jzr756

Beginning cyclist here looking to progress riding Mt Baldy been training riding daily up around the foothills above Baseline/Claremont for some time now.So what gearing do you guys typically use or recommend for an old 240lb guy in training? Any late 60's guys make the Mt Baldy climb?
Forgot to mention I'm @ a severely obese 40bmi so please go easy on me.LOL

trashbiker

I'm a younger guy, but I defnitely see some 60s ish folks on the climb. I'd advise against going on weekends and to always have lights. There's usually lots of car traffic on weekends and not much shoulder so unless you're going early morning, it gets a little hairy. There's two sections of tunnel that always seem to have glass on the sides so I prefer riding in the middle and having good lights is critical becasue the lights in the tunnel are very dim. A front light is also good for visibilty when you're decending quickly through the tunnel.

Jughed

Not being snarky - but you will either need to lose a bunch of weight or gain a bunch of power.

You're going to need 200+/- watts for 2.5-3 hours. 200w @ 240#'s +20#'s for bike = less than 5mph. on the steep sections you will need close to 250w just to maintain min speed.

Or you will need really tall gearing and slug up at 3-4 mph @ 150w- so figure 3.5 hours.

The reality - 200+ watts for 2-3 hours is no joke.

Gearing - 34x34 at a minimum. If you have a gravel bike with a 1x drivetrain and 40x44 - even better.

For reference - I'm 190#s, did my first small mountain at 230#'s... Worked up to a similar, but easier, climb on the east coast - Mt Mitchell, kicked my behind and required 210+w for 2.5+ hours - at 190#.

big john

I'm 69 and about 200 pounds. I went up to the village on 4th of July and my low is a 34x29. I did much of the climb in 34x27. I took GMR to GRR not Baldy road. Those roads are closed to cars on the weekend of the 4th.

I've gone up Baldy road from Upland, didn't like it. Don't like descending it, either. I like Encanto park to Hwy 39 to East Fork to little GMR to GRR but straight up GMR from Sierra Madre is the most direct/shortest way. Lots of people just go to the "shack" and turn back. It's the building before you get to GRR.

If you do go to the village and plan to descend GRR/GMR don't forget there is climbing on the way back down, like 900 feet?

It was a beautiful day on the 4th but I still took 3 bottles. There is no water until you get to the village. If it's hot I take 2 bottles and a 70oz Camelbak.

If you're not confident just climb GMR as far as you want then turn around. If you want to try for the village remember it gets harder when you get on GRR.

diphthong

it’s a heckuva accomplishment just getting to mt. baldy village. the direct way up from upland starts to bite pretty quickly so you’ll know whether you’ve got the legs/shape to continue minute by minute. no shame in tackling the climb multiple times and progressively going a little farther each time. in the summer, an early start is critical when heading uphill on a grade like that. otherwise, super easy to get the personal radiator overheated in the blink of an eye. sounds like you live close enough to try out the climb multiple times.
big john nailed it. try ascending glendora mountain rd (gmr) first to get a sense of what you’re in for. the direct way up to the village has a lot of long straightaways that can be defeating and seem like you’re going nowhere slowly. climbing gmr gives you a better sense of accomplishment-regardless of how far you climb, or don’t. gmr/grr has the kind of scenery that helps to pull you up the climb.

skidder

It'll be quite hot from now until October so I'd suggest working on fitness for the next few months and trying the GMR/GRR when things get cooler. (I'm not a fan of going up Mt.Baldy Road directly, too much car traffic). I'll admit I haven't been up there in quite a few years but I suspect the terrain is still the same on GMR/GRR or Mt. Baldy Road.

Start by concentrating on weight loss. Watch what you eat by cutting out snacking (a big no-no with me) and better choices at mealtime, see if that helps with the weight. As for riding just concentrate on getting out and getting some distance in at a good pace, get your breathing to the point you are slightly laboring to get enough air (you don't have to do multiple hours of distance riding all the time) After the weight gets (hopefully) under control and the distance riding becomes comfortable I'd suggest doing some up-hill interval workouts - find a hill, 'struggle' up it for 3-4-5 minutes, come back down and repeat multiple times until it gets exhausting (this can also be done on flat roads by repeatedly timing yourself over a set distance, but hills make it so you can't slack off). By fall you should be able to get up to the Village or ICehouse Canyon (where the switchbacks start). I've never been up the switchbacks to the ski lifts as I've been a little scared of how drivers go up-&-down that section of road.

