SoSmellyAir

Went on the same old 26 mile loop in my neighborhood this morning. 16.3 mph wind from the NE (according to Strava) made the eastbound Portola Parkway climb really tough, but thereafter the descent down Whispering Hills with the tailwind was worth the climb!

jonathanf2

I did 15+ miles up Fern Truck Trail by JPL on Wednesday. I exited the trail at Rising Hill road, which is perfect on a gravel bike, because you can go aero on the drops and hit 40+ mph on the fast downhill. So not only do you have fun on the single track off-road trail, you can go roadie and take advantage on the fast downhill! On my way back I was parked by the Aquatic center, so I did a half loop around the Rose Bowl. There were a few roadies ahead of me so I tried my hardest to drop them with my 40c knobby gravel tires!

SoSmellyAir

When this sentence first popped up on my phone, I read it as you going downhill at 40+ mph on a gravel path. Then I read it carefully again; phew! No more speed reading.

jonathanf2

The steep trail goes from dirt to paved road down a quiet residential street with lots of visibility. The 40+ mph happens the moment you hit the road section. It's a satisfying downhill especially for a gravel bike.

CAT7RDR

Got out of my comfort zone and ventured out to Spy Glass Hill Rd over by Rose Hills with a little recon and future ride to Nike Hill.
After topping out at 21%, I think I will skip Spy Glass next time on the way to Nike Hill.

Started out at 0900 with sunny skies and about 60F.
Plenty of room on Workman Mill and good tarmac.

Spy Glass Hill Rd is perfect! Older lady walking up the steepest part gave me some encouragement. She asked me if this was my first time here? I responded, "I sure look it."

Working on a route to connect the two Nike Missile sites.
42 miles and 4700 feet of climb.
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/38607727

oris

That was a nice little surprise, wasn't it! You should try Belle River Rd. in Hacienda Heights.

CAT7RDR

True! I figure if I string four/five of those Bad Boys together like Spy Glass, Vantage Pointe, Belle River, Punta Del Este and Ardsheal, Mt Baldy Notch won't seem so daunting when the snow melts.

diphthong

tonner canyon road east of brea rd in the diamond bar/chino hills/yorba linda triumvirate? anyone ridden it? dirt, gravel, paved or a mix? looks like a dead end but any outlet(s)?
thinking @CAT7RDR, @oris, @joesch or any number of lurkers have ridden it. thoughts?

nearly no riding in the last three weeks. really need to spread those wings. any suggestions?

CAT7RDR

I looked into riding in Tonner Canyon last year and found this is private land owned by the City of Industry and leased to ranchers for cattle grazing.
I know there are locked gates on the Grand Ave side in Chino Hills so I gave up on the idea.
On satellite maps it looks like a road goes all the way through but I cannot speak on the conditions.

joesch

Its interesting that there no mention of trails for for the people in the site https://www.hillsforeveryone.org/pro...tonner-canyon/
but they do provide the trail map for the chino hills park via the Visitor Guide tab
https://www.hillsforeveryone.org/PDF...-hills-map.pdf

2seven0

Yep last summer I tried entering from the south end off Brea Cyn Road there is a locked gate with a manned guard shack. Only time I've seen traffic on the entrance is when the Boy Scout Camp was open. Guard told me it's a private road.
I was bummed I couldn't ride it I had a route all mapped out.
West

CAT7RDR

Upon further review, it looks like COI wants to build a large reservoir in the middle of Tonner Canyon. Areas around it are owned by Shell and Exxon and will be developed in 3,000+ upscale homes over 3,600 acres. Another freeway is also planned. Now this has been "planned" for decades and Hills for Everyone wants to keep this land open as a wildlife and recreation corridor.

Maybe someone is connected and can give an update how this land will be used?

jonathanf2

Sunday afternoon I did 28 miles on my gravel bike riding next to JPL, up Fern Truck Trail and descending through Rising Hill Rd. During the climb I caught up to another gravel cyclist also doing the climb. Though I really dislike situations like this, because at one point he let me pass, but this meant I had to increase my cadence to create distance and doing so increase my heart rate which would tire me out quicker. I forgot to properly pace myself, while putting a good 5 minutes of distance between us. I eventually had to take a break at a switchback to let my BPM settle back down!

Anyways on my descent, I hit some rocky terrain and as I was reaching for one of my water bottles, it must of fell out of the bottle cage holder! So if any of you ride up there and see a bottle, it's most likely mine. Feel free to properly recycle it!

diphthong

mostly coastal 37-miler bopping thru san clemente, dana point and san juan capistrano. low wind and zero clouds made a low 70's day feel just a bit warmer.
so pretty. not that i needed reminding why i live in socal but definitely appreciated the beach vibes, weather and scenery today. nothing of noticeable effort today
except for that little ascent of cove drive that ramps up from dana point harbor to the bluff top. that view is always worth red-lining the engine. added in a few new roads
and about a mile of light dirt in the newish sea summit area south dana point/north san clemente.

https://www.strava.com/activities/6753942105

mixed in the obligatory pizza port stop in san clemente for lunch at mile 8. they've currently got a pretty solid italian-style pilsner guest brew on tap from san clemente-based
brewery delahunt. the pp swami's ipa on tap 5 stars as always. the pepperoni slices were fresh, hot and delicious.

