diphthong

32-miler circumnavigating lake elsinore and a climb up ca hwy 74 to the old roadhouse on the point (now closed unfortunately). a little muggy out tho but expected.
old, dtown lake elsinore still 4 blocks of cute and worth a resto stop/walkabout. traffic not too bad ascending ca hwy 74 and the (from my turnaround point) 4 mile descent
brought a smile to my face. had forgotten how beautifully flowy it is. remembered the scenery tho. used the brakes once or twice because i no longer like to descend > 40 mph but my younger self didn't grab any brakes on the descent.
managed to time it perfectly and had zero cars on my assets on the 4 mile descent which made it sublime. turns out, a big rig had been slowing down the usual traffic on the downhill but i'll take it.
original plan was to climb the 74 and shoot southward once at the summit along south main divide rd. towards tenaja rd. and descend clinton keith rd. south main divide rd. is one of my faves in socal with the adventure, isolation, scenery and lack of traffic.
road may have gotten trashed with the remnants of tropical storm hilary. got a little hot on the climb today...maybe next week.

https://www.strava.com/activities/9791333304

jonathanf2

33 miles on the LA River and up the Griffith Observatory. The fire roads at Griffith park are all beat up from the rain this year. Park maintenance just keeps throwing sand and gravel on the fire roads, making them less road bike friendly. Though it's become more fun riding the gravel bike there instead!

Eric F 

Labor Day Weekend +1...

Saturday - 30mi gravel ride from Altadena over Cherry Canyon to the Glendale Sports Complex descent (short). Pavement to La Tuna Canyon, up dirt La Tuna to Verdugo and Beaudry North. Pavement back home. Tough ride. Good work. Grey and damp from rain the night before, but the dirt conditions were excellent. Got rained on a little in the last 20 minutes, but it was never cold enough to be a bother.


Sunday - Alt Coffee Ride (37mi) with a small group of high-quality riders. Arroyo Bike Trail - Elysian Park - LA River. Mostly easy on the flat sections. I'm not a fan of the mid-ride coffee stop, but La Colombe next to the LART is pretty cool. Due to time constraints, I split off the group and headed home in Glendale via Glenoaks and Chevy Chase (new PR on CC climb). Legs felt better than expected after Saturday's gravel.


Monday - Slow, easy, solo, road (27mi). Altadena - So Pasadena - Arcadia - Sierra Madre - Altadena. Other than having a driver make 2 aggressive moves at me, it was a really nice ride.


Tuesday - Happy Hour MTB ride (9mi). My typical after work dirt loop. I kept my effort pretty moderated at a sub-threshold level on the climb to Brown Saddle until the final steep pitch, and then pushed it a bit to the finish. Managed only 30s off my PR, and definitely could have been faster if I was pushing from the start. My legs didn't ever feel very good, but I was turning over the pedals pretty well. The descent felt smoother and more flow-y than ever, and it showed in a PR on that section (I don't try to PR descents). I love this little dirty quickie.

jonathanf2

Today I knocked out 25 miles and 2234 feet of climbing over at the Pasadena Hills. One my new favorite climbs is heading up towards Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, mainly because they have a nice view. Every so often I saw a lone road climber, I almost feel like climbing is a solitary endeavor!

jonathanf2

Today I knocked out a quick 23 miles in the Pasadena hills. I'm getting spoiled by these high income bracket neighborhood roads. They're nicely paved, have little-to-no traffic and I can ride them up and down for several thousand feet of climbing on a regular basis! I also picked up pair of GP 5000 clinchers in 25c that were discounted as open inventory. I have them setup on TPU tubes and they definitely live up to their reputation. They're fast!

Eric F 

I had intended to have an easy day with some Zone 2 laps around the Rose Bowl, but decided to check out the PAA club's "ShLoC" ride that winds itself thought the San Rafael hills to the west of the Rose Bowl. There were a few guys I know in the group, which made the decision to join the ride even easier. Due to time constraints with getting home, I had to pull the plug early. The climbs were tough, and the pace set by the leaders was just out of my reach, but I held my own better than expected among the group. Fun ride. Good work. (20mi, 1600')

joesch

Got a nice beach roll in from top of OS to Del Mar and back.
The pit stop for pizza and beer really fueled the ride back.
The Guns Out Stout was great.

jonathanf2

Were you able to hang with the A or B group? Last time I rode with PAA, there were quite a few strong climbers. I stuck with A group most of the way, but I should have taken it easy with B group. I think I pushed myself too hard, because I ended up cramping on the final climb and had to limp back to the parking lot!

I haven't had time to ride with them since then, but I've been training those same hills every week, trying to increase my pace and power through some of those steep elevations.

