Ron on a SS, Coyotes, Two Flats, Daryl, Motorcyclist Down and no Trip to Mt. Baldy

The day started early, I was on my bike by 6:30 am and headed to GMR for a Mt. Baldy ride. I met up with Annette and it was a nice and easy ride to the Maintenance Shed. I commented on how the weather was cool and how light the traffic was. Few cars, motorcycle and luge racers crossed our paths to the Maintenance Shed.

At the shed we met three riders from Riverside Bicycle Club and they were headed to Crystal Lake. As it turns out they are fans of www.glendoramtnroad.com too, and all the more reason to keep Annette posting (I had commented earlier to her that she is slacking on her posts)!



We also met Ron at the shed. Ron sports an orange Mercier single speed. I met him briefly two weeks ago on my ride to Baldy with the guys from BikeForums.net. At 46 X 16, Ron is a monster pushing that gear ratio to Mt. Baldy. We talked a short while and looks like he's going to build a cyclocross bike. I asked if it will be a SS and he said no, probably a 1 X 9. He's looking at 42t up front and 12-32t in the rear.




Here is Annette with her signature red handkerchief. She's calling herself the Squirrel Magnet now.



At about Fork plus 2 we spotted two coyotes walking up the middle of the road. I sped up shouting to get them off the road. The cub took off for the bushes but momma barely moved. She looked sick, maybe poisoned. It was both sad and a little scary as mamma really wasn't spooked by me. Annette noticed mamma approach me as I pulled out my camera. Mamma probably thought I was going to feed her. You should never feed wild animals!



I got two simultaneous flats at Fork plus 3.75. Darn, one tube, two flats, thankfully Annette had a spare. There were many concerned riders who stopped to lend a hand. With a close inspection of my tire I didn't notice any thorns or goat heads. I think what punctured them was a very sharp rock. Specialized Armadillos maybe the solution to this problem.



Daryl and Rick (I think that's his name) came riding up GMR as I changed my tube. Daryl is back from riding the Pyrenees in France. He used GMR as training for the Pyrenees, so If you can conquer GMR you can conquer anything! Rick was riding a custom Seven.



After the coyotes and flat tires, I decided I should turn around and save Mt. Baldy for another day. On the way back we crossed paths with Adobo Velo riders. These guys ride GMR to the Mt. Baldy ski lifts.

Annette and I also encountered a total idiot Motorcyclists who came really close to hitting us. I was so taken back by his total lack of Road etiquette/courtesy and Annette had a few choice words for him. Note to self, never let your guard down when riding GMR.

At about the Banana Tree, I witnessed one motorcyclists lay his bike down. On an inside turn his tires picked up some debris and caused his bike to slide out from under him. He went down and was more pissed off than hurt. Many expletives came out of his mouth.

The second half of my ride was wrought with much traffic. Speeding Motorcyclists, Cars and other Bicyclists who started the day later.