diphthong

will hit the shelter island to coronado ride on sat, may 13th. maybe the one in cbad the following sat, may 20th.

TakingMyTime

On Saturday my buddy and I did the 6 miles down to Seal Beach to see their annual car show. As always there were some nice cars but the crowds were huge this year and it made pushing your bike around kind of a problem.

diphthong

22-miler around santee, lakeside and el cajon areas. thought it might be warmer a few more miles inland and the sun might
come out to play for a spell. wrong as usual. some new roads, some old roads.

jsigone

Old Bike forums route....Legendary Pie Ride around Palomar Mt. Socal BF group used to do this before there was strava and even facebook lol. Shift the start to the mall vs Harrahs. Easier to tackle Lake Wolford at mile 8 or so VS mile 92. two front flats for me were the only mechanicals today. tested 32c tires on the soloist using the gravel wheelset. Lighter than the Zipps but slower roll resistance. Di2 12s was freshly installed this week and that 34t was clutch today as I didn't have much power on the South Grade. The flats near the taco shop messed up my mojo and group left me and waited at the summit store. It took 68 miles and 9000ft of climbing before we got to pie. Later 35 miles was into the headwinds but m,ostly downhill or rolly back to the cars.

https://www.strava.com/activities/9024095949

diphthong

congrats! great hard ride!

those bf rides are apparently a thing of the past-for now. did palomar south grade (from harrah's) with you, JimmyNH and another gent that used to post a bit but haven't seen a post from him in years.
hamster (all over the bf site then) arrived late and met up at mother's at the top of south grade. the pie ride pre-dates that. we had a few, orange county get-togethers back in the day around that palomar quickie
over a decade ago. seems like the most likely opportunity arises with the annual gmr/grr fourth of july weekend road closure/cyclist riding party. doing the vintage ride this coming saturday from shelter island/sd intl airport area
to coronado and the coastal vintage ride from carlsbad south to solana beach/del mar and back the following sat (will try to make that one). should be plenty of bf'ers doing those vintage rides.

jsigone

Those BF group rides were always fun and addicting to meet/ride with others like minded. Azusa/GMR or Palomar the next time. This route is legendary to me for those friends I met and are still in contact with...though very few.

It's good to show these new group of friends I'm riding with routes outside of their normal bubble. One of them who also did the grand fondo w/ me ask how does the route rate on hardness scale for him and if I'm sore. Told him it's up there near the top, but BWR is always harder, harder then the Solvang double. Since he never done BWR, this should be near or at the top of his list. Told him he should have sense of accomplishment finishing the Pie ride. I'm glad I'm in good shape for this route, it was painful and pleasant LOL but not sore. Just another FJR Saturday ride....

diphthong

you're in great shape. was there in june-october doing 1000-1200 mile months. missing the ability to hit anything at a moment's notice. could do it currently but it would end badly. always positive to push yourself a little bit outside the comfort zone(s) with do or don't decisions.

Eric F 

Double-dirty weekend...

Saturday - 16.5mi/3000' solo MTB ride in the hills above my house (Millard Canyon - El Prieto Canyon - Brown Mtn. Rd.). I felt pretty good, and was able to maintain a pretty solid threshold effort on the climbs. First time riding El Prieto in a while. It's a challenging trail with a lot of fun sections, but there's a few rocky drops that are beyond my confidence level. Overall, a tough ride with a lot of fun.



Sunday - Instead of my typical group road ride, I joined a couple of friends for a MTB ride at Cherry Canyon and Glendale Sports Complex (23mi/3000'). We went up some trails I usually only go down, and other sections opposite of my habits. It made familiar trails new again. Some of the trails are getting pretty hard to see between all the springtime growth. My power was pretty good, but my HR was about 10 beats lower than usual on the climbs. I attribute that to my body being tired from the previous day's ride. It was a good ride with good people.

joesch

Another impressive ride.
Julian Pies are to die for and I would die attempting that pie ride.
Always wanted to do the climb and descent that Safa does in about 10 minutes at 40+, of course it would take me at least 2x.

