Baldy

[jpconrad]

So...

To do a climb up Mt Baldy from the Claremont or Upland area where's a good place to park?

[Happytime]

So...

To do a climb up Mt Baldy from the Claremont or Upland area where's a good place to park?

Jason's parents' house. Stop by and say hi. :p

[roadfix]

^^^^dang you beat me to it!

[jschen]

There's a parking lot at Mills Rd and Mt Baldy Rd in Claremont. A two minute ride from my parents' place. A straight shot up to Baldy, with no navigating to do. And once at the top, a fast descent back to the car.

[jpconrad]

Thanks!

[socalrider]

If you want to time yourself from the official TT start, drive straight up Euclid ave on the upland side and there is a old grocery store parking lot right across from the fire station where the TT used to start.. From there to the top of the lifts is 12.6 miles.. anything under 1.5 hours is pretty good..

[jpconrad]

Hmm, I may have to try that.

[socalrider]

directions are easy, go north up euclid ave to 24th street, it splits, you want to go to the left.. You are now in front of the fire station.. There is a grocery store 50 yards up on the left hand side.. You can park there..

[jpconrad]

directions are easy, go north up euclid ave to 24th street, it splits, you want to go to the left.. You are now in front of the fire station.. There is a grocery store 50 yards up on the left hand side.. You can park there..

I found it, thanks!

[Cleave]

If you want to time yourself from the official TT start, drive straight up Euclid ave on the upland side and there is a old grocery store parking lot right across from the fire station where the TT used to start.. From there to the top of the lifts is 12.6 miles.. anything under 1.5 hours is pretty good..

Hi,

Brings back pleasant memories. The supermarket parking lot. The ride through the tunnels and the switchbacks to the parking lot. :rolleyes:

[redal]

Hi,

Brings back pleasant memories. The supermarket parking lot. The ride through the tunnels and the switchbacks to the parking lot. :rolleyes:

My memories are both pleasure and pain.

[Mr. Beanz]

I found it, thanks!

No you didn't ! The grocery store that was is no longer!:D

Was an Albertson's. The first little climb right next to the chapel is a nasty one! Anybody know the grade on it?


What I like to do is park at Euclid and Foothill Blvd. Gives you an easy 3 mile climb as a warmup before hitting the chapel hill. (Chapel of the Wildwoods)


Lot is just east of Euclid and on the north side. Ther is a Chicks sporting goods and Competitive Edge cylery, incase you need a tube or sumthin'!:D

[Psydotek]

I do believe it was albertsons. It's been a while since i've been up there though. My friend used to live one block east of Euclid/24th on the southwest corner of 24th and 1st.

I remember when we first got our bikes at the beginning of last hear and climbing euclid from 17th to 24th was the hardest thing i could possibly imagine... :lol:

[jpconrad]

No you didn't ! The grocery store that was is no longer!:D

It lives on in my version of Mapsource, I found the Albertsons and the fire station!

Thanks, though, now I know not to look for it when I go out there. :)

[jpconrad]

I'm looking at bringing two water bottles and doing this early morning, do you think that's enough?

[jschen]

Two bottles should be plenty for an early morning climb.

[socalrider]

Was an Albertson's. The first little climb right next to the chapel is a nasty one! Anybody know the grade on it?

I rode it recently and it shows 8-9% grade..

2 bottles is fine for early morning ride..

[jpconrad]

That was painful.

On Friday I had some time to kill so I decided to go and attempt Baldy starting from the old time trial spot. I didn’t know if I’d be up to going to the lifts, or even the village, but I had nothing better to do (except for work, I guess).

My legs were a little sore from playing around on the Sacred Hearts climb the night before, and going to a 10-12 % grade (per Garmin Training Center) almost immediately didn’t help. I plodded on, however, but stopped a mile or so above the tunnels.

“Screw it, I think I’ll go back to work, I am supposed to go up here again on Sunday anyway.”

On Saturday, pressed for time, I rode from my apartment up to Newcombs and back, arriving home by 9:15 am for almost 7000 feet of climbing and 65 miles. Maybe not the smartest thing to do before Baldy…

Anyway, whitecarbondude, vancemac and I were planning to meet at 6:30 at the parking lot that jschen suggested, but vance wasn’t going to be able to make it and pm'd us Saturday. Sunday morning, 5:30 I woke up, had some carbo pro for breakfast, loaded the minivan and left for Baldy. A broken ATM put me a few minutes late, but I figured it wouldn’t be a problem. I arrived about 6:40, but whitecarbondude wasn’t there. At 7 am I gave him a call, he sounded like he just woke up, I told him don’t worry about it and I was going to go ahead and ride alone.