CAT7RDR

Been off the bike for 10 days due to the norovirus taking me out of service.
Took my time in the local Hacienda-La Habra Hgts hills and East-West Rds.
Low 80's and clear for 100 miles.
Salerosa Drive connecting Colima Rd to Fullerton Rd is now fully open after the repave.
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/8387902747

2seven0

Nice! now the descent won't chatter my teeth!!
BTW thank you (and others) who take the time to post your ride routes. I use yours to help navigate my way through the spaghetti maze of Hacienda/Whittier/La Habra hills and to plan new routes to venture off East/West.
West

diphthong

it's best not to have a fixed exit time, to get started relatively early and feel free to follow your intuition. some great roads within...even on the dead-ends.
just have a few "guardrail" roads so you know where you (eventually) are. there is an intimacy to those roads that is rarely found in socal...palos verdes,
santa monica mtns (east side by topanga), de luz near temecula...but the sightlines in those areas are generally better. methinx only the hollywood hills,
lake arrowood/lake gregory area and la mesa/mt. helix area in san diego can mirror the whittier/la habra/chino hills area in that tight, intimate regard. great riding.
bring your front and rear blinker lights...

CAT7RDR

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
La Habra Heights and the Murphy Ranch area of Whittier are for the most part Commercial Free Zones with no or very limited truck traffic.
La Habra Hgts was originally developed to become a second Beverly Hills with a minimum size of lots being one acre. Less density=less traffic.

As far as navigation goes, just keep track of your general NSEW headings and eventually you will be dropped off to a tributary to a main road (Colima, Whittier Bl, Fullerton Rd/Harbor Bl).

Several punchy ascents that can get over 15% but are at most one mile long.
Cypress Ave-Avocado-Crest-Dorothea-Skyline Drive is a popular segment.
Ardsheal Drive
Nabal Rd
Valle-Airoso-Skyline
Lindante Drive and Seranata Drive in the Murphy Ranch area as well.
Most routes will net you 100-120 feet of ascent per mile.

One word of caution: DO NOT plan a route riding Hacienda Rd!
There is no shoulder to speak of and traffic is fast with poor sight lines.
The only exception is to link from East Rd to West Rd or to proceed with caution to get to Avocado Crest on the east side of Hacienda.

For details if new to riding this area, checkout my ridewithgps rides under CAT7.

There's a good chance to see Mule Deer, encountered a herd of about 20 along a Fullerton Rd culvert in the early morning, Bobcats, transient Golden Eagles, and once even an Ocelot (someone's escaped pet?).

Mike

2seven0

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Thanks for the info guys. I've recently been riding most of the up-n-down roads in the YL/Brea/Olinda Hills area. Most are in real good shape & not much traffic to speak of. PV Peninsula has some punchy ones too.

Yes I have front & rear lights (the front is a NiteRider I affixed the mounts to our helmets. My wife says we look like a miner's light but it allows us to look at drivers and is higher than a handlebar-mount).

I'm aware of Hacienda & coincidentally I rode a similar route last Sunday Cypress/Avo. to Hacienda then short jog up to West.

Most of the time I'll have a set route in mind but sometimes if I'm riding past an unfamiliar road (solo so I don't lead the wife on a bum steer) I'll check it on google maps before testing it out or just ride it blind.

I should really explore more areas like Ooga does but I much prefer to start/finish from my house.

I'd love to try the Santa Monica hills but the drive is such a PITA (from my experiences surfing Pt. Dume) I always chicken out. One of these days in the summertime I'll make it.

West

jonathanf2

On Wednesday I did 20 miles going up and down Griffith Observatory. For some reason I just wasn't feeling it despite having a two day break from my last ride day (the previous Sunday). Also I stopped dropping into my small chainring to climb. I've been keeping in my big chainring for all road climbing now. I've been focusing more on cadence control mixed with out-of-saddle riding depending on elevation. I'm almost tempted to convert my bike into a 1x front chainring and do away with my FD. I was thinking I could run a slightly bigger rear cassette to an 11-34t and drop 2 teeth from my chainring with a 48t. Though I'm worried I might ride in conditions that will require the small chainring. Maybe I'll just build a new lightweight road bike...

diphthong

38-miler nibbling at the de luz area, temecula and murietta. approx 5 miles of hard-packed dirt (mostly on buck rd. in temecula which was a blast-been a while)
mixed in. some demanding winds coming in from the north so went more east-west to mitigate somewhat. nice and green out there. the short section ridden of de portola road in wine country was busy
so turned off onto camino del vino which was really pleasant-even with a half mile of dirt. eastbound pauba rd. in temecula was quiet once past anza rd. upper 60's temps even with the winds since it was relatively cloudless.
nice day oot und aboot. flowers starting to come out.

https://www.strava.com/activities/6789769709

SoSmellyAir

Don't do this to your road bike.

Your power band must be pretty broad if you can handle the 2T skips at the physically smaller end of an eleven speed 11-34 cassette.

diphthong

haven't personally had any issues riding hacienda but it is a fast/high traffic road so i get it. def agree with you for newcomers/the fast traffic wary to the area. third of a mile on either side of the summit seems to be the
diciest. have had much worserer issues riding fullerton (up from colima) and harbor (up from whittier).

oris

Went out with the boys on Sunday to do the GMR loop; haven't been up in the area in a while. It was definitely chilly to start but felt warmer once you got into the sun.

Coordinating with everyone is always messy since we're all over the place with schedules and family commitments. Post-ride breakfast was planned but a few of us dropped out since we had to get back. These rides are always great to catch up with friends and welcome new riders to the group.

https://www.strava.com/activities/6784190708

diphthong

brea canyon, diamond bar, rowland heights, la habra heights, whittier blvd loop.
some stingers involved along with a mile or two of dirt on '23's.

https://www.strava.com/activities/6793957503