Southern California - Taste of Fernwood/Topanga

I did a ride I shouldn't have done today. Why? Because my new bike is woefully undergeared at present for the climbing I like to do. I decided to climb Fernwood in Topanga Canyon up to Saddle Peak, which is a route I've descended many times, and one of the steepest 4 mile climbs in the Santa Monicas, as you can see on the gradient map image. It was also hovering near 90F degrees, which is the first official hot ride of the year for me. I knew I'd be struggling to make it up, so I made sure to bring my excuse, err camera to stop and snap some pics along the way.

Total out and back ride was just shy of 20 miles, with over 1700 feet of climbing, peaking at 2500 in elevation. The water spigot along the first driveway as you turn onto Saddle Peak Rd came in very handy since I brought just one water bottle.

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f140/michsis/fernwoodmap.jpg

The first "picture opportunity" around mile 1 of the climb.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f140/michsis/fernwood1.jpg

Love the canopy, but that 9% was another thing entirely.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f140/michsis/fernwood2.jpg

End of Fernwood and beginning of Saddle Peak Rd.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f140/michsis/fernwood3.jpg

A well postioned vista view. Ideal for another "picture opportunity."
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f140/michsis/fernwood4.jpg

By far one of the coolest mountain top homes.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f140/michsis/fernwood5.jpg

Pretty much the highest elevation for Saddle Peak, close to 2500 feet.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f140/michsis/fernwood6.jpg

According the this picture, I was at Saddle Peak. At least my bike was.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f140/michsis/saddlepeak419.jpg

The peak on Saddle Peak.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f140/michsis/saddlepeak419b.jpg

A very nice couple who were amazed someone could ride a bike up there. She's a film student, he builds, repairs and customizes motorcycles. The bike she's on is the current fastest stock bike on the market. Wins all the big races. Don't recall it's name.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f140/michsis/saddlepeak419c.jpg

Topanga Canyon had their annual Earthday Festival this weekend, which meant thousands of people crowding into the canyon looking for a place to park. I happen to live less than a mile from the festival location, so my street was lined with parked cars. Every year it's the same story: people blocking the road with their improperly parked cars, so the parking ticket vendors and tow trucks descend like vultures and feed off the carnage. They also try and park where there's no shoulder and often end up in the creek. I don't know if this picture shows the end of one of those attempted creek parkings, or just a car being towed for blocking the road. Gonna be an unhappy hippy at the end of the day when they find their car gone.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f140/michsis/TCB1.jpg

Here's the rear view of the action.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f140/michsis/tcb2.jpg

Can't find a place to park? No problem.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f140/michsis/tcb3.jpg

The temp guage at the end of the ride at 6pm. Still hot.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f140/michsis/home419.jpg

Topanga Canyon had their annual Earthday Festival this weekend, which meant thousands of people crowding into the canyon looking for a place to park. I happen to live less than a mile from the festival location, so my street was lined with parked cars. ...


20miles? ui live right there or something?

yes

It was also hovering near 90F degrees, which is the first official hot ride of the year for me..




Nice.

How was the wind? Big heat and winds down south - summer's on us now.

I did a ride I shouldn't have done today. Why? Because my new bike is woefully undergeared at present for the climbing I like to do....


What gearing is on the bike?

What gearing is on the bike?and what was the old one?

...my new bike...

Dang! Did I miss all the rueing?

Nice story! :beer:

that area is expensive...
Depends on your income, if you own, rent, or run one of the homeowner's businesses like I do.


Nice.

How was the wind? Big heat and winds down south - summer's on us now.
It was breezy while going up, and then nice and constant on Saddle Peak. It wasn't really a factor as far as the ride went. A few times while heading up I'd hit a pocket of no breeze at all and really feel the heat since I was barely moving myself.


What gearing is on the bike?
Currently 53/39, 11-25. It felt pathetic. Worst climb ever for me.

and what was the old one?
50/34, 11-30. I could have used that 30 yesterday along a few stretches. The plan is to replace the current Ultegra group with Rival, and with 50/34, 11-28 gearing. That should take care of the needless suffering.


Dang! Did I miss all the rueing?

Nice story! :beer:
Because it's Blue, and not as well known as the competition, I don't know how much rueing there was. Didn't stop me from trying when I first got it. (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=529686) ;)

Nice bike. :thumb:Do you go up to the top of the peak in the picture? Is there a road?

I too made the mistake of climbing in the mountains yesterday. :(I did the 67 mile round trip up Mt. Wilson from my house. I thought it would be cooler. I was cooler but not by much. Saw a few cyclists in that heat. At least the top of Mt. Wilson was in the 60's.

Nice bike. :thumb:Do you go up to the top of the peak in the picture? Is there a road?

I too made the mistake of climbing in the mountains yesterday. :(I did the 67 mile round trip up Mt. Wilson from my house. I thought it would be cooler. I was cooler but not by much. Saw a few cyclists in that heat. At least the top of Mt. Wilson was in the 60's.

The peak is cosmetic and exists only for posing. It's also unsuitable for climbing except by foot;) There is a dirt road that continues around the peak, but it's strictly hiker and mountain bike territory.

