55.72 miles, 5:14 moving time, 6,329 ft ascent

Lynda, Greg M., Gregg D., Mark S., Julian, Joe, Gary, Alvin, Sue, Larry, Paul, Ray, Eric, Carrie, 

Club met at Starbucks in La Canada on Gould. This ride was a big climb. Foggy morning. 

Mile 0-3: Steep climb out of the city 10%. Broke through the fog after 1 mile. Sunny and bright and clear and beautiful. We had perfect weather the whole day. Cool breezes through the afternoon. Angeles Crest Highway.

Mile 5: Fix Carrie’s flat. Took some work. Good job, Paul and Lynda. Bike life lessons: Carry tubes, pump, tire levers, CO2 cartridges, and helpful friends.

Mile 10: Clear Creek. Lots of auto traffic. Clear roads. Heavy climbing. 5-8%. Drank 1 bottle (24 oz). Stay on Angeles Crest Highway. Intersection with Angeles Forest Highway, diverting some of the traffic off. 

Mile 14: Red Box. Re-filled up Bottle #1. ACH. They fixed the fountain, so you can fill your bottle right in the fountain, without the spigot on the back side. Short descent, then more climbing. 

Mile 16: Two mile descent along the ridge. ACH. Gorgeous views of the mountains. We could see the bright green regrowth in the trees and shrubs after the huge fire a couple years ago. Reminder that life moves on. Some loud moto clubs and Ferraris, also out of a nice ride on a great day. Drank 2nd Bottle.

Mile 22: Continue Climbing. Chilao Campgrounds and Visitor Center. Some guys were already flipping at Newcomb’s and coming back down. Gregg D., Ray, Larry. 

Mile 27: Newcomb’s Ranch. This is a closed restaurant now. No water available. Lots of moto bikers were hanging out. Lynda and I sat for little break. Mark and Greg M came down from Cloudburst and joined us. Cloudburst is another 10 miles of climbing to the summit of ACH. Drank 3rd Bottle.

Mile 30: We headed down ACH. First turn off is the Chilao Visitor Center. We rolled through for some water. Campground #5 has a spigot with well water. Although not official potable water, it was good to have water on the warm, dry day. There was some aggressive bumps. Gregg hopped it. Mark hopped onto it and popped his tire. Mark, Gregg, Lynda booted it a couple times. Bike life lessons: carry tubes, pump, boot, and helpful friends.

Mile 38: Riding along ACH ridge. Two mile climb. Glad there was a light cool breeze, this section is hot and exposed. 

Mile 40: Red Box. Refill bottle with potable water. Drank 4th Bottle. While I refilled by bottle, a big Rattle Snake was drinking at the backside of the fountain. I didn’t see it, until another cyclist told me. Yikes. Began descent down Red Box, and Clear Creek. Down to La Canada. 

Mile 55: Snacks at Starbucks. Some hardcore triathletes went for a run after the ride. Yehaw!