Eric F 

A group. That said, there are some folks I know who are good pretty climbers, who often do the ride, but weren't there. Of the riders that were there, a few that were definitely stronger than me, but I was with a few others not far behind. We did a couple of roads I'm not familiar with, which was a nice change of scenery. I'll probably be back for more in the near future. Hopefully, I can stay longer next time.

jonathanf2

I might try and swing by for another ride with them before it gets too cold. Though both my kids are playing fall sports and have after school activities, so finding time for these afternoon rides is getting harder for me.

Eric F 

Been there. Done that.

mackgoo

https://www.strava.com/activities/9810499428

diphthong

sweet. if you end up hitting a pizza port again in the near future, keep an eye out for their "135 ipa" on tap (if you do ipa's). best new beer i've had this year and i tend to "sample" a bit.
nelson and sauvin hops iirc. had it at both the solana beach and ocean beach locations.

joesch

I do love ipa's as well. Does the 135 have a catchy name, dont see it on the displayed menu?

TakingMyTime

A slow 18 mile round trip heading north on the SGRT from El Dorado Park. I stopped at the park since they were having the last races of the season there this morning. I stayed for about 45 minutes and then headed up the SGRT. It's got me thinking about training this year and maybe try to join in next season.

jonathanf2

Saturday morning dirt. My kids are both back in soccer this season, so that means more gravel time next to the soccer field! This is the first time I took the carbon gravel frame to Cherry Canyon and it climbed surprisingly well, much better than my alloy frame and it handle the switchbacks on the single track like a champ.

SoSmellyAir

Light rain this morning so I rolled out on my gravel bike (which doubles as my rain bike). Not taking my road bike means I can continue to check out the "hero gravel" that Eric F is always talking about, increasing the total distance to 39 miles with 1,623 ft. of elevation gain.. I don't know how jonathanf2 keeps his gravel bike so clean. Mine is due for a wash again. After that it is clipless pedal time.

jonathanf2

My favorite SoCal dirt is 2-3 days old after a heavy rain. The dirt is dry enough not to be muddy, but moist enough not to be dusty. In my opinion those are the best dirt riding conditions when riding the trails.

In regards to keeping my bike clean, when I get home i do a fine spray mist on my bike, shake it out and wipe it down immediately. I use a damp paper towel to get all the remaining grime/dust. I then use tire & vinyl shine on my tires, crankset and any other surfaces not carbon. Lastly I wipe down my chain and cassette. Any sticky residue I'll use alcohol in a spray bottle. I like my bikes being photo ready!

jsigone

Palomar Mt's but up Nate Harrison Grade on roadie slicks. hit 5k ft vert in first 15 miles. Canceled plans to do the observatory leg of the route due to rain and just came down South Grade to car at Harrah's casino

https://www.strava.com/activities/9823958598

diphthong

nice! 28's? 32's?

jonathanf2

5k in 15 miles? That's steep a** elevation! Even though that dirt looks fairly mild, I'm not brave enough to take roadie slicks on that trail. I'd probably do a minimum of 32c tires with something like GravelKing slicks/SS tires.

jsigone

I was on 32c tires, Specialized Roubaix pro tubeless, my buddy had his TCR with 28C tires, GP5k. We both had 50/34 cranks, but he had 34t cassette I had 36t cassette. Limited out of the saddle due to traction and lots of low cadence work. Strava says 9.4% grade average for the entire thing, I told him he'll be happy to see single digits on the garmin.

Eric F 

Saturday - Montrose Ride (8am, short). Small-ish group at the start, and very moderate pace east on Huntington. Once out to Arrow Hwy, the pace got hot, and I spent a bit of time working hard in a strung-out line battling to stay on the wheel in front of me. I felt comfortably within my abilities in the hills, and was able to ride with the lead group to the finish in Sierra Madre. I'm not to the point of being able to work and drive the pace when things get hot, but my fitness is definitely improving. I took a slightly longer route than usual on the way home, and ended the day with just under 49mi.


Sunday - MTB ride to the top of Brown Mtn. Rd (14mi, 2100'). My body was feeling tired, and the legs were unresponsive to attempts at harder efforts. I kept a steady tempo effort up the climb, and didn't make the typical stop at Brown Saddle on the way up. Descending, I felt a bit unsettled and ended up on the ground quite unexpectedly. Thankfully, the landing was soft, and no significant damage was done to body or bike. I think it's time to back it off a bit this week and let the body recover a bit.

diphthong

34-miler beginning and ending in balboa park. took in mission hills, old town, fiesta island, clairmont, kearny mesa, linda vista and mission valley.
big raindrops most of the ride. frequent enough to dampen the roads but not enough to kick up spray from the tires. a very fine line. nice being
out even though it was mega-humid. sun almost came out once or twice.

jonathanf2

On Momday I did 24 miles and 2400 feet of road climbing. I did barbell squats on Sunday and my legs were sore ASF. In fact Tuesday morning, I could barely get out of bed because I was so sore. Strength training and cycling really don't go well together! Lol