54.28 miles, 4:21 moving time, 4,501 ft elevation

On a cold morning, the Club went riding up GMR, Glendora Mountain Road. Preceding days were cold rains and snow in the mountains. From Sierra Madre we rolled over to Encanto and picked up a few more. We rode up the San Gabriel River Trail a bit and then rode east along Foothill to GMR. We were warmed up and peeled off a layer for the climbing. The sun broke through the clouds on the ascent. But, it was colder at the top and chilly on the descent. I saw few snows on the shady side of the hill, by the side of the road. Although the cafe was closed, we sat on the lunch tables and warmed our buns. The cafe owner said that the Forest rangers will be doing a controlled burn in the nearby area in the next couple weeks, to prevent another massive fire like the Bobcat fire, last fall 2020. He said the cafe should be open spring/summer. We rode out to Hwy 39 and down. I stopped to see the Bald Eagle. One was home in the treetop! While we stopped, Scott spotted us on his way up the mountain. Big headwinds on the descent made us pedal just to go down hill. Snacks back at Sierra Madre. Gregg and Dave got tangled up at the beginning of the ride, but should be okay. Kudos to Elsa on her first time UP the front side of GMR!

We’re getting ready for several big Biking Events: Solvang Double Metric Century, Next Saturday, Mar 20, Mullholland Challenge, Apr 10. Don’t forget to sign up.

Jeff, Marisa, Paul, Bill, Philip, Gregg, Ryan, Lynda, Bert, Elsa, Eric, Joe, Dave, Julien, Alvin, MikeW, MikeK, Rick, Bob.