Look out - Three Days of Riding 11/27 thru 29/2008

11/27/2008 - Glendora Mountain Road OR Sunset Ridge
11/28/2008 - Marshal Canyon Mountain Bike Ride
11/29/2008 - Bonelli Park Mountain Bike Ride

See www.bicyclefriends.com for details

Will the Blogger of Glendoramtnroad.blogspot.com Please Email Me

I love your site and would like to go on a ride with you and your group! Take me to Mount Baldy, please!

jason@bicyclefriends.com

Performance Bike - How to Dress for the Cold

"Performance Bike - How to Dress for the Cold"
Source: www.performancebike.com

This little news/infocast I rec'd from Performance Bike offers great information about dressing for the cold. Time to pull out your wind breakers, long sleeve jerseys and etc. For So. California, I usually wear a base layer tee, arm warmers and full finger gloves. At most temps around So. California this setup works fine. I'm thinking about getting a decent wind breaker and a long sleeve base layer.



Cycling is an activity that produces heat and sweat. This winter your challenge is to create and hold the first while avoiding the consequences of the second. And you can do by dressing right.

It all starts with layers... Plan your day and dress for the coldest part but with the options to tailor your comfort by adding or shedding clothes. You want to remain comfortable w/o over heating. Remember with layers if you are too hot, you can always remove something. Too cold add something.

Rule #1: Start with a wicking base layer. It’ll keep your trunk dry and warm.

Rule #2: Protect your vital head, neck and trunk. If they are warm it will take less to protect your hands, legs and feet.

Rule #3: Always avoid cotton except for post ride celebrations. It traps heat robbing sweat next to your skin. Use polyester, and lycra and wool. Combining your existing cycling gear with a few new garments will extend your comfort range much later in the year.

Rule #4: Dress like a bag lady. Pile on the gear. You probably have the basics: lycra shorts, short sleeve jerseys, fingerless gloves and , socks. With base layer T-shirt, tights or leg warmers, full finger gloves or liners, shoe covers, long sleeve jersey or arm warmers, skull cap and a vest, you’ll be able to ride a month longer and start a month earlier.

Rule #5: Start off slightly cold. You’ll warm up in 10 min of riding. This minimizes sweat build up. If in doubt stash an extra garment like an extra jersey, vest or skull cap, in your pocket.

For deep winter you’ll need just a few more garments: insulated tights, long sleeve jersey, insulated windproof jacket, insulated gloves, shoe covers, balaclava, and winter socks.

Basic 4 Seasons Wardrobe:

Upper Trunk:

–Sleeveless base layer
–Sleeved base layer
–Short Sleeve jersey
–Arm Warmers
–Long Sleeve jersey.
–Vest and/or Windproof Jacket w zip off sleeves
–Windproof shell
–Waterproof jacket

Legs:

–Lycra shorts
–Leg warmers and/or knee warmers
–Tights
–Insulated tights
–Windproof tights

Head/Neck:

–Coolmax skull cap
–Balaclava

Feet:

–Winter wool or polyester socks
–Shoe covers

Hands:

–Fingerless gloves
–Thin full finger gloves or liners
–Insulated windproof gloves

Dress for the coldest part of the day and shed layers to remain comfortable:

Coolish:59°-70°

–Trunk and Arms: Sleeveless base layer, short sleeve jersey, arm warmers
–Legs: Lycra shorts and knee or leg warmers
–Hands: Fingerless gloves

Cool: 49°-59°

–Trunk and Arms: Sleeveless base layer, short sleeve jersey, arm warmers, wind jacket with zip-off sleeves
–Head: Thin coolmax skull cap
–Legs: Lycra shorts and thin lycra tights
–Hands: Full finger wind resistant gloves

Coldish: (39°-49°)

–Trunk and Arms: Sleeved base layer, long sleeve jersey, waterproof jacket
–Head: Balaclava protects neck from wind and cold
–Legs: Lycra shorts and tights with brushed fabric interiors
–Hands: Full finger gloves with insulation
–Feet: Shoe covers

Cold: below 39°

–Trunk and Arms: Sleeved base layer, long sleeve jersey, short sleeve, more as needed, waterproof jacket with insulation
–Head: Balaclava with brushed fabric or insulation. Balm on exposed skin
–Legs: Lycra shorts and tights with brushed fabric interiors and wind and waterproof fronts
–Hands: Full finger gloves with insulation
–Feet: Shoe covers with insulation

Monroe Truck Trail: Yellow Jackets, Ricky Bobby and a few crashes along the way!

