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04-17-11, 09:22 PM
I have been wanting to ride to Crystal Lake for quite a while now, but I either never had time or my friends wanted to ride somewhere else. But today I convinced one of them to ride to Crystal Lake with me even though my legs were sore from a 15 mile hike to Mt. Wilson the previous day.
We got out a little late. My parents drove us to the east fork parking lot since that's where most people start their rides. We both thought that it would be a super easy ride since it was only about 13 miles. We had brought no food since we thought we would be back in a couple of hours. Both of us almost never ride on hilly terrain and we had no idea how difficult it would be. But we started riding and it turned out to be very difficult for both of us(harder for me since I am kinda overweight).
The first couple of miles were easy, but slowly we were getting more and more tired. By half way we were both drained and wanted to turn back, but we just ate a pack of gel and pushed on. As we climbed higher and higher the scenery kept getting more amazing. Looking down on the road we had climbed we realized how high up we were.
By the time we got to the entrance of the recreation area our legs were out of juice. We got some hamburgers and gatorade and hungrily ate it all. Then came the part we both were looking forward to:the descent. I went down slowly since I am not great at controlling my bike at high speeds, but my friend was going all out. That is until he took a corner too fast(he is still using stock brake pads) and went into the other lane while a truck was coming from the other side. Fortunately he quickly got into the shoulder and avoided a collision.
The rest of the ride was really nice, until we got past east fork(we were going to go to the bottom of the road where my mom could pick us up). After east fork the winds picked up and riding was horrible. The traffic also picked up and cars were passing us and we were getting blown around by the wind. But we got to the bottom safely.
Overall I really liked the ride. A really good practice for climbing(for me) ad the downhill is really fun and gets the adrenaline pumping. Definitely my favorite ride I have done and I plan to do it many time in the coming months.
In June we are planning a 4 day camping/cycling trip to Big Bear and we need some climbing practice before we attempt that. This will probably be our main practice ride.
Also I wanted to know what kind of average speed you guys get while going up that road. Ours was very low and I am wondering what I should set me goal at.
We got out a little late. My parents drove us to the east fork parking lot since that's where most people start their rides. We both thought that it would be a super easy ride since it was only about 13 miles. We had brought no food since we thought we would be back in a couple of hours. Both of us almost never ride on hilly terrain and we had no idea how difficult it would be. But we started riding and it turned out to be very difficult for both of us(harder for me since I am kinda overweight).
The first couple of miles were easy, but slowly we were getting more and more tired. By half way we were both drained and wanted to turn back, but we just ate a pack of gel and pushed on. As we climbed higher and higher the scenery kept getting more amazing. Looking down on the road we had climbed we realized how high up we were.
By the time we got to the entrance of the recreation area our legs were out of juice. We got some hamburgers and gatorade and hungrily ate it all. Then came the part we both were looking forward to:the descent. I went down slowly since I am not great at controlling my bike at high speeds, but my friend was going all out. That is until he took a corner too fast(he is still using stock brake pads) and went into the other lane while a truck was coming from the other side. Fortunately he quickly got into the shoulder and avoided a collision.
The rest of the ride was really nice, until we got past east fork(we were going to go to the bottom of the road where my mom could pick us up). After east fork the winds picked up and riding was horrible. The traffic also picked up and cars were passing us and we were getting blown around by the wind. But we got to the bottom safely.
Overall I really liked the ride. A really good practice for climbing(for me) ad the downhill is really fun and gets the adrenaline pumping. Definitely my favorite ride I have done and I plan to do it many time in the coming months.
In June we are planning a 4 day camping/cycling trip to Big Bear and we need some climbing practice before we attempt that. This will probably be our main practice ride.
Also I wanted to know what kind of average speed you guys get while going up that road. Ours was very low and I am wondering what I should set me goal at.