Come out to the coast, we’ll get together, have a few laughs…

What an absolutely amazing day.

Earlier this week knowing I was traveling to Southern California, I planned on reaching out to Joey Ducut about getting together for a weekend ride. At around the same time he posted an Adobo Velo KOM Challenge training ride which would ride up into the San Gabriel Mountains area of the Angeles National Forest. Last time I deferred to Joey’s route choice we ended up riding a closed Glendora Mountain Road over to Mt. Baldy.

I checked Joey’s route and while it would take me to new areas I’ve never ridden before, it was much shorter than I’d hoped to ride. Checking the surrounding area I was able to come up with an alternate way back to my in-laws house which would make the entire course more loop-like versus an out-and-back. After texting back and forth and playing coy with Joey, he agreed to ride with me on the extended route. Fast forward to today and here we are.

The ride over to Duarte was great. I rode down the Deer Creek Channel Trail all the way to Baseline for a change in route. I’d also posted to Joey’s Strava post regarding the training ride sharing my route and inviting anyone to join me at the corner of Baseline and Haven. I was quite surprised as I stopped at the end of the trail to see an Adobo from Rancho Cucamonga ride by!

As I rode up next to him at the corner of Baseline and Haven, I asked if he was doing the KOM training ride or not. He shared that he was on the way to the Rancho Cucamonga chapter’s meet and greet ride. Robert invited me to ride with him to Red Hill park to meet with everyone before continuing on to meet up with Joey.

Pulling into the park, I was surprised there was a small handful of cyclists already milling about. However only a few minutes later and the parking lot was quickly filling with cars with all manner of bike racks. It was quite impressive to see so many people showing up for a meet-and-greet ride. I waited around just long enough for Arvin, the chapter president, to show up and visit with him briefly. After having a snack (I ate) and coffee (I passed) pushed on me, I set off to meet up with Joey who was already well ahead of me.

Just before Live Oak Canyon Road Joey called me to see where I was at. I gave him the cross streets, and he said that he needed to get rolling in order to get to Encanto Park by the 8:00 start time. I told him to go on and that I would meet up with him at the park. Unfortunately, since I’m not entirely familiar with the area, I couldn’t tell him that I was really only 2.5 miles away.

Of course as luck would have it, I made the turn onto Foothill and after making a short descent and rounding a corner I could see two cyclists off in the distance! As luck would have it I would hit a couple lights, they would make a turn, and I lost sight of them. I had a good idea of the route they were taking, but I decided I’d continue along Foothill in the hopes of it being the more direct, but less cyclist friendly, route. My direct route hunch was right as I pulled into Encanto Park and there was no sign of Joey.

A few minutes later Joey did finally roll in and was surprised to see me in the parking lot waiting. I copped to taking Foothill the entire way and mentioned that I’d just missed them at our original rendezvous point. There were several groups meeting in the same park all going different directions for their weekend group ride.

While Joey went off to meet up with our group, I made a run for the bathroom. Right as I walked up to the door, I hear from behind me, “Elvis?” I turn around and see Steve, I can’t recall his last name, from the CTC scene. Crazy running into so many different people during one weekend. We chatted for a few minutes before going our separate ways and starting our individual rides.

With our small group of six gathered we set off for the West Fork Bikeway and Cogswell Dam. As we rounded the corner to go north along the San Gabriel River Trail we were greeted with a stiff headwind. Joey and I settled in front to help pull the rest of our group along. Thankfully for us as we merged onto CA-39 and continued up into the canyon the winds lessened and we settled in at a nice pace everyone could comfortably manage.

Soon enough we reached the gate for the West Fork Bikeway. After taking a few mandatory pictures, we were greeted with a gorgeous stretch of fresh asphalt! It seems that in the past year or so the entire multi-use trail had been repaved. Those 14 miles, 7 out-and-back, were easily the highlight of the ride. The out portion had a slight incline but you’d hardly notice it. Near the end though the road pitches up significantly. A half-mile climb that averaged 9.4% while maxing out at 12.4%, oof! To make it even better, along the way though we picked up Deo and one other AV member whose name isn’t coming to me.

We hung out at Cogswell Dam for 15-20 minutes taking pictures and taking in the view before setting our sights for home. The ride back to CA-39 was sublime. The trail generally pitches downward and it was no problem hitting 20+ without any effort. Sadly the ride along this great bikeway came to an end all too soon. It also marked some goodbyes for some of the group. A couple of the guys had errands to tend too back in town and would be returning the way we came while a group of four would be joining me, for a total of five, continuing over to GMR.

