Southern California - Today's Ride in the SM's

Under dreary skies, I joined the shop ride today. We had a group of 15 or so riders. We circled around the edges of Westlake Village and then headed across Cornell to Malibu Lake. The group spread out rapidly as we had different levels on the road.

I hate riding in this wet stuff! Covers my glasses and then I fog over. Yech!

After cruising along the Lake, we splinted again with the bulk of the crowd heading back towards the shop. A handful of us continued on Mulholland, intending to use this as a training ride for Cruising the Conejo.

Boy, there were a ton of people riding today, all over the area. Packs everywhere!

We climbed Rock Store and I was actually feeling pretty good, managing to stay on Craig's wheel, not an easy task considering he is strong as can be. Of course, he dropped me 3/4 of the way up with ease!

More climbs, then the descent down Encinal to Lechusa. We got sprayed with drizzle on the way down. Felt like pellets hitting my face.

Back up Decker to Westlake and then the drop. At that point, a red shirted rider FLEW by me....did I mention FLEW?! And it wasn't like I was standing still myself.

Noticed he had on a BF Socal jersey. As luck would have it, I saw him at the bottom waiting for friends so I pulled over to talk. Found we had a little BF ride happening as it turned out to be Tony. Rolling up in quick order were Karen and Brandy. First time I've met Brandy and Tony (how the heck can you go so fast down that hill??? Awesome)

We chatted a few minutes and then I needed to re-join my group. Hey, nice meeting you all and good to see you in the Conejo Brandy!

Our group then rolled onward, up Westlake to Kanan and finally back to home, completing the day with about 3500' of vertical and 40 miles. Sun is still trying to peek out after 3pm.

Sheldon

It was great to finally meet you too Sheldon! First...I am totally jealous of those of you who have the Santa Monica's as your backyard playground. It was GORGEOUS up there, so green and pretty and several patches of wildflowers. It was perfect climbing weather today and I was fortunate enough to hook up with Tony and Karen for a short ride. I needed to be back to LAX to do the kid swap by 1:30, so I was limited on my time and unable to ride with another group that had a longer ride planned up there. I PM'ed Karen yesterday because I thought I saw on a thread here that she was heading out there again and as luck had it, the route they had planned was not only the perfect mileage, it also included the two things I wanted to get a taste of before Mulholland Challenge next week...the Deer Creek descent and the Decker climb.

I have come to the conclusion that Deer Creek is one scary descent! :eek: I mentioned on another thread that I'm not used to descending in the drops, but after today, I am converted and I understand why it is so important, particularly on steep descents. Trying to descend that on the hoods, I had to keep stopping because my arms were aching and my hands were cramping and I was terrified that I was going to lose grip of my brakes. I descended the final section in the drops and felt much more stable. Not looking forward to descending it again next week, but so glad that I know what to expect and how to take it on.

Decker...not as bad as I thought it would be. The first couple of miles were steep, but I was still able to carry on a conversation with Tony and Karen, so I must not have been suffering too badly. I'm sure that it will hurt more at mile 68 than it did at mile 26 though. :roflmao:

We ended up with just shy of 38 miles and 4800 ft of climbing...unless you believe motionbased over the actual Garmin, in which case it was 5200 ft of climbing. Either way...great ride this morning...thanks for letting me tag along with you guys and it was great meeting you Sheldon! :)

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/207/449928380_32c75c97da.jpg

Whatever you do, don't minimize your abilities and accomplishments over the past year of riding. Geez, you're riding doubles! Most of us will never reach that mark. (well, I could if I added up two weeks worth of rides!) The three of you smoked the mountains today!

At least it wasn't too hot!

Sheldon

....First...I am totally jealous of those of you who have the Santa Monica's as your backyard playground. It was GORGEOUS up there, so green and pretty and several patches of wildflowers. It was perfect climbing weather today......


Glad you had fun! Those climbs are at the other end of the range from my place, but I love them (well, I love Decker & Encinal. I avoid Deer Creek, out of my league at this point). I do appreciate it up here, except when I want a flatter ride! My favorite short route up here is a 30 mile, 3500 feet (in garmin feet) of elevation, loop that climbs both topangas from the post office (not PCH) in topanga as well as Stunt road. There might be 1/4 mile of flat road in the loop. I still suck at climbing, but I've got the Mulholland Century on my list for next year.

Whatever you do, don't minimize your abilities and accomplishments over the past year of riding. Geez, you're riding doubles! Most of us will never reach that mark. (well, I could if I added up two weeks worth of rides!) The three of you smoked the mountains today!

At least it wasn't too hot!

Sheldon

Thank you for that comment Sheldon, I really appreciate it. :)

I just saw this thread!!
Great seeing you Sheldon!!
Sorry I haven't been riding with the group.
I have just been doing ALOT of climbing rides in preparation for the King of the Mountains.
I will be back @ Agoura Cycles though.
Yes, Tony does FLY down the descents, but he will be riding with me next weekend @ the Mullholland Challenge and I can guarentee there will be no flying down the descents.