Eric F 

Last night, I had intended to do an hour of easy tempo (Z2) to let my body recover from recent hard efforts and stay fresh for the upcoming weekend. Some easy laps around the Rose Bowl loop were a great plan for that kind of effort. So much for plans. As soon as I got to the loop, a group of 3 rolled past, including a friend. I had zero willpower to stop myself from jumping on the back of the group and taking my turn taking pulls for the next 2 laps (6 mi) at a much higher effort level than intended. Since I already blew my plan, I joined the Tues/Thurs Rose Bowl Ride group as they rolled out. The first lap is always pretty easy, but then the big motors (lots of young strong racer-boys, and a few Pro/1 guys) start trying to tear off legs. I lasted 3 hot laps (9 mi). My ego says I pulled the plug because it was time to head for home, but my ego is a liar. Those 3 laps are all I could handle. It was good high-intensity work (many 500W+ efforts), and felt a tiny bit better than last week riding with the same group. https://www.strava.com/activities/8030030710

Eric F 

A clean bike is a fast bike! I'll take the decomposed granite dust in our area over the sticky clay in other areas of So Cal.

jonathanf2

Oh man, I had the same ego "incident" yesterday having done double climb laps at Griffith Park. On my 2nd lap (I was already tired), a young strong rider pulled ahead of me so I decided to to keep up. I hadn't plan for the 2nd lap to be at max intensity, but I pushed anyways. I kept up right before the summit, though I was already exceeding my max FTP. Before reaching the top, I had to pull off and pretend like I was enjoying the view, but I was already redlining! I told myself it was due to being on my 2nd lap and I've been riding too much, but it's a lie! Lol

Cycling and the ego are a bad combo!

jsigone

I had ambitious planning to do more, but my body told me this was enough. Mild santa ana dry conditions on Palomar Mt today left my hydration game behind the ball and legs paid the price.

2seven0

Enjoyed beautiful fall weather for 2 rides this weekend. Sat. on familiar roads central/south county. Sunday rode up Brea Cyn Road (the re-pave is done), quick SAG at Heritage Park then over to D. Bar Blvd. up to Grand, over to Chino Hills Pkwy. Turned up Windmill Creek Rd. to Rancho Hills Dr. up & over to Eucalyptus then back down to Chino Hills Pkwy. (hat tip to CAT7RDR). Thankfully the climb up Rancho Hills is steepest the first half. The descent around the back curve & down Eucalyptus is well worth the effort. Good thing no radar cops around! SAG at Veterans park then over Carbon Cyn. Road back to home. Saw only 2 other cyclists on CC Road save a small group headed north on Kraemer in the Placentia area I guess everyone was on the trails or PCH.
West

Eric F 

Saturday...34 miles of easy cruising on the road bike, and just enjoying the day. Arroyo-LA River-Burbank-Glendale-Montrose-La Canada. https://www.strava.com/activities/8038627416

Sunday - First time riding dirt in Turnbull Canyon. Some fun stuff, some tough climbs, but most downhills are heavy washboard. I took a tumble on Cow Trail, and my phone came out of my pocket, but I didn't realize it until a while later. Thankfully, I was able to find the crash site again and recovered my phone. I'm glad I checked out the area, but I'm not particularly inclined to ride it again any time soon. https://www.strava.com/activities/8044252323

Eric F 

Final weeknight, after-work Happy Hour dirt ride of the year. https://www.strava.com/activities/8055511570

jonathanf2

I did my usual Griffith Observatory climb today and it colder than usual. It was really windy as well and I was getting blown all over the place. Though I picked up some tail winds on the descent and was doing 40mph plus like it was nothing. On a side note, I picked up a red saddle to match my red bling! Lol

jsigone

cold 0630am start from Escondido mall, warmed up from the cold 34* valley and hit Double Peaks park right a lil after sun up, Up Jesmond Dean, Circle R, Lilac to Couser Canyon, Up Rice Canyon to the Rainbow valley store to top off on fluids and mexican coke. DH Rice and up Couser canyon, up Lilac, Up Old Castle and bomb into Escondido and about 7 miles of false flat downhill back to the mall.

Long day, lots of punchy climbs. I told them “If you aren’t cursing my name by the end of the ride, I didn’t choose a good route.”
https://www.strava.com/activities/8073982389

jonathanf2

For Sunday I rode 40 miles around Los Angeles. I rode up Elysian Park, cruised down Sunset Blvd. towards Griffith Park and climbed to the Observatory. I then rode back home on the LA River Bike Trail. I randomly bumped into a few cycling buddies along the way! Also the weather right now is perfect! Not too hot, but warm and the air is cool to keep the motor running strong!

