RR Seven Sisters (Bitches)

[MTBMaven]

Bergstiger (Krisztian) and Krisztians's co-worker Rick and I started our ride around 8:30AMish at Krisztian's place in Aliso. We road to the "official" start of the ride; the parking lot for Aliso Creek off Alicia.

Now this ride is officially called the Seven Sisters, though some call it the Seven Bitches. I think the second name is a little mean to the first 3 sisters. They may not be the marrying type, you may not even want to sleep with them, but not sure I would call them bitches. The last 4 on the other hand, thems are bitches of the highest order.

The 4th Sister, up Nyes Place, is one hell of a kick in the pants. You turn off PCH and within 50 yards there is a sign warning of 20% grades and a wall of a road. I estimate the 20% section is at least .25 if not .5 miles. At the top my Garmin registered 26% for a brief second. After that it levels off to an easy 14%-17% grade.

The 5th Sister is up Bluebird Canyon to Summit. This climb starts out pretty decent but then seems to get steeper and steeper the higher you climb.

The 6th Sister goes up Temple Hill Dr. This climb has got to be the longest of all the climbs. Just when you think you are done well there's a bit more. At this point the culmination of the previous 5 Sisters is catching up with you. If this climb were the first climb of the day it would not be that bad, but by this point in the day it is a hard climb.

The 7th Sister is up Park Ave to Alta Laguna Park. All I can say is damn. Not the steepest climb, no >20% sections but a sustained >15% climb that goes on forever it feels like. I was switchbacking the road all over the place just to remain moving. My right knee was popping half way up. There was an older lady walking her dog I passed very slowly about 1/3 of the way up, she finished less than 10 minutes after I did.

We rode Laguna Canyon, to El Toro, to Aliso something to get back. There was a steep climb on Aliso something that was the 7.5th Sister.

All in all a great day. The rain helped make the views endless. The sun was out and the winds were light. I only used my 28 tooth bail out gear going up Park, all other climbs were done in 39/25. The only time we stopped on a climb was for route finding and one flat near the bottom of Summit. All else was cleaned. Not sure I will be racing to do this one again as it really kicked my butt. But if you love hill climbing, are looking for a new climbing training route, and/or live in the area I highly recommend this route. It was well worth driving from Pasadena.

Stats:
39 Miles
5,900 total feet of gain

Route description can be found here:
http://www.geoladders.com/show_route.php?route=488

[dstepper]

Stop your whinning I watch the local groms pedal up Park with 40+ lbs downhill bikes to hit Telonics.

Just kidding with ya...Laguna does have some steep pavement....not as steep as the dirt!

[MTBMaven]

Originally Posted by dstepper

Stop your whinning I watch the local groms pedal up Park with 40+ lbs downhill bikes to hit Telonics.

Just kidding with ya...Laguna does have some steep pavement....not as steep as the dirt!

There is a big difference between 22/34, or in some cases 20/34 and 39/25 or 39/28.

[dstepper]

Dude we single speed it.