RR: Totaly Boring Fireroad Climb

[dstepper]

NOT!

Lynn (Sheclimbs), Cathy (cyclecc), Mike (Mr. Freak) and Glen (Gurp13) all meet at Manker Flats Campground and rode up My. Baldy Road to Devils Backbone Trail. No let up on the grade climbing to Devils Backbone 5+miles and 2500+ ft. I will download exact info from GPS later. Start ride 6100ft end 8600ft. Lots of hikers no other bikers, the chair lift is running and they charge $8 each way and will take your bike up to Baldy Notch. As you can see by my pic of Glen, the Notch Lodge is open and serving food.

I know some dimiss this ride because it is all fireroad, fireroad or not it is very nice up there and alot of work to get up there.

The middle pic is of the fire that was burning today out in Hesperia.

Dean

[Epic_Mtn_Biker]

Very nice pix, and RR. looked like a perfect day for going up there.

Glad you guys had fun!

[Waldo]

Nice post dstepper. I've done the running race to the summit, but haven't ridden on Baldy yet. I have a friend who'd love that ride: He'll suffer through long-duration climbing, but has zero singletrack skills. Looks like that'd be just his kind of adventure.

[Pain Freak]

I really enjoyed this ride today. True it's all fireroad, but we were going mostly for the scenery and to get some climbing in. We got a big dose of both. This is one beautiful place. I'll be back soon. Close to the house and very easy getting there. Today was also a great day for me as I've seen about almost every animal there is that is native to soCal, the ones I've yet to see in the wild were a Big horn sheep and a mt lion, well, you can now cross big horn sheep off the list. As Gurp and I were driving up, I looked over to the side of the road as we were talking about wildlife sightings and there not 30 feet away was a ram with great big horns and huge balls, I guess you need balls that big if you're going to be hanging out in mt lion country. Last week in AZ, I seen a few pronghorn antelope and a gila monster, but I've seen a few of those before. Still a very good day today.

Now tomorrow will be 150 miles on the road!

[CC]

Thanks Dean for suggesting this ride and for both you and Lynn coming out to my home turf. It was great riding with everyone. Glen and Mike, it's been too long. Gurp you have improved so much, especially on the climbing.

It was a beautiful day for a ride, the weather was perfect. You couldn't have ask for a better day to ride. Unfortunately my back was seizing up so I had to pull over many times on the way up. That was the only bummer. Luckily, the downhill was great fun.

Hey Lynn thanks for stopping by with beer...and chillin in the jacuzzi.

[sheclimbs]

Dean, another great suggestion. The climb was well worth it. Great views, great friends, good times. Thanks to all of you for such a nice day.

[Burner]

Damn, wish I could have gotten up to make it, but I had to sleep the vegas out of me.

[gurp13]

I'll add a few pictures myself...


Yup, just a totally boring fireroad... with killer views, blue skies and pinetrees. Which smell awesome by the way. Unlike Mike.


This is at 8,600 feet, looking out over the valley. Very nice.


Dean at 8,600 feet. Feelin' good and smiling like usual. Which makes me suspicious. Who's that happy all the time?


This shot is taken from the Baldy Notch. Five miles up. On a clear day you can see Catalina. Today was not a that kind of day. But, you can see the ski lift and the fireroad in the distance. Very panoramic.


Mike stands at the Devil's Backbone trailhead. The trail is "singletrackish", exposed on both sides and steep as anything we pushed a Kona up. We didn't ride it today but perhaps it'd be interesting try some time. I dunno.

I'll be back, too. I'd like to ride up to Thunder Mountain next time, or circle around down into Lytle Creek to a shuttle vehicle. This is a beautiful area. The nice thing about a fireroad the just climbs in that you get to bomb down it. Mike borrowed his wife's bike, a Gary Fisher women specific design HT; it had a killer fork that gave him 1.5" travel! Plus, the back wheel was bent. In mountain biking, we call that a handicap. So, we bombed down the fireroad and I was all impressed as we hit 28mph at one point. Now, I'm a total p&ssy so that was amazing to me. Anything over 20mph on dirt is fast as far as I'm concerned. Mike said it was slow and he'd have gone faster on a full squish. Prolly. He's way fast and always overcompensating. So, I believe him.

Good times. Nice to meet Lynn and good to ride with Dean and Cathy again (oh, and Cathy, I was feeling all cool that I was so "fast" today until Lynn said your back was hurt. thanks, nothing makes me feel cooler than kicking ass over hurt people. try to be 100% next time so I can have a better time riding, huh?)

[PacMan]

I gotta start checking the Trailhead page more often. Looks like you guys had a great time. I would definitely like to join you next time out

[CC]

You missed out on a good time. Next time for sure.

Originally Posted by PacMan

I gotta start checking the Trailhead page more often. Looks like you guys had a great time. I would definitely like to join you next time out

[Shannon]

I'm going next time for sure!

[CC]

Y E A H B.O.B !!!

Here are the more photos from yesterday. It was definitely a gorgeous day. Lynn there are some great ones of you. =)

[guero]

Originally Posted by Epic_Mtn_Biker

Very nice pix, and RR. looked like a perfect day for going up there.

Glad you guys had fun!

What he said! I wanna check that area out soon!

[sheclimbs]

glen, nice to meet you too. Was thinking of your comment about single track on my ride to day...

missed you guys out on the trail today. No one to talk smack with. I didn't get enough "boring" fireroad climbing yesterday (not) so I decided to do the rustic loop. That last grind up to the hub is usually my nemesis but this time the ocean breeze kicked in just in time. The backbone single track was awesome. It seems to go on forever, as it should with the big old climb to get there. Hey Glen I remember you were questioning the virtues of single track yesterday, I thought of you as I cruised down with a big ole smile on my face. We'll have to take you up there and then I'll see if you still have the same opinon.

[tkblazer]

who's that cholo on the snow board bike?

looks like a good ride, thanks for the invite guys! j/k i would probably pass out on the drive up there, 6100ft elevation at the start

[gurp13]

Well, just to be clear, SC (nice intials!), I may not have spoken very well. It's not that I don't like singletrack, or even understand why people like it. What I don't get is why some people just won't go on a ride if it doesn't have enough singletrack. Dirt is fun, even if the trail is wide enough to drive a car down. I know there are people who wouldn't ride up at Baldy because it's all fireroad. To me, that's goofy. It's so beautiful and such a nice area, I just think it's a shame to not ride it. Many of my favorite rides are singletrack, but they're not my faves *because* they're singletrack but rather because they're beautiful and the scenery is great.

But, yeah, you should take me on that ride anyway. Maybe I don't appreciate singletrack enough.

[Pain Freak]

I was trying to tell the guys today on the road ride how beautiful that trail is (yes, it's still considered a trail even though it's wide enough for trucks). Now that I opened my big mouth, next weekends road ride will be going up there. From my house in Fontana to the top. Well, not quite the top, but as far as we can on road bikes.

Today we got in 154 miles and I was about to die. I let my blood sugar get down to low and almost bonked. I had to pull over for a while and get some sugar in me. Man, that is a scary feeling.

[sheclimbs]

"SC (nice intials!),"

oh no, I might have to rethink that one...

But, yeah, you should take me on that ride anyway. Maybe I don't appreciate singletrack enough. [/quote]

Fair enough!

[Schecky]

Originally Posted by sheclimbs

"SC (nice intials!),"

oh no, I might have to rethink that one...