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. 

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!

Well, I was looking for some content that truly belongs here. Something that may well make you shake your head in disbelief and exclaim, "White boy be crazy!" It just so happens that my Sunday outing qualifies.

Sunday, the high in Pomona was 95. I don't like 95. So I planned to ride my bike up above the heat. Stay up there for a while. And then come down when the coast was clear.

Yours Truly

My riding buddy, who shall remain Nameless, asked me, "What are we going to do up there till it cools off?" There were some attempts at witty banter, but the upshot was that we'd ride our bikes around up there.

Let's be clear. "Up there" means at the midpoint of a 100 mile ride. A 100 mile ride designed to get us as high (and therefore, as cool) as possible. So what we are really talking about is riding 50 miles and gaining 6,000 feet of elevation to get to the ride.

And here is where Nameless really upped the ante... "Let's explore the trails"

Nameless mountain bike rider

If you're not a cyclist, you may have missed the significance of that statement. It means mountain bikes, not road. Those fat knobby tires on mountain bikes have great traction which they get at the expense of efficiency. Think of it this way: they grip the road. Like "grip and don't let go, not even to let you move forward." Try that for 50 miles!

Well we did try that, starting just after 7am. The main strategy seemed to work. The temperature never got very hot. We, however, did. Fortunately, there was a nice cooling headwind. I'm pretty bad at judging wind speed, but I can tell you the forecast was for "gusts up to 25mph."

That swiss cheese is petrified

After about 35 miles, the scenery was looking pretty good. Freeways and traintracks had given way to strange rock formations. The sky above was much bluer. Life was just about as good as it can get. And then we hit Lone Pine Canyon Road.

Makes me thirsty just looking at it

Lone Pine Canyon Road stretched out in front of us like, I don't know, something bad. Six and a half miles of bad. I don't know how much cycling you've done, but it's pretty rare for a car to honk at a cyclist in order to flash a thumbs-up or other encouraging gesture. But that's what happened...

It just keeps going

The rest of the way to Wrightwood was a breeze. There is a nice little park in town where I dined on peanuts and dried fruit. My buddy gave me a cupcake for desert. Then he proceded to look strange.

This guy is always doing this

I was relieved to find that Nameless had not crushed the local flora with his odd ritual.

This little mushroom survived!

After all the epicurian delights that can fit in a handlebar bag, we proceded to climb out of Wrightwood. First comes the 6,000ft sign, then the Entering Los Angeles County sign, then a Visitor Center complete with drinking fountain and bathroom (both of which came in handy). And then some climbing.

Nameless thinks it's funny that I'm pointing in two different directions!

He wants you to see that he is taller than Mt Baden-Powell!

Inspiration Point is apropriately named. All the best views are between this lookout (circa 7300') and Dawson Saddle (circa 7900'). The only problem is that first we have to lose 800'. I don't have any pictures from that stretch because all the best riding is there too. Okay, maybe I was getting a bit tired by then, too.

I got cold descending from here.

Here I am at the top. Unfortunately, it's around 4pm. No time for dirt. Gots to bail.

Here is a picture of a sign or two

If you are familiar with the local roads, you'll know that those fat tires we had been lugging around really came in handy getting us down to this sign. I suppose we could have made it on road bikes by slowing down. But nobody wants that.

Furry

Odd way to end the post, I know, but I had to snap a picture of the first tarantula I've seen this year. Must be the start of the season. This guy was on Glendora Mountain Road. I don't know if he was climbing up from East Fork, but I sure was. Nameless knew a shortcut to Upland through Baldy Village. Gotta love that in a riding buddy.

All in all, it was a great ride. The worst that happened was I lost the little rubber thing from one of my earbuds. And I had set my pack down on some ants, but fortunately I noticed and got them all off. Or at least, none of them bit me. We also got to experience a little bit of night riding at the end.