roadcrankr

How times change, huh? I ride a 50/34 compact with an 11-30 cassette. Recently expanded from a 28.
Ended up using my new bail-out gear a fair number of times! We were out of our minds to climb anything with a 42x23 combo.
Those seven more miles to Crystal Lake cafe look daunting.

calamarichris

Oh man, twice I coasted back down the mountain after bonking so hard, so thirsty and so hungry that it left an awful taste in my mouth. I was on the edge of blacking out.
Once I rode up there with a half-dozen uncooked corn tortillas in my jersey pocket and a stomach full of breakfast. But it still wasn't enough calories. And I didn't have enough water. Ran outta gas again, and had to coast dejectedly down the mountain again. Saw a motorcyclist wipe-out on a corner and a CHP help him on my way down. Guess he took a corner too fast.
It was a memorable and beautiful experience, but I still never made it. Sometimes i wonder if I might have made it with a 39-27.

diphthong

hell, if i was able to make it up to dawson summit, y'all could hit crystal lake. 34-27 (easiest gear) most of the way up once past east fork.

https://www.strava.com/activities/409734524#9835235972

semi-joking. go as far and push yourself as much as possible given time, weather, road conditions, traffic, food/drink resupply and health concerns on any given day/ride.
no way in bleep town that i could have done that ride in the last two years given my lack of riding. crystal lake maybe in 2023-current but woulda been a very lengthy,
4-6 mph affair with a lighter bike along with better gearing and likely, at least one, rest stop. would like to do crystal lake in 2024. work to do since pulling the plug on the last
gmr visit (made it past the shack to the flat before the descent to the grr/gmr intersection).

Eric F 

Happy hour gravel ride to Cherry Canyon, testing 2.1 tires. Fun ride with no hurry. Just enjoying being able to ride in afternoon sunshine. (14mi/1400')

jonathanf2

I rode 11 miles today, but my ride got cut short when one of my newly converted road tubeless tires went flat. I thought it was a puncture, but I didn't see any sealant leaking. I tried pumping it back up, but it wouldn't hold air. Luckily I kept my spare TPU tube in the saddle bag and I was able to get the tire inflated. I ended up going straight home, since I didn't want to have any other issues. After I arrived, I took the tire off to see why it was leaking. The problem was due to a small tubeless tape tear over a spoke hole. This is the first time I've had this issue, and I've taped my wheels numerous times.

Anyways, I was hoping to avoid more road flats by going tubeless, but it doesn't seem to be helping! Lol

cweb99

excellent bike!

I have a 15 Allez Comp. Same frame as yours. I’ve logged so many miles on that thing

jsigone

I'm digging the old Allez, always wanted one and got this one in groupset I'd like and pretty good shape. Matte paint shows allot of flaws but this was taken care of. Came with some expensive Boyd Alum wheels that I'd never use, I need to off load them and will make this bike even more stupid cheap!.
$750 for it with Force 22, the Boyds retail for $750 so if I can get half that in the used markets I'm solid. https://boydcycling.com/collections/...brake-wheelset


Rode the Allez another 52 miles after work today, didn't mean for this bike to be used for endurance stuff but it's just working out that way right now. Need to slam the stem soon but will need to swap to shallow drop bars, these atomics are huge drop ratios.
https://www.strava.com/activities/10962106708

Eric F 

Happy Hour! I had intended to do my local after-work loop to Brown Saddle on my MTB, but my gravel bike said, "No. ME!!!" So, off we went. I didn't feel very fast on the climb, but the power numbers were decent. I just felt heavy and slow. My time, however, turned out to be better than I expected. The fun descent always puts me in a great mood #dirttherapy. 9mi/1500'

jonathanf2

Thursday I took out the road bike, but slapped on 28c gravel tires and did a bit of off-road. It was way windy and my neighborhood was littered with spiky sweet gum balls all over the street. I was being extra careful not to run the balls over, because I've actually flatted from them before.

Also I've been having issues trying to setup my road wheels tubeless, mainly because I prefer 25c for road, though I had no issues with tubeless 28c tires. I'm finding the issue of higher PSI and tubeless taping to be problematic at that tire size, not to mention the additional hardware I need to carry (bacon strips, CO2 cartridges, etc.). Using TPU tubes and clinchers seem to be an easier solution for me when it comes to road. Gravel I'm tubeless 100%, but at most I'm only at 40 psi on my gravel setup.

SoSmellyAir

Did my first ever group ride with the nice folks of Our Gang MS Ride; their weekly Friday ride starts (and ends) at Citrus Park just up the road from my house.

