Heck of a headwind though. I remember cruising down the trail to 4 corners (name?) at 18 MPH soft pedaling. Today I was averaging about 17 till I hit the area where the schools are then all of a sudden the headwind started tearing me up! Heading to 4 corners I was pushing pretty hard and holding 15.5-16 trying to keep my average up. Scum sucking headwind really made sure that wouldn't happen ha ha!
After the dam (?)/golf driving range it eased up a bit so I pushed a bit to get it back up. Did good for a while but once I got next to the 605 fwy, it sucked again! Wasn't sure if I would go to Wilderness Park or Liberty Park which would have given me about 40 but not knowing the course, I wanted to make sure I would be OK and no too wiped out after the ride. So I stopped at Wilderness Park.
On the way I did see LewisAClark from the forums before it fell apart and started sucking without me! :-P
I saw him around a train pass. He was looking at the train when we crossed paths. I recognized his college football cycling jersey. I shouted HEY! but he seemed to react with a quick hey but not sure he recognized me after studying the train ha ha! Then I saw him again at Arrow while I was stopped chatting with the guys. He rolled by and I didn't want to shout in everybody's ear so I just let him roll by. He vanished from SART a few years back and I had heard he rode the San Gabe often. So now I know it's true!
After a brief stop at Wilderness, I headed back. Thinking it would be tough heading back uphill towards the mountains. My average had dropped and I figured it might drop lower with the climb. Not that it's that steep, just a gentle climb back. On the flatter sections I did lift it back to over 16 and felt pretty good. Passed some dude I saw at the park who was slightly ahead of me. Once I passed him he fell back somewhere. Later in the ride he caught me and rolled by. He shouted, "you're holding a good pace!". It was about 17.5 at that point which is not bad as you can see the road rolling up and up. He pulled away for a bit and I was actually surprised that he caught me. But not trying to race him, I figured if I tried to keep him in sight, it would only help my average. At one point I had 16.0 heading back up but man the legs were getting fried with each little step up. Like stairs in the road every so often.
Soon I noticed he was slowing and I was catching back up. Not that I wanted to race him but trying to hold my average up, I figured even if I caught him again, it would do me good to try to keep pace. But right as I was about 10 yards behind him (50 at one time) he pulled off on an exit ramp. He looked across at me and waved as I rolled by. Seemed like a cool dude. I was going to use him as a rabbit to keep my average up but he turned off. Probably a good thing because the last mile or so of the trail is just step after step. I stood up a few times trying to keep my 16 average. But the Garmin was reading 1, 2, 3 4 % at times and I felt every percent of the road ha ha!
Of course at the end of the trail, maybe 1/2 mile back I could see it rolling upward so I gave it my all but NO DICE! Ended up dropping to 15.0.
Oh well it was a fun ride. But I didn't get to see the beach like SART rides. Plus I can't say the scenery is much of a view but the trail was actually really clean compared to the homeless SART trail. I did see a couple of really small camps. One looked vacant and abandoned and two others were camps consisting of one tent. Huge difference from SART.
I forgot to mention, I think, this trail is only like 15 or so miles from home vs the 30 mile trip to SART. Plus the traffic is far better than the OC traffic. Heck if Gina doesn't start riding soon, I just may have to stay up here ha ha! Gina doesn't care much for this trail but heck, to me riding is riding.
So I guess I'll ride here for a while. Seems it may help me as I'll have to do longer rides if I want to see the beach again!
At the end of the ride, I ran across John. We chatted for a bit about bikes then it turned to hamburgers ha ha! I'm always looking for a good fresh burger as I don't eat fast food poison. He did suggest a place, I think called TOP'S. I have to look at the video as he gave them a little shout out. The things the told me about it seem worth a try. I have no problem making the drive for a good fresh burger. I think it's in Arcadia and we are in Upland. Should be a fun drive.
Short little video showing a little of the SGRT. I made this with my new editor so having to learn everything all over again I think I may have forgot to make it high def, so many settings on this new editor. But anyway, here is my first one, short but learning ha ha!
Anyway, John was pretty cool and on a 30 mile loop as well. I told him about my blog and my channel so hopefully he sees his pic and his video that should be up late tonight. ;-)
OK not really much color in the trail but I did what I could as far as editing trying to make it look nice ha ha!
So it was you. LewisAClark here. I got to San Gabriel Parkway and went, "Was that Mr. Beanz?" I wasn't sure because there is also another rider with your build I see on the trail all the time with a similar kit. So I thought it was him, but his usual greeting is, Hey Cuz!" And yes, I was more focused on the train crossing the bridge. Bit of a railfan I am.
ReplyDeleteI stopped riding the SART for personal reasons of which you already know. The Coyote River Trail is only 2 1/4 miles from my house and I use that to connect to the SGRT. It makes much more sense to start riding at my front door than to waste about 45 minutes of ride time driving to the SART and back. Plus if your SART reports are any indication of the current conditions along it, I am glad I have avoided that area for a while. Looks like it might take them another month to clear everybody out. We'll see how long it lasts.
You were right about the winds, they were pretty bad. Last weekend was even worse. On the way back south there were places that I could only manage a little over 10mph. All-in-all though, I did okay. 101 miles with a 15.75mph average. My goal this year is to average a century ride per month. However, I do not do well in the heat so right now I am trying to do two a month hopefully into June. Whatever I get in the winter months, if we ever get one this year, will be a bonus. So far I am on track with four 100+ rides.
Sounds like the SGRT is going to be your new haunt for a while till they get things cleaned and cleared up on the SART. Unlike the SART, there are only a couple of regulars that I see on a constant basis. I'll be sure to look out for you.
Wow that is a great ride LAC! With that wind and that many miles, I didn't do much better with less than a 1/2 of your mileage. Yes, SART really sucks! 2 mile stretch of wall to wall tents placed right up against the trail, loose dogs, clueless people wandering including volunteers, driving/parking vehicles on the trail too crazy! It is supposed to take 3 months to clean it up and I don't like the detour, I don't think there is one. But if they can dig up all the hep and needles out of the area, it should be great again. I hope to frequent SGRT now but unfortunately just got word back to 10 hour days and more than likely Saturdays for overtime. Can't catch a break here! :-/ Yeah I could tell you were interested in trains ha ha! I have another buddy Hillbasher who goes up to Cajon Pass (heading toward Vegas on the 15) to watch the trains go by. I want to say there are special edition trains every so often that go by. Nice for photography. Anyway, nice to see ya again!
ReplyDeleteI forgot to add, this trail is only 15 miles from home vs the 30 mile trip to SART. Heck, I just may stay up here if Gina doesn't start riding soon ha ha! Lot less traffic too!
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