Southern California - 3/15 MC Revised

I am still planning to do a practice ride the 15th. You're invited.:D

A friend suggested that 110 miles was too much, is that really true? In any case we've shortened it. We're doing the Challenge route sans the opening loop, (Malibu Cyn, PCH, Topanga, etc) i.e., subtract 30 miles give or take.

Date: March 15
Time: 7:00 AM
Start: Agoura & Las Virgenes McDonalds/Albertsons parking lot (http://maps.live.com/#JnE9eXAuYWdvdXJhK3JkK2NhbGFiYXNhcytjYSU3ZXNzdC4wJTdlcGcuMSZiYj02MS4yMjc5NTcxNzY2Nzc5JTdlLTYxLjE3MTg 3NSU3ZTE5LjIyODE3NjczNzc2NjMlN2UtMTM4LjE2NDA2MjU=) (select birds eye view to see)

Change to route, I have not edited the route slip:

Exit Parking lot
L Agoura
R Las Virgines
R Mulholland 3.0 miles
Cont MC route


First the route slip is now a web page (http://ca3sum.netfirms.com/MC.htm), I have added distance to the next turn.
Route Map (http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ca/costa-mesa/696650431)



Once reaching the coast we'll visit Decker to return the start/finish with the loop Stunt, Piuma, etc. Any questions please PM.

Disclaimer: This is not an organized ride. It is not associated with any club, team or other organization. If you choose to participate you acknowledge by your participation that you the participant are solely responsible for your actions and any and all outcomes of your actions.
It is not supported, please come prepared for an 80/85 mile ride with a good deal of climbing.

In. I'm getting spoiled with all these nice rides you guys have. Baldy, Santa Monica Mtns. I'm used too dirt bag roads and speed bumps for hills here in the Inland Empire.

I will be there. Your disclaimer is perfect! I plan on riding straight through and do not expect you to wait for me.

cool do you know where some water stops are before the big climbs? i don't know the area but i will be there

I know of several.
Circle-X Ranger Station on Yerba Buena.
Mulholland\Decker - ranch with white fence and gate has water next to fence. On the 3 rollers.
Mulholland at Leo Carrillo Campground

I will be out there with some friends, we will be climbing alot of the same route. I will keep my eyes open for you. There are two places along the route, where you can refuel. There is a market on Sierra Creek, right before you climb Rockstore and then there is Neptune's Net at PCH & Yerba Buena.

Cool, say hello.

I will be out there with some friends, we will be climbing alot of the same route. I will keep my eyes open for you. There are two places along the route, where you can refuel. There is a market on Sierra Creek, right before you climb Rockstore and then there is Neptune's Net at PCH & Yerba Buena. I'll be out there too. We are starting at the Commons at 8am heading for Stunt. Hope to hook up with Lee and friends.

The ride today was cold in the morning and windy in the afternoon. It was fun though and my climbing skills haven't improved one bit. Thanks to geosherman (http://www.bikeforums.net/member.php?u=112847) for hanging out with me even though that mountain goat could have been done with the ride at my halfway point. I still can't believe at one point I had a heart rate of 169 while he was chattin it up with a 104, amazing. Thanks to Mtnmn for putting the ride together and listening to my pain. I love that place even though I should be no where near a hill.

We had a hard day out there. Old Topanga, Stunt, Cold Creek, Mulholland, Little Syc., down Yerba( horrible road and windy) Encinal, Mulholland back to Calabasas. A good group from Santa Clarita Velo, Karen, Laura , and I. Ran into Christy at the Sierra Creek store, it was nice to see her. She is back climbing well. Laura and I did 85 miles with 11k, whew.:eek:

What a beautiful day for this ride! The views from Deer Creek and Saddle Peak were particularly awe inspiring. What was your altitude gain - my Garmin said 11,500. Seems a tad bit high. Then again during that last push up to Piuma (made more difficult by the cumulative fatigue) my legs were talking to me... I am looking forward to riding with you guys at the Mulholland Challenge next month!

