Lemond1985

I was originally going to do my last ride in Tuscany, but there was nothing available to rent there.

diphthong

that oc bike forums ride was awesome. a perfect day weatherwise and a nice turnout.


northern san diego county has some great roads. lilac/west lilac, couser canyon, harmony grove, lake wohlford, rice canyon, woods valley, highland valley, de luz and sandia creek the first to come to mind.


road quality in the sammos (santa monica mtns) ain't that bad currently. in fact, it's pretty good. the worst stretch-yerba buena-got repaved recently and is a revelation.
upper half from the i-section with cotharin all the way to the stop sign at mulholland is a must-do. westernmost section of mully is really nice right now. latigo cyn no complaints.
deer creek/pacific view/cotharin good. decker fine. lower encinal cyn good...upper could use a repave. stunt good. one small section of piuma could use a repave. but otherwise...
it's in much better shape than the angeles nf roads and about as good as the san bernardino nf (san bernardino mtns section) roads right now.
haven't had any issues during the week but i don't ride the sammos on the weekend...and if getting there is a royal pita from oc, it's even more fun with a solid hour each way tacked on coming from metro san diego.
still worth it for a treat.

diphthong

there's this on the 198 with a map of the affected area...
https://www.nps.gov/seki/planyourvis...nstruction.htm

and this on the 190...
https://www.fs.usda.gov/sequoia
https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE...eprd825787.pdf

the caltrans site wasn't showing any issues in the area for the 190, 180 or 198 but it seems their reporting jurisdiction doesn't include national park or national forest info.
if i use it for la/san diego area southern california state hwys, it shows/has shown applicable closures/notices. weird.
https://roads.dot.ca.gov/

Lemond1985

I did note that Sequoia Park seems to be open. Hwy 190 though, has caravans of state and federal vehicles going up every day, and had a CHP guy blocking anyone who isn't a bureaucrat or resident from going through. Apparently its a patchwork of closures that no one who hasn't been up there in the last week could ever figure out. Typical. Maybe once it rains all these people will leave, that's my sincere hope.

In any event, I have a nice 59.5 cm Italian EL OS frame for you if you can swing by and pick it up. I will never ride something that big, and don't want to go through the hassle of selling it. You may never build it up, but at least if you have it, there's some chance of that happening.

diphthong

was thinking about coming up to ride the 198 from three rivers into sequoia np to start of construction just past wolverton and back tomorrow but temps will be a little
more to my liking next tuesday so committing to doing it on the 27th. nearish castle fire is 72% contained and creek fire to the north is 61% contained-both as of today.

https://www.arcgis.com/apps/webappvi...705fcce7c3312f

been monitoring the aq along the 198 corridor climb area for the last week and, from what i can tell, it's stayed consistently good. not so much to the west, south and north.
thinking another week may improve things even more (if we can stay away from another blaze in the area).

your battaglin offer is beyond generousity cubed and i would be a complete blathering idiot not to take you up on it.

TakingMyTime

Last ride of my life... a nice 100 mile stretch of something slightly downhill with a 10mph tailwind. Go down in flames with an incredible Century time.

Tycho Brahe 

My post was missing a smiley face. I hope you got my intent! I did a shortened Argus one year (fires), but was able to do the closed bits later. At least I got to ride on a closed highway on the original date.

btppberk

ooga-booga, I want to know your answer.

Due to fire, heat, and, worst of all, work, I've only gotten two of the inland San Diego road in: Mesa Grande and Kitchen Creek. I think Mesa Grande is the more beautiful.

diphthong

apples/oranges. i really like the solitude of both. prefer riding mesa grande north to south...obviously a huge effort up that initial mile-long grade but afterwards, much of it is downhlll
and the uphill parts of the rollers aren't too difficult. riding it south to north has charms as welll, especially if you can slow/stop the bike on the final descent to take in the view or a picture
of lake henshaw. spring is best.

kitchen creek is excellent for the climb, solitude and for toughening yourself up. it's far enough from civilization where you'll have to adapt, overcome and calculate on the fly
whether it's quicker to climb up to mt. laguna store or back to pine valley because you're low on water/bonking/mechanical issue/weather issue/physical issue. either way will involve serious effort.
not totally in the boonies but close. if you want to do long, unsupported solo rides in san diego county or elsewhere, kitchen creek is a good primer that forces you to accurately evaluate weather,
your fitness, your mental stamina and determination.

right now...it's tough to beat the ascent of wynola road (ne of julian) for the vibes, sights and colors in san diego county. road surface ain't great so ascent is recommended vs descent.

if you liked kitchen creek, you'll love boulder creek rd. just bring your '28's...

Trevtassie

I'd have to say I'd probably wanna do a Wellie-Bootin. 17km downhill, down Mt Wellington, in Hobart, Tasmania. If I played my cards right, there'd be at least 8 pub stops on the way... plus a bunch of good friends as drunk as me...
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1683288705275035

diphthong

sounds like a north to south 30th street pub ride here in san diego. there may or may not be parking lot consumption...

btppberk

I did like the solitude and remoteness of Kitchen Creek. Felt a bit like backpacking. I think its probably a lot more beautiful when it isn't so brown and a bit hazy.

You've whet my appetite for Boulder Creek. Need to get some wheels that can take 28s first. I tried putting them on my narrow rims, and was getting pinch flats with every pothole.