SoSmellyAir

Impressive indeed. I used to drive up S. Grade Rd. (S6) and down E. Grade Rd. (S7) on the way to buy Julian Pie Co. pies; I am not jsigone and cannot even imagine riding up (or down) those roads.

diphthong

the pies don't suck. besides the apple pie, the mountain berry offering just night be my fave.

the south grade ascent/decent is a must do for any socal, self-respecting (wannabe) masochist...er...mountain goat as it is a standard. the views aren't the best until the last two miles but do appreciate and enjoy those last two miles.
have always preferred ascending/descending east grade. not as steep but still challenging and infinitely better views nearly the entire time. always fun trying to descend east grade without using brakes until the junction with ca hwy 76.

the road thru adjacent mesa grande (in either direction) is also a must-do.

diphthong

so how is the road quality on palomar mtn? last time up on east grade and south grade (2021), south grade descent was definitely buzzy from the top down through the switchbacks to ca hwy 76. def needed a repave. east grade was pretty smooth and uneventful throughout.

jsigone

Last time I went down South grade was in November, I don't recall it being buzzy but I was also on 32c tires. Last weekend the East grade decent was fabulous and smooth. My brake bleeding skills need to be worked on, my rear brake was kinda soft and have to pump it to get pressure. But it held up enough to decend down to Lake Henshaw. No heavy braking needed like South Grade, just told myself its like having rim brakes HAHA.. Only had one car pass us and that in the last few turns before hitting 76, hovering high 30's mph most the decent. 32c tires aren't fast rolling resistance which worked out too cuz the mush brakes. Top 1000ft or so was in the clouds and was cold in the face. I had wool gloves on so I can feel my finger tips.

edit: the out n back to Observatory was bumpy and cracked to hell. All the lines into the corners have bad lines due to cracks.

diphthong

thanks for the intel. remember the ride west from mother's to boucher hill overlook in the state park being mixed. haven't done the ride from mother's to the observatory
(waste of time imho-altho the observatory itself...and all the ferns...are pretty cool) in about 4-5 years but pavé was serviceable then. glad to hear east grade is still good.
would like to hit that and mesa grande when i can free myself up.

jsigone

Observatory is still closed to public. It was worth the 1400ft extra vertical or so. Mesa grande is fresh fresh pavement. Doesn't even have center lines yet.

Some friends are talking about got to palomar again this Saturday. They are "training" for Crystal Lake ride on the 28th. Been a long time since I've done CL, but that date falls on my Son's bday so its a no go for me.

Eric F 

Last night's "Happy Hour" ride (9mi/1500'). I usually do this ride on my MTB, but decided for a change of pace. It was interesting to compare my gravel vs. MTB times on the climb to Brown Saddle. When it's fairly smooth, even if it's steep, my gravel bike is faster, but the rough sections of the climb penalize me more than I make up for on the smooth sections.

diphthong

thanks again for the palomar mtn area/mesa grande intel.


oh crystal lake...such a love/hate relationship. that bottom 8 or so miles past the dam goes almost as quickly as the adjacent traffic. junction with east fork is scenic. continuing up the 39 for the next handful of miles is not.

such a drag. the 6 mile rt past the cogswell dam gate on the left is a def worthy sidebar (there was some fire activity in there 2 years ago, i think). dipping down into the visible north fork of the san gabriel river on your right

to wet your hat/jersey/u call it for the next, few, exposed and interminable miles always messes up the rhythm but is usually the best call. mostly tarantula ugly from east fork until the downhill dip and crossing of the north fork sgr.

at that point, you're starting to realize the fruit of your labors and the scenery is definitely improving. switchbax start to bite, along with a roadside spring or two. pretty soon, you're at the turnoff to crystal lake. still more steep

but at least you're not riding this on a tuesday since that's when the store at the top is closed. i've been told that blowing off the turnoff to the crystal lake store and continuing on the 39 past the closed gate and multiple trespassing signs

for a little over 5.5 miles to the junction with ca hwy 2 is probably still steeper than you want and the road quality (despite caltrans rock plowing trucks supposedly rolling thru there fairly consistently) is hit or miss but the ascent/descent is fantastic and out of this world.

