Ride Report – Cogswell Dam – choose happiness

56.61 miles, 4:00 moving time, 3,336 ft elevation gain

Morning was overcast a bit, but cleared up as we gained elevation. We started at Starbucks in Sierra Madre. We met some new members and friends. Sara & G. San & Rick. As well as blast from the past, Derek reappeared for today’s ride. Well done lady and gents! We rolled over to Duarte and picked up a few more friends at Encanto Park. We turned up the San Gabriel River Trail, to the end, then continued up the Azusa Canyon Hwy (Hwy 39). The dams were full and the sun popped out. There was a tremendous amount of auto traffic. ugh. Felt like the 405, except they were actually moving. haha. I stopped at Eagle Tree, but the bald eagle family wasn’t home. I stopped there on the descent and was lucky enough to see two bald eagles. One up high with a dark head, and another half way down on another branch with a bright white head. We passed East Fork Bridge, and turned off Hwy 39 at West Fork to Cogswell Dam. There were A LOT of picnic-ers. This was one of the stops for all the auto traffic. The hikers thinned out pretty fast as we made the 8 mile slow and steady climb through the prettiest stretch of bike path. The babbling creek under the birch trees. Really nice. Our new friends couldn’t believe it. Then, the last 1/4 mile is a ‘noticeable incline’. We snacked and snapped some pics and flipped it back home. Great ride. Well done to our new members.

Derek. Welcome back. He noticed all the new bikes.