Eric F 

Camp 9 is an active LA Co Fire Station. Those pics were taken on the helipad.

diphthong

that is not an easy area to navigate on the road, off the road or any combo of the two. kudos!

diphthong

shove this into their collective faces...bleep turning right onto the crystal lake turnoff...crystal lake is nice...nice. keep pushing. your homies may have no idea.

https://www.strava.com/segments/1638547

diphthong

37-miler starting from santa ysabel (6 miles from julian in the san diego backcountry) through mesa grande and to the observation deck
on the sd county s7 highway east palomar grade (steepest 2 miles) and back same route. 3.5 miles of brand spanking new pavé (3 on the west end, a .5 closer to the mid-point) along the way. mesa grande still one of the absolute best/quiet country roads in all of socal. saw a total of 12 automobiles (3 trucks with trailers) and one scooter in 24 there and back miles along mesa grande. no wind until ca hwy 76. it was a blowfest. first, steepest section of the east palomar grade was supplemented by a generous (unadvantaged) tailwind but realizing once the road turned into the substantial headwind for the last 10 miles of the climb, there was a quick "opt-out." not that strong currently.
maybe once upon a time but definitely not now. beautiful day out there. mid-70's. hard wind blowing directly from the south. got a little more humid closer to lake henshaw and some actual thunderstorm action approx 12 miles north near the pct/just south of anza. no other observed idiots out. a bit more traffic in the santa ysabel ca hwy 78/ca hwy 79 junction area than usual on a monday. handy lake henshaw general store on the 76 open but closed on tuesdays. otherwise, hours look to be (roughly) 8am-6pm. given that closest support is 12 miles away, could come in useful.

https://www.strava.com/activities/9122148492

Eric F 

Tuesday Happy Hour MTB ride (9mi/1400') - Legs are still heavy from Sunday's gravel adventure, and the inside of my right quad is sore (this muscle was cramping hard at the end of Sunday). I took it pretty moderate on the climb to Brown Saddle, keeping my effort at a zone 3 tempo level pretty consistently. Came across more than 10 other folks out enjoying the dirt on a cool, grey afternoon. No hurry. Just having a dirty quickie after work.

Good ride. Crap view.

joesch

Nice ride. Marine layer or/and or smog ??

jonathanf2

I also did about 29 miles of road and dirt up Brown Mountain on the gravel bike. I didn't see too many MTB'ers on the trail until I encountered one rider who met a bear on the trail! He said he turned around to go other way and the bear followed. A few other riders who made it to the top junction opted to go down the trail thinking the bear probably left. Bears don't spook me as much, I'm more worried about rattlesnakes especially on the more narrow sections of the single track!


Rattlesnake on the trail by Cherry Canyon last Saturday!

Eric F 

Marine layer.

CAT7RDR

Able to ride on out to the end of the North SGRT after ascending Turnbull Canyon.
The SGRT was pretty much free of homeless and debris except under the Pomona Freeway overpass.
Never seen so many electric scooters. Only six mini-motorcycles today. Pretty quiet for a Saturday.
Nice to see the river actually full with a flow. Decades since I last saw this.
Returned back south and over TBC after riding through Whittier.
62 miles and 3.2k of climb.
https://ridewithgps.com/trips/122575712

Eric F 

Gravel Therapy (21mi/3000’)…I felt mentally mediocre when I left the house, but my body felt strong, and I finished with a much better attitude. Set PRs on all the significant climbing segments, and dug deep into my VO2 max a few times. Power numbers are taking small steps forward.

jsigone

ez Saturday coastal, been fighting a cold all week. Return of the migraines on today's ride so cut it a bit short. Wanted flatter hundo but got 72. Met w/ friends at mission bay and stayed coastal to Lofty Coffee in Encinitas.

https://www.strava.com/activities/9152414639

Today's bike crew


in honor of the Giro d'italia, I wore the Maglia Nera (last man to finish) jersey

diphthong

quickie, hour-long, late-lunch ride out to la mesa and back. wound through rolando village area near sdsu and tackled a fairly stiff (but shortish) climb in la mesa
post-lunch. 12-miler in the may gray.

Eric F 

I did the climb to Henninger Flats (2.4mi @ 10% avg) on my gravel bike yesterday afternoon. The fireroad climb is smooth, wide, busy with hikers, and includes some 15%+ sections. On my MTB, I find it to be a fairly unredeeming effort due to the requirement to the lack of anything interesting about the descent. On my gravel bike, it was a tougher effort on the way up due to higher gearing, and the descent was quite enjoyable.

