Originally Posted by
ooga-booga
las flores is ridiculous. simply ridiculous.
have often though about going up tuna canyon against the "one way" road mandate. not as worried about the cars as i am about the cyclists descending.
tuna canyon would seem to be even harder than the ascent of las flores and i'm not the safest rider but i gotta draw the line somewhere and it's not because i'm worried
about suffering...more worried about not colliding with a speeding rider/auto. i'll descend tuna every few years to gauge loss of hand/forearm braking strength over the years.
baldy is tough as bleep and boring. road surface blows and then you get beat up on the descent as well. it's an accomplishment getting past the "bowling alley," whether you're riding or walking.
personally prefer to summit dawson saddle with the better views, higher el and better pavement.
gibraltar is exposed and get afternoon scorchy. morning with the overcast are best for the climb which has some tough ramps here and there. not much fun to descend but the attached east camino cielo
(along with gmr/grr) is imho, among the top two mountain roads in socal.
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Las Flores is 23% for a short stretch. A guy fell over in front of me and his computer went bouncing across the road, I almost ran over it. I told him "You dropped something". Gotta get my digs in when I can. I think the steepest part of Tuna is 16% but it goes on longer than Las Flores. That's where they had the Red Bull Road Rage race.
Dawson Saddle is a nice ride, not too steep on either side. Coming out of Wrightwood on the 2 is the steepest part.
Balcom Canyon going south has a 23% section. The ATOC went there a couple times. That also sucks to descend. Out there Grimes Canyon will get to me when it's hot. Many times I've baked on that climb. You get still air and the sharp turns make it seem to go on and on.