Little climbing ride
 

Saturday 9 of us climbed Hwy 39 to Angeles Crest and then went up to Dawson Saddle. Over 7000 feet gained in 35 miles. The weather was nearly perfect, a little cold, (ok, freezing) on the descent, and the roads are mostly closed to cars. I haven't been up there since the roads were closed by the fires.
All in all, a great day.
Here are valleygirl, big john, vertical bob, Carrie, and Cassave. Carrie is a youngster and not on Bike Forums, but she is a great climber.
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u...3/dawson-1.jpg
Here is an older pic of the lower section from scvroadie, who was on our ride.
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u...IMG_000139.jpg

Absolutely Awesome-do you carry oxygen bottles for that climb. Us lowlanders faint just thinking about that elevation gain.

No Oxygen necessary but you take it slow back down--Looking for the legs and lungs that got lost just after the start.

Good ride John- But think you ought to be handicapped a bit up against your ride mates. You give an easy foot over them.

And just wish we had the wide open spaces that you have. Any open land like that over here would be covered with Houses or Factories.

I give an easy 50 pounds up to those guys, too. Cassave is the best climber there and he claims to be 150. I think he's lighter than that. Carrie is pretty fast on the climbs, too, but she always waits for me.
You definitely have to be careful on parts of the descent with rocks, holes and some sharp turns. A 35 mile descent with some climbing at the bottom.

Nice climbing and pics. Was there much visible damage from the fires?

I'm impressed.

Hi John, was any of that area used on the ToC? It sure looks like it could be. You must have pretty strong legs running up those hills.:thumb:

There was some fire damage down low from the small 'Morris Fire' but at the higher elevation we were east of the huge 'Station Fire'. It's all still green up there.

The last 2 years the ToC came over the mountains west of there and that area is pretty burned out. There has been talk of a stage in 2010 going up the same route we did, but the road would require some work for car traffic. They may take the other way up to the same point by using Hwy 2, but it isn't ready yet from the fire damage.

Here is a pic from this year's ToC near the high point at Mill Creek Summit, about 5000 feet. That's BF member EventServices in the announcer car. It was near here that 2 firemen were killed during the Station Fire.
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u...S2010003-4.jpg

Here is one of the resevoirs on the way up Hwy 39. One is called the Morris Dam and the smaller fire was named after that.
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u...n53/baldy2.jpg

Very cool!

Isn't that the res. on the way up to Baldy on 39? It looks familiar. Nice ride up to Dawson Saddle. Someday maybe I'll get to ride it.

Looks like a great riding!

I used to ride in the Santa Monica mountains when I lived in LA, but never was in the San Gabriel mountains much.

After the storm that blew into the Cascades this weekend, our mountain riding in the Northwest is done for the year. Tonight's weather has snow at 3,500 feet (all our big passes are 4,000+ feet), and one of our local ski areas is going to open this weekend...




"THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SEATTLE HAS ISSUED A WINTER
WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW...WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 AM PST
TUESDAY.

SHOWERS IN THE WAKE OF A COLD FRONT THIS EVENING...AND MORE
SHOWERS AFTER MIDNIGHT...WILL COMBINE WITH A LOW SNOW LEVEL TO
BRING SNOW TO THE CASCADES. THE SNOW LEVEL WILL FALL TO 3500
FEET...WHICH MEANS SNOQUALMIE PASS WILL GET LITTLE IF ANY SNOW.
HOWEVER STEVENS PASS AND WHITE PASS WILL HAVE SNOW...AND EXPOSED
HIGHER LOCATIONS SUCH AS MT. BAKER AND MT. RAINIER WILL HAVE
SIGNIFICANT SNOW.

THREE TO SIX INCHES OF NEW SNOW IS LIKELY AT THE HIGHER PASSES. SIX
TO TEN INCHES OF NEW SNOW WILL FALL AT HIGHER ELEVATIONS."

Yes, there are two dams, but 39 doesn't go to Baldy. You could take 39 to East Fork and go to Baldy that way. 39 goes to Crystal Lake and to Hwy 2 from there. After Crystal Lake the grade relents somewhat but there's still over 2000 feet to gain before the summit. Along this section I considered turning back, but after a short rest I pressed on.
I realized I put Hwy 33 in the op, just changed it.

Oh yes, I remember turning off 39 and crossing the bridge up to the store before the turn onto Little GMR. So your ride continued straight on up 39. The day I rode up that way, VB and others were heading up to Dawson Saddle.

35 miles over 7000 feet of climbing is 3.79% grade. How long does it take to climb?

Yikes!

I really don't know as we wait at several points for the slowest one to catch up, and surprisingly that wasn't me this time. We also chatted with some other riders who we met and waited for our friend who flatted. So I think we spent about 4 hours going up, maybe a little more. A decent climber could probably do the climb in less than 3.
There were some headwinds in the beginning and the road surface is full of holes and rocks for a few miles near the 6500 foot level.

Wow , cool looking ride! I would love to do a climb like that.
Thanks for sharing

Haven't been in the San Gabriels since I lived in Redondo Beach 30 years ago. Used to make the Sat/Sun morning drive to ski Mt Waterman during the BIG winters in the late 70's. Those were drought years in the Sierra with 10 ft snowpacks at Waterman!

Didn't ride then so have no perspective on the road riding. Google Earth makes it look very fun. Steep ramps?

7000 ft in 35 miles works out to <4% on paper but I suspect there are lots of short steep ramps to contend with. Do you have a ride profile or link to one? Thx!

Don't have a profile but there are no steep pitches, it's just a relentless climb.

Wow!!!! I thought the little hills around central FL that my daughter and I did on Monday were tough. I don't even want to look at your pictures anymore.:lol::lol::lol:

:cheers: to you and your group.

Just long enough. Not a minute less.

This is one road that's easier to climb than descend. The rubble and broken pavement are alot easier at
11 or 12 mph than 35 mph. By the time you hit bottom you really hurt.

I would love to do this climb next season. What about where to start & parking?

Yes, the little sharp rocks are a problem , I found a slice on my tire afterwards. So another expensive tire for me. Still one of my favorite rides.