Monroe Truck Trail turned out to be a hit! I rolled up early to see Carl waiting and stretching. His hip/sciatic was giving him trouble but he was optimistic about this ride. As we waited, we wondered about who will show up. I had a count of 6; Me, Carl, Kevin, Johnny, Gabriel, and Memo. This was good because, with the number of trucks, we could shuttle one tightly packed truck load up per run. I was hopeful and figured 3 runs down Monroe Truck Trail for a total of 24 miles.

Around 8:00 am everyone else started showing up. Kevin, Bobby, Memo, Marco, Marlow, Ed, Johnny and Gabriel. Total count 10 riders. We then shuttled up to GMR, turned off the road and loaded trucks with bikes. We decided on 2 trucks to shuttle up to the top of Monroe Truck Trail, giving us a total of two runs down the mountain.

*** Note at the top of GMR/Monroe Truck Trail you need adventure passes. You can purchase them at your local Big 5. An Annual Pass is $30.00 (you can get a second for $5.00 more) and a day pass is $5.00. ***

We trucked up GMR and at 8:00 am it was sunny and clear. There was a lot of activity on the road, from Roadies to Motorcyclist and "Import" racers. I like the Roadies but the Motorcyclists and "Import" racers I could do with out. More often than not they are speeding up and down the windy mountain road putting everyone in danger. Earlier this year GMR finally reopened after being closed to motor vehicle traffic for over 2 years. Prior to the reopening, GMR was a great spot for cycling, hiking and street luge.

It took about 15 minutes to get to the top of GMR/Monroe Truck Trail. We unloaded bikes, checked tire pressure and etc. Carl forgot his helmet in his car (at the bottom of GMR). Worst case scenario, Carl breaks his fall with his head, no biggie.

We hit the trail at about 8:53 am. Johnny lead the pack, then Gabriel and Marlow. These three were the fastest of the pack. Johnny is young and fearless, Gabe is fearless and CRAZY, while Marlow is just crazy. I found out his nick name is Ricky Bobby (Enough said). I'd best describe Monroe as an unkempt fire road. There were patches of overgrown bushes throughout and parts where half the trail was washed out. Some sections of Monroe got really tight and my legs received multiple lashings from the many bushes.

About three miles down Monroe, Gabe and Marlow took a short cut down a steep and loose single track. The rest of the group headed down Monroe and we regrouped at the start of Mystic. It took awhile for Gabe and Marlow to show up and when they did I asked what took them so long. Gabe took a big fall and was scratched up pretty bad. Down the single track Gabe lost control of his bike and went over the cliff. He was hurt pretty bad and I'm sure tomorrow morning he will be sore.

From Monroe we linked up to Mystic and headed down. Mystic is like the icing on the cake; its steep, loose, bumpy, narrow and fast. You have to hang on and let your bike do all the work. The middle section of Mystic, I think 7 of us ended up walking. At the bottom end of Mystic there where Boy Scouts on the sides of the trail. They were maintaining the trails but at this particular moment their shovels and rakes were lying across the trail. Next to them was a swarm of hornets, mad as hell. One of the Boy Scouts disturbed their nest and a swarm formed blocking us from the end of the trail.

It took us awhile to figure out what we were going to do. Bobby and Ricky Bobby ended up riding through the swarm, bad idea. Bobby went down and crashed hard into the cliff wall. From my point of view it looked like he smashed his head and shoulder right into the wall. Ricky Bobby ended up crashing and ditching his bike as the swarm of hornets attacked him. I decided to go next and was bitten on the ear and on top of my head.Marco , Memo and Kevin also took hits as well.

Total trip down Monroe, one hour. We loaded up the bikes again and started the trek over. This time only Carl, Johnny, Kevin and I went for a second run.

