diphthong

looks like gmr/grr will be closed to motorized traffic starting at 10am monday, july 3rd and reopened to motorized traffic at 10am on wednesday, july 5th.
been approx two years since last ride up/down gmr/grr but hitting it earlyish on the 4th. may start from pioneer park. may start at the sierra madre/gmr intersection. ski lifts or bust! anyone else hitting it? please pardon the brutal lack of arts & crafts skillz.

https://pw.lacounty.gov/roadclosures/list_closures.cfm

typ240

…the Riverside Bicycle Club usually has a group ride scheduled to climb GMR to the lifts and back the same route.(currently not posted on their ride calendar yet) At least 20+ riders, starting point for them is at the bottom of Sierra Madre, from what I remember.

If not too hot, I may start from EuroCafe on Mills rd. in Upland and will descend on Mt Baldy rd.

jsigone

negative, I don't want to deal with traffic to get back to San Diego. We're riding up Palomar this weekend though, weather to be in the mid 80s so still comfy.

Tycho Brahe 

Yeah, no.

diphthong

okay, dialing back on the lifts.

SoSmellyAir

May be too hot for me to ride today!

roadcrankr

Huge cycling numbers tackling GMR this morning.
Never knew of this tradition, despite living only one mile from the base.
A forty-ish ex-pro rider I follow on Strava hauled ass on it today.

diphthong

absolute waves of cyclists of all abilities mostly on road bikes but more than a few mtb's, gravel grinders, hybrids and tt bikes as well.

at the first gate fixing a flat around 7:15am, hundreds went past. descending back a mile to the car to take advantage of a frame pump
saw approx another 150. descending gmr on the way back from the shack saw approx another 300.

drove up from san diego this morning. not always able to make it due to work schedule but make it most years. such a great sense of camaraderie
amongst the cycling community. my fave annual cycling event in socal. the no motorized traffic is very cool but on the way up, try to stay as far right as possible.
do have to keep an eye out for the occasional, wayward descender as some overestimate their current abilities, speed or their bike's capabilities.

Chinghis

Hey, that was me on one of the hybrids! I still call it a mountain bike, but time has changed how others see it. I have not ridden enough this year to pull off making it to the village, and I was not very prepared in terms of my road bike. So I took the hybrid and set the hut as my goal. It was a nice ride up, I determined that in terms of real time, my old StumpJumper is two minutes slower per mile than the IronMan. I also had bigger slicks than in the past. I think the most fun is looking at other people's rides. Saw a few bikes I'd never heard of - a November?

Yeah, on the descent I was not going fast enough for a roadie who insisted on passing on a (blind) curve, using the left side. I was a little nervous for him.

This is the fourth year in a row I've done it. It's a gas.

roadcrankr

Tough dude lugging a hybrid up the mountain eight miles!
If you saw a blue November ridden by a fairly large fella, I've ridden with him a number of times.
I believe it's a SoCal builder, but cannot be sure.

Chinghis

Found it - November sells wheels, but they also have a "Cafe Racer" listed on their site. Has a 202 area code (DC).

Ten miles, please. I need credit for every mile I was able to do

Eric F 

Was the road closed to cars? If so, I don't see that as as a big deal, and I would likely do the same to pass a slower rider. If it was open to cars, that's just stupid.

Chinghis

Oh, yes, it was closed, but there were still large numbers of folks riding up. Sure, the chances were low that someone was coming up at the exact moment, and maybe he had a better look at other lane? He just could have waited literally five seconds for the next straightaway, and I would even have touched the brakes to let him pass.

big john

I saw the guy on the November. He passed me on the climb and he was at the village when I got there. Pretty bike.

I had fries at the lodge.

Elvo

Heard a motorcycle crashed into the gate at the bottom?

big john

When I got to the gate there was a cop there and I got the impression it was a cyclist who hit the gate and he was unhurt. When I came back down in the afternoon there were 4 emergency vehicles, including an ambulance, going up. No idea why.

diphthong

there was a bunch of what looked to be crotch rocket detritus at the gate on the bottom. curious thing was that the broken pieces were in the downhill lane side and consistent with hitting the gate on the wrong side of the road heading up the hill. good times. there were more than a few frustrated fast and furious xxviii wannabes cars that not so ceremoniously 3-point turned (unaware of the road closure) with little regard to the hundreds of cyclists in the immediate area during my 15 mins at the gate (7:15am-7:30am) while my mate changed a flat. hope any and all
riders that opted instead for the 39 climb up to crystal lake and/or east fork/grr were okay and not endangered by motorized holiday vehicular misbehavior.

Chinghis

Huh, I had a random thought lately about this encounter.

It really wasn't a big deal - no harm, no foul, I guess. But I realized that when I heard him come up behind me, I put up some fingers to let him know that I knew he was there. But now I wonder, did he perhaps take that as a sign that the way was clear and he could go ahead? He may have thought I had better visibility. Just a "huh."