Broctoon

^ ^ ^ What he said. ^ ^ ^

I don't know what kind of grades are on Mt. Baldy, but I've done enough climbing on 5%, 8%, and even 10%+. I'm a pretty fit guy at 5'10" and 165 lbs. I don't like having a lowest gear any taller than 39x32. Usually I ride with a mid-compact crank (36 chain ring) and 32 or even 34 cog. If you're on a steep climb for anything but short distances, and you're overweight, you definitely want to get down to a 1:1 drive ratio or lower. Then you can simply spin along at high cadence. You won't get there fast, but you'll be glad that you can keep moving.

big john

One time I went up East Fork to the village with a friend who was about 280# at the time. I think he had a 39X25 low gear, maybe a 27, but that bike was creaking and groaning and he stopped a couple times but he made it. Very strong ex college lineman, the lightest I ever saw him was 265#.

When you want to do more than the village the road goes up for four more miles and gains 2000 more feet. There are long sections of 15%. I've done it but it's not really enjoyable. Usually 1 or 2 from our group will do it when the rest turn back at the village.

Rode up there for my 60th birthday ride. Friend went to the village the day before and dropped off the cake, it was a total surprise to me.

Black wallnut 

Years ago there was frequent posts in the Clyde sub-forum about this climb. None of which included advice to lose weight.

SkinGriz

The good news is if you point your bike up the hill, and get farther up the hill than the last time, you’ll know you made progress.

CAT7RDR

Take GMR-GRR both to/fro Mt Baldy Village for the fun swervy descent.
Take a touring approach, stop along the way for pics and enjoy the scenery. (Take a breather).
Even when the roads are closed for vehicles you will still have service vehicles.
Look out for deer!
Not unusual to have sand/gravel near the bottom switchbacks.
No water sources until you hit the Village.
I am 220 lbs and have used both a 34-27 and 34-34 range and even used a 35 lbs 29er MTB.
Find your pace for a 2 hour climb and you will be fine.

Don't blow yourself up trying to keep pace with stronger riders.
You will have pros and top amateurs fly past you so that is always belittling or motivating depending on your locus.

jzr756

Jughead, thanks so much for your thoroughly detailed reply! Yeah, been trying hard to drop these lbs. Not happening as fast as I wish LOL. Love your wattage vs weight calc, that's pretty nice. Something to work off of! Thanks

Chinghis

Yeah, those climbs on the way back kind of suck! I actually only rode the ten miles to the Hut this year on the 4th, because I knew it would be a chore the farther I went. I also wanted to be home by noon or so, and had started late.

big john

I hadn't been doing a lot of climbing but I did Mulholland to Rock store to Westlake the Saturday before. I also started ahead of my friends and climbed at my own pace.
I felt better at the Village than I thought I would, even had energy for the climbs going back down.

Then this past Saturday I felt like a slug.

Wildwood 

What's the elevation gain on the Baldy ride?

An equivalent ride on the Olympic peninsula would be Port Angeles to Hurricane Ridge = ~20miles with ~5200ft of climbing from sea level. As an old guy, I have passed twice. A wise man knows his limits. 'Cycling is a dangerous sport' meets reality.

tFUnK

GMR>GRR to Baldy Village would be my preferred route. It's more scenic with fewer cars. From Baldy Village to the ski lifts, that's a whole other beast.

Take your time and bring plenty of water and food. As for gearing, you'll probably be in whatever your lowest climbing gear is (not too long ago, 34/28 was as low as people went, and before that was 39/25); you'll get up the hill eventually if you take breaks as needed. The one and only time I did GMR>GRR>ski lifts I weighed 180lbs, had a 30/25 climbing gear, carried 2.5-3L of water, and took my sweet time getting up there (lots of photo breaks, water/banana breaks, and a proper lunch at the lodge).

Jughed

A new cyclist comes in, admittedly overweight and asks about climbing the #25 hardest climb in the US... gets sage advice about gearing, power, weight and the climb itself... seems to me like some good answers were given.

PeteHski

+1. In the OP's case I would go even lower ie mtb gearing eg 32/50. It will be very slow progress but better than grinding to a halt in a gear you cannot realistically maintain without going into the red.

rm -rf

Baldy is really long, quite steep, and a very big elevation gain.

Compare the Strava segments. Hovering over the elevation chart shows the local grade at that point, but it's often quite inaccurate -- the data comes from the original GPS recording, I think. The overall grade, elevation, and distance is quite accurate.

Mt Baldy Road
https://www.strava.com/segments/646257
12.7 miles
4700 feet
7% average grade. Note that the grade is shallower toward the bottom, so the top portion will be steeper than this.

EDIT--is that the Village at mile 8.3? 4240 feet to that point.

