Tour de Francis
I did the Tour de Francis this weekend with Adobo Velo … one of the friendliest and largest cycling clubs in SoCal. They do three TdFs over the year, each with a different route. This one was the winter edition, and follows one of my favorite cycling routes hereabouts. The roads are virtually empty, with great climbs, descents, and scenery.
We started early in the AM. The course starts with a 450’ descent from the parking lot, then climbs a number of ups and downs. That’s really kind of nice, because it is often rather chilly in the morning, and it’s nice to warm up. Great weather last Saturday, though … here is a look at the parking lot.
And a look at the hilly ups and downs at the start.
After the ups and downs are over, there is a long, gentle ascent up to Lake Elizabeth, where our first rest stop was. Apparently, a woman in a red truck drove in there and gave everybody a hard time about how we don’t belong on “their roads,” and that she was going to report us to the Highway Patrol. She also opined that she felt that way only for our benefit, as there was going to be a wake later that day, and it wasn’t safe for us to be on the road.
One of my friends told me that it was a good thing I wasn’t there. I think he’s right. I’ve really lost patience for that kind of nonsense, and would likely have told her so in no uncertain terms. I’d likely have done this to her with the PBJ I was eating.
Anyway, from the rest stop, we headed west through Pine Canyon, where there are even fewer motorists. It’s a steady climb, but not steep at all. And there are some great descents through there. There is also a cool farmhouse with chickens and goats running about (giving you another idea about remote the road is). I’ve seen foxes, bobcats, and all kinds of wildlife through here. And some awesome oak trees. Gawd, I love trees.
The route goes past the Ridge Route (back in the ‘20s, that was the main thoroughfare out of Los Angeles to the North), and down to the Quail Lake in the Antelope Valley for lunch. Adobo is a Filipino delicacy, so as you can imagine, we were well fed. After a bike it was back up into the mountains.
From there, we retraced the route back to the start … along with all the ups and downs. That included a looong descent.
And unfortunately (after nearly 100 miles), climbing up those whoop-de-doos.
[Continued]