Author: mcyeemd

Travel Day

Inspired by a wayward YouTube video, 9 intrepid DIPS set out for Southern California, some arriving to our inadequate AirBnB early and some a bit later with not much juice in their car:

Yes, you’re reading that right – after encountering a 20 car line at Electrify America off the 210 in L.A., we decided to try to make it all the way and ended up with 1% left on the Mach-E at 3:00 a.m. in the morning!

The Pre-Ride

The next day we awoke to a beautiful SoCal day. While a few of us went grocery shopping and tried with much difficulty to charge up the cars (did we say that the charging infrastructure for non-Tesla cars in SoCal is awful?), a few of us finished up the week’s work at the barely adequate AirBnB.

Then, while I ran around Azusa trying to repair my tubeless tires, the group did a shake-out ride on the first part of the Mt. Baldy Climb below. This would not portend the pain and suffering of the next day unfortunately.

That night we were treated to some fine wine and other beverages and some of the best lasagne, courtesy of Tommy, we’ve ever tasted. Jody came over to join us and we plotted out the next two days of rides. We did not know what was in store for us the next day!

Mt. Baldy and Glendora Mountain Road

Jody and Scott met us at the house the next day and our spirits were high as we started on the route to Mt. Baldy Road.

That is, until we hit our first (and amazingly ONLY) mechanical when Susan flatted by the reservoir.

However, we soon were on our way and climbed a hot and dry 2500 feet to the Mt. Baldy Lodge. To me, this was the underrated part of the climb – it included two tunnels that were unfortunately at 7-8% grade.

However, we finally made it to the first stop, Mt. Baldy Lodge, blissfully passing by the climb to Glendora Mountain Road (GMR). More on that later.

At this point, Mike B., Jody, and Ron had started up to the ski lifts at Mt. Baldy resort. The rest of us hung out a bit at the lodge and a few decided to bypass Mt. Baldy and head on to GMR. That left a few of us stragglers to take on Mt. Baldy.

And it lived up to its legendary status as the 25th most difficult climb in the USA by almost killing us all.

Mike B., Ron, and Jody seemed to be fine, looking fresh as daisies on the way down, with Steve following closely behind. Tim and Susan were next up, with myself and Tommy bringing up the rear.

After a pause at the top to de-cramp the legs, we flew down Mt. Baldy Rd., understanding how steep the grade was in MPH terms on the way down. We joined back up with the group at Mt. Baldy Lodge, where we encountered some veeeeeery friendly locals and had a nice lunch.

Then it was onto GMR! After a really unnecessary climb that further depleted our strength, we descended GMR, which is a beautiful, smooth, carless road with stunning scenery. It was, despite Jody’s protestations, not without climbs. About six or seven little ones! But truly one of the most spectacular roads I have ever had the pleasure of cycling.

After the descent on GMR, it was back into the city, which was hot, dry, and irritating mostly. But overall a glorious ride that easily slips into my top ten list. And then to the frigid pool afterwords and another amazing dinner, this time Marc’s pulled pork.

Highway 39

I think we were all skeptical of this ride – just because it’s on YouTube doesn’t mean it’s rideable and/or fun to ride. But it ended up being amazing! Marc, Susan, and Mike G. went on the West Fork Ride from San Gabriel Reservoir, while Tommy, Steve, Tim, and I went up to the gate at the closed section of Highway 39 to meet Ron and Tom and Jody, who had left early and were climbing up from the Reservoir. Mike was there waiting when we arrived but here’s some cool pics of Ron and Jody:

After getting our bikes ready, we were off on an adventure! The road, which has been closed for 40 years, had obviously had some maintenance done to it – we suspect Forest Service or CalTrans vehicles use it on a regular basis. But for us, it was eminently rideable with remarkable scenery all around. The grade was gentle and the weather was pretty much perfect.

Pretty soon, we were at about 5.5 miles of climbing and we could see highway 2 cutting through the mountains to join up to Highway 39. We knew we were close, and there it was, the gate!

After hanging out a bit to appreciate our surroundings and eat some food, we headed back down.

When we arrived back to the turnout, an amazing sight awaited us. About 20 cars were engaged in an informal sideshow or carshow – the place was full of expensive sports cars, spinning around while being filmed, then lining up to race down the mountain road.

Which was likely problematic for Ron and Mike B. However, we saw them at the lower parking lot while speeding down the hill toward our inadequate Air BnB. And we ended up right behind Susan and Crew who were headed home from another great DIPS adventure!

I rode up through Huddart today, trying out my climbing legs, challenging them more and more every weekend after my hip replacement. As I passed the Pad, went by the Rock, and climbed through the park, I was suddenly struck by a real sense of gratitude and appreciation for what we have and what we do.

For about twenty (!) years, we’ve been running together, riding together, laughing mostly at each other, and now getting each other through all of these ailments of middle age. The Dipsea, the Relay, the Oyster, the Death Ride – we’ve done all of these crazy athletic events, some of us more slowly than others, but we’ve always accepted the challenges before us and had fun doing them.

And it hit me that NONE of this is guaranteed. I’ve done fine since my surgery, getting closer and closer to my previous level of activity. But it did not have to be this way. A complication of some kind, a bad outcome, and I’m not pedaling past the Pad and looking at the Rock, wondering what they’re doing to this beautiful place. To be able to ride like this, to experience the world in this way, to clear your head like this, has never been ordained.

So thank you everyone, all of my partners in suffering, for inspiring me to keep moving and experiencing the beautiful place in which we live (“The Cathedral”) in new and different ways, because I’m going to stop taking this for granted. See you next weekend!

Meet at the Compound at 6:30 a.m.

Something like this:  https://www.strava.com/activities/547519924

a.k.a. Ron’s Ride of Death – 7:30 at the Compound (see FAQ), 8:00 a.m. Arastradero and Foothill.

“Bohlman – On Orbit – Bohlman (4.1 miles, 1950 ft, 9%) Brutal, oppressive, brutal, painful, savage, arduous, killer, murderous, blood-and-guts, formidable, backbreaking, grinding, fatiguing, unsparing, harsh, merciless, intense, exhausting, austere and even slavish! This is a really crank-twisting climb and will put your uphill determination to a severe test. It is no coincidence that the climb starts at the Saratoga’s Madrona cemetery where many an exhausted cycling souls may have found a rest! The listed stats show a considerable average grade of 9%, but it is much worse than that because there’s considerable flat section and even mild descent at the top. On Orbit is an alternate route that bypasses a portion of Bohlman and should be taken to realize full pain benefits of the climb, straight Bohlman is only 1780 ft in 4.2 miles (7.9% average). 0.5 mile long section on On Orbit averages out nearly 20% and you’ll find it extremely hard to ride straight line. Once you give in to temptation to weave a lower grade lane across the road, the next difficulty becomes to make sharp turns at the edges of the road as one weaves across. Low gear of 39/28 or even a triple really helps on this climb! The maximum grade is 22% (24% inside the right turn) The last mile or so is nearly flat but features a treacherous off camber turn dusted with sand and gravel. Even so, this is a welcome sign, really. Steepest section compensates with best views of the valley. From the top of Bohlman, if you survive, there is a 0.9-mile dirt road with two gates to the right (bear right on the dirt) to the top of Montevina Road, which can be descended to Highway 17.”