Bicycle friends riding thru Fullerton

Working Hard or Hardly Working?

A Tribute to Bicycling, Glendora Mountain Road and Piet Mondrain

Although not the most accurate representation of a Piet Mondrian, I did enjoy creating this piece from MS Paint. I cheated and used grey in addition to Black and the three primary colors.

I have a vintage bike jersey, La Vie Clair that introduced me to Piet.
I call this one, Primary Plus Black and Grey AB


One more, Jamie doesn't really like this one. I call it Primary Plus Black.

New CANIDAE Racer

Keep an eye out for this gal, Maggie May, on the trails and up Glendora Mountain Road! Carl picked up Maggie May as a puppy and she is growing up sooo fast!

BikeForums.net, OC Rebels, A titanium GT and a custom Seven

Lots of riders on the road today. As I approached the Base of GMR, a group of riders were heading up too. This group came from bikeforums.net and consisted of 8 - 15 people. I rode up with Victor, and Hans until about Fork plus 6. After that Victor dropped back and Hans picked up the pace. I caught up to Mr. Beans and together we rode to Mt. Baldy Village.

OC Rebels were out on the mountain too. Great riders and hopefully I can hook up with them and the people from bikeforums.net as well.

Meme, I came across a SWEEEET titanium GT road bike that is just up your alley. The guy was part of OC Rebels and owned a few titanium GT's. I snapped a picture for you.

There was also a woman from OC Rebels who has a custom titanium Seven that was completely tricked out.

Bikeforums.net had a support vehicle and I was able to refill one water bottle at the maintenance shed.

This is my fourth trip to Mt. Baldy and it gets easier every time. On the way down I had a scare with some tumbling rocks falling onto the road. One of these rocks was about the size of a soccer ball and it tumbled down in front of me while I cruised down the mountain at excess of 40 miles per hour. I missed it but it scared the $h!T out of me.

It was nice seeing both Annette and Matt at the maintenance shed and there were not many motorcyclist out this morning.

Riding with Bicycle Friends and a Solo trip to Mt. Baldy

Picture: Byran and Carl gearing up for a long ride.

Today it will be Fork plus 4 for Byran, Carl, Annette and Matt. We met at 7:15 am and soon after started up GMR. It was particularly busy with Motorcycles, Street Luge Riders and Car Clubs. I'm not sure who is more reckless the Motorcyclist or Street Luge Riders.


Again Carl makes it to the Maintenance Shed, in a few months he'll be ready for a Mt. Baldy Ride.


This is Byran at Fork plus 4. He did really well and took the lead from East Fork to this point.


Watch out! Street Luge Riders and Motorcyclist coming really close together. These guys are insane! I wonder who made it down the mountain first?


I made it to Mt. Baldy today. Unlike last week, I felt stronger and did get leg cramps.


Mile Marker 12.00. I made it!

The Night Before a Ride

Cervelo off the wall, tires filled, water bottles cleaned and placed on the kitchen counter, CLIFF bar next to bottles, cyclocomputer charging, sunglasses out of car, jersey, base layer, bike shorts, socks in the closet ready and in order. Drinking lots of water, eating a tad better than the night before and checking tomorrow's weather report, 65 degrees by 6:30 am, 75 by 9:00 am. Good, drink more water. Into bed early for big day of riding.

(Picture shamelessly stolen from Glendoramtnroad.com)

Glendora Mountain Road - Extreme Panorama Shots

Ah the beauty of PSE and online tutorials!

Made it, "Too" Mt. Baldy Village (Part Deux, "Too")

Today I was prepared to back up my first ride to Mt. Baldy with another trip. I knew the day was going to heat up quickly, so I headed out on my journey by 7:00 am. Damn, it was already warm.

Rather than "stage" at GMR and Sierra Madre, I chose to start from my house. I made good time and reached GMR by 20 minutes. On the way up, Annette and I crossed paths. She had a Breakfast Date with neighbors and started much earlier. We talked a short while about photographs, insulated water bottles and the Tour De France.

At about the first saddle, Matt was coming down GMR. He too started earlier and we rode up together for about 1 mile before Matt turned around to finish his ride.

By the maintenance shed I was feeling okay, not great, not too tired. I stopped for a few minutes then headed to East Fork. From East Fork to Fork plus 4, the ride was nice and easy. I cruised through the rolling hills, with the sun on my back and a slight pleasant breeze.

IIRC, after Mile Marker 4.25 there is a slight downhill then you start climbing for the next four miles. By Fork plus 6, I was getting tired and between 7 and 8, I was wearing down fast. I stopped a few times to take pictures and stretch. Fork plus 10 or 11 something, my legs started to cramp pretty bad and I was so close to Cow Canyon Saddle. I tried to hold off the much needed dismount, but I had to stop and stretch.

Mt. Baldy. I made to Mt. Baldy in about 3 hours. While there, I stopped at the Post Office to refill my water bottles. I bought two Iris Bulbs for a dollar each and met up with a guy named Larry. Larry rode 43 miles to Mt. Baldy. He started somewhere near the 60 fwy. Me and the ladies selling the Iris' asked Larry if he's sick in the head for doing that ride. He was filling up his water bottles and setting out for his ride back! That's 86 miles round trip. Larry is the king!

One thing I learned on the way to Mt. Baldy, hydration is essential. For this trip I brought three water bottles. This was sufficient for the ride, but I could have drank more prior and during the ride. Usually on long rides, I'll start drinking tons of water the day before and up to the ride. Friday, I drank sufficient amounts of water. It was this morning where I failed. I really should have paid more attention to my water consumption this morning, especially since I knew today was going to be hot. I attribute my cramping to improper hydration.



Somewhere on the way to Mt. Baldy, I stopped to stretch. I dismounted, stretched then looked up. In its magnificent beauty, Mt. Baldy stood in front of me.



I was so happy to see the Cow Canyon Saddle Sign! All downhill from here. Yipee!



I love this sign!



"Larry, you're killing me!" 43 miles, Larry rode to get to the Mt. Baldy Post Office.



I bought two Iris bulbs to support the Mt. Baldy community club.