CORRECTION! ***Dalton Road - 10/25/2008 MTB

Correction *** This is Monroe Truck Trail ***
Dalton Road - MTB Ride

Day: 10/25/2008

Time: 8:00 am

Meeting Place: Glendora, CA at Sierra Madre and Glendora Mountain Road

Notes: Shuttle Runs Up GMR to Dalton Road. This will be an awesome Downhill Experience! We are going to shuttle up Glendora Mountain Road to Dalton Fire Road. If we have enough trucks we could do this 3 times! It will be 8 miles of blissful downhill consisting of Fire Roads and fast single track! Let me know if you are interested! We will meet at Sierra Madre and Glendora Mountain Road at 8:00 am.


View Larger Map

Turnbull Canyon - 10/18/2008 MTB Ride

Ride: Turnbull Canyon - Mountain Bike Ride

Day: 10/18/2008

Time: 8:00 am

Meeting: Beech Hill Ave & Orange Grove Ave Hacienda Heights, CA 91745


View Larger Map

Directions:
Turn right to merge onto I-10 W toward Los Angeles 2.6 mi
Take exit 42 for State Hwy 57 S toward Santa Ana 1.3 mi
Merge onto CA-57 S 4.1 mi
Slight left at CA-60 W (signs for Los Angeles/CA-60 W) 9.4 mi
Take exit 14 toward Seventh Ave 0.3 mi
Turn left at Gale Ave (signs for Gale Ave/Seventh Ave/Hacienda Heights) 381 ft
Turn left at 7th Ave 0.8 mi
Turn right at E Orange Grove Ave 0.2 mi


View Larger Map

Another Custom T-Shirt

Bicycle Friends T-Shirt Design

There is a website called www.customink.com that makes custom made to order t-shirts. I was just having fun and decided to try my hand at a BicycleFriends.com t-shirt.

What do you think? I chose the Gildan 100% Cotton in Navy. This is the same brand we use for our CANIDAE t-shirts and the quality is good. Customink.com lets you choose various royalty free art and the guy on the road bike picture looked the best. I duplicated the picture and put in the background one in black and in the foreground one in yellow. The yellow is slightly offset to give a "shadow" effect. I thought this was clever on my part. Finally, I added my www.bicyclefriends.com at an angle to give the whole t-shirt an touch of motion.

Single Speed on a budget!

A friend brought me a project bike last Monday. An old Trek 920 was presented to me, faded pink or purple with dirt, rust, grime, flat rotted out tires and broken 21 speed Shimano shifters. Her request was to clean it up and get it in working order for a commuting bike from home to work (A distance of 2 miles round trip).
She didn't want to spend to much to get it working so I opted to trash the busted shifters and convert it to a single speed. Yipee! This would be my first SS conversion. I quickly started "researching" SS conversions on mtbr.com, created my inventory checklist and surfed performancebike.com, nashbar.com and jensonusa.com for parts.The take down. Once I got the Trek 920 to my garage, I started dismantling the excess parts; shifters, gone, front and rear derailers, gone, rotted tires and tubes, gone. I removed the crank arms, 42t and 22t chain rings. Okay now the cassette, gone.

I decided to order my supplies from performancebike.com, they had the best deals and shipping wasn't to bad. I ordered, tires, tubes, rim tape, pedals, grips, forte SS conversion kit and a few other misc items. A few days later, the parts were delivered to my work.

The build was surprisingly easy. The only "semi-dificult" part was getting the correct chain line and proper tension on the forte SS hanger. The trick it to get as much chain tension AND as short a chain length possible. Do this and your chain will not skip.

I ordered these Forte Sherwood XC Tires. They have a nice tread pattern suited for the type of riding my friend will be doing. The Forte Sherwood's aren't too aggressive and have a lower profile for less rolling resistance.

These tires remind me of Bontrager Jones XR tires I once had on my Trek Fuel Ex. Trek categorizes the tires as XC and I'm sure Forte had these in mind when they created the Sherwoods. The claimed weight for these tires are 640 grams each! Ouch!

The whole project was about $70.00 and it could have been even cheaper if I opted to not buy the Forte SS Conversion Kit (On sale $21.99). According to some of the SS DIY sites you can jimmy your rear derailleur's limit screws to get similar results or if your really lucky enough you can get the right chain tension between the front chain ring and rear sprocket. I chose the kit and recommend it over luck and jimmy! :)

Glendora Mountain Road

If you Google, "Glendora Mountain Road," you'll find this blog:

http://glendoramtnroad.blogspot.com/

Its a really good blog regarding another riders quest to conquer GMR and get to Mt. Baldy. The author breaks GMR into parts; "Fork" plus 2 miles, then "Fork" plus four and so on until he reaches Mount Baldy. If you can make it to the maintenance shed fairly easily, its worth trying his method to reach Mount Baldy.


