Hotter than hot at Amgen Cycling Tour and Pasadena LitFest

Jacaranda trees along Del Mar in Pasadena — On my way I stopped to capture the image of the amazingly beautiful Jacaranda trees in full bloom along Del Mar in Pasadena. That thin green line near the bottom of the photo marks the bicycle lane along Marengo. I think the green marking, which only goes for a very few blocks, is a test of some kind.

I had ambitious plans for this last weekend but the early summer weather with temps reaching the mid-90sF curtailed things. I did manage to attend one session, entitled ‘Sunshine Noir’, at the Pasadena LitFest. The LitFest is a relatively new event held in public open spaces in the Playhouse District in Pasadena and focuses more on successful local authors than does the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, which was held last month on the campus of USC. There were over 150 authors participating in more than 30 panels and readings.

I have photographed the Amgen Tour of California on several previous occasions, so after the Sunshine Noir panel ended I rushed over to the finish line of this annual cycling event which was not far away. And then stood in the sun…and stood…and became very very overheated and as soon as the racers cross the finish line I went home and spent the rest of the weekend recovering from heat exhaustion.

So here are a few photographs from this shortened weekend.