joesch

Thanks and I look forward to joining these kind of rides with some of my diff classics when I check back into HCA.

diphthong

either way is good but scenery is better east to west in the greenery/spring. also, longish (mostly) descent. short and not so sweet ascent heading west vs a longer meh, always climbing, eastbound ascent. pick your poison. both are worthy but sometimes, you're feeling a certain vibe.

diphthong

get your assets back here, posthaste. such a lovely place. plenty of room. any time of year. you can find it here.

joesch

Very true, Im sorta Wastin' away again in TX'aville

SoSmellyAir

Yeah, SCR eastbound involves interminable climbs with two long (for me) descents: (1) after the CA-241 toll road, from around Loma Ridge Road to somewhere past the entrance/exit to Irvine Lake, and (2) starting from somewhere near Modjeska Canyon Road to the end. But if I do it in reverse those two long descents become super long climbs, and I am not sure I would make it, especially since I would have to first ride all the way to the east end of SCR.

Eric F 

Sunday Coffee Ride (regular version) - 36mi. 20-ish riders. As is the usual pattern, the first half of the ride is a steady easy tempo heading east, at 18~mph, and things get spicier when we make the turn in Duarte to head west. Over the top of the short climb on Winston, one of the younger guys flew away solo. Myself and two other 50+ guys started chasing, but surprisingly no one else came with us, so we got to work as best we could, riding pretty hard and taking turns (although I was barely hanging on a few times). We slowly reeled the kid back in through the foothills of Monrovia, but he rode away again when the road started tilting up in Arcadia. We just couldn't compete with his power/weight ratio. We continued pressing our pace together to the coffee stop in Sierra Madre, but it was just for the sake of getting a good workout. It was a pretty hard sustained effort, and a lot of fun to ride like that with a couple of similarly-fit guys.

diphthong

hit scr in either direction. if it gets too heavy for you, can always just turn around and (mostly) descend and loop back to your start point.
don't sell yourself and your capabilities short.

diphthong

went hard for approx 10-12 mins into the headwind and ended up, post-ride, having leg cramps in places (after 10 years of year-round soccer and 25 years of year-round cycling)
that i've never had cramps before. ouchiwawa. as i age, whatever cramps rolling in seem to hit more obscure muscles i didn't even know i had vs the big ones. unsure if it's more of an insult or a compliment. fwiw, the "obscure" cramps didn't last too long and had they occurred during the ride, likely would have stretched them out.

jsigone

May Grey and Torrey Pines inside route repeats, 5x and downhill in almost dark to get back to the cars...oops

diphthong

32-miler in the lake cuyamaca and julian area. one of my fave areas in all of socal to ride. everything still green with plenty of flowers and water.
did a fave sd backcountry climb-wynola rd. the first/worst mile of pavé just got repaved.
lowish traffic on a tuesday afternoon. the trees are drawing me near, i've got to find out why...

https://www.strava.com/activities/9084879468

Eric F 

Tuesday Happy Hour (9mi/1400'/54min) - I really enjoy this dirty quickie after work.Came close to a PR on the 2.5mi climb to Brown Saddle. High-70s temps felt "hot" - LOL.



Trails are getting pretty narrow in some areas...

2seven0

Saw the Moody Blues back in the late 80s at the Greek. Good stuff
Anytime I hear "Ride My Seesaw" it takes me back to the old Art Bell nights.
West

jsigone

Nice after work ride, felt good today. Rancho Santa Fe to 101 and back inland. Met up w/ friends half way. to help keep the pace up.

https://www.strava.com/activities/9097818579

diphthong

joined the classic & vintage ride for the second saturday in a row. this one went from dtown carlsbad, south along the coast, to the southern edge of del mar and back-
a little over 30 miles. turnout of just over twenty riders. tons of sunday riders of all ages and abilities throughout the route. down to del mar was relatively subdued, but some spirited efforts amongst the participants into a decent 3/4 headwind on the return. good conversation, great vibes and even better vintage steeds.

https://www.strava.com/activities/9108415388

SoSmellyAir

Nice! Wish I could have made it down there this morning.

jsigone

North Country perimeter loop not include Palomar Mt. Start at lower Torrey Pines to almost Temecula Via Lake Wolford, Lilac, Couser Canyon, Rice Canyon. Live Oaks and down Sleeping Indian back into gloomy Oceanside.

https://www.strava.com/activities/9109428937



Some extra credit driveway at the summit of Couser Canyon.


Windmill at Rainbow Oaks Market


Parlor Donuts at mile 87 were nice

Eric F 

36 mile solo ride from home, east through Sierra Madre and Monrovia, around the top of Santa Fe Dam, and a slightly different route for some of the ride back west. I pushed harder than I had intended, and felt really good…until the last 10 miles. I had only water in my bottles, and waited too long to squeeze a gel. My energy level crashed pretty hard and the end of the ride was
not a good time. Lesson: Rides more than 1 hour, put some go-juice in my bottles.

maxshumpert

Recently explored some popular cycling routes in the region.

1. Pacific Coast Highway (PCH): Riding along the iconic PCH provided breathtaking coastal views and a mix of flat and rolling terrain. Starting in Santa Monica and heading south towards Orange County, I enjoyed the fresh ocean breeze and soak in the stunning scenery.
   
2. Santa Monica Mountains: Exploring the Santa Monica Mountains offers challenging climbs and rewarding descents. I explored Malibu and ride through the picturesque canyons, enjoying the lush scenery and panoramic views of the coastline.
   
   It was a great great solo bike tour for me Thanks for the question!
   

diphthong

great ride! did you have to dodge any avocados on the road before/during/after bombing down sleeping indian?

TakingMyTime

Not really a "ride"... the wife and I went hiking in Crystal Cove State Park in Newport Beach yesterday. These trails are bike friendly. What stood out was how many electric mountain bike there were. They had to have outnumbered "human powered" bikes 2 to 1.

joesch

+1 wish I was there. Love doing coastal spins on classics!

joesch

Your rides and pix are awesome. Great to see your rewards as well!

Eric F 

Gravel ride (29mi/4000’) with the Gravel Bike California group starting in San Fernando, climbing May Canyon to Camp 9, and returning via Little Tujunga, dirt Kagel, and Lopez. Tough climbs were made even more challenging without my lowest gear (not sure why). It was a hard ride, but I enjoyed riding places that are new to me with a good group of folks.

SoSmellyAir

Impressive climb and view! Only tent that would work there is one mounted on top of a Jeep or 4Runner.

jsigone

no, it's picking season I think so they aren't letting them rot off the tree. My dad has small avocado farm in Fallbrook.

LOL but I had to dodge a wild peacock running accross the road near Sleeping Indian. small female