N2motorsports

Big props to ooga-booga for sharing one of the best rides in sammos. We parked on pch very close to Latigo and ascended. Beautiful views and endless climbs and switchbacks, nothing like it in san diego. The backside was very damp so we were very cautious on decent. Pedaled to mully and was treated to another nice decent, though wet, but car-less. Ended our trip short due to my riding buddy's knee, so we followed malibu creek canyon back to pch. Overall great ride 30miles 3,600elevation, though wanting more, we were kinda glad as we passed several dozen motorcycle clubs heading up.

burritos

Was so fun last week, had to do it again this morning. Still had road block signs on top and bottom. Still obstacle free and well paved. A little bit rainy. Only encountered one car going up and a cyclist couple coming down. Otherwise just me, my itunes, and the mist.

diphthong

a desert version is closest thing to it in san diego county. montezuma grade in/out of borrego springs on county hwy s22. nearly 12 miles and about 3,400 ft of el gain.
lower half is more wiggly and giggly. sometimes headwind on the ascent and crosswinds/tailwind on the descent. low traffic unless on the weekend or desert flower season.
i've been ambushed a few times climbing it where rain/(wind)chill materialized out of nowhere and i barely got away with it last time. if you do it, pack a light rain cape/windbreaker
just in case.

diphthong

a shortish 37-miler climbing and descending the general's highway (dba ca hwy 198) in sequoia national park via the three rivers (sw) entrance/exit.
pave to/from the park not the best. pavement in the park really nice...lower and middle stretches about a 8/8.5/10. the upper third (once you round the corner
and finish climbing out of the ascending canyon) a 9/10. recently redone. only saw one, beer coaster sized piece of pavement missing on the entire 16 miles or so
ascent/decent. rainjacket/windbreaker was essential at the start and at the end of the ascent, plus the entire descent. temps were supposed to hit 70 degrees
but felt more like 66-68. descending in the upper part amongst the sequoias, it was more like lower 50's. started around 8:30am and made plenty of pic (and clothing)
stops. made it to the top (giant forest museum, moro rock turnoff) around noon. traffic on this tuesday was minimal and never an issue. sightlines for drivers
better than you would think. descent was a blast and the hands/forearms really got quite the braking workout.

https://www.strava.com/activities/4252809976

btppberk

Glorious pictures! I presume it was even better in person! I've wanted to do Mineral King.

Lemond1985

I've done it. Use a triple, and some decent-sized tires.

https://pjammcycling.com/climb/147.M...%20King%20Road

The pictures don't really capture it, but when you get to the top, it looks like Switzerland up there. Very beautiful alpine setting, but a terrible un-maintained road to get there, at least when I rode it. But that road keeps many people out, so there's that advantage.

Congrats on the climb, only 18 1/2 miles uphill, taking you to 7000+ feet, NBD. I could have made it comfortably about halfway up that climb in my current condition. Or all the way up if I pushed, but it would take all day and I would be in sheer agony toward the finish.

burritos

Wow. This is aspirational.

diphthong

funny, mineral king rd. is where i parked to stage the climb...just up the hill from the fire station at the bottom there was a decently-sized turnout. if the quarter mile/third of a mile i “navigated” on mineral king rd. is any indication, it’s a broken spokes kinda ride for a road bike. road is supposed to be wretched the entire length and i saw nothing to dispute that. the disney corp wanted to put a ski resort up there back in the 60’s...can you imagine?

https://www.kcet.org/shows/lost-la/d...-national-park

Lemond1985 let me in on a little detail of the area that I think i’ll come back up and hit in the spring-rocky hill rd and yokuhl valley rd between springville and exeter. a lot of yokuhl valley rd was horrible but doable and they are in the process of repaving stretches. the scenery was low-traffic and sweet. in the spring, it must be magical.

Lemond1985

I have heard about this Disney controversy for decades, but never saw the full story laid out, thanks. France has great alpine roads like the Galibier, and the Iozard, and others. If roads were allowed to be built through some of the otherwise virtually inaccessible alpine areas in the Sierras (a 3 day hike is not what I would call "accessible") we could have killer alpine roads in California too, just like they have in France, Italy, and Switzerland. There is little to no wildlife living up there, and very few trees. I honestly don't see much environmental impact of an additional alpine pass or two over the Sierras, especially around the Mt. Whitney area.

While a Disney resort might not have been ideal, at least more people could have enjoyed the area, jobs would be created, and the road would certainly be in better shape. But it is what it is, I'm just glad it's there, and I have been able to bike and hike around there several memorable times, for a $20 entrance fee, that is.

btppberk

Did you just day-trip it Ooga-Booga? I am dying of jealousy.

