This was a sweet night to ride GMR. Gates close, no traffic. Near full moon casting our shadows and no real need to use the lights on the climb. Beautiful breath of fresh air! [video=youtube;FwLoG8lhAlw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwLoG8lhAlw[/video] Maybe Rick can name his buds in the pics so I can add names later. JMX Gina in the darkness Herb, Alyce, and Gina
Lining up for a pic How many cyclists does it take to set up a tripod ? Everybody seems to be having fun but Hillbasher is crying cause they posed him at the back. Just kidding, my flash must have blinded him ha ha! OCRRick's buddies Hillbasher and OCRRick ? and Stephan Still at it? Ha ha! ? and Rory I think I know these people!
Wow, that would be fun! When do they close the gate on GMR? Is there a site that shows when the gates will be open or closed? I was surprised to see the gate closed there about a month ago when I drove out to ride Lower Monroe TT to GMR on my mountain bike with a couple friends. GMR is probably the best road route I've ever done locally and I'd like to do it again before it gets too icy this winter. Even with the gates open, GMR seemed pretty safe to me the few times I did it--you can hear the very few cars that drive that road minutes before they are close to you so you can glance back at the car to make sure they're where they're supposed to be. Although a rider (Kevin Unck) did die the day I rode GMR for the first time--he slid out on the descent in some dirt/gravel into an oncoming SUV. Made me think a lot about riding there again, road riding at all, etc. Eventually, I decided to continue. There's a little memorial to him on one of the switchbacks on GMR. I stopped there when doing the L'Etape ride in 2011--the year I first rode GMR. And I will stop there again next time and pay my respects to a guy I never met and never knew but with whom I share a passion and who I will always remember and who will help me to remember to be grateful for what I have for as long as I have it--my health, my family, my life and the ability to enjoy cycling and challenging myself physically and mentally to become better than I am today.
Forget the road, ride Monroe T.T. at night for a real blast!!! :bangid that last week. Started riding about 10pm, finished about 12am. They usually close it during red flag fire warnings, or 4th of July. It was closed last week during the Santa Ana winds. -Lloyd :wave:
I visit a blog called glendoramtnrd run by a friend of mine. We met on GMR, she keeps updates on the rd. I found out by visiting her blog, keeps us informed about road closures and there is a link on the side of her blog as well. Kevin's memorial has since been removed. I've heard the people that care for the road onl leave up them up for a period of time then remove them. Hey, she has my video there too ha ha! http://glendoramtnroad.blogspot.com/
Good point. I've ridden in the Santa Ana's at night as I live in OC. But the Santa Ana's are mostly pretty tame fireroads easy to ride at night, with a few exceptions here and there. Never thought of driving up there for a night ride. Riding GMR in high wind wouldn't be too fun. The day I rode GMR a fire broke out nearby later that day so it was probably a similar closure.
Start at the iron gate at the first hairpin turn and head up the creek bed. 7-1/4 miles up to GMR pavement. Enjoy the view and head back down. -Lloyd :wave:
Ah cool! I remember about a year ago, a ride partner and I (Hillbasher) rode up GMR in the morning while an MTB'er rode up MTT. We saw eachother at the bottom then at the top, we met again. It was funny, he said, "you guys must have been trucking". For some reason he figured he'd beat us up, but we had been there for about 5 minutes. I was impresed thinking the dirt trail up would be rough. I've never done that trail, that's why I'm here in the Roadie forum. I have done Sunset to the Potato Mtn overlook though (my partner calls it). That is one steep sucker! \\/
