Southern California - San Dimas/Covina-ers HELP! Climbing routes needed

I'm going to be spending more time in the San Dimas/Covina area soon, and since there are mountains galore in that area, I figured that I'd do more climbing there. Does anyone know of any quiet, climbing routes in that area.

Thanks!

Glendora Mountain Road (http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?address=%5b1616%2d1699%5d%20Glendora%20Mountain%20Rd&city=Glendora&state=CA&zipcode=91741&country=US&title=%3cb%20class%3d%22fn%20org%22%3e%5b1616%2d1699%5d%20Glendora%20Mountain%20Rd%3c%2fb%3e%3cbr%20 %2f%3e%20%3cspan%20style%3d%22display%3ainline%3bmargin%2dbottom%3a0px%3b%22%20class%3d%22locality%2 2%3eGlendora%3c%2fspan%3e%2c%20%3cspan%20style%3d%22display%3ainline%3bmargin%2dbottom%3a0px%3b%22%2 0class%3d%22region%22%3eCA%3c%2fspan%3e%20%3cspan%20style%3d%22display%3ainline%3bmargin%2dbottom%3a 0px%3b%22%20class%3d%22postal%2dcode%22%3e91741%3c%2fspan%3e%2c%20%20%3cspan%20style%3d%22display%3a inline%3bmargin%2dbottom%3a0px%3b%22%20class%3d%22country%2dname%22%3eUS%3c%2fspan%3e%3c%2fspan%3e&cid=lfmaplink2&name=&dtype=s)

take it up to Baldy Village and then down Mt. Baldy Road but don't forget to go all the way up to the lifts (turn left at the stop sign and stop when the road ends) before you head down the mountain.

:D

Bonelli Park/Raging Waters has a nice training loop. I do figure 8's so that I climb SanDimas ave up alongside the 57/210 fwy. Ride goes along the Winternational dragstrip/LA fairgrounds-Fairplex DR.-Southside of Bonelli Park to the dam-across to Bonelli drive-down to SanDImas Ave-then up the 57 hill-to Via Verde-back to the dam-then Puddingstone Dr back to the fairgrounds.

Some do Loops around clockwise or CCW. Many racers and several riders use this as training ground cause not too much traffic and park areas to rewater or go potty.

Grand Ave. (http://www.routeslip.com/routes/12826)

mhmmm... when i'm home w/ at my parent's place in covina, i'll do both, i'll go from near via verde and the 10, up to frank bonelli through to fairplex, shoot down to valley, take that to temple, go up near cal poly over to mt. sac, then take grand up over the top, shoot down (i hit 50.4mph... wheeeee!!!), take holt to covina hills road back to via verde...

i get the feeling if i do it in reverse, it will be a lil more difficult :)

dang, glendora mtn. road goes on forever!

Thanks guys. Glendora mtn. and Via Verde/Raging Waters sounds good. A lot of climbing and quiet.

Psydotek - is your route quiet? or is like any other urban streets?

dang, glendora mtn. road goes on forever!

Only 9 miles to Glendora Ridge Road, then 12 miles to Baldy Village.

Thanks guys. Glendora mtn. and Via Verde/Raging Waters sounds good. A lot of climbing and quiet.

Psydotek - is your route quiet? or is like any other urban streets?
The part around Bonelli and along Via Verde is pretty quiet. Grand Ave. isn't really quiet but it's not too busy either. There's plenty of shoulder room along the majority of the road. The only areas i can remember where shoulder space is limited and it gets busy is where Grand crosses the 60, Diamond Bar Blvd, and around the 71 (due to the large shopping areas nearby).

Other than that it's a pretty good route. Just hill after hill after hill after... Well you get the idea. :lol: Since you're starting in the covina/san dimas area you can just do an "out and back" route along grand for hills galore. :)

We do a ride similar to Psydotek but add a Carbon Cyn loop. As we are on Grand Ave, we turn on Diamond Bar Blvd head towards Brea to Brea Cyn Rd. left on Lamert, then up thru Carbon Cyn. CC is about a 7 mile gentle climb. Nothing too steep. then left on Chino Hills Pkwy back to Gand. Then back onto Bonelli Park via Holt ave. Covina hills Pkwy another climb.

Also, if riding around RaginWaters area, you can throw in a trip up to SanDimas Cyn. Follow SanDimas Ave up to Bonita or Arrow, head east to SanDimas CYN (not to be mistaken with San Dimas Ave) then up past Foothill(RT 66) to the cyn. Nice park on the way. Then a 3 mile climb out and back. Sometimes I will do a reapeat just for added hills.

Nice quiet area but if it's been raining, many slides and hazards. Same at fire season.

I'm going to be spending more time in the San Dimas/Covina area soon, and since there are mountains galore in that area, I figured that I'd do more climbing there. Does anyone know of any quiet, climbing routes in that area.

Thanks!


Hey F=MA, what everyone else said on the rides. GMR, Bonelli, and CC are where I get my climbing in.

But also, great avatar. I'm in that movie!!!! #55 on the Centurion team. Hot pink Jersey - can't miss me.

Nobody mentioned Hwy 39 to Crystal Lake. From the mouth of Azusa Canyon to the top is a little over 22 miles of climbing. The road is closed about 12(?) miles up but I have not encountered any problems going around the gate. I have been up there pretty regularly the last few months. If you want to do a loop instead of climbing straight up and descending what you just climbed, you can turn right at the East Fork bridge and follow the road to GMR. This will take you up the backside of the mountain. At the top you can go left and follow GRR over to Baldy or follow GMR to the right and descend the frontside of the mountain. This will give you some variety and might interest you if you would like to ride a little before you climb. I live in San Dimas near the Covina border and I prefer to climb through Azusa Canyon first because if I head straight over to GMR, I'm only about 15 minutes into my ride when I start climbing.
The Bonelli Park, Via Verde and Covina Hills riding is also good and you can create many loops but none of the climbs are longer than 8-10 minutes. There are a lot of them though and they are a lot of fun but you mentioned "mountains galore" in the original post and Via Verde, Bonelli and Covina Hills are hills as the name implies and not mountains.