After about an hour of fun, if I can call it that, I was passing the saloon. Another 45 minutes later and I was at the lifts. 13 miles per the Garmin, 4695 feet, 1:46:30, not too bad since I’ve never done it before and didn’t know how to pace it.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1106/1351940323_cfd2e3d7a6.jpg


After a banana and a couple minutes rest I started the white knuckle descent on the gravel. I shoot through the village at or above the speed limit, and as I’m coming to the only uphill section a rider climbing starts waving at me to slow down. What the hell, is there an accident? I’m only going 40+! I’m thinking I’m going to post something about this, and as I’m going over the top I look back and the rider’s now behind me on my side a hundred yards back. What gives? Maybe he wants to tell me something? As I’m slowing down I realize it’s WhiteCarbonDude. Man, I feel stupid. I’ll let him fill you in on his ride.

He’d like to head up to the Ice House, I tell him I’ll join him to the saloon and get something to eat. I could use the climbing.

I eat, Jon goes to the Ice House and returns, and we decide to go back down to the parking lot so I can check in with my wife and if there’s nothing going on we can do it again, at least to the village.

My wife says fine, we take off again. The base layer is now too hot, so a short while into the climb I peel it off. Boy, it really sucked climbing this time. My legs were somewhat painful, it was getting hot, and we had enough of a tailwind to get no air movement while we were climbing except when a car would pass.

After the tunnels it gets worse. I pour a little water on my head in hopes of heading off overheating like last weekend. We keep going. I tell Jon that I’m going to stop when we hit that road sign (it’s right at the top before the short downhill), and this part is painfully steep. As we close on the sign, though, I figure if Jon doesn’t stop I’ll just keep going, it’s only a short distance to the village. He stops, though, and we rest for a bit. He’s going to go to the Ice House again, I’m going to go and get a coke at the saloon.

I have a coke and some hash browns, talk to another guy about my bike (he rides an old Cannondale touring bike) and I get ready to leave, but WhiteCarbonDude hasn’t returned. I figure maybe he has a problem, a mechanical or something, so I start to ride up towards the Ice House. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. My legs are a bit sore, but they finally start to work themselves out when I feel a hoping on my rear wheel. A rock had glued itself to it, I remove it and start off again and I see Jon. He got delayed supporting the community with a little commerce. Cool, no issues.

Head back down, fight the headwinds, back to the cars, and home.

Total for the day: 45.93 miles, 8,111 feet.

Maybe I’ll do it again next weekend…

[jschen]

8k of climbing in 46 miles? Yikes! That's a lot of climbing you did!

[VanceMac]

Heh, you really know how to make a guy feel bad about bailing. :D

[roadfix]

Dang John, you're getting really hard core! :beer:

[spingineer]

You make my rides sound whimpy

[merider1]

Heh, you really know how to make a guy feel bad about bailing. :D

+1 :o I ever so slightly considered joining you guys, John, but then had breakfast instead. Now, I'm feeling guilty but grateful I didn't show. I would have made it half way up by the time you boys did your second run. Good job. :)

[jpconrad]

Heh, you really know how to make a guy feel bad about bailing. :D

There's always next week! :D

[merider1]

There's always next week! :D

maybe... :D

[jpconrad]

8k of climbing in 46 miles? Yikes! That's a lot of climbing you did!

My legs don't feel bad, either.

[jpconrad]

Dang John, you're getting really hard core! :beer:

I'm not going to do it that often, after Everest I'm gonna rest.

[jpconrad]

You make my rides sound whimpy

Hey, you did a double in regular shorts, that's not wimpy!

[jpconrad]

+1 :o I ever so slightly considered joining you guys, John, but then had breakfast instead. Now, I'm feeling guilty but grateful I didn't show. I would have made it half way up by the time you boys did your second run. Good job. :)

I had some breakfast while WhiteCarbonDude went to the Ice House the first time, it was pretty good! I had a fresh baked cinnamon roll, an egg over medium, and some hash browns.

I'm going to have to stop there again.

[redal]

I had some breakfast while WhiteCarbonDude went to the Ice House the first time, it was pretty good! I had a fresh baked cinnamon roll, an egg over medium, and some hash browns.

I'm going to have to stop there again.

I've seen those cinnamon rolls! I've never felt like I had done enough climbing to deserve one. That section after the tunnels, called "hogsback" is definitely some of the hardest climbing I've ever done.

