let myself be pinned between the slowly moving cars, buses and trucks on my left, and the parked cars on the right. Fairfax was an easy ride back once I turned off Sunset.

Totals: more than 15 miles, and more than 1600 feet of climbing.