Exactly, redal! Today, after reading everyones posts, I went to go check it out. I was really intrested in GMR, but later found on a map that I can make a loop starting at Azusa 39 and back down through GMR (or vice versa)! Going up Azusa is ~20mi just like redal said, but after driving the 20mi up, down and around the curvy road, I found that the road down GMR (intersection of Mt. Baldy and GMR) was closed!! So I had to follow my way back around Azusa. Kind of an interesting adventure for the most part.

From what I saw today, it seems like a really fun ride. I'm probably going to be riding it next Friday. If anyone wants to join me, post away!


Hey F=MA, what everyone else said on the rides. GMR, Bonelli, and CC are where I get my climbing in.

But also, great avatar. I'm in that movie!!!! #55 on the Centurion team. Hot pink Jersey - can't miss me.

Are you really? I have the movie. I'm going to watch it again and look for your pink jersey :D

GMR is closed...

To these...
http://www.fordvehicles.com/fordgt/images/photo_gallery/ph_GT_thumb_5.jpg

but not to bicyclists!!! In fact, Tom regularly sweeps the road on weekends, so stop by and say hello because he is really hard to miss! There is one section that they just finished construction on, but be a little cautious on the descent (no more than 45-50MPH) until you know where the service trucks could be...

GMR is closed...

To these...
http://www.fordvehicles.com/fordgt/images/photo_gallery/ph_GT_thumb_5.jpg

but not to bicyclists!!! In fact, Tom regularly sweeps the road on weekends, so stop by and say hello because he is really hard to miss! There is one section that they just finished construction on, but be a little cautious on the descent (no more than 45-50MPH) until you know where the service trucks could be...


Holy cow, you got up to 50? I could only get 40 tops!OK, so I suck!:o

no, no, no, no, no...

not me!!! I hit about 35.... :eek:

I don't think there's any stretch of GMR where I would contemplate trying to hit 50. Even 45 might be a bit of a stretch for me.

Are you really? I have the movie. I'm going to watch it again and look for your pink jersey :D

Yes! We filmed for about 4 weeks in Colorado. They hired about 30 local racers to film the racing scenes around the start of some of the Coors Classic stages, which was going on at the same time. We thought they were nuts to pay us good money to do what we would have done anyway. Until they wised up they would pay us an extra $75-100/day to go on a group ride in the evenings to get helicopter shots. They finally figured out we were all planning training rides in the evening anyway so they stopped paying us "extra". Spent a lot of time with Kevin Costner, Alexandra Paul and Rae Dawn Chong. At the time they weren't particularly notable actors so three or four of us hooked up with them regularly for barhopping, dancing and dinners. It was a lot of fun.

After 4 weeks and dozens of hours of film, I think I'm in the movie for about 30 seconds in 3 or 4 scenes. I'm in the credits thought!

Exactly, redal! Today, after reading everyones posts, I went to go check it out. I was really intrested in GMR, but later found on a map that I can make a loop starting at Azusa 39 and back down through GMR (or vice versa)! Going up Azusa is ~20mi just like redal said, but after driving the 20mi up, down and around the curvy road, I found that the road down GMR (intersection of Mt. Baldy and GMR) was closed!! So I had to follow my way back around Azusa. Kind of an interesting adventure for the most part.

From what I saw today, it seems like a really fun ride. I'm probably going to be riding it next Friday. If anyone wants to join me, post away!



Are you really? I have the movie. I'm going to watch it again and look for your pink jersey :D

The loop you found on the map is what I was referring to when I told you to go right at the East Fork bridge. I guess I should have mentioned that GMR is closed to cars at the intersection of GRR and GMR. Instead of turning around you could have gone left across Glendora Ridge road and gone across to Baldy. You could have then descended to Baseline or even Arrow Hwy. and then headed west toward Covina. The 22 miles I was talking about is Hwy. 39 up to Crystal Lake but if you go across the bridge and up the backside of GMR it is about 20 miles. If you were on Hwy 39 between 10 and 10:30 you probably passed me in your car, I was headed to Crystal Lake.

I might be up there Saturday but I have to work Friday.

Yes! We filmed for about 4 weeks in Colorado. They hired about 30 local racers to film the racing scenes around the start of some of the Coors Classic stages, which was going on at the same time. We thought they were nuts to pay us good money to do what we would have done anyway. Until they wised up they would pay us an extra $75-100/day to go on a group ride in the evenings to get helicopter shots. They finally figured out we were all planning training rides in the evening anyway so they stopped paying us "extra". Spent a lot of time with Kevin Costner, Alexandra Paul and Rae Dawn Chong. At the time they weren't particularly notable actors so three or four of us hooked up with them regularly for barhopping, dancing and dinners. It was a lot of fun.

After 4 weeks and dozens of hours of film, I think I'm in the movie for about 30 seconds in 3 or 4 scenes. I'm in the credits thought!
I always wondered who they got to do the "racing" scenes.

no, no, no, no, no...

not me!!! I hit about 35.... :eek:

I've only been down once, and that one was my MTB with knobbie tires, and was flowing around 36-38mph (fastest my tires will let me go) with lots of room to go faster til you start hitting the sweeping hairpin, those knobbies don't have much grip on the side wall when i leaned into them:eek: I was taking pictures when I was going DH during the upper half. Kinda scary:D