Eric F 

Ummm...what? The only thing different I carry for tubeless is a plug device (Dynaplug). I use CO2 for either tubed or tubeless tires.

jsigone

south bay gravel recon around Honey Springs road, and some side truck trails. Lots of grinding type climbing. Park ranger out, guess we have to pay the Land Fee through Dept FIsh and Game to use these trails..sucks. $6
https://www.strava.com/activities/10974183229

jonathanf2

Rode twice in one day on Saturday. First a brisk early morning 6 miles at Cherry Canyon on the gravel bike. Later on in the same morning, doing another 33 miles also on the gravel bike over to Griffith Park. It was definitely busy with the LA River bike path packed with cyclists and pedestrians. Also there were quite a few cyclists climbing Griffith as well.

jonathanf2

I'd rather just carry a portable electric air pump and a few tpu tubes. Road tubeless at smaller tire sizes seems like more trouble than it's worth. I had the tape fail on me this week and that's with a double layer. I don't think it's worth the hassle.

malcala622

The usual group I ride with seemed lazy or hungover this morning to go riding so I invited my wife to lunch at Berth 55. I've always wanted to take her there riding but the distance I was aiming for is too much. So I headed out this morning with a headstart and met her in Long Beach.

Near 47 mile to and from via the Rio Hondo/LA River trail. Got a flat midway as some shattered glass was flung to my rear tire. Fixed it quick and made up some time.

One small issue is that some riders have zero manners when it come to pedestrains and opposing traffic on the trail. There was a 30+ peloton coming towards me and a 4 person pedestrian group on my side. I waited for the peloton to pass before I did mine. As soon I made my pass a single rider zoomed on my left just as I was beside the pedestrians. Our shifters were inches away. I caught up to him and had to tell him to respect pedestrians and passing. Of course these type of riders don't care. Luckily nobody was hurt but id rather avoid crashing and always give pedestrians their space.

2seven0

Beautiful sunny -almost- spring morning. Didn't see another cyclist up & back Brea Cyn Rd. from Central to Heritage Park. Not much vehicle traffic either. Hummed Herb Alpert's "The Lonely Bull" to myself as I passed the cattle herd adjacent to the 57 overpass.
Pleasant surprise of the morning Santa Gertrudes got a much-needed re-pave from Whittier Blvd. to Leffingwell. Only thing left to complete looks to be the striping.
Spring is in the air!
West

Eric F 

I haven't had that experience. I've been running tubeless 25-26 on my road bike for a while. The only issues I've had have been sidewall slashes that didn't seal. I popped in a tube, and finished my ride. I'm a tubeless believer on all my bikes.

cweb99

Anyone do this ride in the past? I’m planning on signing up for the 60 miler. I haven’t done an event for a couple years. This looks like a good ride.

https://www.sdgranfondo.com

Eric F 

Saturday...27mi road spin in the afternoon (Altadena - So Pasadena - San Marino - Arcadia - Sierra Madre). Left the house in beautiful mid-60s sunshine. Returned under cloudy skies and rain. My only intent on the ride was just to enjoy being on the bike, and let my body do what it felt like doing. Mostly it was just easy to moderate tempo, but I had a few deep digs on hills that felt really good. I'm pretty happy with hos my fitness is developing right now. Also, this was my first ride in a pair of Shimano RC902 shoes. I don't think I've had bike shoes that fit this good on my unusual feet (narrow, low instep).

Sunday...Gravel Bike California group ride (35mi/3000'). About 30 of us rolled out of San Fernando Park. The original intended route was interrupted by roadwork that inspired a route change for the first climb, but ended up reconnecting to the original plan on Oliver Canyon. It was a good group, and my body responded really well to the demands. Other times I've ridden with this group, I've tended to be off the pace of the leaders, but yesterday, I was able to hang with the front group, which included former Unbound (Dirty Kanza), Mid-South, and BWR winner, Amada Nauman. https://www.strava.com/activities/10981992741

Overlooking Little Tujunga Canyon from the top of Oliver Canyon Rd.


An abandoned car at the site of the former "Hog Farm" hippie community. The buildings were destroyed in the 2017 Creek Fire. This car arrived more recently.

diphthong

haven’t ridden the fondo or this exact route but have done all the segments, many over 100x. biggest climb is the segment from steele canyon rd/ca hwy 94 junction up to the town of jamul. things pretty up substantially once past the jamul casino. once you hang a right onto otay lakes rd (which forms the beginning stretch of the southern part of the route, a decent headwind hits. there is
not much cover for it and it’ll be obvious for 8 miles or so. other than that, beware the angled train tracks on the slope by the shipyards approx 2.5/3 miles from the start/finish. those tracks are unforgiving, especially on the descent.

cweb99

^thanks for the info. I’ll report how good or bad it goes lol.

jonathanf2

For Monday I did a quick 18 miles at Griffith Park. Weather was sunny and warm, but it started raining right after I left!

diphthong

40-miler from sdsu area through mission valley and around mission bay, through balboa park, up park blvd and down the adams avenue corridor back home.

jonathanf2

Today was probably the warmest day to ride this year. Sun was out and skies were blue! Did a quick 18 miles at my usual spot!

roadcrankr

I took to the mountains above Claremont and Glendora, going up Baldy Road to Glendora Ridge Road (GRR) then down Glendora Mountain Road (GMR).
Forty-plus miles with around 5,000 feet of elevation gain. Very tough on a gorgeous day. Time for a nap!


Mount Baldy facing west, so most of the snowpack melted this past week.

The view looking north from a high point on GRR. Fireroad on the right - maybe nice for you gravelers.