Southern California - GMR-Wednesday, Feb. 10

137053Gate at 3:20 PM(click)
137054Rattle Snake Peak from GMR(click)
137055Top of GMR(click)

Left the house a little after 3 PM. Gate was closed but they must have opened it about 20 minutes after I went over it with the bike. Ran into first snow in shade at about 2400 feet. Coyotes were cruising the road, looking for dinner I guess. Yes, the 4 legged kind. Made the top, put on a jacket and wind pants for the ride down and proceded to descend. Man, it was cold.

So there's no patrol or rangers on the other side of the barriers, correct?
Thanks for the photos--I envy you unemployed types; I'll be getting off at 5:00, which leaves me about ...31 minutes to get home, get changed, pump up the tires... and get back on the rollers because it's dark and rush hour traffic is still raging.

I envy you unemployed types; I'll be getting off at 5:00, which leaves me about ...31 minutes to get home, get changed, pump up the tires... and get back on the rollers because it's dark and rush hour traffic is still raging.

So who said anything about "unemployed"? I get up at midnight 5 nights a week and work from 1 AM until 9:30 AM. Then I come home and decide if there is enough left to get this old butt out and pumping pedals up the hills. More times than not I wait till after 2 in the afternoon and go up then, it just depends on how work went and how much sleep I got before going in. Luckily I have a weekday off along with Sundays, so I can do rides without the crowds of the weekend if I want. Unemployed? I wish. LOL:thumb:

Sleep is for the weak!
(And apparently I am much, much weaker than you.) I went more than a decade on 4-hours of sleep per night, but that was like living in a hazy, black&white movie.
You deserve that delicious post-nuclear-holocaust playground IMO, but I don't envy you anymore.

And as far as the road being patrolled , usually depends on reason of the closure. If it is fire related, you don't want to be up there. Have heard stories of riders getting tickets. If it is road work, just be cool when going by their work area, and you are usually ok. Closed after a heavy rain, take your chance that the road is rideable. Was up GMR at 3 AM once,having hopped the gate, heading up to do Crystal Lake when we were stopped by a CHP officer. He told us we weren't supposed to be up there but he didn't really care, so we kept going. When we got to the top just past the CAL Trans shed we came upon the reason why the road was closed. So local idiot teenager had gone and killed himself by having too much to drink and thought he was Mario Andetti. Right past the top he went over the side. There must have been at least 25
vehicles up there that morning blocking the road. Lets see, ambulances, CHP cars. L A County Sheriffs squad cars, fire trucks, Glendora polce , search and rescue trucks, and the worst one, L. A. County Coroners vehicles. Seeing how we were not supposed to be up there, they made us wait over 2 hours before we could ride by were all the action was going on. By that time, they were bring the car up the side of the hill, and we saw them putting the body in the Coroners wagon. Not a good way to start off a long day on a bike.:eek:

I went more than a decade on 4-hours of sleep per night, but that was like living in a hazy, black&white movie.
I like that. Like living in a hazy black and white movie. That is exactly what it is like. I know the 4 hour life style, having been there, but not as much any more. Getting older, getting more sleep.

I wish sleep wasn't a compulsory activity for our species. It would rule pretty hard if nightly sleep were a choice, like deciding to have ice cream on your cherry pie at Marie Callender's--do I feel like sleeping tonight? Meh, sounds good, I might as well.
I would rather spend that time learning languages, earning millions, I'd have several wives, and my FTP would be a full horsepower (which is 765 watts.) Too bad we have to spend nearly half our lives in a death-like state.

Too bad we have to spend nearly half our lives in a death-like state.
Are you referring to when you are awake or asleep? Just kidding. But you are right, and it would be something to only sleep when you want to, not because you have to.