Manker Flats

Why do you suppose I would post a picture like this:

The reason is that after a long bike ride, a good cup of joe really hits the spot. My buddy found that after a long bike ride, icing his knee was quite refreshing. Plus, Mother Nature was handing out free ice-packs...

If you don't know where Manker Flats is, it's pretty near to the finish of this year's Tour of California Stage Seven. I bet you some of those pro's will be icing down a few body parts this Spring...

Something tells me they will have a better way to get warm than I did...

Fresh Snow

Some folks can think of better things to do with fresh snow than ride a bike through it. I can't. Maybe it's brain damage from the old drinking days, maybe it's my obsessive nature, but snow just makes me want to ride more than ever.

Looking Forward

Sunday, I braved the traffic up Mt Baldy Rd to get here. Glendora Ridge Road. It was closed to cars due to the snow. So the pedestrians and I had a great time.

Looking Back

There was a lot of snow still on the trees. That's what I'm not used to seeing. I usually see the trees with snow under them. But it had snowed Friday night/Saturday morning and Saturday was plenty cold. So by the time I got up there on Sunday afternoon, there was still a lot of snow up high in the trees. But it was melting and falling and causing little landslides. Kind of unnerving when you are riding alone and the road is right next to loose cliffs...

At the Top

What does my bike have in common with Charlie Sheen? They are both winners. Here is my bike at the very top. With lots of snow.

And speaking of water (or snow) altering the landscape (like I was before the bad jokes) here is a graphic example. The same rains that created all that snow, dug a hole in Palmer/Evey Fireroad. Some kind soul put a tree in it, so that mountain bikers and joggers wouldn't fall in. I looked down and it keeps going beyond five feet deep. It just twists and turns so that I can't see the bottom. But I did see a white rabbit...

Waterfalls of the San Gabriel River

The first picture in my previous post (see below) belongs here because it is the best waterfall picture ever taken by my camera. Unfortunately, I am in it, so it's pretty clear that I can't claim credit for taking it. The pictures below don't include me, but alas, they too were taken by a friend. What I can claim credit for is being along on the trip.

All the pictures in this post are taken on the West Fork "trail." I use quotes because the darn thing is paved. Even so, it is a beautiful destination on foot or on bike. These waterfalls are feeding the West Fork of the San Gabriel. Likewise, the "previous post" photo isn't the North Fork, but something that feeds into a tributary of the North Fork.

As I write, it occurs to me that these photos look much better larger. I think you should click on them to see them in all their glory. The one below is a  straight down the cliff kind of waterfall. We saw another place where an entire thirty to fifty foot wide section of cliff was just dripping. One could think of it as a very shallow waterfall. It was neat, but unphotographable. Some things are best left as memories...

There's Snow In Them Thar Hills!

Today's ride was the old standby: Hwy 39 up to Hwy 2. Looking at the mountains, it seems that all the snow has melted except for Mt Baldy and something to the East. But looks can be deceiving when you are looking at the south faces. For example, here is my favorite waterfall. It's between the turn off to Crystal Lake, and Angeles Crest Highway.

Risking Gastro-Intestinal Distress

This is not a picture of me. 

This, however, is.

Once we got up to Islip Saddle (Hwy 2), we could see that there was snow everywhere on the back side of the San Gabriels. Unfortunately, I got a flat, and we were tired, so we made a mental note to come back soon, and bombed home...

It was quite clear up there. It looked like it was hazy below. 

East Bay Ride

I start a new job soon, but I still have a little time off. Why not take a trip? I know, I'll visit Chris and Karen in Oakland!

Beware of Dog

I don't often see Velocipaptor sculptures in front yards. Or stretch WVs. Or little girls swinging from the living room ceiling on a rope. That's why I kind of like the vibe when I go visit these friends. It's a refreshing change of pace. Probably the result of too much Burning Man, but hey, I don't judge.

Beethoven and Savanah

Saryn

But not everything is crazy at Chris and Karen's place. Little kids still like to play in cardboard boxes.

I feel like a little kid too, when I find that it's only a block to the trail. The picture below is not even a real trail. It's running down the central median of Skyline Blvd. 

North bound lanes on the left

When I follow that trail all the way south, to Grass Valley Rd,  I can turn right down into the city, or left into Chabot Regional Park. The park is huge and beautiful, but it's mostly fireroad. Some parts of it are prone to mud and littered with cattle, which makes riding really fun in a strange way. Go towards Bort Meadows if you're into that kind of thing.

As always, steeper than it looks...

Remember the role Eucalyptus played in the Oakland Hills fire of 1991?

Finally I find the singletrack, and it's got stop signs!

 All in all, I think East Bay riding is really fun. I only interacted with a dozen people at most on the pictured ride, and one (a hiker) asked me what gear-ratio I was running. That never happens back home.

Besides the dirt, the nearby roads were littered with roadies. The gentle grades (6%, I think), shade, and relative lack of cars conspire to make it easy to throw down some miles.

Laundry Day

Let's see what I took out of that back jersey pocket:

Looks like some Ibuprofin and Naproxen, sunscreen, directions, and SPF15 lip balm.

Highway 39

I met my buddy Mannuel at Encanto Park in Duarte and we promptly started up San Gabriel Canyon Road aka Highway 39. I have developed this bad habit of riding and riding. As opposed to riding and taking photos. It would be a good habit, were I not a blogger. But since we had stopped anyway, at the waterfall I use to cool off on hot days, I snapped this photo:

Manny in his Thin Kit by Spongebath Falls

I don't think I need to explain why I stopped to take the next photo. It was just too good. It was the first large patch of snow we came upon. We had been seeing big chunks next to the road since 4,000 feet or so, but this was different. The road is going east and the hill to our right is of the north-facing non-snow-melting variety. This is still before we hit 5k.

I don't know which way to position a bicycle for a photo.
Mountain Biker scum...

We took no more photos till we hit the end of the line. The road keeps going, but with the snow, we did not.

Look at those toasty warm knees!

My outfit looks almost the same as Manny's. But with the simple addition of fleece knee-warmers, I was comfortable all the way up. Manny was getting cold in the shadows. Just imagine the descent! For once, I was able to keep up with him.

Sweet ride!

I think I won the clothing contest, but the bike competition goes to the red, green and gold!