powerglide

Instead of riding with my group this morning I went solo into Palos Verdes.
Decided to do some climbing and went up a hell of incline for solid 25 minutes, got to the top flew down the other side all the way down and hit a dead end.

Climbed back up tried another road al the way down, another dead end.....

Climbed back up and took Hawthorne back around....they don't call it Rolling Hills Estates for nothing. Jebus! I'm tired...

Ride turned into alot more than I bargained for, any stories in this vein?


https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=e...&t=h&z=13&om=1

Go_Fast

it is easy to do up there.

heresy

Been there, done that.

Turkey Feathers

Mr. GPS is my friend, maybe you should meet him...?

supertj

I got dropped in 6 miles after I couldn't keep up on a 1 mile hill climb but i knew my way around the area.

rog

Oh yeah - just a couple weeks ago, I set out on a 40 mile ride that I've done before, but took a slightly different route, and zigged when I should have zagged on the way back. The way back should have followed the way out exactly, but...well, see for yourself. Long story short, turned a 42 mile ride into a 54 mile one. It happens...

Turkey Feathers

I thought I was the only one that did that...lol

slacker00

It happens to me all the time. It's tough to know what to expect when I've never been on the road before. Sometimes the road on my map really isn't a road at all. Or at least it isn't rideable by a road bicycle. Maybe I need a better map.

Yesterday the road I was going to take ended up being very loose gravel going up a 25% grade (I'm serious). It was my rest day anyway, so I turned around and went home. I only lost 4 or 5 miles off my ride. Often, I'll sorta plan contingency routes in case there's road construction or something strange like today, but I know that isn't always possible, much less ideal.

For today's ride, there's about 10 miles I've never been on before. I printed a map of that area and will have it in my jersey pocket in a ziplock bag with my cash. I hope I don't have to pull it out! *Crosses fingers*

rodrigaj

This Christmas eve... My wife and I were supposed to go to my brother in laws for a christmas eve dinner. I left on my bike for a short 20 mile ride, no light, no map, no cell phone.

I decided to go further for a "few" more miles and got lost. The sun descended and I was riding around lost on Wisconsin roads in the dark...could not get hold of my wife to come pick me up. I

finally got to a church that was having their christmas service and interupted them to ask for directions to a gas station. My wife and I have been married 31 years, and she has never cussed at me. She did that night! The food was cold and everyone was rightly "dissapointed" in me.

I now never ride without maps, light or cell phone.... And I bought my wife a new bike for christmas, so all ended up well.

Paul Barnard

What is this hill of which you speak?

roadfix

You should have called Happytime. That's her bario.

Nessism

I ride up there all the time. Lots of good climbing and not much traffic. Clearly one of the best places to ride in LA.

powerglide

I guess its a good way to get more training than you bargained for...getting lost.
Althought some of the grades were so steep that I had to mash like a mofo and my knee hurts today.
When I was a kid I used to get alot of miles this way...its nice riding without GPS :-)

Sirrobinofcoxly

That's funny. I got lost in El Segundo. True story.

DMF 

I got lost yesterday during the West Georgia 100 century ride - a marked and SAG'd ride. There's five routes (different distances) that aren't overlaid. The century course crosses itself a few times (unbeknownst to me) and if you pick the wrong arrow...

Added 22 miles before I got back on track - late, and some of the rest stops weren't there when I came through. I was reduced to begging water from innocent homeowners.

And the headwind!!

Still, a nice adventure.

roadfix

I'm a guy. I never get lost.

powerglide

LOL! That's a nightmare...on my first century (Tour de Palms Springs) I would have DEFINITELY gotten lost if it wasn't for my friend who'd ridden it before and knew the way...I always wondered how miserable it would have been to get lost on my first centruy in the desert...

yogi13

Palos Verdes Penisula in the South Bay area of LA. Locals call it "the hill" because it rises about 1500-2000 ft up from the basically flat sea level ground that surrounds it. There's a nice 30+ mile (as long as you don't get lost) loop you can take around it that runs along cliffs for much of the route.

yogi13

What most people don't realize is that there are only a couple of road entries in and out of the residential part of El Segundo. If you lose track of where you are there you can go in circles for a while trying to find one of the ways out.

cyclezealot

as long as I don't get lost on dead ends; I sort of enjoy getting lost. Solo rides are usually just for exploring. As long as I have enough light, I sort of enjoy unstructured rides. As long as I am all go.

powerglide

You said it! I ended up climbing that "hill" a solid 3.5 times Saturday (0.5 times because I found Hawthrone halfway down my last decent, and climbed my way out of there)

....such a beautiful area though...I'm hooked!

Raiderdave

Because guys belong to the fucarwe club and NEVER ask for directions! We just contine to ride and say werthefucarwe

soze

Hah, yeah. I write rally-style cue sheets now and tape 'em to my bars.

Last time I got lost like that I ended up in Thacher Park getting stalked by a mountain lion at 4am. Fun fun fun. I think I broke my personal best boogying out of there.

powerglide

LMAO!!
Predatory wild cat --> ultimate motivator