Breathless Agony 5/1/10

Directions? What time are you thinking of riding?

Here's the info (I posted it on Outdoorsclub.org so it's a little officious) :

O.K. Here is the info on this Saturday’s Breathless Agony Training Ride. Anyone and everyone are welcome so feel free to let your friends know. Also, if you want to do this ride on Sunday, say so, because Rochelle would like to ride it on Sunday.

Day:Saturday, April 17, 2010

Time: Meet at 8:00 a.m., Ride at 8:15 a.m.

Where: We will be meeting past the intersection of Bryant and Mill Creek Road at the Mill Creek Ranger Station. Here is a map:http://tinyurl.com/y7s9pkl

Ride Description: Road ride. We will head up Highway 38, from where Highway 38 intersects Garnett, and go approximately 33 miles to Onyx Peak. I’m estimating that it is a climb from 3000’ to 8500’. Then we’ll turn around and retrace our route back to the cars. Since it is an out and back, no one should get lost and it won’t really matter how fast everyone is going. I’m hoping to be back at the car by 2:00 p.m.ish.

Bring: extra tubes, water, food. This ride will be hard, I’m told, so you are going to need the water and food. I hear that there is a store halfway up…? It might be cold at the top, and/or cold going down, so think about that too.

 

Yes, there are about 7 of us who are trying for KOM.

 

does anyone know whether Heartbreak 100 sells out early? Can I wait until after B.A.?

 

I can't say from experience, however Mulholland Challenge sold out this year. I didn't want to take my chances so I registered for Heartbreak last week. You might send them an email and ask how many are currently registered and how many slots they have available.

KOM here we come!

 

would like to join the fellow STR members on this ride but I am going to have to take a raincheck. I have been dealing with some knee pain lately from playing too much volleyball and the left knee is not up to a few thousand feet of climbing. Have fun!!

 

If the 100 sells out, you can always do the 200 and use the checkpoint times for the 100 portion for the KOM competition...

http://www.planetultra.com/KOM/index.html

(scroll down..says you can check-in-out with the timekeeper @ Lebec to get the KOM credit...thinking about upgrading to double and taking this approach...cuz 100 is just too ez!)

 

One more thing for those that are doing this tomorrow. Be aware of extra vehicle traffic on Hwy 38. This is due to Hwy 330(quickest way to Big Bear) being closed until mid May to repair a culvert that runs under the Hwy.

Hwy 38 now becomes the quickest way to get to Big Bear so it will see the majority of the traffic. You probably will encounter this traffic in the morning for sure and possibly when you are heading down from the summit also. Most skiers and boarders leave once the snow becomes slushy which is around 12:00.

The fine boys at Caltrans also decided to put down a new surface on Hwy 38 between the bridge at the bottom up to the Forest Falls turnoff. The surface is not your typical smooth asphalt. It is very rough and unforgiving if you fall on it.

Be careful out there!

 

How did the ride go on Saturday? How was the road surface to Forest Falls turnoff? Ugh, I am not ready for it but I will be there! I had a nioce training ride in Catalina Saturday but it was only 4,000 feet of climbing. Just 8,000 more to go!

 

Wow really unfortunate timing for the closure of the 330. Breathless is on the 1st and before the 330 opens. That's not going to be fun or safe.

 

Our ride went off without a hitch. We had 11 riders of various speeds, no mechanicals, no meltdowns. We were on the road from 8:30 am to 3:00 pm. Going up traffic was very heavy and sometimes scary close. Coming down traffic wasn't so bad, probably because we spent so much less time going down than up.

I don't know what's going to happen on ride day. It would be nice if they could post a few signs warning the cars but I get the impression that that's not going to happen.

I didn't think that the surface was bad at all. If I had been on my aluminum bike, I would not have liked that lower part but, believe me, it was no Yerba Buena, not by a longshot.

So this roadie told me this weekend that Jack Rabbit is so bad it would be dangerous on a mountain bike. Is that true? Up until now, no one has said anything about Jack Rabbit.

 

Wonder if I can roll over my entry until next year. Doesn't sound like fun this year!

 

Sounds like it's going to be extra fun this year! I think this year Jack Rabbit will lend itself to the mountain bikers. Time to work on those trials skills.

 

Great. More cars.... Aghhhh.. Sure takes the fun out of it for me.
I am looking forward to HB 100.

 

There is safety in numbers and with the amount of bikes on the road the people know we are around every corner and they keep their speed down. Also there is a lot of CHP presence. I've seen them chase down cars they felt were to close. I've been buzzed a lot closer then that too. I talked with a friend who rode Jack Rabbit and although it's still like always with big potholes and cracks it's really not any worse then the last couple of years. If you take your time and look far enough ahead you'll be fine. Watch your speed on the dh and stay to the sides of the road.

 

Love the new signature Doc! Strong expert coming through. I wish I could have been there when that guy pulled that one. Classic stuff.

 

I have ridden worse asphalt but this ranks right up there in my books. I cooked through a tire a few weeks back when some kook in a car needed to use the emergency lane right in front of me on the descent. I slammed the brakes on, couldn't swerve into the vehicle lane as that was taken up with vehicles. So I locked the back wheel and had maximum braking pressure applied to the front w/o lock up.
As I rolled past him he was talking on the cell phone totally oblivious to me on the bike. I tapped on his window to tell him to look out for others. His reasoning was he just acquired a cell phone signal and had to make an important call. Looked at my tire and cord was showing through, good thing I carry a tire boot. I pulled into Mountain HOme Village, away from traffic, and repair my ruined tire.

That road surface sure seemed to wear that tire down fast.

 

Wow! Glad you made it out of that situation safely.

 

And now you can add rain in the long term forcast :-k

 

Now rain would make things quite interesting.

 

With the weather and road conditions I am thinking of putting some slicks on my 29er mountain bike - any thoughts? Does anyone do this ride on a mountain bike???