GMR first 8 miles (is there a strava segment for the whole climb?)
https://www.strava.com/segments/13596752
8 miles
2600 feet
5.2% grade. Looks pretty steady most of the way.

~~~
This bicycle speed calculator predicts:

I used 150w, a likely sustainably wattage for these very long climbs. (Yeah, some riders can maintain 200, 250, etc. But a lot of riders are in the mid 150 range.)
Note that a 5% grade can be ridden at around 130 watts at 4 mph -- good to have a way to ease the pace at times but still keep moving.


The 150 watt - 3.6 mph speed on Baldy is close to the lower speed limit, where it's more difficult to balance and steering is tricky. It's not practical for such a long climb. 180 watts at 4.3 mph ( taking 3 hours) might be the practical lower limit.


100 minutes (1:40) of moving time on GMR, 210 minutes (3:30) on Baldy. You will want brief stops along the way, not included in the times.

Col A GMR --- Col B Baldy


~~~
I would really like the GMR climb, challenging but very doable. The Baldy one is just too long and steep for me. And I'm at 165 pounds, and do a lot of climbing (mostly on 1 mile long hills, all different grades).
...
I do 7-8%, 300-400 foot high climbs quite often. I can push the pace on these, with the top of the hill arriving in approx 8 to 12 minutes. I couldn't hold that pace for 1500 feet, never mind 4700 feet.

For 2000 or 3000 foot climbs, I need to set a maintainable pace in the 4 to 5 mph range, and I'll stop for 30-60 seconds at overlooks. That brief break is welcome and helpful. These long climbs are usually at 4% to 6% with brief portions at a steeper grade. I can stay seated and use a reasonably fast cadence.

For me, starting a big climb at 150-160w, it's really easy. I'm tempted to pick up the pace. But by the end, that same wattage is no longer easy!

big john

It would be similar to that but has something like 900 feet of climbing on the way back down. Ride with GPS estimate might be a little high. The high point is only about 4400 feet unless you go on to the ski lift which is about 6000.

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/43576691

My favorite way adds 20ish miles and at least 1000 feet.

Black wallnut 

Whatever. Big John gives sage advice. Many others give good advice but your advice is not in the same league. Your mention of the riders weight is unnecessary, in spite of the fact that the OP didn't seem to take offense, many others reading the thread in his same condition will. I read your opening line and even though your stated intent was not to be snarky to many it will appear to be condescending and snarky.
Your gearing recommendation is suspect at best. I have a local climb 6.45 miles 8.2% for a gain of 2783' I have done it several times 34x30 or 34x27 depending on which cassette I had on at the time. At 250 pounds. The climb starts 15 miles from town and 800 feet gain or so just to get to the bottom.
Your wattage guess is wrong. rm -rf looks more truthful.

tFUnK

So, the GMR segment above is just for GMR, and the Baldy segment is all the way up to the lifts. They're not really the same ride in my opinion. A closer comparison might be GMR, GRR, to Baldy Village, compared to Baldy Rd to the Village (I guess the first 8 ish miles of the Baldy segment).

tFUnK

I should step back and ask: what is OP's motivation for riding Mt Baldy? Is it for the accomplishment of riding to Mt Baldy? Is it for the workout aspect of it? Is it to enjoy the trek up? Some combination of these and/or other reasons?

I think the most enjoyable way up is GMR>GRR, and maybe just stop at the village. But that's not the same "workout" as going straight up Baldy Rd. The section from the village to the lifts, that could be viewed as a personal and spiritual experience, but it could also be a workout target. I did it just to be able to say I did it; I don't see a strong reason to do it again just for pleasure, though it might be fun to go up there during winter to touch some snow.

Jughed

Sorry - I used bike calculator, plugged in his weight, bike weight, grade (which is 7.6% without the downhill portions), with a 2 mile section at 10%+.

That is a beast of a climb for an experienced rider.

I was a heavy rider for years, made decent power and would not try that climb at that time. Shorter, less steep climbs used to kick my behind when I weighed 240#.

Now for offense. I offered advice based on my experience as a heavy rider and watts required based off a calculator that everyone has access to. I'm not sorry if you are offended by that - not at all.

It's gotten to the point where you can't even speak without someone being offended... and when you speak to 1000's of people, someone is bound to be offended by anything you say.

So - not sorry if you are offended - and I will quote the rule you listed a few weeks back. See Rule #5.

PeteHski

His gearing recommendation was not suspect at all. Just because you can haul a higher gear at a very low cadence doesn't make it a good choice. I climb with a 34/34 low gear at 170 lbs with a 4 W/kg FTP and don't spin out. A heavyweight beginner needs low gears if they want to stay seated and out of the red on a long climb. It just makes it more achievable at a lower power. Even 150W for several hours is pushing it for a complete beginner and the weight is going to make things really hard on the steep sections.