As we made our way east along East Fork Rd, we came upon Shoemaker Canyon Rd and I mentioned that I’d planned on riding it to see what I could see. I was delighted when everyone thought it was a great idea and up we went. Shoemaker was a nice two mile climb which averaged 5.5%, and once Joey and I were at the top, and after taking some pictures, we found a nice patch of shade to hang out in until the rest of the group arrived. Also while we were up there I could see Camp Williams below us and Joey pointed out Glendora Ridge Rd up above.

After a quick descent down Shoemaker Canyon Rd, we made the left and rode into Camp Williams. By this time everyone was ready for some lunch so we stopped at the only place in town Camp Williams Cafe & General Store. Among the five of us we had quite the eclectic order. Two cheeseburgers, two hotdogs, and one veggie burger all with fries. We all sat around enjoying our well deserved break and lunch chatting about big rides and rando events.

Rolling out of Camp Williams, I told Joey I wanted to ride out to the end of East Fork Rd despite our turn up GMR coming before the end. Joey agreed to join me while Deo, Dan, and the third rider would start up GMR without us. This little spur added an extra two miles, but it had an interesting bridge crossing and it was cool to look up and see where we had been hanging out maybe an hour before on Shoemaker Canyon Rd.

The end of East Fork Rd is also the trailhead for the hike out to the “Bridge to Nowhere.” According to Wikipedia, back in the late 30s the plan was to build a highway over to Wrightwood. Unfortunately the flood of ’38 washed out major sections of the road, but not before the completion of an arch bridge which spans the river some 120 feet below. It appears that it is a 10-mile roundtrip hike to see it. Maybe something to come back for.

After more pictures, Joey and I set off to catch up to the fellas. Making the climb up “Little GMR” I poked a little fun at Joey saying, “Hey man you’re breathing much harder than usual.” Joey had admitted at the start of the ride that he had been off the bike for quite a while while still recovering from his 508 ride. In addition it was his third or fourth ride on the new bike.

Once at the top of Little GMR at the Y, Joey and I hung out and waited for the rest of the crew. We wanted to say our goodbyes before Deo and the one other rider continued down GMR to return home, while Joey, Dan, and I continued up and over to Mt. Baldy.

Honestly from this point on the road was familiar territory having rode it back in July with Joey during a full GMR closure. While riding along Glendora Ridge, I ended up dropping both Dan and Joey. I did stop just before one of the descents and when Joey arrived he proclaimed, “Dude I’m hollowed out.” I chuckled at that considering he smoked me back in July. Regardless, I waved him through as to not stop and dialed it back some to roll together for the remainder of the descent.

Both Dan and Joey were happy that I hadn’t planned on going up to the ski lifts, and the only other descent change was that instead of making the turn on Mountain we continued straight down Mt. Baldy Rd instead and eventually Baseline. I took to the front for our trip along Baseline, and too soon we came upon Euclid where Dan and Joey would be leaving me to make their return home.

An absolutely banger of a day on the bike. The weather was dang near perfect and the route wasn’t too bad either. The new asphalt on the West Fork Trail was absolutely sublime and I can see it becoming extremely popular with locals in no time. As we rode along the trail I told Joey, “This type of ride is food for the soul.” If you’re in the SoCal area I certainly suggest that you take the time to go out and experience this hidden gem. Even better, take your family, including your youngins, for a nice easy relaxing cruise in nature.

New bike fund: $121.72 (+$0.02), €1.52, ₱10.00, ֏10.00, CA$0.01
👍 36.49 new miles — From Wandrer
920 total shifts, 65 front, 855 rear. 53.9% of the ride in the big ring, 46.1% in the small ring. Most time spent in 36×27 11.6% — by di2stats
298 vehicles @ 3 per mile, 0.7 per minute, Speeds: 32.8 mph (avg), 60.8 mph (max)‍ — by MyBikeTraffic
Give your activities the names they deserve. — by Bandok
Clear-Sunny, 62°F-82°F, Feels like 62°F-84°F, Humidity 32%-13%, Wind NNE 4mph-NNW 3mph — by Klimat
— myWindsock Report —
Weather Impact™: -0.4%
Headwind: 51% @ 7.2 – 17 mph
Longest Headwind: 01h 3m 50s
Air Speed: 10.5 mph
Temp: 49.9-81.3°F
Precip: 0% @ 0 Inch/hr
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