73.0 miles, 6:05 moving time, 7,116 ft elevation

Today was a beautiful day for a ride. Bright and sunny, cool and crisp. Then, puffy clouds popped up and then dark clouds rolled in. I had missed mountain climbs in much of the winter due to rain or running. I was focused on the LA Marathon, so sometimes I just chose to do a long run instead of riding. Now, it was time to get back up there. This is a big boy ride up to Mt. Baldy. My legs were not fresh. I knew from the first mile, this was gonna hurt. The PTC crew GT, Bob, Steve, Lynda, Bill, Dino, Joe, Ryan, MikeG, PeterD, started from Sierra Madre and had a pick up in Duarte Tiff, Gregg, MikeW. We took the San Gabriel River Trail north for a bit then took Foothill to Glendora Mountain Road (GMR). GMR is a great Time Trial, 8 mile 5-6% grade. We broke through the clouds on the way up. We met some Volt friends at the ridge, Tyler, Kirk, Craig, Mandy. They were riding the other way. The group had broken up, since I was so slow. Lynda and I took off along the ridge to Baldy Village. It was a long slow slog to the top.  The crew was snacking at the lodge. Some had already turned around and headed back. It was a long day for everybody, and waiting around for me was asking a lot. The ride back was bad but not too bad. The uphills were definitely slow. I really enjoyed taking the trees and sky. It was a great day.