Ride Report: Sierra Madre to Back side of GMR

54.1 miles, 3:33 moving time, 4,137 ft elevation, 102 suffer score, 44 trophies, 160 W power, 1,813 kJ work, 245 training load.

Pasadena Tri Club Saturday Ride. It was a kind of race rehearsal for Ironman St. George 70.3, which is a hilly course (2500 ft of climbing). This ride had a bit more than that, but my legs got the idea. (Compared to last week’s Mulholland Challenge, this was a walk in the park.) We started in at the usual Starbucks in Sierra Madre and rolled to Encanto Park in Duarte, where we picked up a few more. We rode up the San Gabriel River Trail Bike Path to the end, and continued up Highway 39, San Gabriel Canyon Road. We saw the San Gabriel Dam, and the reservoirs which are scary low right now. California is in a huge drought. I felt good on the climb up. We turned right at East Fork and re-grouped at the Cafe. I had some family stuff at home and was considering flipping it at the cafe. But, since we were hammering it pretty good, we made it to the cafe by 9:15am. I decided to continue the full course up the Back Side of GMR (Glendora Mountain Road), which is about a 5 mile climb, 6% grade. I stuck with Bill, Dave, David, and Luis. I love the descent down GMR. No cars or motorcycles today; it was awesome. We rode along the foothills back to Sierra Madre and finished a iced coffee all before 11:30am. Home in time to chill and have lunch with the family. PS. I tucked Mio Link sensor under my cycling shorts on the top of my thigh. It worked great. One less wristband.

Luis, Phil, Bryan, Lynda, Bill, Amy, Philip, Dave, Gregg

Rich, Dino, Sue, Joey, MikeW, Steve, Bill, Bryan, Lynda, Elizabeth, Gregg, Luis, Amy, Dave, Phil, Hank, Joe