I kept checking weather.com for updates on this weekends weather. Was it going to rain or not. All week long the forecast switched between, partly cloudy, light sprinkles, A.M. showers, partly cloudy and back to showers on Saturday morning. Its been three weeks since my last ride and I was aching to get on the bike.
I woke up this morning, the sun was out and few clouds covered the hills of GMR. A quick update from Annette came in at 7 am, "Clear, dry roads and few clouds, lets ride."
It was hard getting started. My knees creaked and quads complained as I started up the first steep grade leading to the electronic sign. By the gate I was warming up and ready to quicken my pace.
Heading up GMR, the weather was perfect. Few clouds, clean air and the warmth of the sun fell off my back as I climbed up the mountain. Off in the distance, Downtown Los Angeles and its skyscrapers could be easily seen. Few riders pasted us on the way up and a group of runners appeared from a trail head leading to Highway 39.
We decided to ride to the top of Monroe before turning around and stopping at the Maintenance Shed. Mohammad greeted us from Whittier. Nice guy with a slender build, his ride would be about an 80 mile round trip. He was training for the Solvang Century to celebrate his 60th birthday. Now that's bragging rights!
The ride down was cold. So cold it was painful and unpleasant. It was 46 - 47 degrees Fahrenheit, I was drenched from my sweat, without leg warmers and the wind generated from my forward motion down GMR, further chilled my body. I was miserable, my left leg was shaking from the cold and I had to laugh, "it's been colder, I know it."
Finally, we made it back to the first saddle and the temperature rose about 5 degrees. We stopped, took some pictures and continued down GMR. We ran into Rick, said hi and promised to meet up sometime for a ride together.
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