Eric F 

Saturday... 41 mi easy tempo (Z2) out to Santa Fe Dam and back via So Pasadena. I did a better-than-usual job sticking to my plan of an easy pace. My legs were feeling good and wanted to unleash some fury, but I maintained my constrained effort intent from start to finish. https://www.strava.com/activities/8073607820

Sunday...21 mi dirt ride with old and new friends. JPL - Flint Canyon - Cherry Canyon - Glendale Sports Complex. Every time I ride this route, it makes me happy. Some demanding climbing sections, but there is a ton of fun singletrack. Everyone in the group was fairly evenly matched, and we pushed each other a bit, resulting in a few PRs for me. Saturday's easy pace paid off with Sunday legs feeling good all day. https://www.strava.com/activities/8079117178

jonathanf2

Last night I inadvertently did a night ride at Griffith Park! I thought I had enough daylight to do my regular rounds, but it ended being nightfall by the time I reached the observatory. I also only brought my small lights as opposed to my bright Lumina light, so I was riding the fire roads in near darkness. Luckily I have the roads fairly ingrained in my head, so I was able to navigate with only about 6 feet of visibility. I only stumbled on a single coyote (no P-22 mountain lion sightings). By the time I reached back down to the main road, the beginning of a series of unfortunate events unfolded. Traffic at this time is abysmal with people taking shortcuts from the 134 fwy. As I'm sprinting on the side road making good time, I start hearing a strange thwanking sound. I stop to inspect my wheels and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, until I checked my rear tire. I then saw a huge rusty nail lodged in, so I proceed to pull it out, hearing the dreaded hissing sounds as air leaks outs! "No problem!" I thought since I have a spare tube and I'll be up-n-running in 5-10 minutes. As I setup on the side the road about to remove my wheel, I realized I forgot to pack my allen wrench to remove the threaded thru-axle! Doh! I was still a few miles from my car and traffic is so bad in the area, I didn't feel it'd be worth calling an Uber. I ended up walking a good 30-45 minute in my clipless shoes and rolling/carrying my bike. I was hoping to see a cyclist ride by with a tool kit, but all I saw were a bunch of runners with headlamps (I guess night running is a thing at GP)! While walking on the side trail, I ended up stepping in soft mud that caked up my tires making them look like donuts! I eventually reached my car, got home and thorughly hosed my bike down. Thankfully my wife had a freshly cooked stew dinner waiting for me!

On a positive note, my human motor felt awesome in the cool night air and at no point did I feel like I'd redline during the climb. I might have to do more night climbing, preferably with more lighting and with my full tool kit! Lol

It was much darker than this:


A walking stop by the LA Zoo:


Back to my car full of mud:

SoSmellyAir

This review (Ibis Hakka MX review | off-road.cc) says that Enve has revised the fork for a flat mount brake.

I often hike Peters Canyon Park and seeing all the gravel cyclists has made me gravel curious too. Having a gravel bike would also let me explore the area on Portola Parkway past Whispering Hills, assuming the climb up Portola Parkway is not significantly harder than on my road bike.

Eric F 

First ride on my new (to me) gravel bike. The route included pavement, smooth fire road climbs, rutted and rocky fire road descents, singletrack, and multiple stream crossings. It was awesome! The bike handled better than expected in the rough stuff, and rolled better than expected on the smooth stuff. https://strava.app.link/UGUvY62ISub

jonathanf2

Nice route! Good climbing too from your Strava! Are your tires setup as tubeless?

jonathanf2

Wow, you're near some great off-road/gravel terrain. If you think you could put it to good use, I'd definitely look into getting a gravel bike. It's great when you wan to ride the rough stuff, but do some road miles as well.

Eric F 

That route was so fun! The finish coming down Gould Mesa and Gabrielino was rough from the recent rain, but added some great spice to the day.

The current tires are not tubeless capable, and I ran them at 60psi to keep from pinch-flatting. I will be installing a set of Pirelli tubeless (Cinturato H rear, M front) in the very near future.

jonathanf2

When you do get them setup tubeless compatible, they make the ride quality that much better on a gravel bike. I can't see myself going back to tubes on wider profile tires!

pbass

This is my turf as well - I live down Chevy Chase. We live in such a perfect area for a gravel bike. My main bike skews a little more "dirt" - 650bx47 tubeless, and I run as low as 19-20 PSI once I get off the pavement. Coming down Cherry last night after these rains it's sooo washboarded it does help. But I really love riding my 700c x 40 cross bike w Nanos, still tubed, here as well. As long as you stay loose it's a blast!

SoSmellyAir

I am not sure I can handle the really rough stuff. I went for a 26 mile road ride this morning and jarred my right elbow by riding through a ~1.5" deep recessed utility access cover.

jsigone

November's Century a Month challenge has been clocked in, in the hills of South/East San Diego. Started in Chula Vista by the 5, popped my Mt Helix cherry. That was a cool climb w/ amazing views of down town, point loma and the islands off Mexico. Routed through to the Great Western loop, down Lyon's Valley to Honeysprings. It was good to get some downhill free mile since most of the climbing was counted at mile 55 where the climbing stopped and head wind began until the end of the ride. I still hate Otay Lakes Rd...

https://www.strava.com/activities/8109139331

diphthong

sweet ride. the trick is to hit the boonies part of otay lakes rd during the weekdays between 9am-2pm. weekends, it's much like the south grade of palomar mtn...plenty of team ninja wannabes on crotch rockets
along with inattentive trucks/suv's.

jsigone

Recovery 100k on the coast w/ some hills in Del Mar with the team. Low watts, low HR and keep smiling! Legs muscles felt good, left knee has KT tape around it from yesterday's push in the hills. Tape helped allot today, I'm gonna have to stash some in the saddle bag now. I also bowl allot so lots of abuse to the left knee over the years

https://www.strava.com/activities/8114365897

roadfix

Went on an overnight group bikepacking trip to El Capitan State Beach…. a short, 70 mile, round trip coastal ride, just north of LA.

jsigone

roadfix that looks like a great view to wake up to! Reminds me of the campground up in Santa Cruz state park.