72.8 miles, 6:12 moving time, 6,578 ft elevation gain

I rode with a few friends up to Mt. Baldy. We met in Sierra Madre We rolled to Encanto Park in Duarte, where a few more friends joined us. We rode up the San Gabriel River Trail a bit and along Sierra Madre to Glendora Mountain Road (GMR). The gate was closed to auto and moto traffic. It was an awesome climb without the usual buzzing of motorcycles. GMR front side is a 9 mile grade. At the top a few guys flipped it, a few guys went down the backside of GMR. We rode on Glendora Ridge Road (GRR). It’s a 12 mile steep climb. There’s a few dips, but mostly up. Gorgeous weather, blue skies, cool breeze. Along the ridge, you feel like you’re on top on the world. We got to Mt. Baldy Lodge. The lady was super nice. Lynda tipped her huge for the sodas and potty stop. While we refueled, we saw a couple friends that rode along the lowlands and up the front of Mt. Baldy Road from Claremont. Lynda was admiring Bob and my helmet hair. We flipped it and rode back the way we came. It was mostly down with some rollers along the ridge. The wind started picking up. Along the descent down GMR, the headwinds were noticeably pushy. The ride west back to Sierra Madre was definitely all headwinds. I was pooped by the time we got to Encanto. I took a couple breaks on the way back to Sierra Madre. We got a big snack and were back on speaking terms. hehehe. Mt. Baldy is always an epic ride.