Its been about 15 years since I last made a trek to Mt. Baldy from GMR. I started riding again about 3 years ago and this is one of my goals.

Lets see what happens.

Bonelli Road Ride - Popular Wednesday Loop

This is the popular Bonelli loop. Riders will do 3 to 5 laps.

Austro Daimler - A Ride around Bonelli Park on a 29 year old bike

This Wednesday, after work, I rode around Bonelli Park on my 29 year old Austro Daimler. The ride was fast and my Austro Daimler handled well for its age.

The Austro Daimler Company stopped making bikes in the early 1980s. My bike is the "Vent Noir II" or Black Wind which was hand made in Austria. It's constructed of lugged Reynolds 531 and weighs about 18lbs. The Austro Daimler Vent Noir is nicely equipped with vintage Shimano Dura Ace. Yes Dura Ace!

The Vent Noir was given to me for free by a co-worker who just wanted the old dusty bike out of her garage. When I picked it up from her house, although I didn't know much about the name Austro Daimler, I knew I had something truly special. I brought it home and started cleaning it up. I glued on new tires, replaced cables, brake pads, swapped out the seat, seat post and brake levers. Once it was all cleaned up, I designated it as my work bike. I use the Vent Noir to ride to the bank and to get lunch while at work.

The Vent Noir comes beautifully equipped with black anodized and drilled cranks. The crank arm length is 170 mm with 53/42 front chain rings. I find the 42t is a bit much gear to push. I replaced the original Dura Ace brake lever with Cane Creeks. I chose the Cane Creek lever over the original because I didn't like the way the cables were routed. The original lever cable exit off the top.


I don't know if its because the bike was free or because I cleaned it up, applying generous amounts of elbow grease, its age or something else, but it's such a fun bike to ride. There is something extremely satisfying about riding it around. It's smooth, yet quick and agile. The vintage Dura Ace DT Shifters work well and the bike has an air of simplicity that is both refreshing and fun. Whether I'm hopping on the Vent Noir for a leisurely ride to the bank or a fast group ride around Bonelli Park, I can't help but smile while riding it. It weird but I really like this bike. At one time, I thought about converting it to a fixed gear but I can't bring myself to change to much of the original components. This bike is truly a classic.

Riding around Bonelli was a blast. I started at the Park and Ride off Via Verde. The Vent Noir felt fast and spry as I descended into the park. I took a quick left and headed over the dam. Once on Pudding Stone Dr. I came up to some riders and increased my cadence to catch up with them. I caught the first riders rear wheel and hung with him for about 200 yards before passing. At the intersection of Pudding Stone and Fairplex, I saw a large group of other riders waiting. I guess this is where the large pack of Wednesday night riders start.

I keep on riding and catch up to another rider and hang on his rear wheel for about 150 feet. We talk and his name is John. He does this ride regularly and shortly passes me. Soon after, I hear a whizzing sound of fast moving wheels, lots of them. I look to my left and like a freight train 30 to 50 riders are speeding past me. We're all in a moderate incline, but to the group its nothing. We might have well been on flat highway because these guys were going fast. At the speed they were going, I was in the wrong gear if I wanted to keep up with them. I shifted the Vent Noir down to a lower gear, stood up, started pumping and tried my best to stay with the last rider in the group. I was only able to hang with the last rider for about 25 to 50 feet before I was done. Did I say these guys were fast?

The group continued up Via Verde, over the freeway and down San Dimas Ave. I hung a quick right down to Bonelli dam. I could see John chose the same route and I scrounged up what energy I had to catch back up with him and another rider at Pudding Stone Drive. We road together for a about 50 feet until John turned around and I continued on. I new at some point the main group would catch back up with me so I geared down to catch my breath before they came up on my rear again.

Towards Bracket Airport, the group started closing in on me. Again like a freight train, the group came up on me fast, I quickly looked to my left and the first few riders are starting to pass. Damn! I try my best to hang with the group but the momentum they are carrying quickly overcomes me and in a flash I'm looking at the rear wheels of the last riders. Opportunity lost, they are just too fast.

