Southern California - GMR Street Luge?

I was planning on my first ride up Glendora Mountain Road on Saturday 9/15 (rolling from the school at 8:30am, but not planning on making it all the way up this time).

Then a grizzled vet at the LBS told me that he never rides GMR on the weekends because because it's used by people doing street luge! I thought he was pulling my leg, but he was quite serious. So I looked around and found some references to exactly this, though it seems to be limited to when the road is closed to cars. Any guidance on this issue?

A video from May 2007. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEAogMbQdpE) You can see them passing a cyclist climbing at about 2:10.

midnight ridazz is possibly zoo bombing down gmr in the near future.

I last rode the street when it was closed, and we did see some street lugers coming down. There's usually only a handful of them there, and they stay on the right side of the road. Don't worry about them.

Don't plan on making it all the way up? GMR isn't that hard! Suck it up!

midnight ridazz is possibly zoo bombing down gmr in the near future.

You might be bombing that hill, but unless it's in Portland, OR and has a Zoo at the top, you're not Zoo bombing.:D

sorry, its called BOMBSQUAD and its inspired by zoobomb.
http://midnightridazz.com/viewStory.php?storyId=573

Just teasin' ggallin, the ridazz are well known in Portland ( http://bikeportland.org/2007/08/13/las-midnight-ridazz-set-to-swarm-portland/ ). Xtra credit for doing bombs without the Metro train ride up. That gmr hill looks fun. Do they really close it to cars?

I used to downhill skateboard, and GMR was very popular with that crowd. Did not see them when I was there.

I never saw street lugers out there but lots of skateboarders. Always gave them a friendly wave when climbing GMR while they were hiking up.

I did see some street lugers on the side of the road one time when I descended GMR. When I first saw them, I just saw the helmets, and I thought it might have been a bunch of motorcyclists that went down .. then, as I passed them, I realized they were street lugers. They are just nuts!

Its well known on this list I inline skate on GMR. We know the lugers and skateboarders well. They don't like crashing, and certainly don't like taking cyclist out. In defense of street luge, they have more stopping power than bikes. But...they don't corner so well, so they tend to like roads with larger radius curves. GMR is near perfect, especially the front side.

don't worry about them. They won't run you over.

I last rode the street when it was closed, and we did see some street lugers coming down. There's usually only a handful of them there, and they stay on the right side of the road. Don't worry about them.

Did you watch the video? That crew was definitely not staying on the right side of the road.


Don't plan on making it all the way up? GMR isn't that hard! Suck it up!

Well, my longest climb to date is the 5 miles out of the Rose Bowl, so I don't want to put any unrealistic expectations on myself. I'll play it by ear and see how I feel.

I've only seen street lugers up there when the road is closed, and it's not closed now. Usually they're pretty civilized, as well.

I rode today in the late morning/early afternoon up to the village, and it was very nice. Not much traffic and not too hot, though the humidity is pretty low.

can't believe I didn't think of this before.

While decending street luge, skate boards, and inline skates make a high pitched whine that can be heard more than a 1/4 mile away. If you're climbing, you will hear them. If you're on GMR frontside, and its closed to traffic, just be aware we might be out there. Don't freak out. Just stay right. We'll go around you. No big deal.

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There weren't any street lugers (lugists? lugeophiles?) out last weekend. Rode 7.5 miles and could have done more. Hoping the rain clears up to roll at 8:30 again on Sunday morning to try to make it to the GMR - GRR fork (maybe to the first downhill portion of GRR?).

There weren't any street lugers (lugists? lugeophiles?) out last weekend. Rode 7.5 miles and could have done more. Hoping the rain clears up to roll at 8:30 again on Sunday morning to try to make it to the GMR - GRR fork (maybe to the first downhill portion of GRR?).

FYI - The street lugers only ride GMR and GRR. The skateboarders will do GRR fork, or what we call the backside. The inline skaters and the gravity bikes will do all of the above and the Baldy switchbacks.

None of us will be out until the roads are clean again. Usually 2-3 weeks after a rain.