Eric F 

Which climb was that?

nagakuraruan

Any trail recommendations in south orange county?

Eric F 

Lower Big Tujunga Canyon Road (aka "Lower Big T") -> Angeles Forest Hwy -> Angeles Crest Hwy. I wish it was a few degrees warmer, but it was a good ride with a few friends. Lower Big T is a bit of up and down until the the last 3 mile climb up to AFH. The descent from Clear Creek (AFH-ACH junction) to La Canada is nice, but can be a bit busy with traffic. A rider with decent skills can roll that section at a steady 35-38 mph without touching the brakes.


Unfortunately, halfway down the ACH descent, traffic in both directions was completely stopped at the site of a crumpled red motorcycle on the side of the road. The rider had been hauled off by helicopter shortly before we got there.

TakingMyTime

Search for "Pacific Ridge Trailhead". Basically it puts you in Crystal Cove State Park. There are miles of multi-use and dedicated bike trails from the trailhead to the beach. You're mostly riding around in a bunch of scrub oak but there were plenty of mountain and gravel bikes taking advantage of the place when the wife and I went hiking last Saturday. Parking is much better if you can do it on a weekday.

Eric F 

Repeats?? I'd be good for downhill repeats...with a car shuttle back up - LOL

Tycho Brahe 

TL;DR https://www.strava.com/activities/4902848689

Thank you CAT7RDR for the inspiration for trying new routes. I have never been to that part of the world and I am getting tired of all my weekend routes since I ride solo (not by choice). Did not even know it was LA County. I am woefully ignorant about the area.

The day started very cloudy and chilly (for SoCal), but I opted for just a base layer and jersey. Not a fan of the initial urban traffic. Overall nice route, although I did get lost in one part where CAT7RDR did some loops. At the end of one dead end climb, I tried to make a u-turn too fast and my front wheel slipped on sand, causing me to crash on my left side. Scrapes on my elbow and knee and hard impact on my thigh and left-hand. Nothing major. No damage to bike or clothing.

CAT7RDR

^^^^^ I'll put something together a little easier to follow without the dead ends and loop-to-loops. .
Sorry to hear of the hazard. I have lost my back wheel on East Rd in the sand a few times. Not good with opposing traffic coming.

diphthong

just a local metro san diego 20-spot. totally unmotivated lately and the relatively (by socal standards) gloomy weather isn’t helping. may hafta force feed myself tomorrow to see if i can shake the last few weeks of cycling meh.

joesch

Have any of you seen this dude flying down many of the most epic SoCal big mtn descents at avg speeds of like 40mph?
I have watch many of his youtube vids to get an adrenaline coach fix, would be scary just to be a passed.

My latest watch was about 10 minutes which is the time he needed to descend Palomar.
SAFA Brian #DescentDisciples​ #PrayForSpeed​ #safa

You Tube

Some of his others including Montezuma, San Jacinto, Yerbabuena, Decker, Malibu Cyn, Topanga, ...
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX1...URMO1wQWLfeiUg

I dont know, maybe one of you all who have posted here ?

Eric F 

Agreed. GMR is quite a bit more technical/tight than Palomar.

stuff shredman

I'm trying one of those CTS training plans offered in Strava and was finishing week two of four.
Sat had an uphill 50min TT, so I did the Gate to Shack segment of GMR (Glendora Mountain Road). Even though I was a bit fatigued from the two weeks of the training plan, still managed to PR the segment at just under 48m.
Sunday did our awesome MTB loop from JPL to Inspiration Point down Middle Merril, Sunset, and El Prieto
When I got back to the truck, I noticed I was 200ft shy of hitting 13,000 ft of climb for the week, so I rode up the road to get it.
Made me think I might have some serious issues I need to work out

diphthong

havent seen him. descended south palomar fairly recently and, as you can tell, road is not perfect. the upper part shown on the vid is really buzzy. the lower part (not shown and less technical) is newish pavement. many of the corners/curves on the lower stretch of the upper part of the south grade rd. (in the first two miles uphill from the 76/south grade junction) have been sprinkled with motorcycle crash debris the dozen or so times i’ve ridden through over the years.

dude does a really nice job keeping the machine under control and making it look easy. descended same part in october on the carbon fiber bike and there was a ton of road chatter from the road surface and made the descent unpleasant.

Tycho Brahe 

Was curious, so I looked up my time. I am pretty much dead even with you (just under 48m).

diphthong

yes and no. they both have plenty of tight spots but gmr has better "far" visibility until the very bottom so you know if you can safely go over the double yellow
to negotiate that tight curve more often from the shack down than you can on palomar from mother's to the south grade/76 junction. personally think the guy would
find gmr easier. road quality on gmr is waay better.

stuff shredman

Nice! I was definitely hurting to get that. I was at 55m this time last year, so about a 13% improvement, but still about 10watts shy of what the FTP test said I should be able to get. I'm hoping I'll get those 10w back when I taper after this training block. The virtual Strava coach says the legs should be feeling the fatigue, and they def are. We'll see. I'll try it again in two weeks, and if I can get those 10w, I should end up right around 46m

diphthong

just under that but i usually stop or slow down to take at least one pic. such a benchmark for socal. next time...no pics and a little more aggressive at the start!

diphthong

c-note from fullerton train station back to san diego via scr (which is nice and green already) and antonio/la pata vs the coast or the 5 fwy corridor. a tad windy today.

https://www.strava.com/activities/4921566072

Nachoman

Big day. Very nice job!
Where did you fit in the beer and Za? Mid ride or post ride?

diphthong

thanx. pizza port-san clemente on el camino real at mile 40. the lunch special slices o' pepperoni were just out of the oven (not reheated) and were fab.
that half-full/empty beer tho...swami's ipa on tap..i've had it a few hundred times in the can and on tap and today was the freshest i've ever had it. wowza.
i almost recalculated/recalibrated the ride and prepared to take the metrolink train (with a transfer!) from san clemente to oceanside. if i'd been riding more lately,
probably woulda. it was that good. for what it's worth, i've hit that location maybe 15x...and found it consistently the best out of the various pp offerings. it is currently
my only go-to lunch location in san clemente. a few taco shops look promising but they're probably not gonna have the great suds.

Mazatleco17

30 miles, felt good and more than likely could have done a few more but decided that it was enough for the day, goal is to do 50 in the near future.

CAT7RDR

61 miles and 6100 feet of climb via Carbon Canyon, Chino Hills, Pantera Park Diamond Bar and worked my way over to East-West Rds and Colima back home. Very cool and cloudy and few cyclists out today.
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/35402217

joesch

Nice ride. Posting jogged my fond memories of living in Yorba Linda and riding the dirt trails of Carbon Canyon to Chino Hills Parks.

socalrider

Led a group from Rancho Cucamonga to Mount Rubidoux in Riverside. Wonderful group of riders. Chilly So Cal Day but a good day on the bike.. You can find our group on Facebook.
The Ladies & Gents cycling group. We host 2 rides a week.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1995518787263583

joesch

Ride for/to World Peace Bridge on Mount Rubidoux. Super purpose

Eric F 

My ride last Friday with a buddy. 48 degrees on roll-out, 45 degrees and rain on the return, but we had some nice almost-warm temps in the middle. A big part of this loop includes stretches along the Rio Hondo and San Gabriel River bike trails - lots of continuous pedaling. A solid dose of miles before a weekend of no riding.


My bike told me it needed to stop for a pic with its friends...