Angeles Crest again 7/7

[big john]

Vertical Bob and I are planning to take A.C. to Wrightwood and back this Saturday. If we start at or near Newcomb's Ranch it will be about 70 miles and I'd guess about 7500-8000 feet of gain. Of course, you could start at Red Box and get about 92 miles, or, go with Keith and start at the bottom of AC and get the toughest metric double century I can think of. Keith will start at 6:00, and I will start at 8ish. I will probably park at the turnout before Newcomb's on the left and get an adventure pass on the way. Questions?

[big john]

O.K., slackers, we'll meet at the Charlton Flat parking lot. It's the first thing after Upper Big Tujunga, I think. 4 of us so far. A splendid time is guaranteed for all.

[valleygirl]

It will be fun and new territory.

[AquaTerror]

Wish I could join you, but I'm riding the 3 Harbors Tour on Saturday. Have a grea time ... and please do this ride again sometime! :)

[vertical bob]

I'm a little concerned about the Red Flag warning up there, hope it cools off. Are there any locals on BF who can advise how much water to take back to Newcombs? How far is it from where ever we are likely to turn around in Wrightwood, a store or market, to Newcombs?

[thomson]

Bob, you can always top off the bottles at Grassy Hollow if it is a concern

[jpconrad]

I'm a little concerned about the Red Flag warning up there, hope it cools off. Are there any locals on BF who can advise how much water to take back to Newcombs? How far is it from where ever we are likely to turn around in Wrightwood, a store or market, to Newcombs?

Bob, I can never remember where Newcombs is, is it where Big T and AC meet? If so, it's about 41 miles to the market I know in Wrightwood. There is/was a Ranger Station at Big Pines that may have water. That's only 37 miles from Big T.

Have fun, guys, I'd love to join you but I'm going coastal.

[LCI_Brian]

I was visiting some folks in Wrightwood on Tuesday and it got up into the low 90s, but at least with the drier air it was more pleasant than the recent somewhat humid hot weather in OC.

Two full large bottles from Grassy Hollow to Newcombs should be enough, since it's all downhill from Dawson Saddle. It's 7 miles from Wrightwood to Grassy Hollow, then another 11 miles from Grassy Hollow to Dawson Saddle. On second thought, maybe it's best to buy a small bottle in Wrightwood and stick in your back pocket.

As for the water in Grassy Hollow, the visitor center closes at 4 PM, but the water fountains are outside - so I'm guessing they should still work after hours.

[big john]

JP, Newcomb's is about 12 miles from Red Box, so about 6 or 7 past Upper Big T. We plan on starting at Charlton, a couple miles before Newcomb's, except for Keith, who will start at the bottom of AC.
Brian, thanks for the info and the offer to help, but I beg to differ on one point. It's not all downhill after Dawson Saddle, it's all downhill after Cloudburst Summit. You're a typical cyclist, aren't you? We all do it, "Oh, no more hills on this route", or "Just a few more miles". j/k Thanks again, Brian.
BTW, I'll bring a (gasp) Camelbak.

[thomson]

Again I had a great time with this crew. Present were Vertical Bob, Big John, Valley Girl, WhiteCarbonDude, Keith, Sarah, and me. We went all the way to Wrightwood this time where we engorged in anything and everything that market had. It was a bit toasty although the breezes kept it from being too bad. Here is an elevation chart. It was an exact out and back Cloudburst is missing on the way out. I was trying to shut it off when we were resting to save battery life and I forgot to turn it back on. Other than the missing Cloudburst, the rest is accurate. (and the battery lasted the whole trip).

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o229/thomson900/ACHWrightwoodElevation.jpg

[VanceMac]

Dang, that's an epic ride. 110+... and what, about 10k total???

[thomson]

Dang, that's an epic ride. 110+... and what, about 10k total???

My Garmin says 11,937. Some question the accuracy of these units. Big John or Vertical Bob can estimate it much better than I. My legs feel like 11,937 though....

[vertical bob]

My Garmin says 11,937. Some question the accuracy of these units. Big John or Vertical Bob can estimate it much better than I. My legs feel like 11,937 though....I'm sure that you got at least that much, man you are strong. I got a measly 8050 in 73 miles. I'll have to do Big T tomorrow to make up for it. That was great though to finally make it to Wrightwood, the climb out of there wasn't as bad as we were afraid of. Great ride with a great group. That smoke we smelled around Islip was coming from a fire along the 14 in Acton. I hope it stays down there.

[valleygirl]

It was kind of funny that we were all so worried about that climb and then no big deal. What a great ride, lets do it again.

