weird. i had no idea that logo on my butt was reflective.

For once, I swear that I'm not being a perv - those shorts looked great on you, Jason. You've leaned out more than the last time I saw you. ;)

you..not being a perv?

riiiiight:rolleyes:


thanks, though. i still have a little residual gut. that's gotta go. gotta go. just wish i could stop with the junk food.

you..not being a perv?
thanks, though. i still have a little residual gut. that's gotta go. gotta go. just wish i could stop with the junk food.

:eek: I can...not...be a...p....oh, yeah, okay, you're right.

Anyway, I saw no gut and you were climbing great. Seems to me you're meeting your goal. Good job! :)

oh, there's a gut. trust me. i might even climb faster if i wasn't always sucking it in.

Continue to suck it in man, that is the only way that some of us can catch you!

Ride report!? Dammit - I'd rather climb those hills again than write a report ;). Anyway, I'll try my best. First of all - thank you Asia for organizing this. It was very nice meeting you in person too, as well as Joy, Shai and Cleave. Man, I don't want to see that guy (Cleave) climbing on fresh legs. Even after the cramps, it took him one little hill to drop me like a bag of cement. :o It was nice to see some familiar faces - Chimivee, Jason, Phil, Travis and of course Rick who I think I see more often on the BF rides than on the club rides. Rick did start slower but after his warm up of about 35 miles he was ready to kick some *** :D. Overall I had a very enjoyable ride, except for the return leg through Sierra Madre.
The final score: 62.5 miles in 4 hrs 28 mins computer time.

Continue to suck it in man, that is the only way that some of us can catch you!

i've eaten nothing but pizza and ice cream today, so maybe i can get back to the point where i don't even bother sucking it in anymore. jacket/vest weather is coming in a couple/few months anyway, so at that point it won't even matter:beer:

From the looks of it, it was a lovely ride. Thanks Asia for putting this one together, and here's a pic of my postride dinner, in honor of you! 14oz. teriyaki ribeye - that's what I'm talking about. :D

http://luwin.smugmug.com/photos/188375824-M.jpg

You are sooooo lucky Addison is so darn cute or you would be in trouble for hangin out at my restaurant. :D Give Addison a smooch for SAGGING for me :p

First I have to thank Asia for putting together a great ride. It's been a while since I've climbed that much and yet I had the strange idea of starting the ride from home. I left the house at 5:45am heading to the SGRT to make it to Encanto Park for the 7:30 roll out(duh, meet and roll out times are not the same). Once on the path I realized that I wasn't going to make it by 7:30 unless I picked up the speed only to find out that I was early. Once I arrived I met Travis(Asia's husband) and Eric whom I've ridden with on Saturdays for the past few months and didn't realize it until he mentioned it to me... Small world. I made it to the Ski lifts for the first time and figured there would be no way that I'll make it back home if I needed to return along the same path. So I opted to take advantage of the SAG support and load the bike up only to unloaded it once I realized the group wasn't returning along the same path...

All in all, I had a great time and was able to complete a century which I rightfully named....

"Fatboy, Get out of the Sag, we're taking the flats back Century"

I made it to the Ski lifts for the first time

Congrats! :beer:

You guys have way too much fun...

You guys have way too much fun...

You might be right but we can't seem to find that limit of "just the right amount of fun". Every time we set the line, somebody seems to have more fun than what was intended. Speaking for myself, I feel I have failed in this. Any suggestions on how to limit our fun?

Crash?

Be competitive or cocky?

Resist ME's advances?

Crash?

He couldn't make it. In any case, I'm not sure how he's supposed to limit our fun.

Be competitive or cocky?

No way! No one would ever try to ride at a hard pace at a SoCal BikeForums ride. :rolleyes:

Resist ME's advances?

M.E., make advances? I have no clue what you're talking about. :p

Resist ME's advances?

Nah, you don't want to do that! We should be encouraging more of it :p

I'm sure we could limit our fun by moving to Eastern Indiana like R900. Of course, R900 could increase fun by moving to SoCal and joining us on our rides!

Rick / OCRR

Congrats! :beer:

+1 - that's awesome, Tom! :)

Crash?

Be competitive or cocky?