My final was 78 miles with 10,224ft. and mtnmn's new garmin 705 with the updated altimeter was only 100ft. different, so I think it's close enough. I forgot about Piuma, when I finished Stunt with the last 400 meters at a sprint I started to celebrate thinking it was a quick down hill to Las Virgenes. Needless to say when I got to the bottom and saw Piuma, my rubbery legs said: "if you do this I will tell your heart to attack you."

We had a hard day out there. Old Topanga, Stunt, Cold Creek, Mulholland, Little Syc., down Yerba( horrible road and windy) Encinal, Mulholland back to Calabasas. A good group from Santa Clarita Velo, Karen, Laura , and I. Ran into Christy at the Sierra Creek store, it was nice to see her. She is back climbing well. Laura and I did 85 miles with 11k, whew.:eek:

Enjoyed riding with you VB, sorry I couldn't ride with you more. I was trying to make sure no one got lost. Except for Yerba, I really enjoyed the route. I was wondering about your mileage and elev. gain. We ended up with 75 miles and 9500K. The weather held for us all the way back, it was kind of nice having the tailwind going up Encinal.

See you on the Breathless preview ride.

Enjoyed riding with you VB, sorry I couldn't ride with you more. I was trying to make sure no one got lost. Except for Yerba, I really enjoyed the route. I was wondering about your mileage and elev. gain. We ended up with 75 miles and 9500K. The weather held for us all the way back, it was kind of nice having the tailwind going up Encinal.

See you on the Breathless preview ride.Thanks Lee, did you go down to the Golf Course on Encinal like we talked about? We did.

Thanks Lee, did you go down to the Golf Course on Encinal like we talked about? We did.

Yes, by the time the everybody got to the top of 2nd half of Encinal, they wanted to wring my neck. They felt the steep stingers on Mulholland would have created less misery overall.

I just told them that you and I were just trying to help get them in shape for all their upcoming rides, including the Death Ride. Everyone in that group is doing the Death Ride in July.

Bob..Great to see you out there! Also Christy, I hadn't seen her in forever!
Thanks Lee for the awesome ride!!! I had three different totals for elevation, when we stopped my Garmin said 10,000, downloading to training center said 9500 (that is pretty accurate), uploading to Motion Based said 10,330 ft! All stated 75 miles...
I really needed a ride like that, especially since I somehow got on the DEATH RIDE roster..OMG!
I did not like descending yerba, with the cross winds almost gone blown over a few times, I had to stop twice...I was freaking out! THEN Jane and I almost got taken out by a landslide climing Encinial!!!
But we made it back to cars all in one piece!! GREAT DAY...thanks again!
Karen

The ride today was cold in the morning and windy in the afternoon. It was fun though and my climbing skills haven't improved one bit. Thanks to geosherman (http://www.bikeforums.net/member.php?u=112847) for hanging out with me even though that mountain goat could have been done with the ride at my halfway point. I still can't believe at one point I had a heart rate of 169 while he was chattin it up with a 104, amazing. Thanks to Mtnmn for putting the ride together and listening to my pain. I love that place even though I should be no where near a hill.


Well it's Sunday morning, got home and my wife had made plans to to visit friends in Mission Viejo. The dawn always brings fresh perspective or is that fresh legs. Time to go loosen them up a bit.

Geosherman you are a model to strive for, lot's more climbing to do between now and 4/12 but I know what to expect, just add 30 miles and 1600' to what we did yesterday:D. I will change my logding plans. I had planned to drive up Fri, already have a room for the night but I hate the drive home in traffic. I've done it twice now and it just puts a damper on the day so I'm going to change it to Sat or just add Sat.

Felt thanks for the company and always staying at least within sight, most of the time;). Can't wait to see that new bike but hope we cross paths before then

What a beautiful day for this ride! The views from Deer Creek and Saddle Peak were particularly awe inspiring. What was your altitude gain - my Garmin said 11,500. Seems a tad bit high. Then again during that last push up to Piuma (made more difficult by the cumulative fatigue) my legs were talking to me... I am looking forward to riding with you guys at the Mulholland Challenge next month!