Another group of about 8 riders pass me. Looks like the main group has split into two. Here is my opportunity, I increase my speed and catch the last guy's rear wheel. Man this group is fast too, I think to myself as I lock onto the guys rear wheel. In almost a hypnotized state, I clear my mind of the pain in my lungs and legs and of the environment around me, and concentrate only on the rear wheel I'm following. This is all I can do to hang with the second group. I hang for about a half mile until another rider passes me on my left. Before the actual pass, I could hear this rider coming up to my rear really fast. I look to my left and its a skinny petite woman and she's going like a bat out of hell! It's like I'm at a dead stop, she walks away from me and the group I'm riding with. This quickly breaks my concentration, and I slow my pace. The group starts pulling away from me and within 10 - 15 seconds I see the woman is already way ahead of me.

I continued my loop and towards the west entrance of Bonelli Park, I kept looking back, waiting for the main group to lap me. It never happened and I'm glad. I finish up my ride and head home. This was my first experience with riding, or rather trying to ride, with a large group. It was exciting and I hope some day I can actually hang with them.

Map of Marshal Canyon

This is a great map of Marshal Canyon. Visit Incycle to get a printed copy.

Marshal Canyon: The Face of Jump Trail

These two crashes actually happened about a year ago. The first crash was nicely done, I'd call it a slow speed over the shoulder roll. Jerry was applying to much rear brake and his bike started drifting. He must have known he was in trouble and ditched the bike with a nice roll that landed on his feet. I deleted the audio but I was laughing the whole time.



The next crash was pretty amazing. Scott was the last to ride down the face. He waited at the top of the trail for awhile. We all shouted out our best advice. Jerry shouted, "don't use your brakes, you can stop when you get down at the bottom." I don't remember what I said but after a few minutes, Scott decided to go. For 90% of the ride down he looked in control. It wasn't until the last few feet things started to go awry. At the bottom of the face he took a line a little to the right which resulted in two things; His front shock bottomed out and his rear wheel "bounced" up. This caused him to lose balance and started the ejection process. The video doesn't do much justice but he slid about 15 feet. It was like he was diving into home plate!

What the video doesn't show. After the 15 foot slide, Scott jumps to his feet and shouts, "Safe!" We instantly laugh and Scott suddenly teeters off balance. The adrenaline wears off Scott realizes he's hurt and pretty scratched up. The cleans up and we head back down the trail to Oak Mesa.

IIRC I think Scott ended up with a busted chain and bee sting. All and all it wasn't his day out.

Marshal Canyon in La Verne

Its the night before one of my favorite places to ride, Marshal Canyon. I haven't cleaned my Trek Fuel Ex in a few weeks. Its dirty, with caked on mud and grime. It needs some Tri Flow Chain lube and maybe a quick pass over the derailleur adjusting barrels to boot but I'm too lazy. I rather sit and write about what needs to be done rather than do anything. Go figure.Anyhow, Marshal Canyon is one of my favorite places to ride. I discovered Marshal Canyon when I was sixteen and have many fond memories riding up and down the many trails. Marshal Canyon provides many choices from wide open fire roads to steep single track with jumps along the way down. At the top of the trail you can drop down to Claremont or head further up to Potato Mountain. Marshal Canyon seems much busier these days with all the horses, hikers, joggers and MTB'er so be careful.

Tomorrow I'm going to head out of my house, on MT Bike, at about 7:00 am to meet with my group. I looks like it will be only a few of us, Peter, Kevin and I. We'll meet at Oak Mesa and possibly shuttle up Stephens Ranch Road to the horse staging area next to the boys correctional facility. Maybe I can talk the guys into riding up to Yellow Gate then dropping down Cobal Canyon, up Burbank to Johnstons Pasture and back home. That ride would make it a round trip of 20 miles. Not to bad.

Bicycle Friends - The Ride Partner Resource

Welcome to Bicycle Friends, the ride partner resource! Bicycle Friends was created as a resource to connect you with other cyclist in your area.