Resist ME's advances?

How do I get dragged all up in it? :rolleyes: Besides, EVERYONE resists my advances...sniff...perhaps deodorant and a shower isn't over-rated. And that shaving the armpits thing?...:p

Nah, you don't want to do that! We should be encouraging more of it :p

Clearly, you haven't smelled me...

I don't wish to hijack this thread, but it looks like it has kind of run it's course. I am fascinated about this ride and the Angeles Crest route as well. I've never ridden up there and I am wondering what fitness level is needed? I ride a lot around the Santa Monica Mts, and climb the Rock Store regularly. With just a little more fitness I have climbed Stunt, Piuma, and Latigo, but each of those is an event in itself. How does this compare and how much fitter do you need to be to climb up to Mount Baldy village?

STeve

If you can climb Latigo, you can climb from Glendora to Baldy village along GMR. It's a lot longer, but no crazy steep sections or anything. Just 22 miles of scenic climbing, with plenty of rollers after the initial long stretch of continuous climbing on GMR. I've only done the Latigo climb once, so I don't know it well, but my impression was that Latigo was comparable to GMR up to the intersection with GRR. GRR to Baldy village takes about the same amount of time, but there's no sustained climb of over 2 miles on GRR.

Angeles Crest has long, sustained grades. Nothing crazy steep, but plenty of long grades. And it's at a higher altitude, so depending on how well you deal with altitude, the elevation may get to you a bit.

If you've stacked a couple of those climbs in the Santa Monicas together, it's pretty equivalent to the ride up to Baldy Village.

Starting from Encanto, you can go up the Frontside of GMR which is almost exactly like Latigo in distance / grade or you can go up 39 to East Forks to the backside of GMR, which I think is like Stunt in distance / grade. The backside of GMR (also known as little GMR) may be a little steeper than Stunt (it maybe like Rock Store?, others who've done them all more would know for sure).

GRR is at the top of GMR where both those climbs meet. From that point, I think it's another 11 miles or so. It starts with a few miles of rollers and then goes into a very deceptive, long climb. It doesn't "look" like a climb for various optical trickery, so it's kind of a drag for me. Sometimes it even "looks" like the road is going downhill, but the grade is actually 3-4%! I don't know what others think of that road, but it reaaaaally drags for me. Never that hard, just long, up, and deceptive (though it does have great views).

Adding the ski lifts from Baldy is like adding Tuna Canyon to the end (the steep *** one in the santa monicas, not the kind gentle La Tuna Canyon in Glendale area).

Come on out next time we head out there. You can always turn back at the top of GMR if you're not feeling it. I did that the first time I rode up there. The next time I went back I made it to the village, the last (my third time), I made it up to to the ski lifts. If it's a big ride (and it always is) there are people who wind up doing all the options so you wouldn't be riding alone.

I know nothing about AC.

I agree with Ronjon. The middle section of GRR can be quite depressing if your legs are having a bad day and you don't realize that it's actually a pretty significant climb even though it looks pretty much flat. And by the time you're halfway through that section, you're committed to going to Baldy village because there's less climbing going that way and returning via Claremont than there is turning around. (And besides, you're probably running a bit low on water, and the nearest water is at Baldy village.)

But it's a gorgeous ride, and you should find a chance to go do the ride with someone who knows the way. Along East Fork or GMR (from Glendora), you can always turn around if it's not really something you feel up for. GRR's a bit tougher a proposition in that regard because as noted, once halfway through the mentally tough middle section, you're basically committed to getting to Baldy village.

Clearly, you haven't smelled me...

I think the sweat overcomes the odor ... :p

I think the sweat overcomes the odor ... :p

As does the sweet. ;)

Come on out next time we head out there. You can always turn back at the top of GMR if you're not feeling it. I did that the first time I rode up there. The next time I went back I made it to the village, the last (my third time), I made it up to to the ski lifts. If it's a big ride (and it always is) there are people who wind up doing all the options so you wouldn't be riding alone.


Thanks, I will do. Although it might have to wait until soccer season is over (I'm a soccer dad). I will be doing the Amtrack in spite of all that. Well back to Latigo, to refine my form.

STeve