Team BRCM - Baldy Trainer

Strava: http://app.strava.com/rides/2084774

I have to admit, there's no training comparable to Mt. Baldy.  7 sisters is not easy, but to be able to get in 6400 vert in 27 miles is absolutely nuts.  Despite this, Vince, Shannon, Gary and Verm came out with me today to knock this one out and knock it out we did. 

The weather couldn't have been any better.  It was only slightly cool in the morning, and the rest of the ride was pretty comfortable.  I had brought all my colder weather gear, but ended up only wearing arm warmers...by mistake.  I forgot to take them off.  Otherwise, not even a base layer was necessary today.  And when we rode in the shade, it was perfect.

On Glendora Mtn Road (GMR), Gary and Verm decided to make a break early and had gotten a pretty good jump before the gate.  Upon arriving at the gate, that's when I decided to pick the pace up but Vince and Shannon lingered not too far behind.  After some time, I was able to make my way up to Verm who was holding a good solid pace.   Then, Shannon got ahead of me and I contemplated on trying to hang on but decided not to violate the first rule of our fight club.  Vince, however, did latch onto Shannon's wheel and held on a lot longer than he had previously up this same hill.   I finally saw Gary after the two had passed me, and he must have been in Big Bear mode since getting past him took just as long as it did then.

Although Shannon and Vince had gapped me pretty good, I started to feel better at some point and was able to pick up the pace even more.  At some point, I was able to see Vince again after he dropped off from behind Shannon.  I gave chase at that point, and each time I was getting close, he would take off enough where I could never get up on his wheel.  That was awesome!  I had hoped to ride with him just before the fork, but I had to succumb to just rolling up just behind him as we got there and where Shannon was waiting for us.   Verm rolled in shortly after followed by Gary.  The rest stop there was pretty minimal.

We started up GRR and Gary busted an attack again (BAM!) and kept a pretty good pace where it again took a while to get up to him.  I think Verm also launched an attack as well either before or after we finally caught Gary, and we chased him down as well.  Shannon and I got by where Verm held on for a bit, but after a while, it was just Shannon and I.  Vince was hanging off the back and just wasn't feeling it after the run up GMR, so he wasn't pushing the pace and let us all go ahead.

Shannon was staying just behind me as we made our way through GRR, and rule #5 had me just pushing despite the inevitable.  Shannon eventually got by me, but I did decide to violate our #1 fight club rule and hang on.  I started to fall off just a little, but was able to make ground on one of the few downhills through this ridge.  I even took the front for a bit again,  but that didn't last too long.  As he again began to gap me, we just hit the downhill toward the village and this allowed me to get back behind him by the time we got to the bottom.

We decided to just keep going rather than regrouping just to get it done.  I was hoping he'd just wait for the others while I got a head start, but that didn't happen.  HA HA.  I did start out leading us up the hill but when he got in front, I reverted back to the above fight club rule.  I still  caught glimpses of Shannon and even up the last 400 feet before the lifts, but pretty much was way off the back going up.  For the record, this section never gets any easier.  I've never pedaled so slow on the shortest gear in my life.  Thoughts of sidewinding came up, but I knew the guys would give me crap if I had, so slow and steady as she goes all the way to the top with Shannon waiting and already refueling.

Verm came up next and then Gary.  Both were wondering where Vince was and were convinced he had passed them.  However, as Vince was not up here waiting, we began wondering if he had a mechanical.  We were planning on going down to look for him to make sure he was okay when he rolled up a just beforehand.  He wasn't have a great day, but since the weather and conditions were so good, he couldn't pass up just making it to the top to finish the route rather than waiting at the fire station.

After refueling and filling up the bottles, we were off again.  I decided to record this section on the GoPro since the downhills are always epic.  Vince led the charge followed by Shannon, Gary and then Verm.  I was recording everyone in the beginning, but as Verm had dropped off the back, I got up behind Gary.  Once a gap had formed in front of Gary, I went ahead to make sure the first 2 didn't get too far away.  And then it happened again...SNAP!  The camera goes flying off the handlebar and tumbling down into the dirt.  If it had fallen off one of the cliffs, I would not have been unhappy.  However, since it didn't, I went to retrieve it while Gary waited.  Verm made his way passed at that point, and Shannon and Vince were gone.

After retrieving the camera, Gary and I took off.  We hit this really fast section and I just took advantage and let gravity take over.  Gary was saving it for the last 1000 feet of climbing, so I ended up just going on.  I started up GRR and saw that Verm had started out just ahead of me.  I could see Vince and Shannon near the top already though, and I REALLY wanted to ride down with them.  I was feeling some adrenalin from being pissed off with my camera situation, so I worked on chasing them down.  Although I didn't see them for a while after making my way to the top, I finally caught a glimpse of Shannon after a while and started sprinting up some of the hills just to make ground.  I was just about on him as he and Vince stopped at the fork to wait for the others, so I was happy to get there and be ready for the GMR downhill fun.

After regrouping, we were off to GMR and I was hoping to keep a pace to keep us together but Verm decided it was just not fast enough.  He tears off, and Vince gets up behind him.  I wasn't about to not have anyone to ride with down the hill again, so I gave chase too.  We hit some downhill sections where Vince got ahead of Verm and ultimately I did too, but on another rise, Verm launched another attack again!  Vince and I responded and managed to get ahead eventually after a subsequently it started going downhill again.

Vince was just slightly ahead of me, and as I tried to make my way up to him, a few motorcycles had come up behind us so I kept waving them on when I thought it was safe for them to pass.  Vince, on the other hand, started actually riding with them in their pack and even got a thumbs up from one of the motorcyclists.  This allowed him to have a pretty good gap on him, so I was in chase mode once again.  I slowly made ground on him through all the turns, but he kept getting up and sprinting out of some of the exits.  It was only on the last bend before the straight to the gates that I finally was able to make my up to him.  We still kept the pace up all the way to Sierra Madre as well never relenting.  Hell, that's what we paid for with all the hill climbing, right?

We all made it back safely to the high school free of any mechanicals, flats, or any other hazards, although we did see some pretty big friggin' tarantulas crossing the street on the way down.  We did up the post ride celebration in style with multiple coolers, a pop-up and some chairs like civilized people.  Overall, we couldn't ask for a better training day than today.  Thanks to all those who came out.

P.S.  I'm not able to offload anything from my camera.  AAAARRRRGGGHHH!

Got it!