As to more roads in the Sierras, the cyclist in me wishes there were more, the backpacker in me is very glad there is not.

diphthong

it wouldn’t be the roads themselves, it would be the ease of access and the inevitable fallout from that.

had the mineral king resort gone in, they woulda hadda dynamite, bridge and cantilever both sides of that canyon and probably made north side (existing road) one way up and create the entire south side for one way down or create another access road but that would involve a new 50 miles of road along with existing road improvements. highly doubtful.

diphthong

looong day trip. did some future recon along the way tho. was planning on doing a little 2hr/30 mile ride on the way back in the hollywood hills, tejon pass or santa clarita area (or—normally-orange county area but fires/smoke) and contemplated it but i was operating on 2.75 hrs sleep and thought it best
to keep heading home.

diphthong

100% agreed.

CAT7RDR

Perfect day in the San Gabriel Mtns. Started at Encanto Park and did an O/B on GMR/GRR to Mt Baldy Lodge. 58 miles and 6500 ft of climb. Stopped for a pic at Peacock Saddle with the Three Sisters to my left. I did not encounter one vehicle on my descent down GMR. Air quality was not an issue.

diphthong

totally jelly.

diphthong

first night ride in a long time. only 17 miles on familiar metro san diego roads but it was a nice change.

nesdog

I gotta do the San Gabriel's one of these days. Maybe next year. It just seems like a pain to drive there from where I live.

Did a wandering route out towards Simi today. When I left the house, temps in the mid-50's. Within an hour, it was way warmer. Luckily I didn't overdress but had plenty of layers to remove. Will enjoy the warmth while I can 'cause I know we will be complaining about the cold soon enough!

30 miles. Reached last year's total mileage today so will be a bit higher by the end of December.

CAT7RDR

Had plans to go up the north SGRT and explore the Claremont foothills but there was a double fatality traffic accident that closed Beverly Blvd to link with the SGRT. I did not want to do a work around on Dunlop Crossing since I smelled smoke and thought the river bed might be burning. So I stuck around the Whittier Hills and still got in 53 miles and 5600 feet of climb.
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/34558968

Blue moon was setting as I got started.

N2motorsports

Last time I was here was 6th grade camp some 35 years ago. Didnt see big willy, but had he came out of the forest chasing me, I was a goner. We got a late start so there were tons of trucks with trailers, motorcycles, race car all buzzing by at breakneck speeds. Road was decent enough, some over grown forces you onto the road and random spots of sand which made decent very hairy. Next.time, yea, I will do it again, getting climbing wheels,. Fellow cyclist was hauling uphill, his bike was an absurdly featherweight at 11lbs!

2seven0

Wife & I did our Brea Cyn/Pathfinder/East-West Roads loop this am. Best part was no smoky smell or irritation at all even in Diamond Bar/Rowland Heights. Beautiful morning with generally light traffic.
West

TGT1

Did the "ride yer age" BD ride yesterday. All flat. Up to Santa Fe Dam, over to Peck Park and down to Seal Beach. Then back to SF dam and home. Managed a 15mph average for the requisite 70 miles and then went screw it on going fast, finished up with 85 miles.

Managed to call the meteorological doping perfectly and caught a draft on the way back too though. Would have been a lot slower without it.

btppberk

What's with all the air quality issues out here in San Diego? It wasn't hardly ever this way when I grew up here. Is this still fire related? From where?

diphthong

^closest fires are the dueling ones in orange county. we've been pretty lucky firewise in san diego county the last few months.
we had the big blaze out there by the pine creek wilderness and along lyons valley rd but otherwise, 9 times out of 10, orange, la,
riverside and san bernardino county fire smoke fallout has gone out to sea or avoided us. we've also got the drift from the baja california border
metropolis if you're living/riding south of the 94 fwy corridor. lived in chula vista for ten years and had some spates with allergies multiple times
a year for that decade. moved north of the 94 fwy corridor a decade ago and haven't had any allergy issues since. go figure.

a little 40-mile loop taking in carmel valley, 4s ranch, fairbanks ranch, rancho santa fe, encinitas, cardiff, solana beach and del mar.
gorgeous afternoon.

Nachoman

Point Loma to Rancho Santa Fe for a muffin and cappuccino.
60 miles RT.

TakingMyTime

The wife and I did an 18 miles R/T down to Bolsa Chica. The legs feel great and the only thing that hurts is when my wrist takes a beating, but I'm powering through that and it seems to be getting better. One more of these rides and the next will be 24 miles.