Our crew all ready to get cleaning.
LACBC and Phil Gaimon want everyone to know that cyclists care about the environment, so for the second year in a row we returned to clean up Mulholland Drive.
This year, we started at the Nancy Pohl Hoover Overlook above Studio City along the southern edge of Fryman Canyon Park.
Before the cleanup, a group of riders joined Phil at the Universal City / Studio City Red Line Station to bike to the site.
Team Gaimon Clean Up climbing Multiview.
The 5-mile ride kept at a leisurely pace but did have a short 1.2-mile climb up Multiview Ave, a street that Phil already has the KOM on.
We reached the park in about 35 minutes where tools, gloves, and bags were provided by Councilmember Paul Krekorian’s office as more volunteers were ready to go.
Phil didn’t want to waste anytime, so after a quick ceremonial picture, it was full steam ahead on trash pickup. Our clean up zone spanned almost two miles as volunteers spread out from Laurel Canyon all the way to the Autry Overlook.
Roel attacking the start of the Betty Dearing Trail.
The Betty Dearing Trailhead was also located at our starting point, so a number of our volunteers spread out to enlarge our cleaning footprint.
If you ever drive along Mulholland Drive, it might appears to be very clean, but when you look down the ridge, the hillsides are usually covered with trash thrown from people passing by.
Ken getting ready to tackle another hillside.
Our team of volunteers was ready to navigate the slopes and dig deep into the brushes to find anything that needed removal.
Most of the trash we picked up consisted of bottles, cans, paper, and coffee cups, but we did find some unusual pieces.
Doug & John fought over this collector’s item.
Somewhere among the bushes, we discovered a motorized hedge trimmer that seemed to be abandoned long ago.
We also found the front of a safe found deep down the hill. I imagine that door has some story to tell…
This safe was probably in working order at some point.
Fortunately, we were able to leave most of our filled garbage bags at the side of the road as crews came by later to pick them up, but this photo shows the amount of trash we picked up from the Betty Dearing Trail alone.
After a little more tiding up, we got back on our bikes and biked down to one of Phil’s favorite hangouts, Sweet Salt Food Shop in Toluca Lake.
We grabbed brunch and were treated to the food that Phil has the biggest soft spot for: cookies!
Phil shared the joy of cookies with the whole crew.
Thanks again to Phil Gaimon and our volunteers for their hard work and Councilmember Krekorian’s office for providing all the materials and trash pickup.
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