I'll be looking forward to meeting you again too, you are model of efficient climbing :beer:. A great ride yesterday, a better idea of what to expect.
How would you characterize the opening Topanga/Old Topanga, That's the only Canyon that I haven't visited yet?
I was trying to remember, on the way over to Deer Creek, that jog we did with the savage kick up at the beginning was that Cotharin?

The first climbs on the MC are the moderate ones. There is a small rise out of Las Virgenes and then a few downhill miles to the coast. Next comes the only flat - "relatively" - 7 or 8 miles to Topanga. Topanga and Old Topanga gain 1600 feet or so. I do not remember any steep sections, I remember that the grades were mostly in the 2% to 6% range. Then again it was the beginning of along day in the saddle!
More than anything, I remember the grind out of Cold Creek Canyon near the end of the ride! I had been riding hard (for me) most of the day and nearly ran out of gas on the last hill on Cold Creek just before Mulholland. I figured that I not paced myself very well. On last Saturday's ride I rode easy until I got to Decker and then lifted the pace. Stunt, Piuma and Cold Creek were still tough. So maybe it is not the pacing? My take on the MC: the ride from the beginning to PCH at Decker is pleasant; the challenge part is riding from Decker to the top of Cold Creek Cyn at Mulholland. You are now familiar with the challenge part; now just link the pleasant part and you will have ridden nearly all the good miles in the Santa Monica Mountains in a single day!

Hey Geo thanks for the external battery for the 305 tip. I was about to buy a 705 just for the battery life. You saved me about $500.00. http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?Item=N82E16855998033

We had a hard day out there. Old Topanga, Stunt, Cold Creek, Mulholland, Little Syc., down Yerba( horrible road and windy) Encinal, Mulholland back to Calabasas. A good group from Santa Clarita Velo, Karen, Laura , and I. Ran into Christy at the Sierra Creek store, it was nice to see her. She is back climbing well. Laura and I did 85 miles with 11k, whew.:eek:

It was great to run into all of you out there! Bruce really enjoyed our ride. That was his 2nd time climbing the Rock Store climb :)

Hopefully in a couple of weeks it'll warm up and AC will be rideable again like it was a couple of weeks ago :D
Christy

The first climbs on the MC are the moderate ones. There is a small rise out of Las Virgenes and then a few downhill miles to the coast. Next comes the only flat - "relatively" - 7 or 8 miles to Topanga. Topanga and Old Topanga gain 1600 feet or so. I do not remember any steep sections, I remember that the grades were mostly in the 2% to 6% range. Then again it was the beginning of along day in the saddle!
.....You are now familiar with the challenge part; now just link the pleasant part and you will have ridden nearly all the good miles in the Santa Monica Mountains in a single day!

I'll second on your take, as I'd said earlier, now I've seen it all less 30 miles give or take an 1600'. But the challenge started at Decker. Hope to make the most of those initial miles not burn a lot of gas, max the flats, the lesser grades with good tempo riding and blast the downhills. Wish I could remember a Cold Creek. It was up Stunt, down Sheuren and ugly back over Piuma to Mulholland, did I sleeep through something:D

Well here's to as much intensity as the body will bear with long tempo rides to balance it out 'till then. See you in Apr.

Hey Geo thanks for the external battery for the 305 tip. I was about to buy a 705 just for the battery life. You saved me about $500.00. http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?Item=N82E16855998033

They definitely did the battery for the 705, had it on for 10 hours, no hint of stopping when I finally plugged it in. Somewhere, shopping thread or otherwise saw mention of 15.

Let me know as your plans for the weekend shape up.

Mtnman,I am not sure how you guys finished the ride but the MC challenge course makes a right off of Piuma and drops into Cold Creek Canyon before climbing back up to Mulholland.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Piuma+Road&sll=34.086609,-118.691697&sspn=0.025519,0.039911&ie=UTF8&z=14
I have ridden this particular section a couple of times and the first time was a painful reminder that occasionally gravity trumps your ability to ascend. :)
See you in a couple of weeks!