Thanks for the tip on Wynola. WIll try for Wednesday. It's gonna be cold for a few days and I left all my cold-weather gear on the East Coast!

diphthong

boulder creek is about 20 miles with a big chunk of it on dirt. i recommend doing it south to north. zero services (except on the ends in descanso and wynola/julian) and phone service is spotty at best so be prepared. i’ve only done it on cheaper ‘23’s (would not do it on the nice conti 5000’s or michelin pro 4’s) but i can’t recommend doing it on anything less than ‘28’s. northern maze of roads can be a little confusing before you hit ca hwys 78/79 in between wynola and julian so map it out first.

along with wynola rd, i’d try to do farmers rd (which intersects wynola rd. near the summit) as well. shortish-like 2.5 miles-and takes you directly to/from julian. it’s pretty and worth mixing in.

furiousferret

I have no idea in SoCal, but its definitely going to be a HC climb somewhere in the middle of nowhere.

My last ride will definitely be the Stelvio. Hopefully I can make it there someday.

btppberk

Hoping to get a ride in tomorrow (Friday). You take wynola up and farmer's down, ooga-booga? To make it longer, Mesa Grande I presume? Thanks as always.

diphthong

generally. it's better that way as wynola rd is better to ascend than descend with the pavement quality. don't recall there being any pavement issues with farmers rd.
there is a brewery and pie shop (separate properties in julian) at the south end of farmers rd. you have been warned. that said, i do like the nickel brewing co on the
other end of town just past the high school and at the top of banner grade. i think they're only open fri-sun currently.

either the mesa grande loop or the 79/engineers rd/boulder creek rd (paved part)/eagle peak rd/pine hills rd/78-79 loop. both will have about 30 miles and
2,500 feet of el gain to/from julian. they're both great. the second option can be a little confusing so map it out, memorize it, download it to your riding computer
or old-school tape a written turn by turn piece of paper to the top of your stem. second option has a few stretches of pavement along the boulder creek rd and
eagle peak rd sections to keep an eye on here and there. if you wanna go large from julian, you could add either the laguna/cuyamaca triangle (60 miles and 6,000
ft el gain or the palomar loop (40 miles and 4,000 ft el gain) or either of the borrego springs/anza-borrego loops (#1. 35 miles and 3,600 ft el gain. #2 . 70 miles and 4,500 ft el gain).

skidder

Just thought of another: Make a day of it doing climbs as possible out of the Owens Valley and into the Eastern Sierra Nevada Mtns. Whitney Portal Road, Onion Valley Road, Westgard Pass (actually in the White Mtns &.Inyo Mtns), Bishop Creek, Tioga Pass, and that hill on Hwy 395 just north of Mono Lake.

btppberk

Thanks for the advice. I loved it! Wynola and Farmers are nice but so short. Luckily the rest was great as well!

I really appreciate the help, as always.

diphthong

glad you were able to make it out there. 38 miles or so?

btppberk

only 28 miles and 2700 feet

big john

Haven't been here in a while. One of my favorite SoCal rides is the 4 counties ride, aka Heartbreak century. Scenic, quiet, and 8300 feet of climbing.

diphthong

have previewed 2/3's of that ride. have never driven or ridden lockwood valley rd from the ranger station at the northern end of hwy 33
just before it climbs south into the topa topa mtns all the way to frazier park. i'm assuming there are no little bodegas, general stores or
convenience stores one can stop at for water or a quick snack. last two times i've tried to drive it (in the last five years) it was closed to
through traffic. just my luck. that stretch from the 33/166 junction south is pretty boring but the stretch west of frazier park that turns into
hudson valley rd gets incredibly scenic, open and beautiful on the western segment-esp in spring. i always tell myself i'm gonna ride it
but if i'm out there, i'm on my way to/from carrizo plain natl monument. hopefully this spring...

big john

We used to do it with the LA Wheelmen and they supported it. Our club, the SFVBC, sagged it a couple times. I've done it solo and with a small group unsupported. Always starting in Frazier Park or just west of there, there is a store in Pine Mountain Club but it's early. On hwy 166 there is a pistachio farm which has a c-store with homemade sandwiches and other stuff. That's where I would fuel up. There is a bar called The Place on hwy 33 and we used to go there but not for years.

The ranger station had water at one time but I don't think so anymore. Once on Lockwood Valley Road there is nothing except Camp Shiedeck, which is a bar near the west end and it's on a dirt road way off the main road. It's about 25 miles from 33 to the east end of Lockwood Valley road and there is a lot of climbing. I wouldn't try it unsupported when it's hot, I couldn't carry enough water. i did it solo once when there was a light drizzle and I had a glorious time. I think Lockwood Valley is one of the most beautiful areas of SoCal.

CAT7RDR

^^^^Thanks Big John for the write up. Looks like registration for 2021 starts in January. I usually do not do organized events but that one looks like an epic route and scenery but not too much for me to handle.

TGT1

There have been a lot of great rides listed here, a few I may actually get on, but the whole premise is a bit off.

These are all great rides and achievements that are worth savoring, commiserating, and even bragging about for a while!
I 'd want to do those rides with plenty of time to remember and relive.

I'd want by last ride to be something more like. "I made it around the block".