[ovoleg]

why do you guys drive out 3hrs from the wonderful valley.

We can just go up Reseda 15 times and be done :)

Great ride, nice elevation profile!!

[adxm]

It was cool seeing you guys out there. You're so lucky to have that caliber of riding so close!

I added Mt Wilson to the above, and it was a great, shaded climb. Deifnitely worth the extra 20 min of effort! After downing the few sodas at Newcomb, I killed it coming back. Thankfully it never got too hot today.

129 mi. Almost 8 hours of riding. Ouch. I'm going to say I had 14k climbing. It had to have been at least close to that much. This ride is ridiculous. There are basically no flat sections. At least nothing's steep!

[LCI_Brian]

Unfortunately, by the time you guys made it to Wrightwood, we had already left town to get some lunch.

What time did you guys make it to Dawson Saddle? If you guys do this ride again, maybe I could ride there from the opposite direction?

[big john]

What a great ride! Never too hot, miles with no cars, 3 cars in 1 hour in 1 section, and great friends to ride with. Jim, great to see you, as always. Jon, great to see you again. Adam, words fail me, a 25 mile headstart and you caught us!
Brian, wish we could have said hi, maybe next time. I think we got to Dawson Saddle around 11:30? Maybe earlier, not sure.
We figured Jim had to be close to 13k feet and Adam 14k, because the ride up to Wilson adds 1100 feet.
Ovoleg, the drive from my house to Charlton took 50 minutes, when I start at Red Box it's 35 minutes. It takes 20 minutes to get to CSUN. If I was man enough to start where Keith, Jim, Jon, and Adam started it would be 15 minutes, closer than CSUN.

[WhiteCarbonDude]

It was a great day. Thanks for making my first time up Angeles Crest a fun one. Big John, Vertical bob and Valleygirl are always welcoming on their rides. Bob as you can see it was 59 miles to Wrightwood with 8300 feet of climbing. Adam, you are super human! Thank you Keith and Sarah for the ride back down the mountain. I think I should be an honorary member of SFVBC since I've been on as many rides with you as my own club. Maybe I could get a jersey? (jk.)

Anyways here's my stats for my almost century leg of the ride.
http://home.earthlink.net/~shellenbargers/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/july072007.jpg

[WhiteCarbonDude]

Dang, that's an epic ride. 110+... and what, about 10k total???
His computer cut out some of the ride. He should have had 118 miles with just under 13K feet! This was an EPIC ride!

[Cassave]

Well, Saturday's ride from the college was fast and fun but reading this thread has officially made me regret not coming along with you all. It was hot, humid and smoggy down here while you mountain goats just cruised along, above it all. Sounds nice.

[vertical bob]

Unfortunately, by the time you guys made it to Wrightwood, we had already left town to get some lunch.

What time did you guys make it to Dawson Saddle? If you guys do this ride again, maybe I could ride there from the opposite direction?According to Jon's chart we were at Dawson at 10:30. That seems right. I remember being at Grassy Hollow at 11:15. We will surely do this again but the next couple of weeks I'm doing other rides. I think I'm doing the Tour de Francis this Sat. cause he is such a nice guy, not because I love climbing to Onyck. The next week it's off to Lone Pine to attempt the climb up to Horseshoe Meadows. I've heard that it's 12%, oh no.

[Entropy906]

According to Jon's chart we were at Dawson at 10:30. That seems right. I remember being at Grassy Hollow at 11:15. We will surely do this again but the next couple of weeks I'm doing other rides. I think I'm doing the Tour de Francis this Sat. cause he is such a nice guy, not because I love climbing to Onyck. The next week it's off to Lone Pine to attempt the climb up to Horseshoe Meadows. I've heard that it's 12%, oh no.

I hope the fire near Lone Pine is contained by next week. I plan on visiting Lone Pine for a few days in August. Have fun up there and be sure to try Whitney Portal as well.
http://www.kolotv.com/home/headlines/8379332.html

This site is currently down at the moment but it's the most up to date source of info.
http://www.inciweb.org/incident/767/

[valleygirl]

[QUOTE=WhiteCarbonDude]It was a great day. Thanks for making my first time up Angeles Crest a fun one. Big John, Vertical bob and Valleygirl are always welcoming on their rides. Bob as you can see it was 59 miles to Wrightwood with 8300 feet of climbing. Adam, you are super human! Thank you Keith and Sarah for the ride back down the mountain. I think I should be an honorary member of SFVBC since I've been on as many rides with you as my own club. Maybe I could get a jersey? (jk.) [QUOTE]


It was good to see you there , I was surprised you had not been up AC before. You are a heck of a climber.