[jpconrad]

I've seen those cinnamon rolls! I've never felt like I had done enough climbing to deserve one. That section after the tunnels, called "hogsback" is definitely some of the hardest climbing I've ever done.

I wasn't expecting it to be as big as it was, I was looking for some quick carbs. I'm gonna get another one, though. :o

While going up the hogsback the first time I started to think that it would surpass the lifts as the part that I struggled with the most. My memory was failing, however, the lifts still were worse, especially with the gravel all over the road.

The temperature was perfect at 7 am, a little chilly. When they did the TTs, what time of the year did they do them?

[redal]

I wasn't expecting it to be as big as it was, I was looking for some quick carbs. I'm gonna get another one, though. :o

While going up the hogsback the first time I started to think that it would surpass the lifts as the part that I struggled with the most. My memory was failing, however, the lifts still were worse, especially with the gravel all over the road.

The temperature was perfect at 7 am, a little chilly. When they did the TTs, what time of the year did they do them?

I think first rider off used to be at 8 A.M.. The switchbacks are tricky and I haven't been up there with the gravel, but if you ride the right line you can actually keep your momentum rolling. Don't ride the yellow line when you are turning left, only when you are turning right. You want to try to flatten out the corners. The yellow line turning left is shorter but much steeper.

I will definitely have one of those cinnamon rolls this winter.

[jpconrad]

I think first rider off used to be at 8 A.M.. The switchbacks are tricky and I haven't been up there with the gravel, but if you ride the right line you can actually keep your momentum rolling. Don't ride the yellow line when you are turning left, only when you are turning right. You want to try to flatten out the corners. The yellow line turning left is shorter but much steeper.

I will definitely have one of those cinnamon rolls this winter.

I'm fine in the switchbacks, at least ascending, I took the corners as you said and flattened them out. The last bit, at the top up to the sign, though, was a pain partly because the gravel caused my rear tire to slip out a couple times while I was standing, but not enough that I lost momentum and had to stop. I was dreading the descent, though, but the wheels I used braked a lot better than the ES's I used last time.

BTW, it looks like CBR is putting on a Baker to Death Valley RR at the end of October.

[redal]

I'm fine in the switchbacks, at least ascending, I took the corners as you said and flattened them out. The last bit, at the top up to the sign, though, was a pain partly because the gravel caused my rear tire to slip out a couple times while I was standing, but not enough that I lost momentum and had to stop. I was dreading the descent, though, but the wheels I used braked a lot better than the ES's I used last time.

BTW, it looks like CBR is putting on a Baker to Death Valley RR at the end of October.

Yeah that part is rough. The first time I rode the race there was a headwind the whole way up and a fierce headwind that last part. I rode pretty fast and when socalrider sent my results he coined me "Lemond".....I wish. I was aware of the Death Valley race and have thought about it. I won't really be in race shape but I don't think many people will. I need to talk to the wife. Between me racing just about every weekend from Feb. through Sept. and my stepdaughter's basketball, she deserves some weekends with no sports.

[WhiteCarbonDude]

My day started out bad, 5:30am hit snooze and never recovered. John calls me at 7 :eek: and I feel horrible, but I get out of bed and slog my way up to Claremont. I was rolling at 7:48 hoping to see John on the descent. About 3.5 miles up the road this guy flies by and I swore it looked like Jpconrad, so I turn around and chase this guy all the way to the parking lot. Opps! :mad: Not him, so I head back up Baldy Rd. After "Hogs back" I finnaly see John coming down, I had to turn around and chase him a bit till he figured out it was me, so he heads on up with me to the Village. I went up to IceHouse Rd and back because I don't like the gravel on the switchbacks and I wanted to get the extra feet. So we head down and repeat, this time I stopped at this little old lady's house on IceHouse Rd. She had some honey for sale so bought some and a Mountain Dew. This lady has been bee keeping and making honey for 30 some odd years. But warning if you go there she moves very slow, it took like 15 minutes for her to make my transaction.

Anyways here are my stats for the day:

http://home.earthlink.net/~shellenbargers/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/sept092007.jpg

[socalrider]

There is one thing about riding baldy rd, it never gets easier the more times you do it.. You are just smarter about which lines to take.. How many times on hogsback and the switchbacks did you look down to see if you had 1 more gear?

The 1 mile section past the tunnels, "Hogsback" is deceiving because it doesn't look as steep as it feels in your legs..

[jschen]

I never look down in those sections because I am resigned to being in my lowest gear. :rolleyes: Doesn't stop me from jabbing at the shifter once in a while just to try to shift down anyway, though. :p