Hi Rick,

If it was Saturday I'd DEFINITELY be there. If it doesn't rain on Sunday I'll be doing 70 miles with my club. I'll keep on the lookout for the next one.

I'm working all day Sunday :( but if someone is keeping a list of 50+ So Cal BF'ers I sure want to be on it!

Hi Cleave and Nerdanel,

I scheduled it for Sunday because I know the hard core riders could use a recovery ride from a Saturday Hammerfest, and that would put us a about the right speed for the other less-hard core riders.

I'm planning on a major Sufferfest in the Santa Monica mountains on Sat. courtesy of David Wu and friends. Probably 75 miles and 8,000 feet of climbing, so a recovery ride on the fixed gear on Sunday works!

Rick / OCRR

Hi All,

I survived my ride in the Santa Monica Mountains today, Saturday (though we did get rained on and I had three flats!), and am looking forward to the Socal 50+ bikeforums.net ride tomorrow!

Took a nap when I got home, but I'm signing off for the night to get a good recovery sleep . . .

See you there at 9:00 AM approx!

Rick / OCRR

GaaaaaacK! Now there may be some family stuff happening tomorrow morning!!

Plus, I'm really pissed that the new wheel's new spokes are already loose!

Well here it is, Sun. morning and it's raining here in South Whittier. I'll put on my rain gear and ride down to the start, just in case anyone shows up.

Don't know about San Gabe MUP, but they do close Coyote Creek if there's a lot of rain. Hopefully no one will get up eary on a Sun. morn. and do that, but you never know.

If I don't see anyone else there by 9:20 or so, I'll ride home and we can re-schedule for a day with better weather!

Rick / OCRR

Hi Rick. I guess the ride is a wash? If you reschedule please post it again.
I rode in the Santa Monicas yesterday, too. Our group started in Northridge and took Mulholland from Calabasas and up Piuma, down Stunt, up Rock Store hill, down Westlake, over to Simi and back via Santa Susana pass. We saw Vertical Bob, scvroadie (Lee), Laura and Irene at the Sierra Creek store.

Okay, well, I admit it . . . my first try at organizing a SoCal Bikeforums.net 50+ ride was a total flop. I wouldn't call it a disaster because no one got hurt (thankfully!), but neither did anyone show up . . . well, except me.

Here we are at the start, my bike anyway:
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...atthestart.jpg

Here is my bike, all wet, waiting patiently for another 50+ Forumite to show up:
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...onewetbike.jpg

Here is my breakfast at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Main Street and PCH in Seal Beach:
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...exactlypie.jpg

Yes, it was raining at the start. Yes, it was cold. Other than that though, it was pretty nice :).

When the weather gets better, we'll try again . . .

Rick / OCRR

Hi John,
We started with V.Bob, Laura and Irene, but then we dropped them and apparently they took a different course through the mountains. Here's our route sheet:

West Bnd Mulholland 14.3 14.3
R Little Sycamore 1.9 16.2
L Yerba Buena 5.7 21.9
R Cotharin 2.1 24.0
R Pacific View/Deer Creek 4.0
L PCH 5.6 33.6
L Decker Canyon 4.6 38.2
R Mulholland (14 to Car) 17.0
R Cold Canyon 2.0 57.2
L Piuma 5.7 62.9
L Schueren 1.8 64.7
L Stunt Road 4.0 68.7
L Mulholland 3.9 72.6

So yeah, we got rained on. Plus I had three flats, all on the front tire, a defective Maxxis that had the bead separate from the tire (tire boots saved the day, thanks Chuck Chen and David Slaton). Blowouts on fast descents in the rain are not fun!

Therefore, I abandoned when we got back to the cars (see above) with 6,553 feet of climbing in 51.6 miles. Will put a Conti on the front and never use Maxxis again!

We had a huge group at the start (including Lee), riders noted above, plus Colin, Julie, David Wu, Frank, Eric the Chef, Chuck Chen, Obie, Chuck W., Jose, Arthur and Linda from the Rebels, plus Tony the defacto leader on the road.

Decker is really not that bad with 35 miles on my legs. The same climb is brutal with 150 miles on my legs.
Don't ask me how I know.

Yes, I will try a 50+ Forumite ride again sometime. Have to see where I can fit it into the schedule.

Rick / OCRR

Ah, Rick.... I'm sorry your first attempt didn't turn out as you hoped. Don't give up on us -- the poor turnout probably was due to a combination of rain and other stuff... mostly rain. Thanks for the nice pics. That's a yummy-looking breakfast.

Your bike looks so lonely!!! Too bad about the rain. We're getting down here too on Pitcairn Island. Sigh.

Rick, Bob and company turned around at the summit of Little Sycamore, opting to stay off the coast.
I was surprised by the dirt on the top of Stunt road. After we made it through some motorcycles decided they could do it, too.
How old is that Masi? Is it a California made bike?

Hi John,

Yes, Carlsbad CA made, '75. My main road bike all through the 80's and early 90's, i.e. until GT (where I worked at the time) started making road bikes, converted to fixed gear in '06.

Don't know why V.Bob wanted to stay off the coast. That was the warmest and most dry section of our ride!

Rick / OCRR

Hey promise I'll make it up to you...

Thanks Alice,

I haven't given up on the idea, but I'm thinking the MUP idea didn't fly with many people. I'm thinking the next SoCal 50+ ride should be up GMR/GRR (Glendora Mountain Road / Glendora Ridge Road) with lunch at the Cafe in Mt. Baldy Village.

I know Herb and bigjohn have enjoyed this route, and Yen said she wanted to try it someday. Will wait until you've recovered from your crash first.

Rick / OCRR

Hey, put me on your list for future rides, please. I would come down for an interesting ride.
Neil

MUP rides, yes. GMR rides, no. Thank you.

Okay Condi, No GMR for you . . . I get it :thumb:.

So, my challenge becomes, how to design the "Perfect" SoCal 50+ bikeforums.net ride. That is, one that would be easy enough for the MUP riders among us, plus challenging and "interesting" enough for the strong mountain goats among us.

I’ll look at San Gabe MUP maps in case there is some way we could meet further inland on the San Gabe MUP, and ride maybe 10 miles, eat pie . . . then the riders who wanted to could ride on to GMR or something similar and the MUP-sters (for lack of a better term) could turn around and go back?

Maybe I’ll design a Poll and post it regarding ride length / difficulty and location, location, location (i.e. 3 options). Any ideas?

Rick / OCRR

Add me to the list of SoCal riders.

Thanks

Okay Jack,

You're on the list (I actually did start a list!). There are 17 of us so far, and I will PM all of you (approx. 5 at a time, since that's all I'm allowed at one time) when another ride is scheduled.

Of those 17 (not including me), I've met seven of you, so not bad, really :).

Rick / OCRR