seems like a few cyclists have continued on towards dawson summit from there but that's just crazy talk. a 32+ mile ascent? can neither confirm nor deny. will confirm that the descent from the crystal lake turnoff down to the dip/crossing of the north fork of the sgr doesn't suck.

jsigone

Fat 34mm tires on fast sprints are not fast haaaa. like pushing on marshmallows and watching the tire flex all my energy n power away when off the saddle. Still fun group ride!

jonathanf2

I've been tinkering on my road bike the last week or so and I finally finished the re-build with a full hydraulic brake conversion. I ended up cutting weight in the process and the total build comes out to about 15.5 lbs. I had to swap out my drops that were originally more flared to narrower drops due to having issues with the hydraulic and shifter cable lines. The new drop bars have 6 holes total, with dedicated holes for the shifter and brake cable lines. Though I'm not used to having standard road drops (having come from gravel), I do prefer the flare for more stability on the climbs and descents, though I definitely feel more aero on the flats.

Anyways, I knocked out 32 miles this Thursday climbing up the Griffith Observatory and some flat laps on the LA River bike path. I need to re-adjust my fit though and probably get a slightly shorter stem to compensate for the narrow cockpit.

jsigone

Caffine overdose today. Mostra Coffee to Dunkin Donuts in Ramona, zig zag thru RSF and Elfin Forest. First ride with some Victoria Corsa control clinchers 28c tires w/ 30c latex tubes. Pretty nice, no flats today. So i'd say pretty reliable considering there was some small dirt/rock sections at Lake Hodges, I did carry 3 extra tubes just in case.

https://www.strava.com/activities/9066459321

SoSmellyAir

Santiago Canyon Road eastbound today. On the descent on Aliso Creek Bikeway, my freehub somehow locked up (fortunately, only relative to the bike, not relative to the rear wheel) so I could no longer pedal. Thankfully I was able to unclip to avoid crashing, and the lockup did not happen earlier when descending the final stretch of SCR. Examining my bike, it seems the cassette lock ring has somehow (1) worked itself loose from the freehub and (2) got wedged against the bike. Hope there is no permanent damage; have to examine tomorrow.

diphthong

scary! glad you're tackling scr tho. that's awesome. should be as green as it's going to get this year. a gorgeous ride.

diphthong

did the brian bayliss shelter island to coronado ride today with 20 or so other zany, c & v bracket heads. nice collection of (mostly) pampered steeds.
sun didn't come out but the company was warm. added extra junk miles...a 20-spot riding to/from the shelter island start. roads haven't gotten any better
(except in coronado that didn't need repaving anyway) with all this winter's magic. the vintage steel handled it well across the board.
enjoyed enough to commit to hitting next saturday @9am from magee park in dtown carlsbad and heading south along the coast highway to del mar
and return (approx 35 miles).

https://www.strava.com/activities/9066004037

diphthong

they should have a good, definitely hard blast. not planning on being in that area again until the 4th of july when the road up/down gmr/grr might be closed to cars.

SoSmellyAir

Scenery was good but SCR eastbound has been mostly about exercise (i.e., prolonged suffering) for me to date. Starting to understand why you recommend doing SCR westbound.

The aftermarket lockring (which comes with Prestacycle UniBlock Cassette | 11-Speed Shimano / SRAM /Campagnolo for HG 11 Freehub - Prestacycle) does not have a crush spacer behind it. So over time the lockring (a) worked itself loose, (b) extended further outboard than the surface of the hub that goes against the inside of the dropout, and (c) got caught against a barely protruding RD hanger bolt. Thankfully, no permanent damage to any component other than the lockring itself. Ordered a Shimano CS-6700 lockring designed for a 12T smallest cog.