KiddSisko

I was sooo looking forward to riding yesterday! I had gotten just one workout ride in this past week, so the legs were itching for a challenging stretch. With blue skies and temps in the mid 60's, the weather could not have been more perfect. I decided to switch up my usual weekend Santa Monica Mnts ride by climbing Piuma Rd and descending Stunt, instead of the reverse. For whatever reason, I imagined Piuma as being more challenging than Stunt, perhaps because of the added distance and the extra hump of Shuren to Saddle Peak. Piuma always seemed awfully steep descending, so I just imagined there'd be more pain involved going up.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover my initial impression was wrong. Piuma is a wonderful climb, as was the route I took to get there via Mulholland and Cold Canyon Rd. There's one view you don't get while descending that knocked me out while going up - approx 4 miles where you're some 1000 or so feet above Malibu Canyon Rd looking toward the ocean.

Going down Stunt was a thrill ride! I've gone down before, but for whatever reason this time it felt like being on a roller coaster. An old wooden one. Halfway down there's a rather steep section with some bends shallow enough so that you can "safely" fly through with little braking. I went through that section at 45 mph while being rattled by the not so smooth road, yelling out loud as if I was on the Psyclone at Magic Mountain. It's been a long time since I've yelled while descending!

Total ride was 38 miles with 3900 feet of up. Just under 3 hours of ride time. 1 Cliff bar for energy atop Saddle Peak. I metered out the watts evenly the whole way. Felt great to the end.

Blooming plum trees in the back yard started the ride.


Heading there while on Dry Canyon/Cold Creek Rd, parallel to Mulholland.


Heading up Piuma.






Overlooking Malibu Canyon Rd.


Green stuff is just beginning to make itself known. Just a few short weeks and everything will explode back to life.


The last 200 meters of Shuren Rd, with Saddle Peak just ahead.


The route.


A more detailed look at Piuma. If there actually were 10% sections, I didn't feel them.

nesdog

NIce pix. We headed in the opposite direction yesterday doing Rock Store/Encinal/Decker. What an outstanding day overall, huh?

I really like climbing Stunt. The canyon walls are majestic and the payoff view at the top sneaks up on you at the last second. Kinda like the downhill too, although it seems like there are lots of rocks all the time.

Piuma never seems as hard a climb although it goes forever. A bit farther up from your pix of Malibu Canyon Rd is an overlook where you can see the old Ridge Dam on the creek.

The backside of Piuma dropping to the left turn for the next climb is tough for me. I seem to come in too hot to the turn every time, clipping the curb once. And I am a very slow rider downhill! No, really slow...everyone passes me.

Thanks for the pictures. Really adds a lot to the post.

KiddSisko

Spectacular day! A bit breezy with stiff gusts and a pinch on the chilly side from time to time. I wore a t-shirt beneath my jersey, which did help a little, but on the fast descents with a sweaty body it was a bit nipply. A long sleeve jersey would have taken some of the sting off.

I didn't see many rocks on Stunt. Yes, I did see that old Ridge dam. It took me awhile to figure out what it was from that high up. I took a picture of it, but didn't include it here. And yeah, I noticed the off camber turn onto Shuren from Piuma. Love that long descent leading up to it though. Weeeee!

Going up Rock Store/Decker/Encinal is next on my list of local climbs to do.

vertical bob

We were out there yesterday as well. Started in Calabasas up Stunt over to Piuma and down to Mulholland to Little Sycamore where we turned around and took Mulholland down to PCH and back up Encinal and finally Mulholland back to Calabasas. Finished with 82 miles and 9780 ft. One of our group saw Lance Armstrong at Mulholland and Kanan but I missed him.

nesdog

Was a bit chillly...better this morning when I rode with my wife.

We have a Saturday morning ride that leaves from Kanan and Thousand Oaks at the Starbucks. We do the SM's a lot so come join us. Ride is out at 8, more or less and back by 11-12.

KiddSisko

So LA did climb Latigo! He made mention on his twitter page that he went up PCH to Latigo, but didn't say if there was any climbing. Did he go alone me wonders? Probably not a social ride for him. More like a Lance workout that would kill the rest of us. Except for you VB

agarose2000

Awesome PICS! Piuma is my favorite of all the climbs - even more so than famous Latigo - I prefer the route, which seems to have less car traffic. Love the pics as well - I've always meant to take pics up there, but I'm usually suffering too badly to manage it.

DScott

Seems like we were all up in the mountains on Saturday! I rode over Malibu Cyn from PCH, met up with my group in Agoura, then we went up Rock Store and down Encinal, back to Malibu Cyn and PCH. Time was limited, so I started early.

Since we were starting in Agoura at 7am, I had to leave from PCH at 6am. It was dark, and I flatted a mile or two up Malibu Cyn of course, and it was really, really cold in the canyon and in Agoura.

Nevertheless, the ride was fun, and I made it back in time for family stuff, and it felt good getting more climbing in. I'll have to try Piuma from the Las Virgines side sometime soon.

BRNRBR

Pronounce please. Is it pie-you-ma? pie-you-muh. Is that it?

