54 miles, 4:43 moving time, 4,241 ft ascent

Ray, Elsa, Bert, Robin, Rachel, Sue, James, Maria, Gary, Paul, Ryan, Joe, Bob, David, Raul, Forest, Anton, Mike W, Mark, Gregg M.

On a warm summer morning the Club went climbing up Azusa Canyon. We met at Sierra Madres, rolled over to Encanto Park and picked up a few more riders. We rode up the San Gabriel River Trail to the end and kept going up Azusa Canyon Highway 39. We rode up along the dams. The fire damage from last year is still very evident. The road conditions were improving, as they re-surfaced some more sections of the highway. We turned right at East Fork and re-grouped at Williams Camp Cafe. Some folks had family plans and flipped it home. The rest of us refilled our bottles and clipped in again for a long hot climb. It was seriously hot from the Cafe to the end; it was in the 90s. There was a refreshing breeze every once in a while. But, more the most part, it was hot with very little shade on this route. I monitor my heart rate and pulled over a few times to get my rate back down into reasonable regions. Eventually made it over the top of Glendora Mountain Road / GMR and cruised down the front side. The heat was also disrupting my belly. Rumbly in my tumble. Fortunately at the bottom on GMR, there’s a fantastic horse park with a clean bathroom and water. Everything worked out okay. Maria and Forest were waiting up for me and Gary. We rolled back to Duarte. At Encanto I said Hi to Elsa, who was cooling off and collecting herself, also affected by the heat. Gary and I stopped at 7-Eleven for COLD SODA and water. In total I went through 4 Bottles, 2 sodas, before I got back to Sierra Madre. Kudos to Maria for finishing in style. We refreshed at Starbucks with more cold drinks. Safety lessons: Stay hydrated, refill your electrolytes. After that, the rest is mental. Your happiness (or lack there of) is up to you.