Up the Road: GMR CleanUp Day

That old faux American Indian, Iron Eyes Cody, used to get all teared up when he would see all the trash littering the landscape. Least ways the ads on television would have those of us of a certain age believe that he did. Sometimes when I am riding along one of my favorite roads, paths, or trails I find it hard to not get all teary as well when I see trash beginning to accumulate. It is enough to make a sensible person cry. Or get mad; one day maybe fifteen or twenty years ago, I was riding my Inverness Loop out by the Rose Bowl when, all of a sudden, trash began to fly out the window of a car that had just passed me up. Well since the road was downhill and twisty I had no problem revving up the legs in pursuit. Catching up at a stop sign I let the driver know what mischief her precious little ones in the back were up to, but all she had to say about it was 'f' off. Or something like that. I didn't cry that time, but I let anger determine my course of action. Sometimes there is a third alternative.

Like being proactive.

Anyway, one local rider, racer, photographer, dad, etc (man of many hats, in other words) has decided to do something about the trash deposits along a little twisty, curvy stretch of asphalt known as Glendora Mountain Road (GMR). GMR is to folks out this way what Mulholland is to folks in the San Fernando Valley and the west side, or Gibraltar Road is to riders in Santa Barbara; it is one of those iconic bucket list roads for most riders in the greater Los Angeles region. Sunday 5 February will be GMR clean-up day, an opportunity to give a little back by picking up some of that trash that can collect along the verge. Show the community of road riders, walkers, hikers, runners, show the forest, show those drivers who throw stuff out their windows that, yeah, they might make you mad, but that you can also rise above and set the example. Sure they can throw it down - any damn fool can do that; but you can pick it right back up. Not everyone can do that.