Major props to anyone who rides Grand Ave. from West Covina to Chino Hills...

[Psydotek]

If anyone has ridden Grand Ave. from West Covina (starting at the 10 fwy) all the way to Chino Hills (where it ends at the 71), i would like to give you a high five or something...

Went for a "short" ride yesterday that started in Ontario, went through Bonelli Park, up into West Covina, down Grand Ave. through Chino Hills then back up into Ontario for a 43 mile loop. It may not seem like much but holy crap it was probably the hardest ride me and my friends have ever done (there's 3 of us that ride together regularly). I believe there were 7 fairly major hill climbs on the route with 5 of them being on Grand Ave. and the other two were on Via Verde i think. Actually, it could have been more like 7 1/2 or 8 hills since the entry into Bonelli park from the east end of Via Verde is essentially another hill climb...

It wasn't so bad really... Went through 1.5 clif bars, a hammer gel, and a pouch of clif shot bloks with plenty of water and gatorade. Temperatures were in the low 60s for most of the ride which necessitated the use of knee/arm warmers, though it did finally get to 70 degrees at about noon. Total moving time was about 3 hours, total ride time was 4 hours (started 9:00am, finished about 1:00pm).

The worst part of the ride: trying to negotiate traffic while crawling uphill at about 6-7mph then having to sprint through an intersection at a stale green/yellow traffic signal (on grand ave. just south of the 60) while your quads are already burning and screaming at you for a break... :D Having only two front chainrings (no super low climbing gear) along with a 5-10lbs camelbak didn't help either. :lol:

[jsigone]

sounds like a good ride, the camelback on a 60* day is a bit overkill. Did you have to ride through Cow country to get back to Ontario?

[Psydotek]

No more cow country, at least not where we rode through Chino. The dairy's are slowly starting to disappear only to be replaced with warehouses and other industrial buildings.

The camelbak is somewhat overkill but then i usually tend to be overprepared (which has saved us afew times). I think had 40oz of water in one pouch and another 30-40oz of diluted gatorade in a second pouch (yes, i have two separate bladders with drinking tubes going over each shoulder). Then there's the spare tube AND tire, patch kit, windbreaker, sunscreen, food, etc. that i also like to bring. I don't mind the extra weight since it serves as a bit of extra training for when i do triathlons (i don't race with the camelbak on). :D

[jsigone]

I used to live in Chino and Hated driving though the cow country to get around the madness on the 91.
One of my friends that MTB w/ us carries 2 100oz blatters w/ water/gatoraid. Then again he lives off Clinton Keith and it HOT riding there. Last time we rode up there, we started at 7am and it was 105* by 10am:eek: Most of the time, they ride in SD were it's a bit cooler.

[Mr. Beanz]

We do a similar ride but in the opposite direction and also add in Carbony Cyn. It's a great 55 miler with plenty of hills.

Start Riverside Dr and Town Ave Pomona.
ride up to Peyton Dr
right on Grand ave. (4 hills)
left on Diamond Bar blve(rollers)
left on Brea Cyn(flat to maybe some fast downhill)
left on Lambert (gentle climb)
continue thru Carbon Cyn (7 mile climb)
right on Chino hills Pkwy
left on Peyton
left on Grand again (this time to the 10 fwy.4 hills on Grand.climb up to MtSac, then a big steep hill)
right on Holt (gentle climb 3 or 4 miles)
right on Covina hills pwkway(3 miles of painful winding hill,cause you're already tired)
left on Via Verde (big one mile hill up to Raging Waters/Bonelli Park)
left on San Dimas(down by the 57)
right on Bonelli Dr. (1 mile winding climb)
continue thru to fairgrounds. Right on E st
left thru Ganesha Hills
right on White Ave to Pomana/Chino area

About 55 miles, takes us 3 1/2 hours...great ride though! The hilll by Mt Sac and Via Verde aren't that bad but feel really tough after you've gone up and down for soooo long!:D

All last year I rode around Bonelli Park 2 or 3 times a week. I'd do figure 8's around the park so that I'd hit the climb by the 57 fwy, 3 or 4 times. Sometimes add in the climbs to the top of the rich neighborhood(can't memeber the name of the street,but where the mansions are). Or go down Via Verde towards Covina, just to climb back up. Good riding area.