* Just starting out? That’s great the best way to get out and get motivated is to ride with friends. Friends help pass the time and make riding fun! I started riding with a co-worker. It was late October 2006, and pushing paper all day didn't help with our physical health. Baby steps, we started out short distances, riding our local trails and parks. Our goal was simple, ride a little more each time out with the hope we'd still be riding by the beginning of spring. By spring we had great stories, better health and we even met a few other riders along the way! Riding with friends helps a lot. You can always count on someone to encourage you to, "go out and ride," even when you are not so motivated.

* Gas Sucks, ride to work? Hook up with commuters heading your way to or from work. Safety is in numbers and riding to work can be both lonely and monotonous. Save money on gas and help pass the time with a Bicycle Friend.
* Looking for people who share your devotion to a healthy life style - Look no further, Bicycle Friends!

* Are you a Seasoned Pro looking for riders with your same skill sets or looking for someone to train with - Look no further Bicycle Friends was created for you!

Carbon Canyon

Carbon Canyon

Saturday, Sep 6, 2008

Alarm went off at 6:00 am, to the sound of KFI 640, "Handel on the Law," and I quickly hit the snooze button. Just another 10 - 15 minutes and I'll get up. This last week, as usual, was a busy week at work and sleeping in was a nice idea. Not going to happen! After the second wake up call, I slowly got up and started my early Saturday morning routine. Grab the jersey, socks and put on my Hoss riding shorts.

As I make my way down stairs, I could smell the aroma of brewed coffee (I set the coffeemaker last night!). Packed my Camel Back with GU Energy Gell, filled my Camel Back Bladder with water and made a bowl of cereal, Cheerios to be exact.

As I sit staring into nothing, I think about the ride set for today, Carbon Canyon. This will be my first ride to Carbon Canyon and I wonder what it will be like, easy or hard. Bleep, bleep, my cell phone rings telling me I have a text message. I pick it up and wonder, who's running late or can't make it. It's Peter and sure enough he's out, not going to make it today. Darn! I think about giving him a hard time about it but pass on the opportunity.

I load up my bike and gear and head to our carpool pickup area, the Park and Ride next to Bonelli. The Park and ride was jam packed. "Looks like a lot of other riders are doing Bonelli today. Hmmm, Peter's not coming why don't I talk the guys into riding Bonelli today?" Kevin pulls up and I ask if he'd like to do a loop around Bonelli. He shrugs and says lets try Carbon Canyon, but if the group wants to do Bonelli we'll stay here.

Carl arrives and I say, " Looks like a lot of riders here today, lets ride Bonelli Park. What do you think?"

Carl says the same thing Kevin said, " Whatever you guys want to do." Carbon Canyon is it (Its new, different, great!).

From San Dimas, Carbon Canyon is about 15 - 20 minutes south on the 57 fwy. We exited Lambert and headed east until we came up to the park on the right hand side. It was $5.00 to get in. From that point we headed to the eastern most part of the parklot, parked and started unloading the bikes. The Park itself is nice, layout similar to Bonelli with jungle gyms, grassy areas, picnic tables and barbeques. Unlike Bonelli, Carbon Canyon did have a number of tennis courts.

Bikes unloaded and ready to head off, we examined the park map the attendant at the gate gave us. From the map the trails are clearly mapped. We head east through the parking lot to a dirt path that parallels Carbon Canyon Road. The trail leads you to a split; right takes you to North Ridge Trail and left takes you to Telegraph. We headed up North ridge. North ridge has moderately steep climbing for about 1/4 mile then evens out to a steady uphill. Overall it was a nice, well maintained dirt rode, great for beginning to intermediate riders. The climb was steady and progressive with very little areas of steep climbing. To the north of us was Chino Hills which provided a nice view of rolling hills.

The battery on my cyclocomputer was dying so I'm not sure how long we climbed for until we came up to Sycamore Canyon. This is a high point and connects North Ridge to Telegraph. Sycamore is a nice fast single tracks. There are a few surprises to be aware of like deep ruts, loose dirt and tall brush that whips your arms and legs at speed. Sycamore felt like a fast roller coaster ride. Carl got a little over zealous and was pulled in a deep rut that ran parallel to the single track.

At the bottom of Sycamore Canyon is Telgraph. From that point it is coasting until you end up at the entrance.

From North Ridge to Sycamore to Telegraph was a 12 mile loop. I would highly recommend this loop for riders just starting out. Except for Sycamore Canyon there were very little surprises. The climb was not bad and once you link up to Sycamore its all downhill.