56.50 miles, 5:15 moving time, 6,066 ft elevation

Lynda, Marisa, Carrie, Maria, Sue, Joe, Max, Raul, Alvin, Gary, Rick, Julian, Ahmed, Gregg D., Mike, Paul, Hank, Ryan, Ray, Forest, David C., John

Dark clouds were looming, as the club met at Sierra Madre. They rolled to Encanto Park in Duarte and picked up a majority of riders. Lynda had some choice words for the slackers that started at Encanto, including me. haha.

Mile 0 for me. Encanto Park. Rolled across the bike bridge. Rode up the San Gabriel River trail for a little bit and turned down to Sierra Madre. Cold and blustery. Life lessons. Pack and wear layers. You can’t trust the mountains. It could clear up and be perfect weather. It could be misty and winds can pick up. You never know.

Mile 6: Turned North on Glendora Mountain Road (GMR). Clouds got darker as we climbed through the clouds. It was misty and wet on the ground.

Mile 8: GMR Gate. The climbing began. Steep climb up THE FRONT SIDE of GMR. Heating up and sweating a lot in the humidity. I chose (1) regular jersey + (2) vest – warm and fuzzy + (3) arm warmers. I got hot and opened up the vest and peeled down the sleeves. Then, as we got to the crest, it cooled off a lot. I zipped up my vest and pulled out (4) transparent wind breaker. The descents were brisk. Winds were dramatically blowing the clouds and misty over the ridge. I had a tummy grumbly (no more details for the public post).

Mile 16: Choose wisely! We veered right onto Glendora RIDGE Road. 12 more miles of climbing to Mt. Baldy. Riding along the Ridge was steep rollers. 5-7% usual ups and down, with some pitchy spots at 10%+. The views were dramatic with brooding layer of clouds. I kept my vest zip down for climbs and zip up for descents on the rollers.

Mile 21: Steady up up up. Lots of wild flowers. Yellow, purple, pink. Vistas for miles.

Mile 28: Mt. Baldy Village! Sun broke through the clouds. Blue skies were peeking through the white clouds. I met up with Carrie, Maria, Marisa and Raul. They were chowing down on chicken strips, quesadillas, burgers and fries. I used the restroom and hung out for a bit. Main A Group hadn’t stopped at the Lodge and kept on to the Ski Lifts. I saw Gregg D. ride down to the Lodge from the Ski Lifts. Gary and Mike K. arrived at the Lodge. We snapped a selfie and I set out on my way back and figured the crew would catch me, but they didn’t. Ha.

Return trip has a lot of ups but mostly downs. I kept my wind breaker on my arms for the whole return trip. The winds were picking up. Full on head winds at the bottom of GMR.

Ride back on Sierra Madre. One of the great things about the ride today was the absence of cars and motorcycles. Only a couple, and none on my descent.

Great ride. This ride can be tricky cuz it’s a long haul without support until you get to the village.