Long ride yesterday up Angeles Crest Highway to Mt. Wilson with Dan and Jordan. A portion of the route we rode will be exhibited on the final day of Le Tour de California next Sunday. The temps were cool but the sun was strong throughout our ride. There were a lot of other cyclists up there. I think others are getting excited about the Tour, too.
Angeles Crest Highway climbs through the steep, rocky mountains around and behind Brown Mountain. As we climbed we got some great views of the backside of Brown and front-side of Strawberry Peak.
Somewhere about halfway up our route we lost Jordan. Dan and I turned around and rode 5 miles back down the mountain to look for him, but he was gone. We didn’t know where he could have gone, so we went back up again thinking that maybe he somehow snuck past us while we were taking a break. We never found him. (Later when we made it back home we found out that he was fine, but had turned around.)
We did have a great ride up to the summit, though – just after a flat tire. The summit itself is un-amazing except in a Disneyland sort of way with all it’s tall radio towers, etc. But, the last few miles to the top are great - lots of rock and ice littering the narrow weaving roadway, the intense scent of cedars, views of endless mountains layering out toward Mt. Baldy and Mt. San Gorgonio, and the midday moon rising above it all.
After a lot of twists and turns we finally made it back down with a total of about 68 miles – my longest ride yet.
Enjoy the Tour…
1 comment:
That sucks when a friend bails out and doesn't tell anyone. The crazy thoughts of finding him in a ditch can keep running around your head.
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