KiddSisko

I've always heard it as pie-YOU-ma. Pronunciation aside, it's a great road for biking up or down.

DScott

Down is more fun.



BTW, if these pics look good to you, the Mulholland Challenge is still open: https://www.planetultra.com/MulChallenge/index.htm

Kidd?

KiddSisko

I rate the climb a 10 for the Santa Monicas. You'll love it.

Few things are worse than the bone chill you get while underdressed on a bike ride through a dark, cold CA canyon! Did you layer properly? Early Sunday morning on Las Virgenes - must have been so peaceful.

KiddSisko

Thanks for the invite. I'll look into some of those rides for this spring and summer.

DScott

Yeah, it was beautiful. Still too many people driving their cars in a hurry for me, though.

My tendency is to under-dress a bit, so as not to over-heat while climbing, or as the day warms up. I hate carrying extra stuff. Saturday, it was harder to plan because I started extra early and had the cold and the dark to deal with. I ended up using knee warmers, a LS base, a LS jersey and a vest. A bit nippy at first, but the remainder of the ride was very comfy, I must say.

I'm always amazed at how cold the canyons are, and in the Agoura area in general. Last year's MC started there, went over Las Virgines to PCH. It was FREEZING at the start, and probably 20 degrees warmer on the other side. I've got a plan for this year, though, and it involves mailing my cold weather stuff back to myself once over the hill. USPS: the next best thing to a support car.

endoverendo

He said he climbed it and that it turned into a nice group ride. He made it sound social but I'm sure he probably hurt some people going up Latigo.

nesdog

I think our area tends to be cool in the winter since we are at the bottom of a valley. Cold air just sinks in here. but it's plenty warm in the summer and I am really looking forward to leaving some of these clothing articles at home!

Worst morning of the winter was a Sat shop ride in Dec. Roughly 37 degrees at the shop and when we got down to Las Virgenes, the fields were covered in a solid layer of frost...everything was white as far as you could see. It looked like snow had fallen. We went super slow 'cause we hated the wind chill. Two hours later, we crawled down Decker/Westlake due to ice in the shadows.

scvroadie

After finishing Latigo, he turned on Kanaan, then on to Mulholland, I had just finished Rock Store & was heading towards Kaanan, when I saw him and the group that was riding with him. At that time the group was probably about 10-12 riders. The pace was definitely social.

GP

I stuffed grocery bags under my jersey and took threw them away at a gas station when we got to the coast. I was shivering for about 1/2 hour at the start.

DScott

I tried the newspaper/bag trick, but it was still painfully cold. Maybe duct-tape booties and wind vest, then toss them on the other side?

KiddSisko

So who were the 10 to 12 in that group? Who does Lance ride with when he's in town? Pros and former pros? Any recognizable jerseys?



Sorry, I missed that invite earlier. My answer: I'm still probably a year away from doing that ride with dignity. On last year's MC, my weekend Stunt climb happened to sync up with the MC people on their last big climb (Stunt Rd). The suffering I witnessed told me everything I needed to know about my chances. I could probably do it this year, but only with more suffering than I would probably appreciate. Jeeze did that sound assy! What I'm trying to say is that I still suck at climbing more than 5K feet at a time.

DScott

Kidd, you'd probably do a lot better than you think, doing as much climbing as you do.

It's certainly a challenge to get ready for the MC, but there really is no "ready" for us mortals. For me, at least, I think it boils down to a willingness to suffer. Last year's MC was brutal because of the heat, and that was a bit of a fluke weather-wise. At least that's what I'm telling myself.

That was also the first time I'd seen much of the route, and that always makes it worse, IMO. Since then, I've ridden most of the route on shorter rides, and feel more confident about it. I do know it's going to hurt, regardless, but at least I'll know more-or-less what to expect. Doing it as part of a group also adds to the motivation and ability to maintain your commitment to the ride. I'm much more willing to consider packing it in when riding solo.

Cheers!

gvg45

How is Latigo compared to Piuma?

I just went up Piuma and down Stunt today, same route as you took, and it was a nice climb. From my house in Northridge I put in a nice 47 miles. I'm lovin daylight savings time.

KiddSisko

Latigo is further away from Northridge, for one thing (add at least another 20 miles to your trip). It's also longer at 10 miles, and overall not as steep. It has some steep sections and a double peak at the end where you descend a few hundred feet, then climb back up. Another way of answering your question is that it's similar, but different You'll like it. For you to get there you'd have to find your way to the coast along your choice of climb and descent. I'd go Topanga. It's one manageable effort up from Woodland Hills, then a pleasant drop to the ocean.

gvg45

Thanks for the response. I'm somewhat familiar with where Latigo is as I use to ride my motorcycle through there every so often. However the roads look A LOT different when you are on a bicycle as opposed to a motorcycle. I got a bit turned around looking for Piuma. The streets seemed to come up much faster on my motorcycle.

Ben FR

Thanks for the email. Doing one of my favorite routes tomrrow. PCH to Topanga Cyn Rd up Fernwood down Stunt across Cold Canyon to Piuma, Up Piuma, Down Las Flores, back via PCH