PhotoJoe 

I'm not fretting.....much. I'm ...uh....planning! Actually, I'm just trying to get an idea of what I'm in for. Is Whites a tad steeper than GMR? Comparable? To me, Whites is a bear! But, with practice, I can do it. Last time I did it was pre-cancer, when I had all my muscles, on my mountain bike, in total granny gear. Calves were cramped solid, but I did it!

colombo357

Step Three: Up Mt Baldy Rd, west on GRR, down east fork to Sierra Madre, up GMR, back east on GRR to the village, up to the ski lifts.

That's the ToC route.

Mr. Beanz

It's a bit harder to climb GMR with knobbie tires on an MTB than a roadie, you'll be fine.

Mr. Beanz

This vid has some good views of GMR. If Gina can do it......


These are the places in the village where water is available. Post office has a ftn outside, the lodge and across form the lodge a small ftn next to a small shed/garge looking structure.

Restrooms at the lodge as well as the park/visitor center just above teh lodge on teh left hand side. Pretty nice facility there.





mtbaldyfacilities by gulpxtreme, on Flickr

PhotoJoe 

OK, I see how it is!

PhotoJoe 

After that jab about Gina, my new favorite line in this video has to be "Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! That hurts. That's not snow, that's hail!!! OUCH!!!!!"

PhotoJoe 

Found this site. Turns out White Canyon is 7.8%. Interesting site to play with.

mkadam68

Whites canyon is steeper than GMR. But, much shorter (obviously). Your grade is good, but will depend on where you're measuring. The very bottom (the curve) and the very top (curve right) aren't as steep and so will skew your results. I'd guess the middle 3/4-mile section is more like a pretty constant 8%+.

GMR is a good climb. I think the bottom is a bit steeper than the rest as it switchbacks up through the trees. Once you get up where they open up, the grade seems to soften (just) a bit.

TrojanHorse

Where were we, are we back to "climb more hills and get stronger" yet?

PhotoJoe 

I may have to ban you for that comment!

However, I got up at 5 and went riding this morning. Climbed Whites Canyon. OUCH!!!! I made it, though. I did have to stop half way up to "take a picture". Actually, I almost passed out. Legs were feeling pretty good, but I was getting dizzy. Had this once, too, when I rode while on chemo. Not exactly sure why, but I assume my lungs are just getting used to having to really work again. Did 19.6 miles, ran out of water (2 big bottles) and got rained on. It was AWESOME!

TrojanHorse

I'd probably get a lot more work done if you did...

Congrats on the ride, I'm sure it will take a lot of effort to acclimate and get back to where you used to be. I was up in Valencia on Tuesday and it was 106 when I went to lunch. That ain't right.

PhotoJoe 

And THAT is why I was up at 5am to ride today.

Mr. Beanz

Supm tell me you will be fine on GMR once your body works into a groove. Unlike short hills (less than 1 mile) where you never get to find your rhythm.

SirVelo

I am really curious if you can actually feel a difference between the 30T and 28T cog during your ascent on GMR. Debating whether or not to install the new 12-30 on my wife's bike as she currently has an 11-28. Thanks.

TrojanHorse

Of course you can feel a difference! Whether you need it or not is a better question.

I'm extrapolating my experience telling the difference between 28 and 25 but 2 teeth is pretty noticeable IMO

volosong

Yes. I can definitely feel the difference. For GMR, 34-30 is actually a little too much. For my tired, old body, i find 34-28 good to about a sustained 7% grade, plus or minus - and good to about 10-11% for those short ramps, say less than a few hundred meters to a quarter of a mile. More than that and my cadence drops below the computer limit and I get these annoying "Your cadence is too low" messages. Is any of GMR 10%? As a way of a disclaimer, I'm more of a masher than a spinner. A 34-30 on less than 7% results in too much spinning for my tastes.

If your wife does not want to give up her 11T ring, then just combine the two cassettes to give her an 11-30. The downloadable Shimano tech documents show what sprockets and spacers are needed in what order, (probably drop the 14T and add the 11T and 11T lock ring.

I am so happy with the 34-30 combination, (50-34 crank, 12-30 cassette), that I'm changing one of my bikes from a 6703 (52-39-30 - 11-28) to a 6750 (50-34 / 12-30). I don't really need a high top end at my age. If I want to go fast, I'll ride the TT bike.

SirVelo

Thanks for the feedback. My wife can climb gate-to-shack on 34-28 without a break but she's mashing a bit more than spinning. After reviewing the Shimano specs on the 12-30 cassette, second gear has 27T so this wouldn't be a problem for her on the avg. 7% grade of GMR and the 30T would be good as her "recovery" gear so she can make it to the Village.

As far as her missing the 11T, I don't think that would ever be a problem. It's the cleanest gear on her cassette. Heck, I don't even have an 11T as my cassette is a SRAM 12-28 and has the favored 16T.

r8dr_rider

Resurrecting an old thread here but... what type of gears does anyone recommend for GMR. I have an Allez with 52/36 and 11-28 in the back. I know this isnt really a"climbing" set up but is GMR that hard? I have not climbed any thing hard with this bike yet only Chantry Flats and Turnbull Cyn which are very short climbs. The most climbing Ive done was Tour De Big Bear but that was on my old bike that had a triple. Any suggestions?

bitingduck

GMR/GRR is approximately like climbing to Chantry three times.

TrojanHorse

If you can get up Turnbull with your setup you can get up GMR. I think the eastbound Turnbull is very similar to GMR, just a lot shorter. The westbound direction is a bit steeper I think, and if you're really crazy, go up Descending.

There's nothing really steep on GMR (just like Turnbull) either.

pb_toronto

when do you plan on doing GMR?

jimxyz

I find that if I park near downtown Glendora and ride the 3 miles to GMR I feel a lot better than if I park at GMR/Sierra Madre and ride up (basically at the start of GMR), it's nice to get a little warm up before the climbing. I think JMx did a good job summarizing what to expect. Overall the ride to the village isn't too bad - but the ride to the lifts is no joke. It's ok to skip that part of the ride! (at least that's what i tell myself, lol). If you do the loop that descends down 39 into Azusa, just be aware that 39 is much more traveled road, so start early in the summer to avoid lots of cars.

Rick@OCRR

Hey, wait a minute here, Descending is a wonderful climb. I love climbing Descending (plus it gets the oxy's and the morons all mixed up when I type that!).

Beautiful scenery, almost never any motor traffic and only one loud barking dog to encourage you near the summit! Plus, doing the Descending climb repeats is good training for the Ski-Lift climb .

Rick / OCRR

Elvo

I was able to do GMR->GRR in 36x23 last week and I wasn't in good shape so you should be fine unless you need to spin at 120 rpm or something.

cruiserhead

That is plenty good. The first 3rd of GMR is the steepest, so don't get psyched out early on. Once you get over to the other side, it's nice views and shaded (in the morning).
Just for comparison, I have 39/25 and do totally fine.