Ride Suggestions, North LA, May 19th

I have to attend my wife's family reunion on May 20th in Los Angeles.
My angelic wife has given me permission to go riding the day before
while she joins other family members to cook and help set up.

So I have the whole day to ride and am looking for suggestions from
locals.

I'm from San Diego (my original plan was to ride up there, ~130 mi.).
I am looking for long rides, relatively free of traffic, preferrably
with some climbing. Off-road road rides are also ok, as are
combinations (I have a straight bar road bike with 700x38 tires).
Regarding mountain bike rides, I'm not much of a downhiller, but a long
challenging climb does attract me.

I was thinking of Mt. Wilson or Mt. Baldy. I have wanted to try Mt.
Baldy but somewhere heard that traffic was bad.

I will be coming from Valinda - West Covina - Walnut area. I don't
mind driving a bit to leave the city before riding.

TIA,
Tom

" wrote in
oups.com:

I have to attend my wife's family reunion on May 20th in Los Angeles.
My angelic wife has given me permission to go riding the day before
while she joins other family members to cook and help set up.

So I have the whole day to ride and am looking for suggestions from
locals.

I'm from San Diego (my original plan was to ride up there, ~130 mi.).
I am looking for long rides, relatively free of traffic, preferrably
with some climbing. Off-road road rides are also ok, as are
combinations (I have a straight bar road bike with 700x38 tires).
Regarding mountain bike rides, I'm not much of a downhiller, but a
long challenging climb does attract me.

I was thinking of Mt. Wilson or Mt. Baldy. I have wanted to try Mt.
Baldy but somewhere heard that traffic was bad.

I will be coming from Valinda - West Covina - Walnut area. I don't
mind driving a bit to leave the city before riding.

TIA,
Tom



Try these sites...
http://www.labikepaths.com/
http://www.nearfield.com/~dan/sports/bike/
http://www.goventura.org/home/index.asp

And here is a link to Covina Cycle Club's website where route
plans for some of their rides are posted;
http://www.covinacycleclub.org/rides.htm

The "The East Fork and GMR" route looks interesting.

Rich

You could try a loop going up Glendora Ridge Road to Mount Baldy Road
and back along Baseline and Foothill. You can take Grand up from West
Covina to Sierra Madre Blvd (R) to Glendora Mountain Road which turns
into Glendora Ridge Road. It's been a while since I've done it but
traffic is light on the mountain roads. Grand up from West Covina is
busy and not exactly scenic but there is generally a good shoulder.
Same for Baseline and Foothill returning from Claremont. This route is
about 50 miles with several thousand feet of elevation gain.

Another longer loop option is to go up San Gabriel Canyon Road (Hwy 39)
to the East Fork which becomes Glendora Mountain Road, take than up to
Glendora Ridge Road, turn left, and continue to Mount Baldy Road as
above. This loop would be about 60 miles with a a bit more elevation
gain. The part of San Gabriel Canyon Road to the East Fork can be busy
on weekends and the shoulder is not the greatest.

Another pure climbing option is to take San Gabriel Canyon Road (Hwy
39) all the way to the end. This road used to connect to the Angeles
Crest Highway but a portion fell away into the Canyon in the 80s. Past
the West Fork the traffic is lighter. Depending how far up you go, the
distance will be about 60 miles and the elevation gain will be about 6
or 7 thousand feet.