big john

Today I went up a local climb to Mount Baldy village along with hundreds of other riders. The roads were closed to cars to keep 4th of July revelers out, therefore the large turnout of riders.
Anyway, I caught up to a 50 Plus jersey and it turned out to be Yen's husband and we rode together for a bit. It was nice to chat with him and he was looking for another 50+er, maybe Billydon?
Later, as I was descending, I saw 2 more BF 50 Plus jerseys going up but I don't know who they were.
Anyway, it was a fun day and I also saw Mr Beanz, Jimmynh, Shprung, and other BFers who I can't remember right now. Can't wait for next 4th.

volosong

One of the was me. Almost missed you because I was pushing pretty hard and wasn't noticing much around me. It was a fun day, (if climbing 5,300 feet in 43 miles can be called "fun"). It would be nice if Curtis could design a SoCal jersey like he has for his NorCal riders.

Mr. Beanz

.......I also caught a little clip of you in my music video.

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...tin-The-Jersey!

billydonn

Sorry I didn't get to say hello Big John. It was for sure the ideal day for me to experience GMR for the first time. Lots of riders out and all in a festive mood, I must say. Everyone I met was very friendly up there... it was just a great experience for me.

I parked about a mile below the gate and started up about 9:00 and lots of riders were already coming down. About 1/3 of the way up to the shack Jim, Yen's husband, went by and turned around to chase me down (not real hard given my climbing speed ) and we chatted for a few minutes. Very nice of him to interrupt his descent. Then I rode non-stop to the shack where I was schmoozing with friendly locals when Beanz and his chums pulled in. Very shortly, along came Volosong going up. We all had a nice talk ... very pleasant indeed. When Beanz left, Volo and I rode another couple miles up but I turned back as time was an issue for me and the distance to water was a stretch. It was heating up too.

I had an absolutely great ride down and, according to Strava, I am currently the 974th fastest on the descent from the shack to the gate. This confirms that there are clearly 973 crazy riders up at GMR! With a little experience and familiarity with the road I am confident I can crack the top 950.

And the climb, well it is hard but doable. Lots of subtle nuances to it at the switchbacks made it interesting, as opposed to something that is just unrelenting and always the same. Scenery is very, very nice. There is occasional shade. I'm now a big fan of GMR ... just want to know where I can order my GMR jersey. (Or someone should design a GMR patch to go on jerseys... that would be cool.)

Yen

Jim was absolutely thrilled to meet you 50-plussers on GMR yesterday! We met billydonn in GWS in 2009 which made yesterday's encounter all the more momentous considering he doesn't even live in this state. I will be there next year - I will! Thanks, billydonn, for getting and posting a picture with Jim.

Mr. Beanz

Looks like you were bumped down to #989. (time 20:33)

It's all getting familiar with the road. I placed at # 395 yesterday with one hand (shooting video haha! time 16:07)
My best is #267. It's not all that hard once familiar. (time 15:37)

But don't place too much concern on your strava dh time, it'll kill ya!

billydonn

I also posted this in Beanz's thread but I case someone missed it:

Next year perhaps I'll come back and try to improve my Strava standing to break into the top 950! I can see how someone could get hurt on that road, so I'm careful. Part two of video is in the works by my studio technicians!