Yep, at this time of year you have to hit the long climbs early enough to avoid the oven. Or you have to enjoy the heat. Despite sweating like a plow mule, the heat didn't bother me yesterday, but then it wasn't a very long climb at just over an hour.

Any highlights of your Wilson trip? I love it up there.

Any highlights of your Wilson trip? I love it up there.

I didn't start until 11 so the heat was oppressive. It was around 80 degrees on the trip up. Saw a few cyclist heading up the same time as me. And saw some coming down. This is the 2nd time I've gone up there alone. This time it didn't seem to be as long.

I started from Silverlake and crawled up Chevy Chase and went straight up AC hwy. Before I knew it, I was at Clear Creek filling up my water bottles. I probably went through 4 bottles. There wasn't many cyclists or cars like I've experienced recently going up Baldy. At Clear Creek I met orange and white jersey and he said originally he was going up Mt. Wilson, but was too tired from biking up to Red Box on Friday to make it up. Then I was tempted to stop at Red Box too, but after eating a homemade energy bar, I found my second wind and continued on up to Mt. Wilson.

Mt. Wilson is still green from the snow and rain. You have to get up there before it becomes dry and brown.

Just some of the views from the top. Was a pleasant 60 degrees, but cold going down. Hope these pix upload right. I have a problem loading on this forum for some reason.:rolleyes:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/31252647@N03/3463396431/" title="Mt. Wilson antennas by parisienne wannab, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3617/3463396431_a075288622.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Mt. Wilson antennas" /></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/31252647@N03/3464211794/" title="view from Mt. Wilson by parisienne wannab, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3511/3464211794_79336daf38.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="view from Mt. Wilson" /></a>

grrlyrida says:
Just some of the views from the top. Was a pleasant 60 degrees, but cold going down. Hope these pix upload right. I have a problem loading on this forum for some reason.:rolleyes:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31252647@N03/3463396431
title="Mt. Wilson antennas by parisienne wannab, on Flickr"

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3617/3463396431_a075288622.jpg
"Mt. Wilson antennas"

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31252647@N03/3464211794/
title="view from Mt. Wilson by parisienne wannab, on Flickr"

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3511/3464211794_79336daf38.jpg
"view from Mt. Wilson"

Mt. Wilson is still green from the snow and rain. You have to get up there before it becomes dry and brown.

Nice highlight recap. And you're right, that'll be nice seeing all the green. Last time I was up there was on Jan 1 when there was still plenty of snow up there. Sunny and in the 60's that day, but still a winter wonderland. Just beautiful.

Very nice. Did you order the frame directly from Blue?

Thanks DScott. I fail at picture loading. You're gonna have to show me how to do that one day.:)

Nice highlight recap. And you're right, that'll be nice seeing all the green. Last time I was up there was on Jan 1 when there was still plenty of snow up there. Sunny and in the 60's that day, but still a winter wonderland. Just beautiful.

You did the New Years ride? I was going to do it, but I was too out of shape to try Mt. Wilson. Next year I'm going to keep my fitness. I wanna see the snow up there. It must have been beautiful.

Very nice. Did you order the frame directly from Blue?

No, bought it complete from LBS in Woodland Hills. The bike purchase came with a free pro fitting, which I took advantage of today. Learned a bunch of things about posture, position, muscle groups, etc. I posted about it in the road forum if interested. Conclusion: it's all about your hamstrings.

You did the New Years ride? I was going to do it, but I was too out of shape to try Mt. Wilson. Next year I'm going to keep my fitness. I wanna see the snow up there. It must have been beautiful.

It was spectacular. Here's a link (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=499129) to that ride report. Includes snowy pics and a long winded story.

Nice pics! I want to come up and ride the Santa Monica's soon.

Great job Kidd. I love Saddleback, each road there has its uniqueness.

Btw, have you visit the new bike shop @ topanga Canyon Rd? I believed they have KMC, and some other nice bikes.
PS- Nice bike .

Nice pics! I want to come up and ride the Santa Monica's soon.

Right, but your version of "riding" these days is on a mountain bike and straight up a hill regardless if there's a roadway or trail! Rough riding!:D

p.s. your (George too) collective blogs and videos are awesome.

Btw, have you visit the new bike shop @ topanga Canyon Rd? I believed they have KMC, and some other nice bikes.
PS- Nice bike .

Yes, I have. They have a nice line of high end stuff. Higher than my budget, but I did shop there. They have open bike build parties from time to time on the patio with grilled burgers and drinks, which are easily within my budget.

Great job Kidd. I love Saddleback, each road there has its uniqueness.

You're a fan of suffering then? Seriously, Fernwood + 39/25 just wasn't smart. 'Tis beautiful up there.

where is that bike shop again??

You know where the community center/Will Geer theater is? It's not far from there.

website (http://www.topangacreekbicycles.com/index.php)

Thanks DScott. I fail at picture loading. You're gonna have to show me how to do that one day.:)

Well, you noticed I only half-failed, since two out of four pics are still MIA. ;)

A simple answer is, copy and paste url of pic into the "Insert Image" box when you "Reply to Thread".

You can even "Preview Post" to see if it's taken. give it a whirl!