TakingMyTime

From the El Dorado Park area to Downtown Long Beach and then my first ride up to the apex of the new bridge in Downtown. It's actually a bit of a climb, i don't see many casual or recreational riders attempting it. Ended up with a 30 mile round trip today.

malcala622

Back to back rides in San Diego Bay Area while the wife attended conference, lectures and workshop on behalf of USC. Had 3 days by myself to ride, eat and rest until she was done working.

Eric F 

Saturday...28mi/3100' gravel bike ride including the La Tuna climb, traversing long the ridge on the Verdogo Motorway, and descending Beaudry North. I explored a rolling signeltrack that ran mostly parallel to the Verdogo Mtwy. It was all fun and games until it reconnected with the road with super-steep drop that had me shouldering my bike, carefully inching my way, and hoping I didn't lose traction. My legs didn't feel good at all during the ride, but I somehow managed to set a PR on the La Tuna climb. https://www.strava.com/activities/9197332267


Sunday...36mi road ride to Santa Fe Dam and back, with the intention of an easy tempo pace. I usually do this ride with a clockwise loop along the top of the dam, but went the opposite way to take advantage of a firm tailwind. It was nice for that section, but meant a headwind for the return home. I didn't enjoy that so much. Again, my legs felt dead, and low on power. After the ride, they were quite sore. It's time to take it easy for a little while. https://www.strava.com/activities/9204408672

CAT7RDR

Headed up to the Santa Fe Dam area Sunday once again this time on my porky rigid 29er.
I'm working hard so I invite the wind resistance on the elevated SGRT and dam.
Tried out some new to me Endura Pro SL bibs and was pleasantly surprised that the 11 panel compression, chamois and weight of the fabric were to my liking.
No soreness and the bibs kept cool as advertised.

Ran into a dozen mini-motorcyclists heading north on the SGRT.
I figure they enter where a street dead ends with an open vehicle gate near the San Jose Creek/SGR confluence.
Someone will get killed sooner or later as they are traveling north of 40 mph and hogging the MUP.

Took my time going over Turnbull Cyn Rd. Very few vehicles and zero cyclists by early Sunday afternoon.

62 miles and 3.2 K of climb.
I'm about 15 minutes slower on the 29er vs my 17 lbs carbon drop bar endurance bike for an almost identical profile route.
https://ridewithgps.com/trips/123573818

jonathanf2

I was in Laguna Hills over the weekend for my daughter's soccer tournament. Now I want to move there! Every road has a bike lane, very light traffic and lots of off-road trails for the gravel bike! Even better is the hilly terrain and great weather for cycling!

Now back in LA, my 21 mile Monday ride was a bit damp and gloomy! Lol

diphthong

23-miler along the ca hwy 56 bike path from rancho peñasquitos to carmel valley and up onto the mesa with a little drop down, then back around to the mira mesa/15 fwy area. felt alright considering the lack of riding. a few decent efforts on some hills. looking to get out of the sd county area tomorrow for a ride.

diphthong

47-miler hitting most of the great western loop with a slight derivation to mcilhenney brewery in semi-nearby alpine. nice day out. initially june gloom
but had to shed a layer after the first climb and didn't put it back on. turned out to be a nice day in the east county in the boonies-very low 70's sunshine.
substantial winds blowing from the west made things "interesting" on the return part of the loop. climbing lyons valley road hasn't gotten any easier.

https://www.strava.com/activities/9217213328#kudos

jsigone

After work loop to the beach and back to Escondido. Good to finally see the sun out the entire ride.

SoSmellyAir

The key is matching jersey to bike, not the numbers. Bravo!

jsigone

Fiesta Island spicy Thursday niter, 10 laps, 25miles. Fast paced, big split few laps in and just tried to hold on in the front group. Yo Yo sucked bad when the attacks started to happen on the back straight w tail winds.

https://www.strava.com/activities/9230105259

TakingMyTime

From the north end of Bolsa Chica to the Wedge in Newport and back. I'd like to say it was a quick 28 miles but the wind on the way back just killed me. I'm really having a hard time finding the energy I use to have. I was sooo tired.

SoSmellyAir

First time back on the bike in two weeks after a bum left ankle which turned out to be a mild bout of gout (?). Overdid it with 35 miles and 1,427 ft. of climbing. Bonked hard after climbing Shady Canyon into a head wind but ankle feels fine.