39.49 miles, 2,655 ft elevation, 3:02 moving time.

I was looking forward to this ride all week, then i overslept. Fortunately, I didn’t sleep too long and I had prepped my bike and gear last night. The weather was a little cold and blustery, but it didn’t dampen my spirits. I started from Encanto Park and saw come of my friends from the Club. Since the Club is in hiatus during the COVID-19 epidemic, none of our rides are ‘group rides’. We spread out and wave at each other from a distance. It was still a great ride. We rode up the end of San Gabriel River Trail and continued up Azusa Canyon.

I stopped at the Eagles nest and saw the pair eagles, Mom and Dad Eagle. The two baby eagles were still in the nest, but I couldn’t see. There are big fans with extremely large camera lens that tell you where all the eagles are at. The Mom and Dad Eagle were not in their usual tree with the next, which close to the highway. They were down by the water in a lower tree top. My pic of them is from far away.

Westfork to Cogswell dam is closed to auto traffic. It’s idyllic. Birch and pine tree cover a babbling brook. There’s marked fishing spots. Its a smooth paved road with a gentle incline for about 7-8 miles.

Then, there’s a noticeable incline, 5%  — 10% — 15%, on the last mile up to the helipad. We stopped at the second ranger station, get before the dam.

We flipped it and raced back down (and UP and down) Azusa Canyon.